McCulloch Family Giant Leap: Basing ourselves in Bunbury

We love the excitement of moving on day. Well not so much the packing up, driving and unpacking, but the anticipation of going somewhere new to discover. This day was made easier by the fact that we had packed everything up the night before. So we just did Hamish’s on-air lesson and then we were off and on the road at about 9am. Having not really moved for a week you do start to second guess if you have done everything right so you double check. Jack Absalom said on his DVD (from the 80’s!) that you should pull over after 20km just to double check everything. I think this is great advice really but finding somewhere to pull in isn’t always that easy. We had everything right though.

As it was only 101km from one caravan park to another we were at our new destination in no time and arrived just after 10am so still had so much of the day left. Mind you, by the time we set up and had morning tea it was getting closer to lunch time. The park was pretty empty and they stuck us all the way down the back by ourselves which we love. No need to worry about the kids and we could just drive through another site onto ours (the owner recommended it). I mean why reverse when you don’t have to.

One thing we are discovering down this way is the free camps are far and few between and by free I mean free, not camping areas that charge $10 per adult and a bit for kids. Some of them come to $30 a night for us and we get no power or water and they are a drive out of town. So yes great for a relaxing weekend or to escape the crowds but for sightseeing it is a bit hard. They do look stunning though in the pictures. Still we managed to score a bargain at this caravan park as they still had a special going of five nights for only $150 (kids included). Yes it is close to the highway, but honestly that noise doesn’t worry me and didn’t disturb my sleep.

I am really proud of how Jason and I are working well as a team to get our van set up and how the kids are now use to it and just entertain themselves for the short period of time. So it was time to head out and we had no idea where to go so just turned left when we exited the caravan park. Eventually I found where the Information Centre was located so we started to head that way which took us along the beachfront. We didn’t quite make it straight to the Information Centre as we came across a little pub that had some lunch specials advertised so we called in there for lunch.

Little miss cheeky wearing her Dad's shorts.

I got chatting to a lovely couple at the bar and they informed me that today was Bunbury’s big race day and that we should go. Oh and if we saw lots of drunk people later to not hold it against Bunbury as that is not normal (then they laughed and said well maybe it is). This totally threw me out as I thought it was Thursday and so I started to double guess myself as to what day it was, but no it was Thursday so all was good. It was tempting to go and check it out but we decided against it as we didn’t really have the clothes for it and wanted to do the Dolphin Discovery Centre.

After lunch we continued along the road towards the Information centre. There are some nice park areas so we will have to come back for a picnic dinner one night and watch the sunset over the water again. We found the Information Centre but finding a park for it wasn’t so easy. They had a carpark which could hold a whole 4 cars but all four spots were taken up by people dropping family off at the bus station which was right next door. How do we know this, well they all walked past our car with their bags whilst staring at our licence plates. Yes people we are from Queensland and no we aren’t going to run you over but could you please move a bit faster! Eventually we gave up on trying to find a park and I just ran in and grabbed every brochure that I thought was relevant.

So off to the Dolphin Discovery Centre we headed, but we did not go in. The lady at the counter recommended coming back at 8am for the best chance of seeing dolphins. I was grateful for her honesty and whilst I know they can’t guarantee we will see any (as they are wild), I am glad she advised us on when our best chance was. Hmm so what to do next! Well Jason had read about the Bunbury Farmers Market which is the best place to buy fruit and vegetables so off we went. We were expecting something like the Adelaide markets. It wasn’t, but I wasn’t disappointed. They had a great display of fruit and vegetables that was all well priced and in immaculate condition. It was also very cheap if bulk buying but really I can’t fit in a whole kilo of limes!

They also have more than fruit and vegetables with meat, bread, dips, nibbles and flowers etc. It is all one big wide aisle that just winds round and round. So it is all one way like Ikea but without the pain. We even treated ourselves to a small bunch of flowers to brighten up the caravan as the kids really wanted some and I couldn’t resist. Honestly a great place to do your shopping in my opinion and I think we will most likely be back to stock up before we leave.

A great layout.

So much choice.

This place smelt so nice as I walked past.

Our little bunch of flowers for the caravan.

From there we returned to the caravan to make the most of the park’s facilities. We played mini golf (Jason won again but only by 1) and then went for a swim and finally the kids and Jason had a little hit of tennis. Oh this is the life and it is great to have so much time to spend as a family. We were all tired by the end of the day and slept so well - it was brilliant!

A great way to end the day.

It was so nice to wake up to a slow paced morning and we even treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast but then remembered we wanted to be at the dolphin centre by 8am so chowed it down as fast as we could. We didn’t arrive at the Dolphin Discovery Centre until after 8:30am but were informed that for the entry price we can come back another two times to try our luck at seeing the dolphins. It is a bargain when you consider that for the $25 family entrance fee it equates to less than $10 a visit. So off we headed into the centre to check out the displays and to listen out for the bell that they sound if dolphins swim close to the shore.

It isn’t a huge centre at all but they have a touch tank that the kids loved and a few aquariums. We had heaps of fun learning about it all and I now have a new found respect for octopus and understand why they play a smart villain in some movies. I also learnt that they are dolphins’ favourite food and that they love to play with them and throw them up in the air. After a while we headed to the outside playground and before we knew it a few dolphins had swum back close to shore.

Up close and personal.

The kids were keen.

Such wonderful creatures.

It was cool seeing them up close again, especially as there was a mother and her baby. Before long we headed back from the beach for some morning tea and to wait for the octopus feeding. It was certainly worth the wait that is for sure as they sprayed water everywhere and they explained how they have to tape down the lid of the aquarium as they will escape. The bigger one was fed a prawn inside a jar as she could get the lid off it in around 20 minutes. She also had a kids toy where you match the shapes to put them inside the ball. Apparently every night they put all the pieces back in and every night she pulls them back out again. This is to stop her getting bored!

Hamish checking out the fish.

You can see the octopus has taken the jar with the food in it.

The kids enjoying the touch tank.

Before we knew it we had to head off to return to the van to shut everything up and have some lunch. We did a bit of school and then headed off to find some gnomes to leave at Gnomesville when we visit. I had dreams of finding these cool ones that would be like travellers to reflect us, however just finding a gnome was not as easy as I thought. Eventually I found two in Bunnings and whilst they didn’t fully reflect us I wasn’t going to be fussy at this point as the price tag wasn’t ideal either! Still they are soccer ones and I am determined to paint them like the kids old soccer uniforms.

From there we headed out to do the tourist drive. I can’t say we took a lot of photos as we only joined it from where we left off the day before and I think we covered the best bits the first day. The cloud cover wasn’t really helping either as the cyclone that is hitting the coast up north is starting to impact our weather down here and I believe there is a lot of rain coming our way soon. As long as it is rain and no cyclonic winds I will be okay. I really don’t want to experience a cyclone in our caravan, but I guess the one good thing is that it is on wheels so we can relocate if need be.

One of the beaches in the National Park.

Certainly get your exercise walking down there.

We drove out and checked out the National Park camp. It is a peaceful area but a fair way out of town and the mosquito warning signs really didn’t make me want to go out and camp there. Still at least we had a lovely drive of which Kayla slept the entire time and we paid for it when trying to get her to sleep. At least we all slept well except for a couple of heavy showers of rain during the night that woke Jason and I, otherwise the kids slept through it all.

Our plans for the day were up in the air as we weren’t sure what the weather was doing as a result of the cyclone. We thought we might as well do a session of school. That ended up being a bad idea as Hamish wasn’t in the mood and wasn’t willing to try. Eventually we got there though and decided we should head out and catch a movie. We ended up seeing Big Hero 6 which was quite good, mind you Kayla wasn’t into it closer to the end and kept walking around and around and so I took her out for a while and we came back in closer to the end.

Looking back out over the port.

Looking out from on top of the tower.

Our two cheeky monkeys

After that we returned to the van for lunch before checking the weather forecast and deciding to head out to Ferguson Valley. Instead of doing it all in one day we broke it down into two and today’s focus was to see the Moody Cow Brewery, large Jarrah tree, Gnomesville and the Bonking Frogs Winery. The drive in the countryside was just stunning and I can imagine after the winter rain it would be even more beautiful. The Moody Cow had a great vibe and we enjoyed an afternoon drink whilst watching the kids play on the lawn below. It would have been a great place to stop for lunch as there was a guy there singing and playing a guitar. We did have a laugh as we left as Kayla was grumpy as someone (her parents) had eaten her chips (hey we thought she didn’t want any more). So we had our own little moody cow and proceeded to take a photo of her near the Moody Cow sign!

Enjoying our beers.

She didn't want to stand where we asked her too.

From there we checked out the tallest Jarrah tree which was pretty impressive as it is believed to be nearly 300 years old before making our way to Gnomesville. This is just an area beside the road that has a large amount of gnomes. We had even done up our own two to leave behind and I challenge any of our family and friends who visit after us to try and find them and send us a picture. Hamish was actually quite attached to his gnome and was sad to leave it there but I assured him that he was happy and with his family. Just deciding on where to leave them took us forever as the area was way bigger than we expected.

The biggest Jarrah tree in the area.

The kids with their gnomes.

They are off to find a new home.

Such a hard choice.

The perfect spot for them.

It was getting late in the afternoon so we needed to make our way home but we were taking a different route to see a new area. We stopped in Donnybrook as there was a big massive playground so we let the kids out for a run. Driving through that area was really pretty and there were heaps of orchards with pears and apples. It really reminded me of the Stanthorpe area, except warmer. It would have been great to drive through a little earlier where we could have stopped at some of the roadside stalls to pick up some fresh fruit and vegetables. Still where we are staying for Easter is less than 70km away and much the same so that is exciting.

Reminded me of Stanthorpe.

Check out this awesome playground.

If only I could fit to have a go.

She loves swings.

By the time we got back to the caravan it was nearly dinner time so I quickly whipped up an easy dinner whilst Jason bathed the kids. Tonight Kayla will crash as she hasn’t had a daytime nap – hard to believe with an afternoon in the car but I think all the cow spotting kept her awake. She gets very vocal when she spots an animal and won’t stop unless you acknowledge her. So cute but when it is km after km of farms with cattle you just start to automatically respond. We love exploring new places and tomorrow we will go out and do another part of Ferguson Valley.

Another overcast day but that wasn’t going to stop us today. We were on a role early and seem to be getting through things easily. Hamish wanted to go back to the Dolphin Discovery Centre again so we headed off there to make it in time for the octopus feeding. As we arrived the bell sounded to let people know there were dolphins so they put the octopus feeding on hold. We went down to have a quick look at the dolphins and got treated to one being playful and jumping out of the water.

One of the friendly locals.

Jason looked after the kids whilst I was trying to investigate a place to stay in Busselton. We had heard it was expensive but I nearly died when I started ringing up for quotes. Seriously, over $70 a night for us (and this is with saying Kayla is under 2). I couldn’t believe it. Maybe if it was school holidays, but seriously that is a rip off in my eyes. Eventually I managed to find a place for under $45 a night which felt like a bargain, so quickly booked it. I certainly hope Busselton is worth it.

Once the dolphins headed back out to sea we made our way inside for the octopus feeding. It was certainly more busy being a weekend and harder for the kids to see. I was impressed when the volunteer feeding the octopus asked if anyone knew how many hearts the octopus had and Hamish responded with three. I don’t think I realise just home much he is taking in and remembered from our visit two days earlier. Hamish even then got to see them feed the crayfish. Then it was time to head off for our second day of exploring the Ferguson Valley.

Today we decided to head to Wellington Dam and have lunch at the kiosk before making our way back along the Collie River and then driving through the countryside back to Bunbury. Well I was certainly not happy when we got to Wellington Dam (perfectly in time for lunch) to find out that it was closed. Not just closed for the day, it looks like it has been closed for a very long time. Well there goes that plan and there isn’t exactly another place close by. Still we continued on after checking out the view over the dam wall. From here it was a one way road down to the bottom of the dam wall and across a bridge at the bottom of the spillway. From there we kept following the road which according to the map should have been dirt, but it is obviously now sealed.

Looking out over the dam wall.

Crossing the spillway.

Looking down onto the rapids.

After a few kilometres I realised we had missed our turn, so back we went and found the little turn down a one way road which follows the Collie River. I was certainly glad it was only one way as there was no room for another car on it. The drive was so pretty and we went past rapids where there were heaps of people pulled over with kayaks and helmets. Quite interesting really as we passed two ladies standing on the road, but they weren’t keen to move to let us through until they realised we were just going to keep going. Obviously it was too hard to take two steps back. Still it was worth the drive and we turned right at the end of the road to check out Honeymoon Pools which had a campground.

Such a pretty drive.

Checking out Honeymoon Pools.

Hamish loved it.

The campgrounds looked really cool and the camping area, whilst not caravan friendly was pretty and tucked away under big trees. There was a deck out over the main pool area with proper steps down into the river which was pretty. Jason was very keen on the campgrounds and said it would be a great place to take our tent into! I wasn’t as convinced as yes it was pretty but with the rainy weather we are having it wouldn’t be my ideal time to camp here. On a lovely hot summers day it would be so nice and cool and you could easily jump into the river for a swim.

By now we were getting hungry so we headed back out to the main road area and took a different route back to Burekup stopping in at the Ferguson Farm Stay Restaurant for lunch. The grounds were just beautiful and the outlook was really nice for an overcast day, so I can imagine that it would be even better on a clear day. They even had puzzles which kept the kids entertained whilst waiting for our meals which were really yummy. Once our tummies were full we took the kids to the playground for a quick play before making our way back into Bunbury. Jason tried to have a nap but I don’t know if he got a decent one. I caught up on some reading and tried to do a bit of school with Hamish. We just spread it out over the afternoon to stop him from getting over it.

The view from our table.

Mum you would of loved the gardens.

Looking down onto the gardens.

Late in the afternoon Ian and Gwen popped in for a visit and gave us their map from the Margaret River region. Oh my gosh it looks like there is so much to do in that area and I am glad that we have quite a bit of time up our sleeves to see it all. We will do the top half of the area from Busselton and then do the main parts and south to Augusta from the town Margaret River. It was great catching up with them again and we have made plans to pop in and visit them again tomorrow as we head off on Tuesday.

Our last day in Bunbury was spent just doing the day to day things in life. I finally managed to buy my sister and her fiancé a special little engagement present, along with her birthday present and post them off. I also managed to find a cool first birthday present for my nephew Hugh so it is now wrapped and in the car ready for this Friday. Really it was just a school and job day which didn’t worry us too much at all as there wasn’t much left to see in the area. Jason also finally went out and bought us a new washing basket as ours had two big rips in it from the kids playing it and for ages we have said we will get a new one and for ages we had never gotten around to it.

That evening we headed over to Ian and Gwen’s caravan which is located in another caravan park for dinner. They had kindly rung up earlier in the day and invited us over for a meal. Hamish and Kayla just love them and I did even ask Kayla if she was going to come home with us and she flat out said ‘no’. Oh feel the love. We really enjoy their company and I certainly hope that we keep crossing paths when we head north. Mind you we need to get a move on otherwise we will be left behind as we haven’t covered much ground over the last two weeks. We also have to be mindful that we want to be in Broome before the June/July school holidays.

After a delicious meals to which my kids tried a bit of everything and won over Ian with their preference for his singles craft cheese over Gwen’s preferred choice we decided to call it a night. We haven’t packed up a thing and so had that ahead of us the next day along with doing school.