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.

DAYS 17 AND 18 - ROCKS CAVES AND SEA

Yesterday we drove to the Pinnacles about 16kms from here. The pinnacles are limestone formations in Nambung national park which take on shapes of their own as the sun's rays strike them from different angles. The girls would say "that one looks like a rabbit" or "that one looks like a monster!" Ayla had been saying for the last few days she wanted to see the desert and this area of sand and dunes looked very desert like so she was pleased as they both ran around the rock formations.

Then today we drove to Stockyard Gully National Park where our car did it's first bit of 4 wheel driving along deep sandy tracks to get to a stunning area of gully's and subterranean caves which were cool and refreshing to walk through.

To finish the day off and to wash the dust off us from the dirt roads we sped along, we stopped at the small town of Green Head where we found this secluded beach with a great area for the kids to paddle.

DAY 16 - THE DRIVE TO CERVANTES

Here we are on the move to Cervantes from Willowbrook farm. Headwind the whole way and I could see the fuel gauge dropping rapidly. Lovely quiet campsite here in Cervantes called Pinnacles Caravan Park where we enjoyed pizza cooked in our oven on our first night here. The girls are slowly adjusting to life on the road although they often talk about Nelson and their friends and say how much they miss them all. Ayla really misses her best friend Esme and Kyra misses Pia, Rosie and Walter.  We haven't met too many children for them to play with but that will soon change as the school holidays are coming up.

DAY 16 - SAD GOODBYE TO WILLOWBROOK FARM

Well we've now sadly left Willowbrook farm and moved further north away from Perth to the small lobster town of Cervantes by the sea. The surrounding landscape is becoming drier and starting to feel more deserted. Here's a selection of photos from the farm.

                                      

DAY 15 - STEFFI'S OFFICE

Luckily for us Steffi can work from anywhere doing architectural drawings, so to keep the money coming in we had to design an office for her in the caravan. It had to be away from the kids and have enough space to comfortably work in but could also be packed away quickly when need be. So for 2 days we scratched our heads and just couldn't work out where to put it but then one time when the bed was up it dawned on me to attach a desk to the underside of the bed that could be folded up and down. So here it is with step by step demonstrations.
Design copyright - David Cox 2014!

DAY 12 - DOWN BY THE MAGICAL MOORE RIVER

This afternoon we went to a little spot by the Moore river that only the locals know. Luckily the caravan park owners, Bill and Lil let us in on the secret. What a beautiful place and with a very long rope swing to add to the fun. Even Kyra had a go! Then after this we did a home schooling project on cleaning up the rubbish we could find until the place looked back to it's magical best. Note the disapproving looks on the girls faces for the littering lout's rubbish. Tomorrow is a long drive to Perth and back with the girls whilst Steffi works, to register the car and caravan before we get a $100 fine. You only get 14 days to do this. Not sure why you can't do this online?

DAY 11 - DAY TRIP TO THE BEACH

Yesterday was our day off and Stef didn't touch any of her architectural drawings all day. First we started off with scones, cream and jam which is provided free every Sunday morning by our lovely hosts Bill and Lil who run Willow Brook caravan park. Then to the beach at the little seaside town of Guilderton where a friendly pelican had a nosey at the girls. Ayla asked the pelican in a very serious voice if she could have a ride on his back which brought a few smiles to the people around us! Back to the farm to feed the animals and even have a ride on the farm quad bike with Auntie Lil as she rounded up the animals after the feeding.

DAY 11 - INSIDE OUR NEW HOME

Well for those of you wondering how the caravan looks on the inside here are some photos to satisfy your curiosity. Obviously it normally doesn't look this tidy but I had to clean up for the photos! It took a few days to adjust to being in a confined environment but now it seems quite spacious plus with Australia's glorious weather we are outside most of the time.