21st December 2012
Picked up the new van on the 21st
December 2011 about mid afternoon and carefully towed it about 3k’s to the SDA
(Seventh Day Adventist) caravan park in Maida Vale, as it was the closest and
cheapest at $30.00 a night.
Next day we headed off to
Margaret River or to be more exact Barbara’s nieces’ farm at Rosa Brook, just
out of Margaret River. They were kind
enough to let us set up alongside their shed while we checked the van out and
waited for Traveller RV, where we bought the van, to get some bits organised
that were ordered but not fitted on the van when we picked it up.
While there we did a bit of
Marronning on the Blackwood River with sons Greg and Daryl and a couple of
their mates – lovely spot but managed to put some scratches on the brand new
Toyota, because of the narrow bush track on the way in, but they did polish out
again. Managed a small feed of Marron.
25th Jan 2012
So on the 25th
January 2012 we booked into the Busselton Holiday Village ($40.00/night) for
one night. Being an optimist I was
expecting a quick fix. Not the case!26th Jan 2012
We moved again to the SDA camp on Caves Rd in Busselton ($23.00/night) as it quickly became obvious it was not going to be a quick fix. This park is lovely and right on Geographe Bay, so a million dollar site, but very strict rules about no drinking etc etc, so as soon as the fridge was fixed we moved on – still waiting on Traveller RV to get their act together and by this time we were getting very frustrated with them. While in Busselton the up-side was being able to spend quite a bit of time with Joan (Barbara’s sister) & Jeff.
5th February 2012
On the 5th February
we spent one night at a free camp just out of Busselton (Pine Plantation Picnic
area) Site 280 in Camps book 6. Nice
spot on the Tuart Forest scenic drive, bit close to the road but it is not busy
after dark.
We went from there to Donnybrook
Transit Park (28.00/night), again a very nice park, grassy and concrete slabs
with very nice amenities and while there did the touristy things around
Donnybrook. One of these was to visit
Gnomesville which is at a crossroad in the country near Donnybrook.
8th Feb 2012
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Then off to the Mandurah Tourist Park ($35.00/night) on Pinjarra Rd, 5k’s out of Mandurah, as we wanted to get an annex made. Arrived there on the 10th February - Still waiting on Traveller RV in Perth! This is a Top Tourist park and as we are members we got a small discount. Nice Park with pool and playground; we do not normally look for playgrounds but our Granddaughter Mikayla came to stay overnight so it was needed.
24th February 2012
Got the annex made and had it
fitted on the 24th and then booked in for a week at the Pinjarra
Caravan Park as it seemed that we might be getting somewhere with Traveller RV
in Midland?Big mistake! We learnt when touring before to only book in for 1 or 2 nights and extend if we like it, John forgot! Not a nice park at all, amenities straight out of the 70’s and not changed since and very run down. Put up with it and finally got a date from Traveller RV in Midland to bring the van in on the 8th March!!! WhooWhoo!!
1st March 2012
So with a bit of time to kill we
went over to Boddington on the 1st of March and booked into the
council park at $28.00/night. Pleasant
surprise; nice park with spotless amenities etc. It is showing some signs of neglect though. While there we caught up with our niece and
her partner (Tracy & Kim), cousin Ian, and friends Christine & Geoff
who have a hobby farm there. John learnt
how to strain a fence – or maybe how not to, I’m not sure. But anyway we drank a few reds, had a lot of
laughs and also had lunch at Quindanning pub. Highly recommend this for a nice day out!
6th March 2012
On the 6th we left
there and booked into the Banksia Caravan Park ($38.00/night) in Hazelmere
(near Midland). Nice park with pool etc.
Took the van into Traveller RV to get
the warranty items and others fixed and at the same time booked the tug in for
it’s 10,000K service. Also booked
Barbara in for her service at the dentist. In all a busy day.
Picked up the car and the van
and back to Banksia Park. Went to the
Caravan & Camping Show for a full day and spent too much (again!). Also spent time catching up with the family
and went to a lunch at Blackbird restaurant in East Perth which was a farewell
for John from APAC.
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Well we have really started! Left Perth and followed the new Indian Ocean Drive, first stop Sandy Cape just past Jurien Bay. We will back track a little to Cervantes to see the Pinnacles, but we have a plan of bush camping during the week and staying in van parks over the weekend, lot less chance of drunken yobbo’s ruining the peace and quiet. Sandy Cape is a beautiful spot and only costs $15.00/night for two people. There are long drop toilets but no water or showers. See picture below of the bay, we didn’t fish but people were catching some fish off the beach. That’s Barney the bear sunbathing on the beach, in the left hand photo, we adopted him in 2009 at Coffs Harbour NSW during our last travels and couldn’t leave him behind. He is no trouble at all and is enjoying the lifestyle.
 23rd March 2012
Great time here in Cervantes, checked out the pinnacles and Stromatolites (Oldest living thing on earth) and topped up with water. Leaving tomorrow for Lake Indoon, just north of Jurien Bay for a few days of camping and then on to Dongara, but that will be in the next Blog.
 Cheers
John & Barbara
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