Margaret River, a place I would love to live if only we could afford it.

Today wasn’t our best day at all.  I think we must have all woken up with our cranky pants on and it just wasn’t going to really work for us.  We had to pack up from a standing start as we hadn’t bothered to do anything the night before, not even pump up the car tyres.  So why we tried to run around doing that the kids wanted to play with everything that we were trying to pack up.  Yep life is so much easier when we put it all away the night before and make this process really fast.  Hamish also had another reading session where he just wasn’t interested as he wanted to do the school session that required using Jason’s tools.  Whoops, so shouldn’t have mentioned that until we went to do it.

Eventually we got on the road and moved the whole 52km to our next destination which is a caravan park on a property just outside Margaret River.  It is a beautiful place in a nice and quiet setting and the kids loved seeing the sheep as we drove in.  Mind you Kayla called them cows!  Parking the van wasn’t so easy.  Whilst we didn’t have anything to line up with we just needed to be positioned right between the two trees so we could pull out the awning and Jason couldn’t hear my instructions.  Then we unhitched and realised we forgot to put the wood blocks under the jack.  Nothing major but it would mean we wouldn’t have to pump it up so high.  So we hitch on again and then unhitch, but then hitch on again as we decide to put another block underneath.   You get the picture.

Finally we were happy and were unhitched (for the last time) and setting up.  Golly gosh what a day it was going to be.  We could see another family just down from us.  After all the dramas we decided we should make the most of the day and headed into town for lunch.  Then it was back to the van to finish off school for the day and to make sure we didn’t miss the feeding of the goats.  Quite a few more vans rolled in and of course there was another family.  Hamish was instantly over there with them as they had boys around his age and of course Kayla made friends with their little girl. 

Late in the afternoon one of the farmers came around and gathered everyone who was interested in the feeding of the goats and pet sheep and off we all went.  They have three pet goats and the kids (especially Kayla) just loved them.  Then it was onto the sheep and of course that was as big of a hit.  It is certainly interesting hearing the different stories and way people farm.  These guys only have 6,000 acres so don’t have to mules their sheep as they can keep an eye on them.  After that it was a battle to draw Kayla and Hamish away from the other kids to come inside and have a shower and dinner, but eventually we got there.  I crashed that night as I felt a little unwell and obviously needed the rest as I fell asleep at the same time as the kids.

Kayla making some friends.

This one was her favourite and she followed her everywhere.

Hamish just loved it too.

Now it was time for the sheep.

Kayla making it reach for its food.

Another day and what a difference it could make.  I was feeling the same but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my day.  We managed to knock over two school sessions very easily with no dramas (oh what a difference from the day before), before heading out.  We had been given the tip to check out the mouth of the Murray River so we headed there first and were blown away.  On one side of the sand bank you had the peaceful calm of the Margaret River and the other side massive waves pounding the beach.  There were also rock pools that the kids loved checking out whilst Jason and I just took in the waves crashing off in the distance.

The photo just doesn't do it justice.

Exploring the rock pools.

Cool little coffee shop.

We enjoyed a coffee from the Kombi Coffee van which was really nice and took in the view some more before deciding that we have to come back here and put the Kayak in another day.  We had planned to visit a few wineries and stop at a brewery for lunch but that plan was changed the minute Kayla walked into the water in her tracksuit pants.  Yep of course we hadn’t packed spare clothes for them so we thought stuff it and let them play and get dirty and we will just go back to the van for lunch. 

More rock pools to check out.

Looking down onto the surf beach.

This is how we spend our time!

After lunch I we did a bit more school before venturing out again.  This time I had a bit more of a plan and had mapped out a route.  First stop was a winery that had been recommended to us.  I got the honours of doing the tasting and purchasing.  I would just like to note that I only sipped the wine and tipped out most of it (this is vital information for later).  Then we moved onto the Berry Farm where you can sample some wine and ciders but we opted instead to have some afternoon tea in their café as it had beautiful gardens overlooking a playground, so perfect for all of us.

Jason had some scones but I opted for a boysenberry pie which was totally delicious but so big I couldn’t finish it all whilst the kids got the treat of ice cream.  Back on the road we headed to the Voyager Estate as we were told it was just stunning to walk around and check out.  The entrance was beautiful and the grounds were just stunning.  You could walk around them forever.  Inside was just as beautiful but not really designed for kids so after taking them to the toilet I hot footed it outside with them before anything was broken and left Jason to do the tastings.

Yummy afternoon tea.

Kayla getting into her ice cream.

Enjoying the green, green grass.

Voyager Estate.

So now stocked up a bit with wine we decided to call it a day and head home so we could start dinner which luckily we had bought some red wine for.  So as Jason got a start on dinner, I did a bit more school with Hamish before his friends arrived home and I lost him!  We only had a little bit to do and he had done so well for the day, I couldn’t care less if we carried it over to the next day.  It isn’t every day that we get a caravan park with kids he could play with.  Kayla was straight over to them also and playing with their little girl and a caravan two up from us. 

Bit more of Voyager Estate

Last picture of Voyager Estate.

Just as I was finishing putting the school books away and about to check on the kids I stepped out of the van and twisted my ankle really bad, even managed to hear a crack which I didn’t think was good at all.  Luckily though when I stood up I could walk and wasn’t in tears of pain so I breathed a sigh of relief and hobbled over to the chair to put my feet up and Jason bought me out an icepack for it.  See now this is why it is important to mention that I had only had two sips of wine today!  I rolled my ankle on a tree root sticking up from under our annexe matting, not because I had too much to drink!

As much as I could have sat back and relaxed with my foot up, I did have to keep hopping up just to make sure the kids were okay and not doing something they shouldn’t.  Luckily they were both playing well and making themselves either at home in someone else’s site or playing on the lawn near the camp kitchen.  After a while my leg started to not hurt as much and walking became a bit easier, so hopefully it will be fine. 

Jason and I got talking to the travellers across from us and they showed me inside their van.  Theirs is longer than ours and they don’t have kids, so you can just imagine how much room they had and the size of their bathroom was impressive.  In comparison to us it was like the area of our shower, toilet, back cupboard and the bunk beds and the hallway between them all rolled into one room.  Our evening was spent chatting to the fellow travellers whilst listening to the kids have fun and laugh.  This really is a wonderful life and I am so glad that we are getting to experience it.  Yesterday morning’s experience was a distant memory.  Like everything, the good far outweighs the bad and you would be kidding yourself if you didn’t think you would have bad days on the road.

Wow, what a great night’s sleep.  Both kids were obviously totally knackered from all the play with the other kids and slept well.  As an added bonus my ankle didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would in the morning and I could easily walk so I was happy as there was no need to get it checked out.  It is just swollen to the size of a golf ball (okay slight exaggeration but it is swollen on the side).  We were really slow this morning as we had all slept in and were honestly not in any rush so started the day nice and slowly. 

After breakfast we tried to do more school with Hamish but as it required him to do more writing he really wasn’t keen at all so we decided to spread it out over the day.  I think it is too much too soon for Hamish to expect him to sound things out and attempt to write the word.  I think we need to focus first on getting him to learn all the letters in the alphabet and their sounds confidently before focusing on that, so I might have to chat to his teacher about that some more as he is really hating it and I would hate to scare him off it.

Once we had done a bit of school and packed up the car and some lunch for the day we headed out to the southern end of the Margaret River region.  We thought we would check out Molloy Island but found out that the only people allowed over there are people who own property, have been invited or are working over there.  So that counted us out so we turned around and headed straight through Augusta to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.  Here we decided to buy the extended packaged which gave us entry to three caves and the lighthouse.  It was $170 for the family so I was hoping it was worth it. 

As close to Molloy Island as we were going to get.

Checking out some artwork.

Very into the audio tour.

Unfortunately Kayla was too young to do the lighthouse tour so Jason and Hamish did the first tour and then I did one on my own straight after them.  Poor Kayla knew the boys had gone up there and just stood at the shut door for a while wondering why she couldn’t go in.  Luckily she is easily distracted and we played a few games and checked out where the Indian and Pacific Oceans met.  We had no idea that this occurred here so it was pretty cool to be able to say we had seen it. It was really interesting watching where the water from one ocean was flowing towards the shore and the water from the other ocean was flowing across it.  Apparently a few boats have had some worrying moments here as the water is really turbulent. 

Where the two oceans meet.

The boys on top of the lighthouse.

Before I knew it the boys were back and it was my turn.  I wasn’t sure how I would go with my ankle but luckily I had chosen to wear my sneakers so managed it fine with no issues.  Yes a little sore but I can’t expect a miraculous recovery.

Once I was back down I went to the gift store and met Jason and lined up to get a little bookmark for Kayla.  Well didn’t that take forever as I waited patiently and then just as it was my turn an international tourist just walked straight up in front of me and placed her pile of items on the counter.  I couldn’t believe it.  Was I invisible or something!  Of course I said nothing, half expecting the guy serving to say I was next, but obviously he hadn’t noticed me either, so I patiently waited for them to finish.  I really wish I could just speak up as I was starving and really didn’t’ want to wait another five minutes.

From there we headed back to Augusta and found a lovely spot on the river to enjoy lunch Jason had packed up for us all.  It was delicious and just what I needed and overlooking the water was just beautiful.  This place was so much more than we expected and the caravan park on the water just looked like the most ideal spot to stop and have a few relaxing days.  This place just had that wonderful vibe about it and if we had a few spare days I think we would be moving down there.

Nice view for lunch.

Jason serving up our lunch.

Trying to be mindful of time we headed straight to the Jewel Cave to try and make the next tour, and we just managed to get on it which was brilliant as I didn’t want to wait an hour for the next one.  This cave was huge and just as spectacular as the Ngilgi one we had done last week.  Each is different and unique in their own way and there were over 500 steps on this one so it certainly gave us a good workout getting down and around.  I was very impressed with Hamish as he walked it all without complaint though would get a little distracted easily and want to venture off or was attracted to the light switches (which thankfully he never turned on/off).

Inside Jewel cave.

Interesting formations.

Once the tour was over we headed straight to Hamelin Bay to see the stingrays up nice and close.  When we first got there I was so worried that there weren’t going to be any but eventually after walking along the beach for a while we managed to come across two of them.  They were pretty spectacular but I wasn’t willing to go in and touch them and if they came to close to me I simply stepped back.  Jason headed back to get the car and move it to a closer car parking area and while the kids and I stayed on the beach a few more of the stingrays came around and one came too close for my linking, especially as it was huge. 

Getting a bit close for my comfort.

Checking out the beach.

Nice big stingray.

Hamish having a play on the beach.

By now we were all tired from a big day out and decided we needed to get back to get our pork roast on the Weber and finish off the school lessons.  So back to the van park we went and thankfully we were the first family back so could easily knock over the school lessons and get dinner on.  Once the other families were back the kids were gone and constantly playing all around the park.  Mind you Kayla ventured to the out of bounds area and every time I tried to get her back she chucked a massive tantrum so I did the next best thing and sent Dad in to deal with her as he was the one who was meant to be watching her.  He was just busy chatting to everyone in the caravan park.

Two happy kids.

Just perfect.

Just when I think he couldn't get any closer.

Still it was another beautiful evening and I have high hopes that the kids will have another good night’s sleep with everything that they have done today and the fact that Kayla hasn’t had a daytime nap.  Well my fingers are crossed anyway.

Another beautiful morning to wake up to on the farm and it is going to be a shock next week when we have to do morning on air lessons again and get up and be ready by 7:30am.  At least it is only for a week and then we will have school holidays.  It was a typical start to the day.  A bit of school which was harder this morning as Hamish had already found out his friends were awake.  The owners of the property had a crutcher out so they were busy doing that and allowed the kids and adults to watch, so of course that was exciting.  Then Jason and I packed up the car and we headed out exploring.  Today we were doing the other two caves that were part of our package and then we would see how much time we had left in the day.

We had decided to do Lake Cave first but as we were a bit early for the tour we headed down to Giants Cave as that had a picnic area.  I had assumed it might be a free cave, but it isn’t and once I saw the price I wasn’t really keen to pay for another cave.  Thankfully the decision was made for me though as this is more of an adventure cave and so narrower parts and more ladders than steps.  So naturally kids under 6 could not go on it.  Sounded like a good enough reason to me.  So we just enjoyed our picnic there and watched other people (who obviously thought it was an easy one too) come and go.

 

We then made our way down to the Lake Cave and were very impressed with their interpretive room that they had all set up.  It is certainly worth leaving time to look through it all and they even had a mini cave set up and a little one you could crawl through.  I think adults are meant to be able to fit through it but there was no way I was going through that but was happy for Hamish to.  Once he went through the first time he just kept going and going until the tour started.  Kayla on the other hand wanted to but then kept changing her mind and backing off.

Enjoying these drives.

Looking down below.

We have to get down there (and back up).

Climbing through the fake cave.

This cave has a viewing platform overlooking the cave with three big round glass parts you can stand on.  I thought that would be a bit scary but it wasn’t as they weren’t exactly clean and with the sun where it was you couldn’t really see down easily.  You looked down into this massive hole and see all the stairs leading down and you just know this isn’t going to be easy.  Obviously going down in great, but coming back up is the hard part.  It has over 300 stairs so that is 300 going down and 300 coming back!  Is it worth it, most definitely, it is beautiful and it would have to be one of the only caves we have seen with water still in it and also a hanging stalactite formation where a piece of old cave floor is suspended 15cm above the water line.

Looking back to the lookout deck.

Family photo before we started going down.

Step by step we got there.

So pretty.

This was amazing to see.

Again the use of colours and reflections makes for some impressive viewing.  Then it was time to head out, except we couldn’t get out as the gate in was locked and we couldn’t open it.  So back down those 20 odd steps we went.  We had told the people behind us and assumed they had gone to ask the tour guide but no, they just stood there at the bottom.  By the time we got back down she had caught up and realised and there was a red button at the bottom of the stairs that needed to be pressed to let us out.  So up we went again and this time we got out.  Lucky as Hamish was getting a little worried we would be stuck in there forever and die! 

Looking back from the end of the cave.

Now the hard part, the climb out.  Whilst I am grateful Hamish is walking more, he seems to be finding he has a lot of energy for steps and would just go on ahead and we would have to call for him to stop and wait and that we needed a rest.  So by the time we got up to him (which really was only like 20 steps ahead) he would be well rested and say lets go.  Honestly kid do we look fit?  We were also carrying Kayla too as whilst she wanted to walk the steps, she did make it very slow and by the end she was over it and gave me a cheeky smile from over Dad’s shoulder!  Lucky thing. 

Even half way up we thought we would get a decent break as Hamish opened the chain area and said he had to hold it for the others.  Yay, we knew that was going to take a while, which it did but after waiting forever for one other young couple to come through he gave up and shut it again and off we headed.  We eventually made it out and headed off to Mammoth caves, that was the last one of our package.  This one is self-guided so we didn’t have to rush to meet a time and so once we arrived we utilised their picnic tables and enjoyed some lunch before making our way into the cave.

Being self-guided was great as we could take our time or go as fast as we wanted.  You also didn’t have to worry about the kids making noises and could skip parts of the audio tour that we were now hearing for the third time in three days.  You understand why they do it as some people just opt to do one cave only so they don’t want them to miss out.  I was excited when I saw this one’s entrance was at ground level, but soon learnt that didn’t mean we were facing another huge amount of steps again.  Now the name makes it pretty obvious that this one is known for its size.  The chamber was huge and we walked underneath Caves Road, came out the other side (and up a million stairs), walked back across the road and down a million stairs back to the car park.

Yay no stairs.

The kids loved it.

Massive cave.

Still going.

I am so glad we bought the package to see all of them.  They were all unique in their own way and definitely worth seeing if you have the time.  So what does one do after all that walking and step climbing - rewards themselves with a stop at a winery.  Today’s choice was Cape Mentelle as Jason had met one of the workers there playing tennis in Busselton and then we ran into him again at the Yallingup Maze.  This winery is beautiful and they even do movies on the lawn most nights of the week.  I thought that sounded exciting and something cool to do but when I looked at the schedule there wasn’t really any kid friendly movies showing on the next two nights so guess we will be skipping that one.

I stayed outside with the kids whilst Jason did the tasting.  We found a seat swing overlooking a dry creek and spent our time swinging back and forth on that.  I think I even managed to accidently whack each of the kids with it at different times.  Jason then came out and joined us with two wines in tow.  It is nice to see us building up our stock levels in preparation for… well in general for when we leave this region as really we don’t have that many bottles.

By now it was getting a bit late in the afternoon and we were getting tired so we headed back into Margaret River, stopped in at the bakery to get a bread stick to compliment the dukkah and wine, then the chemist for something for my sore ear and bank to replenish the money spent!  Finally it was time to head back out to the caravan park.  I am so grateful we chose to stay at this one and the 11km out of town hasn’t been a hassle at all.  It is peaceful and everyone is so friendly and easy to talk to.  The kids also love it as dogs are allowed so Kayla just wanders from caravan to caravan to talk to the dogs.

I got a bit cranky and frustrated doing a school session with Hamish so Jason came and took over.  I think I am just exhausted from a few big days and should have gotten Jason to do rather than try and do it myself.  One day I will learn.  Still we had a great afternoon chatting to other travellers and talking to a Pommy couple who were tenting it for their first time.  Yep I remember doing that and of course Kayla was right there with them as they had a dog. 

So our last day in the Margaret River was a nice and easy one.  We just took it slowly, stopping in at the coffee shop down the road for some morning tea.  There just also happen to be a chocolate shop and an olive shop beside it so a double bonus.  Once we had enjoyed our coffees which were very delicious we headed off to the Margaret River mouth to take the kids for a swim and the kayak out for a paddle.  It was another glorious day and it was so nice spending it down by the water.  We took turns paddling up the river a bit and it would have been interesting going further but the kids weren’t keen and that is fair enough.

Great coffee.

It was so nice just sitting back and enjoying the view and watching Jason and Hamish looking at all the different fish they could see whilst Kayla was right beside me playing with the sunshade zip.  After a while it was time to pack the kayak back up and we went and explored the rock pools a bit more before heading off to the Colonial Brewery for a late lunch.  Jason got us a tasting sample of their beers and the first few were really nice but then the last few, the heavier beers weren’t to my liking but I don’t think I have ever really liked a heavy beer.  We really wish we had come here the night before as the people next to us had recommended it to us as they came here on Friday night when they do $10 pizzas. 

Three on the kayak.

Father and son time.

Kayla playing with the zip.

Hamish pulling Jason around.

We tried one of their pizzas and it was delicious and was gone before we knew it.  The setting is just perfect for families as there is a large open lawn area and a big playground to the left so the kids are off and only come back to have a drink and something to eat.  This place is definitely worth a visit if you are ever in the area.  From there we returned to the caravan as now the process of cleaning out the car and preparing for our move on the next day starts.  I cleaned out all the junk and rubbish from the car and found a million coins in the back of Hamish’s car seat.  Jason took off the old outdated QLD rego sticker and put on our WA National Parks pass so we are finally displaying that correctly.  He also pumped back up the tyres in the car too, as that one is a bit of a noisy job so you really don’t want to be doing it at 8am the next morning when people are trying to sleep.

Enjoying are tasting beers.

 

It was an easy night and a dinner of leftovers.  We know we have to move on but it is going to be so hard as we really have enjoyed our time down here, but we must move on.