While staying at Coronation Beach Noah had a night of vomiting so the next morning it was decided that I should take the Ava and Maya out for the day to try to reduce the chance of them catching whatever it was Noah had.

So I decided that perhaps we should go meet a Prince. A real, fair dinkum Prince. Ava was delighted with this idea as I think she hoped she may see a real “Barbie Princess” and potentially a mermaid as well! (It did all sound a bit far fetched)

So we headed off inland heading for the “Principality of Hutt River”. A real independent state since about 1970 that has its own passports recognised by other countries and Australia (I think reluctantly!), has its own currency and has its own stamps and the list goes on! It has even been officially at war with Australia for 2 days

After driving for an hour or so we arrived in the capital of Nain. The first thing we saw was a giant rock statue of Prince Leonard 1 of Hutts head. A bit like I imagine the Sphinx in Egypt, but a tad smaller? There was a Church, a post office, Govt offices, Historical society etc. Quite fascinating. But if you looked past all the buildings and rolls Royce and flags etc, all you could see was a big grain farm.

After a bit of a look around we found Prince Leonard in the post office and we brought a postcard and some currency for Noah. The Prince was a in his late 80’s and of very sharp mind and after talking to him for a bit, I discovered he had started out as a farmer like me, (that’s as far as the similarities went! He would be doing 9 figure multiplication sums for fun!) but the Aussie Govt. put quotas on the amount of grain he could sell. He had planted way more and argued with Govt. about this and to cut a long story very short, he found a loophole in the constitution and he turned his property into an independent state.  

He also studies subatomic physics. He was contracted to NASA and I was told by others that he was critical in the mission to land men on the moon!

So after bidding farewell to the Prince we went on our way back thought the scrub to home, at Coronation Beach.

You might be wondering if I am considering turning our farm into an independent state and becoming Prince Steve 1 and have my Princess Bec 1?? Not a chance! haha

And you might also be wondering if Ava was happy with meeting the Prince? I don’t think she believes me that we actually met a Prince. In her eyes we met an old farmer!!!!

After a great Easter at Sandy Cape, we thought we should top up water and batteries again. We are becoming a bit more educated these days and have learnt to fill up a 20 litre water container whenever we can, which helps when Bec has 30 minute showers using the outside shower and our precious tank water. (She may argue this point in a later blog and unravel the exaggeration!!) I have been suggesting to Bec that maybe she could shave her head like me to save water on her “upkeep”.

(Have I mentioned how I have now shaved my head? Not deliberate mind you! Noah and I have had numerous bonding moments in our lives thus far cutting each others hair. He uses the clippers on my head and then I do his. Well in Perth it was decided a father son moment was needed so we got the clippers out and decided to go a bit shorter than normal. Noah gave me a number 3 which was good and I gave him the same treatment. My lessons learnt so far in these bonding moments is to get Mum  to check the 5 year olds job. So after we had finished I asked Bec if Noah had missed any bits. She pointed out a couple of spots at the back of my head that were a bit scruffy. Noah meanwhile had got sidetracked so I went to finish the bits myself. I was actually quite proud of finding the scruffy bits first shot with the few quicks strokes. It was after a few swipes of the clippers that I realised the plastic cover was now not on the clippers and I had a few totally bald stripes across the back of my head. Bec cried……from all the laughing when I showed her!)

Anyway…. we decided to head to the safety and luxury of a quality “brand name” caravan park to rejuvenate our (caravan) battery and top up on water and give the kids some good playground action and try out some “glamping”. What we actually discovered is that there is a couple of classes of camping and then there is “glamping” as well. (Glamping according to Wikipedia(Glamorous camping) is a growing a global phenomenon that combines camping with the luxury and amenities….etc.etc).  The other bit that my dictionary would add is that it includes a variety of levels of snobbery.

But what we actually discovered in our 2 nights staying in Geraldton is this.

1.Geraldton is probably not really a place you would do “Glamping!

2. The people spending there school holidays camping don’t want to associate with “travellers” and are quite snobbish at times

3. When nature calls and you wander to the loo for a pitstop, you may disturb a burglar poking their nose into everyones sites seeing what they can collect. (Next morning it was discovered that our neighbours had 2 sets of car keys stolen, another car had a window broken and handbag stolen and other minor things on our otherside!!

4. Not all “Brand name” parks have good facilities. We were expecting pools, jumping pillows, holiday programs, petting zoos etc. etc. All the kids got to play on was a couple of tractor tyres half buried in the sand, a swing that had “d” shackles digging into the kids hips ready to take a chunk out of an unsuspecting kid and an old monkey bars same as what I grew up on at primary school all those years ago!

So after our attempt at “Glamping” for $46/night we went 25kms out of town to a beach camp called Coronation Beach and set up camp for a couple of nights at $14/night. It even included a playground better than a lot of caravan parks, the cleanest drop dunnies in the country, our own little shed called “The Hilton” and showers (without water mind you) and ocean views! What could be better?

Noah had a vomiting bug and ended up in hospital which Part 2 will cover, but it was here that we caught our first fish. Noah claimed it because Bec kindly handed the rod to him when it was mentioned that it had a fish on it. (Aren’t Mums good!) I also caught another random reef fish we named “Nemo” as I wasn’t really close to a reef. (I call any fish I cant recognise a “reef” fish if it has big fangs and sharp prickly fins)

I need to mention the memorial in Geraldton to the navy ship “HMAS Sydney II” that was sunk in battle in 1941 taking 645 lives with it. It was very moving (despite having 3 kids  running amuck around it). There was also a statue called the “The waiting woman” looking out to sea looking for her loved ones to come back. (The boat was only found in 2008)

It is just amazing how many people stop and talk to us and our kids. Mostly people who have grand kids and are missing them, or those who have travelled with kids before, but people on the road (especially at free camps or National Parks) are mostly very genuine and interested in a chat. We have met some really great people.

Sandy Cape was a great spot, again we were a dune away from the beach and a short drive into town and it only cost $15 a night! We really weren’t sure if we would get a site as it was going into Easter and it’s a very popular spot. The overflow caravan park at the footy oval was the next option and as it was Easter and very hard to find a spot any where we had to stay for the 4 nights so we really wanted to get into Sandy Cape! As we pulled up to the road to access Sandy Cape, we saw the “full” sign and were feeling quite nervous about what to do. But as we were sitting there a car was driving out and stopped to let us know the people next to them had just packed up and left so we should find a spot! So we drove through the “full” sign and ended up getting the best site there!! Praise the Lord as finding a spot was really wishful thinking but the good Lord provided yet again  Why do we doubt when He has it all in control?

It was such a beautiful place and we really enjoyed ourselves there. We had 2 great neighbours and one of them had travelled 3 years ago with her 2 daughters and gave us heaps of tips on places to go with kids. They also had a little dog called Buddy and my kids instantly fell in love with this little creature and walked him and wrote him letters!! The owners even wrote a letter back on behalf of Buddy and tied it to his collar to bring over to the kids, signed with a woof and paw prints. The kids thought this was the best thing ever and still talk about it!
One of the best things about Sandy Cape was the sunsets, just gorgeous! There was also a really good walk to a look out and a nice sandy area for the kids to play in the waves. There was also a tiny little beach around some rocks that Ava loved and wanted to stay at all day. Easter Sunday was really busy there and there were cars all lined up along the beach and people everywhere! The kids had an Easter egg hunt up on top of a sand dune, and I’m not sure they’ll get a better place to hunt eggs again!

We loved Lancelin. Caravan park seemed old and a bit eerie (plus the town stunk of seaweed) when we first arrived but the place really grew on us (What is the saying, don’t judge a book by it’s cover?). It was a short stroll over the sand dune to the beach and we saw dolphins playing and people fishing. Ava’s favourite things at the moment are dolphins and mermaids and she is convinced she will ride a dolphin this trip, so it was with much excitement we watched for dolphins. It wasn’t really a swimming beach but kids had a lot of fun playing in the sand and sand dunes.

It is also the place where we decided to give Maya back her dummies. Yes that’s right, I gave in! After 2 weeks of very little sleep with Miss May not believing sleep is the thing to do, day or night, we gave her 2 dummies and hey presto we have a sleeping baby! So back to a day sleep and sleeping much better at nights, (Thanks Mum for the recommendation to give them back to her!!) and a MUCH happier May May!

We also felt like we got the caravan sorted out and Noah got into some school work which was good, so this travlling thing with kids might be getting better. Steve also enjoyed driving in the sand dunes here and even had to tow a guy in a car out of the sand! There were awesome sand dunes for the kids to run and jump on, and beautiful views from the top.

I would love to say I really enjoyed Perth but it was really a time of trying to get this new way of life sorted and adjusting to life on the road. We stayed at Burns Beach, which was really lovely. And there was a great park over the road and an amazing walking track the kids loved riding their bikes on. We also went into the city of Perth for a day (way too hectic for Noah) and had a very scenic drive back to the caravan along the beautiful coast.

We visited a Church on Palm Sunday which was great. It obviously had an impact on Maya as she still goes around saying “Hosanna Hosanna, Jesus riding on a horsey”  Pretty cute. Maya’s not sleeping well and is very difficult in the day due to being so tired, which also means I am very difficult as we are all soooooo tired!

So the plan was to do one crazy 24 hours. Get as far as we could, and then relax.
Luckily we are pretty flexible when it comes to plans! Kids have a way to destroy many things, and one of these is well thought through plans (and maybe not well thought through plans. haha!). One of the things we didn’t consider was the time difference once we crossed into South Australia and beyond. That was the first half hour we lost. (At the time I thought this was a good thing as it gave extra driving time) Then there was day light saving that changed on the first night. That was the next hour we (lost?). Then there was the crossing into Western Australia that brought us another one and a half hours different to home. Lets just add these up. .5+1+1.5=3hrs

So what did this really mean? Well I think that in Mayas head, she thought that waking up at 4am (7am a few mornings earlier!) was ok. No amount of reasoning, convincing, encouragement or grumpiness could convince a 1 year old that the time was now 4am, not 7am as her body clock was telling her. (I need to remember that she cant do sums yet!! But on a lighter note she can now count to 11. She make us proud that girl….sometimes!!)

Noah and Ava did a “little” better and Bec and I were dog tired and just wanted to SLEEP!!

So I guess what I am getting at is that we were up early each morning, so the logical thing to do was to start driving.

After our first night at Iron Knob in SA, we drove into Ceduna at about 4pm. With great plans of free camping a lot of the way, and using our new highly recommended app “Wikicamps” and the free campers handbook “Camps 7”, we pulled into a 5 star rated campsite that was just perfect. Calm water, turquoise in colour and all by ourselves. Oh, and did I mention 3-5 metre cliffs into that prefect water? Bec thought it wasn’t really safe for 3 kids so we figured we could just go to the caravan parks in Ceduna for the night. Another plan gone down the gurgler and a new plan formulated. As I mentioned earlier, we are pretty happy to be flexible with plans, so it was into the town we went. We found all the caravan parks had no vacancy and were full. Another plan up in flames. Next plan was to fuel up and get some food for the hungry, tired, over it, grumpy kids in the back seat. Normally our kids enjoy some hot chips and unhealthy treats, but things on the Nullabour can be diferent. The food and coffee is not quite the same as at home. Even the kids turned their noses up at the fatty, oily feast in front of them!! But I do have to give credit to the hearts of the staff in the roadhouse. They took pity on us and turned the news off and put on ABC kids for our kids. Our kids loved this little treat and lay sprawled out on the ground in dining room watching tv. Small things are the best sometimes.

After a regroup and a slight spring in our step we hit the road with the kids stuffing their faces with dry salada biscuits! Our new plan was to stop in the first free camp we found and sleep, but on arrival to this new destination, we discovered it too was almost as full as a caravan park and we thought it best that we find somewhere a bit more private, as we imagined the kids would be up early the next morning and we didn’t expect the kids to have the most settled night, so it was back onto the road again! Much to Bec’s dismay we found a dodgy little track off into the scrub and set up a quick camp a kilometre or so off the main road. We had a little fire and the kids cooked marshmallows and this more than made up for all the little things that had not gone to plan for the day. Bec was convinced we were going to get kicked off our little campsite in the middle of the night, and that it was highly likely that dingoes would surround us or a herd of wild animals would run though the caravan on the way to their watering hole in the middle of the night, but it was all ok. In fact, it was quite the opposite, eerily quiet all night.

The next day was an early start as expected, so we gave the kids a kick of the soccerball as soon as there was some resemblance of daylight and a morning jog had by all (200metres anyway up the track!). Then off to Fowlers Bay for breakfast. It was perfect eating our breakfast overlooking the bay and the kids gave a little park a good workout before we tackled the massive sand dunes that were starting to encroach on the town. We all had a great time jumping and running up and down the hills. We got to see amazing scenery of the Great Australian Bight today as well.

We had made new plans to get to a campsite earlier in the day and give the kids time to let off some steam, so after a good days drive we pulled in at the last free camp before the Western Australian border and the kids rode and rode and rode their bikes.

After another early start we arrived at the Western Australian border at about 6.30am. They searched every nook and cranny for fruit and vegetables and honey. We had used most of this stuff up so only had to hand in a little fruit and honey. (My personal highlight of this search was Bec offering to hand in a container of “fresh dates”. The guy doing the search just laughed at us and told us that our “fresh dates were definitely not fresh!) They even washed the caravan for us which I thought was very nice, as it had been covered in mud from the drive to Fowlers Bay. We stopped just past the border for breakfast at Eucla. A little settlement with an old telegraph station near the beach. The kids enjoyed exploring this while eating our breakfast here. We drove on the straightest stretch of road in Australia. 146.6km without a bend!

We had our first breakdown today. With the extra mirror attached to the drivers mirror to see past the caravan, it created extra wind drag. Enough that when ever we passed an oncoming truck, the mirror would swing into the side window and I would have to wind down the window to push it back into its normal position. Not a terribly big breakdown, but quite annoying as there are lots of oncoming trucks! On top of that we discovered as unwritten law something along the lines of “You must wave to EVERY oncoming caravan driver, and the front seat passengers MUST wave to each other every time as well”. Some of the waves become quite animated due to a lack of other things to do. If you think about it, I didn’t need to steer for 1.5 hours, cruise control was on, so no accelerating either. So looking back, between waving to every third vehicle and winding down my window to fix the mirror every 52 seconds was probably a blessing and kept me from watching dvds in the back seat as I drove! Another early stop in a free camp and lots of riding bikes.

Our next and last day of driving was and even earlier start. (Thanks again to the big change in times!) We had driven over 200 kms before 8am, but this meant we arrived soon after lunch at Kalgoorlie in desperate need of washing, water and “fresh” food, we were able to set up and have a relax on the first small patch of green grass we had seen since leaving home.

2840kms so far.

OK what were we thinking? Leaving at 9 PM Friday night last day of school term with 3 very over excited and tired children! Steve’s idea, can I blame him? (it ended up being a brilliant plan by the way) In less than 24 hours we had travelled over 1200 kilometres. Now that is impressive if I do say so myself. What champion children we have, what an amazing husband I have driving that far! (yes I am writing this almost 2 weeks later so the painful times have lost some of their shine as I can tell you now at the time it was tough, especially when all 3 kids were screaming in the back seat, or when Noah vomited everywhere, or when the girls were crying for their cat Tilly, or when …)

Anyway, we ended up having 5 nights of bush camping and travelling long k’s each day and eventually made it across the country to Kalgoorlie just before all the rain came and flooded a lot of the areas we had just camped in!(Bec)

First things first.

Why on earth would a family with the oldest child just started Prep (Who by the way is diagnosed with “SPD” (Sensory Processing Disorder)), and the youngest, who is 1 and is our little dynamo destructor and another one in the middle want to uproot, move into a little caravan and travel this great country?

Perhaps it comes from bad choices? Perhaps it comes from a 10 year goal we set 2 years ago to travel for 3-6 months and we got lucky? Perhaps it comes from plain craziness and foolishness? Or maybe, just maybe divine intervention has happened, caught our attention. A chain of events have happened that have led us down this path. We firmly believe in the last option. So lets see some of the Creators handiwork!
 
Straight away Steve wanted a camper trailer, Bec wanted a nice new caravan with all the bells and whistles and the kids had no idea!! After much deliberation we purchased a 14 year old off road caravan that seemed to fit our needs and budget (kind of anyway). We already had the Prado to tow it with so after school on the last day of term 1 2014 we headed off……..

(Steve)