COMMENTS

I've now adjusted the settings for receiving comments so hopefully that should work now. If anyone could try and leave a comment that would be great so that I can see if it's working. This is a living blog so if you want to ask any questions about our adventures please feel free and I will try and answer them.

DAY 50 - CHRISTMAS IN OZ

We headed off to Cousin Terry's in the late afternoon, the car ladened with delicious smelling foods. The girls decided they wanted to wear their matching ballet dresses for the event. Now they've stopped their dance classes they don't really get an opportunity to wear them anymore. At Terry's, Ayla and Kyra rushed to give him the present they had bought him.

                                                               "Drogo" the gnome!

Then Terry and his daughter Sara kindly gave them an abundance of books and pens for Christmas.

Later when Terry's daughter Bernadette and her partner Rodney arrived we all sat down at a long table to a feast of dishes we had all made.

The next day we drove back to the caravan to find that Santa had visited during the night guided by our K Mart solar flashing festive lights. He somehow managed to squeeze some presents for the girls under our miniature tree.

In the afternoon we drove off to Leschenaultia lake for a swim as very hot today but unfortunately Ayla had left her nice scooter in front of the car and I drove over it which didn't go down too well! Luckily we found a company in the UK who do spare parts for it and a friend will post these out to us soon.

DAYS 41 TO 47 - RIVERS, LAKES AND SEA

From Lane Poole forest reserve we drove not too far to Lake Navarino caravan park nestled in the hills surrounded by Jurrah trees. Here the Australian ringneck parrot is very tame and we were constantly surrounded by them especially when we were eating. There would often be one staring from our caravan door at us. The Kookaburras are very tame too and would sit in the tree watching me when I barbecued sausages and one even swooped down to try and grab one.

Still very quiet in the caravan parks and we were the only ones camped here for most of the 4 days. Below the caravan park is Waroona dam creating Lake Navarino which we cycled next to and had a refreshing swim in. The girls paddled around in the shallow dam water and gave Stef a free mud pack treatment! We also spent a couple of days doing day trips to the forest at Lane Poole reserve to swim in the Murray river and do a hike. Just a magical area and the river water a really pleasant temperature after New Zealand's freezing rivers. Also no crocodiles down south which is always good to know! Still I always get the children to check out the water first before I go in. (only joking!)

The bump getting bigger!

From the dam we moved down to the coast to Lake Clifton caravan park run by a slightly odd lady who had a strong rule book! One time the girls were both in the toilet block having a poo and Stef was standing outside and she got quite annoyed that Stef wasn't standing next to them watching. Maybe she thought they would flush themselves down the loo! We were almost the only ones there although she might have been putting people off. We went to nearby Preston beach where the girls had fun in the crashing waves. Kyra got buried in the sand. Not sure how much she liked this judging from the face she is making in the photo! 

From here we went to see the ancient Thrombolites in lake Clifton. 

Thrombolites are clotted accretionary structures formed in shallow water by the trapping, binding, and cementation of sedimentary grains by bio films of microorganisms which I'm sure you already knew!

DAY 49 - HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM THE CARAVAN FAMILY!

Well we are back in Perth AGAIN! Yesterday was one of those days where everything goes to plan and works out. Our fridge packed up a few days ago and just before Christmas too. However the dealers Coburn Caravans who we bought the van from kindly fixed it for free yesterday so we still have cold drinks...phew! They didn't have the part we needed to fix it so they took it out of one of there other caravans which was quite a hassle and put it in ours. They've really helped us out since we bought the caravan off them.  Still very hot at the moment. Always in the mid 30s.

Today we are going to Cousin Terry's for Christmas and staying there the night which we are all looking forward to. His daughters Bernadette and Sara will be there too so will be a good family gathering. The caravan is bathed in delicious smells as we get the food ready for tonight. The girls have met a little boy called Gabriel (apt for Christmas!) who is chasing them around with a water gun which is as big as him!

Well here is our Christmas Family Caravan picture. We wish all our blog readers a wonderful Christmas wherever you are and thank you for taking the time to share in our adventures.
Love David Steffi Ayla Kyra and bump. xxx

DAY 40 - FINDING OUT THE CARAVAN'S LIMITATIONS

When we were deciding which caravan to buy at first we were attracted to the 4WD ones to go off road and camp rough. But then the thought of a newborn in a cramped caravan with no bathroom in the middle of the Aussie bush put us off. Plus Steffi wanted an office which she could shut off from us rabble. So eventually we found this Jayco Sterling van with room to manoeuvre inside but as we found out, not so easy to manoeuvre around!(did you know there seem to be 4 ways to spell manoeuvre? Odd) So Monday we finally left Perth and headed south to the pretty forest of Lane Poole reserve with the Murray river winding it's way through it. The only campground out of quite a few of them in the park that would take caravans was Nanga Mill. After having our caravan fixed up on the way at the dealers we bought it from we arrived quite late and so we didn't have much choice to not stay as the girls were tired and hungry. I walked around the sites amongst the trees looking in vain for a large flat spot and eventually decided on a spot up a steep dirt track. Well the car struggled pulling almost 3 tonnes up this bumpy track the gearbox smoking and the caravan swaying and squeaking! Must have been a sight! At the top after lots of driving forward and reversing the only area we thought was OK left the van at a ridiculous angle like a yacht when the tide goes out stuck on the sand. So we gave up on that, somehow turned the van around and picked another spot we hadn't really noticed with a slope that was livable for one night but the smell of a smoking gearbox lingered! So now we have found out our caravan's limitations and are resigned to the idea of safe campgrounds and large flat parking areas.

The girls checking out the locals.

Spot the face.

DAY 39 - DAY TRIP TO PERTH

The girls dressed up in their best dresses for our visit to Perth. Only $11.30 for a whole day for all of us on public transport including the train which is great value. After 3 years of living in little Nelson the girls were very excited to get on a train.

From Perth centre on this very hot day we took the bus to Kings Park where we did the Lottery walk and Ayla and I stood by a high fountain letting the spray cool us down.

Then for lunch we went to the Annalakshmi restaurant at the Barracks jetty by the Swan river where they have an Indian buffet which you pay an amount you feel is right for. Put's the moral pressure on you! The food was a bit spicy for the girls and they drank so much water to cool there little mouths down that when Kyra fell asleep on the next train journey and I picked here up to get off the train, she peed on me in her sleep! I had to quickly buy a new t-shirt before I got some sympathetic looks regarding my age and bladder control.

We finished off this thoroughly enjoyable day in Fremantle for a wander and refreshments.

2 WEEKS IN PERTH

Well i'm back. Had a blog break! Sometimes you wonder if anyone is reading this and the motivation goes but an email from my sister let me know that she and my aunt Lida are followers so I will try and keep on top of this blog with more regular updates.

So we spent 2 weeks at Advent caravan park in Perth sorting out visits to doctors, checks on the car and repairs on the caravan plus mammoth shopping trips to soulless shopping centres around Perth. Finally the girls immunisations are up to date because Australia doesn't recognise some of the immunisations given in New Zealand. Each country has it's own ideas on this. They wanted to give the chicken pox vaccinations even though both girls have had this so the girls had to have a blood test each to prove their immunity to this. Both very brave as these big needles went into their little arms. Luckily the phlebotomist was very good and got blood with each attempt.
I had pneumonia and found out after an x-ray and a high resolution CT scan that I have a damaged right lung (bronchiectasis) from previous bouts of pneumonia meaning I will always be susceptible to lung infections and will have to have antibiotics to control this.
The baby is growing and kicking morning and night which seem to be his wake up times. Struggling to find a boys name we both like. The girls with some prompting from my cousin Terry have decided on Drogo! Maybe if he is born with Hobbit features! Still not sure where we will be to have the baby and who will look after the girls when Steffi is in labour. Anyone fancy a trip to South West WA for some babysitting?

We sadly said goodbye to our friends Pete and Helen Lunney and their 4 children as they headed off on the long trek back to NSW across the Nullarbor. Haven't met too many travelling families so when we do it's always hard for the kids to say goodbye.

DAYS 27 TO 32 - BACK TO PERTH

Leaving the peace of New Norcia we headed back into busy Perth as we were having our belongings delivered to the campground  the next day which have arrived from NZ. We had sent too much to fit in our caravan so luckily cousin Terry stored it for us which was a great help. Not sure what we were thinking when we packed it all in Nelson! Anyway it was a good excuse to visit cousin Terry and his dog Denny and go out for a Chinese meal. The girls dressed up and are starting to look like miniature ladies.

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Pete and Helen and their 4 kids who we met up at lake Indoon arrived at this campsite in Perth so yesterday we all went to lake Leschenaultia to swim and jump off the floating pontoon. The water was much warmer than when we were last here a few weeks ago so Ayla and Kyra loved splashing around with their friends followed by a picnic on the beach.

Today Helen made play dough for the kids to make pretend cakes and in the evening Ayla and Kyra decorated their little caravan Christmas tree which they found very exciting. I had to peg it down to stop the wind blowing it away!

DAY 25 AND 26 - SWIM IN THE SMALL TOWN OF MOORA AND VIST TO THE MONASTERY OF NEW NORCIA

Leaving Lake Indoon we set off south against the wind again about 150 kms to the small town of Moora. We stopped in this small remote rest area surrounded by wheat fields and not a lot else.

We arrived in Moora lunchtime to it's wonderful, pretty, well run campground right next to the municipal swimming pool. Had fun reversing our large caravan into a tight berth but we got there in the end. The pool was  extremely clean and 50 meters long so Steffi and I had a great swim whilst the kids tried dive bombing in the children's pool. Strange to find a 50 meter pool in a tiny town such as Moora with hardly anyone there on a hot Sunday afternoon!

The next day we carried on south to the Monastery of New Norcia which we visited 10 years ago on Steffi's 28th birthday. How time flies! We camped in the grounds away from power and water for $10.

Then we all went up to the monastery with it's dwindling number of monks who are down to about 10 and most are in there 70s. We took the 2 hour tour which ended in a very lively piano piece played  by the youngest monk who was a bearded shy 38 year old who used to be a music teacher till he came here a few years ago.

 Then in the evening we went up to the monastery hotel to it's bar full of scruffy locals for a drink and just to remind them where they were drinking, a bible was carefully placed at the end of the line of liquor bottles!

The girls had a dance to the lively jukebox in the empty games room. Certainly didn't feel like we were in part of the monastery when some rave music came on! I don't think the monks drink here.

DAY 24 - LAKE INDOON

Well I've been a bit slack these last 2 weeks trying to write this blog. So a quick update to fill you all in.
We left Cervantes by the coast and headed inland to Lake Indoon to do our first free camping away from electricity and water. All went well and the battery lasted the whole time and the fridge ran fine on gas. We even set up solar panels to keep the battery full which went well. Always seems to be sunny here at the moment.

We met a lovely couple from NSW travelling with there 4 kids their so Ayla and Kyra had someone to play with after a week of being surrounded by old travelling couples at the last campground. We met some locals who brought their horses for a ride around the lake who let the children brush the horses and then have a little ride on them.

The lake is very shallow right across so we went for a paddle out into the weed filled lake to cool down. Too shallow for a swim unfortunately!

In the evening it was time to do some home schooling and start filling in their new scrapbooks with drawings and cut out pictures of places they've been. It's always hard to fit in home schooling when there is so much to do all the time.

DAY 19 - CLIMBING MOUNT LESUEUR

36.C today but we still decided to climb up Mount Lesueur in the blazing sunshine. Beautiful walk and the girls did well with Kyra reaching the summit first. Amazing considering she's only 3! This national park is famous for its wild flowers in spring but unfortunately this is coming to an end although there were still a few scattered flowers amongst the green scrub.

Mount Lesueur at 313 metres above sea level.