Dec 10-12 (Day 314-316) - Kalbarri to Billabong

 Thursday 10 December

Today we drove from the free camp into Kalbarri where we found a caravan park that accepted TAWK (Travelling Australia with Kids), which allows us to stay for 2 nights with the kids staying free. It's only a once of fee - when we bought it a couple of years ago it was $25, it's up to $40 now but definitely worth it. Their website has lots of other useful info for travelling Australia with kids.

Some caravan park around the country are quite supportive of this and it's very handy to help us decide where to go with this option as it does get quite expensive if you go to caravan parks a lot. We have tried to free camp around the place as much as possible and then just spend a little in the town we are staying in to save on the cost a little.

Also along the road we saw quite a few wild goats just galloping across the road and in the nearby bushes.

We arrived in Kalbarri around 1pm and needed some bread for lunch so went straight for the IGA and then the information centre for some other 'must see's' while in Kalbarri. We also needed to purchase a pass to go into the National Park to visit so did that while we were there.

We went to the park across the road briefly before heading to the caravan park to set up.

 

 

We were all feeling quite hot and 2 of the kids wanted to go the beach and one wanted to go in the pool so we all decided we'd head to the beach. Well it's actually the river but it's got loads of ocean water in it as it's open to the ocean. We had fun down there playing mud fights (well mainly Greg, Dad & the kids) with the black mud from the bottom. It actually stank so when we came back we made sure we had a good shower to wash it all off. 

Mud fights!

Friday 11 December

Today we wanted to do some snorkelling before it got too windy so we headed for Blue Holes after breakfast. By the time we got there the wind had picked up but we still got to see some fish up close and the water temperature was beautiful.

Another famous spot was Jake's point where surfers go (not that we are surfing people) we stopped and watched a few people catch some waves then headed back to the caravan park for lunch.

After lunch the kids really wanted to be able to go the library to get some books out or if they couldn't borrow because we aren't from WA then at least read some different books. So we did that for about 15 mins before they lady came and told me she was really sorry but that she needed to close up in the next 10 mins because she needed to catch a bus to her Christmas function which was a hour bus drive which she would be catching in 30 mins time. She kindly said we could borrow books under her name but to make sure we returned them the next day before we left town to the Visitors Centre next door. We thought that would be fine and made our way back to the caravan park and made plans to head out to the National Park. 

 First of all we needed to purchase a different pass so that we are able to get into other National parks in WA without having to pay $15 each time. Works out a bit cheaper that ways so we headed for the office on our way out there. When we arrived there didn't seem to be anyone there so we walked around a bit and found a shed that was open and some cars but still no-one about. Then out of nowhere a man popped around the corner and asked if we needed some help with anything. We explained what we needed to do and he called us around to the front of the office. 

We got chatting about various things including the Golden Orb spiders that were hanging about the verandah near the office and he showed us how strong the web was. It feels so much like horse hair and is just as strong. These were the same types of spider's webs we'd seen on Fraser Island. He also gave us some great tips on what to do when we find other lizards on the road or even echidnas and how to pick them up. Apparently you tickle underneath one side of them which makes them lift that or the other side up and then you can scoop underneath them and pick them up.

Anyway once we had finished up there we came back to the van to find out the car battery was flat. So Greg pulled out a jumpstarter we had bought for the Commodore and clipped it on and tried to start the car but it drained the charger straightaway, which is what we have found with this device before. Thankfully my Dad had 2 other chargers we could try to get the car started. The second charger worked but then the car was running pretty rough. It was blowing a lot of smoke and then we thought we could smell hot wiring or something inside the caravan so whipped of the seat cushions above where all the wiring is to make sure nothing was on fire. It turns out that the car fumes had just filled the van with smoke and confused our noses. But it was better to check and be safe than sorry.

The car was still sounding rather rough but we thought maybe it just needed a bit of a run and we would check it down the road. The engine sounded as rattly as a truck, it was using a lot of fuel and was very sluggish as though the caravan brakes were on (they weren't - we pulled over to check). It felt like it was in a limp mode even though no warning lights were on, but a few minutes down the road we suddenly got several warning lights on (check engine, traction control off, low traction and the centre diff light was flashing). So we pulled over, turned off, restarted it and it came good. It seems that the battery having run down had somehow messed up the computer and it needed to recalibrate some things. It hasn't missed a beat since.

Beautiful!

As we drove out to the national park there were so many beautiful flowers again. The range of colours is just amazing. Some are quite an intense pink/purple others a lighter purple and some pink. Later on in the year this part of the WA is so full of colour during the wildflower season, we found this on our last trip in August 2019. Some of the flowers can be dried and last 'forever', aptly named 'Everlastings'.

Yellow Banksias

 

 The main things we wanted to see on this day were the Skywalk and the Nature's window. Both were pretty spectacular places. It was quite hot so we didn't spend lots of time there but it was enough so soak up the beauty of the rock formations and colouring.

On our travels back to the caravan park we spotted a blue tongue lizard and rescued it off the road. Bek wanted to have a go at picking it up this time and she did it with ease. Sometimes they can be quite fiesty but this once wasn't.

We arrived back fairly close to dinner time and decided that we would just do a quick dinner of fish and chips from the local fish and chips shop. It seemed to be a very popular place and from reading reviews one of the cheapest in Kalbarri.

 

Saturday 12 December

 We moved on from Kalbarri today to start our travels up towards Canarvon. On our way out we dropped of the library books to the visitors centre that the kids had borrowed overnight and stopped for lunch in the shade at another part of Kalbarri National Park, and then made our way up the highway. Driving for a few hours so we were able to get a few readings done and also listen to some more Sherlock Holmes stories. As we've been travelling with Mum & Dad we have been using the CB radio's quite a lot to communicate our plans or just ask something but on this particular bit of the trip we hadn't been able to get in touch with them for some reason. Eventually when we came into some signal Mum was able to ring me and say that their radio and CB and some other things weren't working so could we pull over so they could work out what was happening. We did that and Dad & Greg worked out that a fuse had blown that was linked to the radio, GPS & another charging point. A few too many things had all been running on this circuit at once which had overloaded the circuit. They swapped out another fuse that would normally be used for the back window demister which got things working again.

Narren Narren rest stop

Greg was feeling fairly tired so we stopped for a break and leg stretch at Narren Narren rest stop. It looked pretty good and was tempting to stay the night, but after a rest we decided that because we had quite a few stops already we would make it to the next stop at Billabong where there was another free stop which also had free showers.

When we arrived at Billabong Roadhouse, which had amazingly cheap fuel for that part of the country - $1.13/L for diesel, compared to the Shell next door charging $1.27! There was a cute mother and her kids drinking from a puddle on the road. The kids hopped out to see if they could pat them but they just ran away as they are wild goats.

This spot isn't anything to rave about but it was a quiet spot away from the highway and it had free toilets and showers so we couldn't complain. 

 

-- Mim