November 2022
After a wonderful taste of nomad life again we dropped back into Kalbarri to visit some friends and put Mali into school for a few weeks. Home schooling Mali has been extremely difficult, and Craig and I felt she needed some time with her friends after months up at Yardie Homestead surrounded by adults. We also needed a little break to catch up on some caravan maintenance, blogging and other miscellaneous jobs. We slotted back into Tudor Holiday Park and reunited with some of the semi permanent travelling families who had made Kalbarri their home for the year.
After 2 days of caravan modifications Craig was bored and ready to hit the road. I was still working through updating the blog and photos, tidying out the van cupboards and early mornings jogs and meditation on the beach. Craig picked up some roofing work with his friend Pete and 2 days in I stepped out of the caravan and broke my ankle. No, I was not drinking!!....but I was daydreaming. I thought I had just rolled it but after hearing it crunch a few times on the way down and given the grape fruit size of the swelling I figured it was much worse. Craig rushed home to pile me into the car and head to the health centre. It was rather embarrassing, to say the least, to break an ankle whilst undertaking a rather mundane task that I had completed successful thousands of times prior. My first thought was 'damnit, now I cannot walk along the beautiful beaches and mountain bike in the South West'. Craig was probably glad we had an excuse to hit the road again as his jobs were all complete and there was no surf.
Our plans to enjoy the coastal towns between Kalbarri and Perth were thwarted as I could not move much for the next week needing to rest the leg to prevent more swelling. We were lucky to have Craig's aunty in Donnybrook (2.5 hours SE of Perth). Margaret and her husband offered us their home for the next 3.5 weeks whilst I convalesced. So we set off for the 780km drive south and broke the journey into 4 x 2hr legs.
We whizzed down through Green Head, Jurien Bay, Cervantes and Bunbury. I have little to comment about these places as all I know is the detail of the caravan park amenities like whether the cubicles were suitable for a disabled person and the view from the caravan doorway. I also very quickly learnt how hard it would be to travel with a disability as you simply do not know what to expect from one place to the next. For example, how far away the toilets are and whether there is a lift. I could not visit one particular site of interest because the distance (3km) was too far for me to hobble so we missed out. I did enjoy breakfast on the beach at Green Head (above centre). Craig found a big enough carpark for Yokel and the van so this was a treat. Crutches do not work on sand so I made it down the ramp and plonked onto the sand to watch Mali practice her cartwheels. We had a quick look at Jurien Bay and met friends for lunch - all this had to be carefully planned to ensure I didn't have to crutch far from the car (I was a complete gumby on crutches). Jurien Bay had a wonderful beachside playground and a decent cafe. I know Cervantes had a chemist and a nice beach but the only detail I have is the path to the amenities and the amenities themselves.
The Pinnacles, just out of Cervantes, were awesome. An added bonus was the 4.5km drive through loop. Hell yeah! Bring it on! I could sit in the car, with leg up, and enjoy the views from the vehicle window. The Pinnacles are amazing natural limestone structures, formed approximately 25,000 to 30,000 years ago after the sea receded and left deposits. No one really knows what made them and some research points to the eroded trunks (or casts) of ancient forests. My photos are pathetic but I clearly was in no mood to climb dunes and staircases to get a good shot. Soz!
We made it to Donnybrook 4 nights later and I moved into the house with Mali. Margaret even set me up with a disabled shower chair and wheelchair (which I admit, I was embarrassed to use). We spent the next 3.5 weeks exploring this beautiful southern forests region as best we could. Mali spent many days at the Donnybrook Apple Fun Park, the largest of its type in Australia. We also spent many afternoons at the indoor pool once I could start swimming.
We spent a lot of time at Margaret and Phil's and I spent a lot of time cooking as it was something I could still do (in short spurts). We enjoyed Margaret's beautiful greenhouse full of plants and I got stuck into knitting and macrame craft.
This region is in the South West corner of WA and is known as 'The Food Bowl' of the SW - fruits, vegetables, truffles, nuts, wine. etc. We took a lap through Balingup, Greenbushes, Brudgetown and Nannup and I hobbled through a selection of lovely shops with local crafts and food. This region is also well-known for the 1060km Munda Biddi mountain bike trail. I am now inspired to organise a trip back here to tackle it someday.
Spending time at Margaret and Phils
We spent some time with Craig's cousins, Kaz and Martin, in Bridgetown exploring both their properties and watching the fireworks from the local show right from Kaz and Geoff's front verandah. Craig's Mum arrived to surprise Margaret for her 70th birthday so it was great seeing all the family together. We had such a wonderful time here. Time we would not have had if we were whizzing through here onto our next destination.
Martin (Craig's cous), Craig, Kaz (Craig's cous) and Colleen (Craig's Mum)
We spent a day exploring the coastal town of Bunbury (30 mins away) including the Farmers Markets and the Dolphin Centre. The farmers markets were epic. Craig thought I was a complete weirdo taking photos but I love a good food market and this was epic!! Given the place is surrounded by farms there is no wonder it was such an impressive market. We found a 1kg camembert cheese for $20 - it was bigger than Mali's head!
We took Nanny to the Dolphin Centre, which was impressive. Did you know that dolphins have midwives? The midwife waits until the baby is born - tail first, by the way, to ensure the baby does not drown if the birth takes some time - and then escorts it up to the surface for its first breath. Wow!! That was the best fact I learnt. Oh, and that dolphins can reach bursts of 60km hour. Yep, 'Captain Ready' likes to be well-informed.
We drove through Kirrup (below) and thoroughly enjoyed the santa displays in the streets.
Next was Busselton, home of the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere at 1.8km. Craig packed the wheelchair as we thought we had better use it given Margaret's efforts to obtain it. I quickly hobbled from the car to meet our friends before the wheelchair could get any closer to me. The time came when I stood leering at the length of the jetty and decided I had to succumb and sit in the bloody thing. Craig pushed me the whole way. I cannot say it was comfortable. The timber piles were pretty bumpy so I had to hold my leg out to avoid several thousand painful bumps. However, I did not complain. In fact, we all had a good laugh and then spent the afternoon on the grass watching the kids play in the impressive severely slopey pirate ship playground. That is all I saw of Busselton and apparently we did not miss much else.
Before I knew it we were packing to head to Perth and board a plane for the east coast to spend 4 weeks visiting family and I was almost out of my boot. Craig dragged two suitcases through the car park and the airport whilst I hopped along slowly. He has been a much better nurse (sorry honey) than I ever expected and continually told me to stop and sit down. I do not cope well not being able to get about like usual as I do not stop and put my feet up often. I am not entirely sure I utilised my injury as well as I could have and I certainly did not ask for enough cups of tea. I did, however, enjoy being driven around for 6 weeks. Thanks for looking after me Frex!!! xx
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