DAYS 86 TO 91 - MAKING BABY DECISIONS IN ALBANY

From Fitzgerald National park we drove west to the city of Albany which seemed huge after our 6 weeks of tiny towns. Actually it only has a population of 30000 but big enough to find decent supermarkets again. So with our son's due date rapidly approaching we had to make a decision as to where to be for the birth. We had wanted to get up to Margaret river about 350 kms North West of here but first we needed to see an obstetrician to check all was well with baby and that he was facing the right way etc. So we phoned around but all the obstetricians were full up for the next few weeks! On our last call the receptionist must have heard the desperation in my voice and after some consultation said that the obstetrician could fit us in that evening. Well Doctor Darcy turned out to be a great choice as he was highly qualified and was very apt at finding baby's position in seconds which was head down thank goodness. We told him that we didn't know if we would stay in Albany for the baby's birth because we had no one here to babysit the children so that I could be at the birth. Well on hearing this he went off to reception, run by 2 lovely older ladies. He brought them back to his office to meet us and they said they would love to look after Ayla and Kyra when Stef goes into labour. Also Doctor Darcy announced that he would love to help deliver our baby! So suddenly our decision was made for us and Albany would now be the birthplace of our little boy. Well that was a huge weight off our shoulders and next I applied for some jobs and the first place I rang gave me a job starting 16th February supporting a young disabled guy. So we spent the week organizing a campground we liked, to settle down in and work preparations. Also we had a tour of the maternity unit here in Albany which is almost brand new and everyone there was super friendly. Stef will have a lovely room all to herself which includes a mini bar...........(only joking about that last bit!) They have great baths in the birthing units for water births so Stef has opted to try that out for this birth. Exciting times!

One of the incredible beaches here in Albany

Stef and Ayla doing tug of war on the beach.

Our camp spot on the Kalgan river which was home for this week. 

One of the blue wrens that hung around our caravan.

The Kalgan river just below where our caravan was parked.

DAYS 76 TO 85 - FITZGERALD NATIONAL PARK

So we left the farm with Milo the Emu and headed down to Hopetoun on the south coast or as it's known here, the Australian Bight. Great to finally see the sea after so long driving though the dry hot dusty wheatbelt. Our first night we dressed up to go out for a drink. Steffi finally found a place that did soy decaf late so she was pleased.

The next day we went into Fitzgerald National park which has just had a 40 million upgrade so the fanciest long drops I've ever seen! The sea was a turquoise blue and refreshingly cool i.e bloody freezing!!

Day 78 and we decided to climb East Mount Barren, all 311 metres of it. Armed with day packs we set off on this hot day up quite a difficult route, Kyra leading the way to the top.

Kyra leads the way.

Incredible views of the clear ocean below.

Later we strolled along the beach looking for cuttlefish to study for a school project.

From Hopetoun we drove 250 kms around to the south end of the national park where we camped in the bush at Tozer's Bush camp run by Tozer himself. He had 2 dogs the girls pulled all over the place. Luckily they were extremely patient and placid dogs.

There was no power so we had the solar panels out again. The stars here were amazing at night.

From Tozer's we went fishing, climbed another small mountain and relaxed on the endless white beaches.

                                     

DAY 75 - EMU ENCOUNTER

From Lake Grace we drove south getting ever closer to the sea. As we arrived into Ravensthorpe 50 kms shy of the coast we could at last feel a slightly cooler breeze coming through. From here we drove out of town a few kilometers to a little dirt track up to Fitzy's bush camp on a farm run by a very friendly couple, Alan and Kay. We had a great view up on their hill and their resident emu Milo came to visit in the afternoon for his daily feed from Alan. The girls looked so small next to this long necked creature.

DAYS 71 to 74 - SWIMMING OUR WAY ACROSS THE WHEATBELT

There was a film I once saw as a boy called The Swimmer with Burt Lancaster where a man decides to make his way home via his neighbours swimming pools. Well travelling through the Western Australian wheatbelt felt similar as each town had a wonderful swimming pool to cool ourselves off in as we made our way down from Perth to the south coast. These towns we travelled through had received funding for their nice state of the arts swimming pools through the Royalties for Regions funding project to inject life into these tired dusty towns. Not only did these towns have new swimming pools but also often brand new shire caravan parks which were very cheap to stay in but of a high standard.

So from Wave rock we travelled about 100 kms to the town of Kulin with it's 18 meter high, 182 meter long water slide. The campground had lovely brand new double concrete pads to park on and the toilet block had individual bathrooms with posh fittings and huge shower cubicles. Ayla loved the waterslide sitting on my lap as we went down at speed. Kyra was not so keen. The first day I had the wrong top on which slowed us down but the second day without a top we really did fly down the slide, painfully bumping knees and elbows as we went. There were only a few kids using it so we never had to queue.

The next day we drove without the caravan 70 kms to the dentist who mucked up gluing my crown tooth back in. Hopefully he is a dentist! Who knows out here in the wheatbelt, anything is possible! He still didn't do a great job filing my teeth down to make them fit together better. Roll on dentures! So we made a day of it visiting the Grain discovery centre explaining how the whole wheat growing process works. I wrote in the visitor book that I was gluten free! Then we visited the Hidden hollow for a picnic and the girls learnt to make a rock cairn. From there we drove to Buckleys breakaway, where erosion has cut through orange laterite exposing beautiful coloured cliff.

sunset over our lovely camp spot at Kulin

The day after we got up early to climb up the monolith of Jilakin rock with it's great views over the salt lake below it and then we drove along the Tin Horse highway stopping to take photos of the hilarious barrel drum sculptures which locals have made which line the road into Kulin.

After Kulin we drove south slowly heading closer to the sea and stopped at the small town of Lake Grace for one night. It takes it's name from the huge salt lake next to the town which stretches as far as the eye can see. At this town they have a 50 metre pool which was just great for Steffi and I to do laps and it had a great children's paddling area for the girls too. I took a photo of the pool for the blog and the young guy running it came up to me to ask me what I was doing. I told him about the blog and he just gave me a blank stare and said that people weren't allowed to take photos of the pool. He repeated this a few times to make sure it sunk in. Reminded me of the days of being arrested for taking photos in countries where the people were paranoid of spies.

This is the photo I took of the pool that I got severely told off for!

the very salty Lake Grace

DAYS 69 to 70 - WAVE ROCK

Getting behind with my posts...tut tut! So anyway...Wave rock. We arrived there just as another very hot spell started. In the mid 40s both days but atleast we now had power and therefore air conditioning. Plus the dusty campground at Wave Rock had a little pool which was perfect for us to cool down.

The first day we drove 18 kms to the Humps where Mulka's cave is to see the Aboriginal hand prints on the cave ceiling.

 We also climbed to the top of the Humps in the searing afternoon heat which was a mission as you can see from the girl's red faces!

. In the evening we also climbed to the top of Wave rock to watch the sunset, the heat finally subsiding.

The next day we were up at 6am to beat the heat and do a circular walk (the girls on their bikes) past Wave Rock, Hippo's yawn and lake Magic salt lake

. In the afternoon we chilled out at the local town pool and then back to lake Magic to watch another magical sunset.

The morning we left I took a few more photos of Wave rock and this was my favourite. It has the feel  of a pastel painting to it.