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Once we had successfully crossed the Gibb we hit the black top towards Lake Argyle. This is Australias second largest man made lake, made for hydro. We had a lovely day at the caravan park and enjoyed views from the infinity pool over the lake and a warm shower. Once we had rinsed off the Gubb dust we head to Litchfield NP. Unfortunately a lot of the park was shut due to the amazing wet season they have had so the crocs hadn't been captures but we had the chance to swim in one of the pools. We were also joined by this HUGE olive Python in our camp. Jessie was already wrapped up in a duvet so he stood no chance!

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We had to make plenty of stops at water holes and gorges to cool off in the searing heat and attempt to wash the orange dust off. Lots of bush walking, waterfalls and wildlife kept us highly entertained on the long dusty roads.

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From Broome we drove to cape Leveque. A 200km rough dirt track to a remote paradise. We had a couple days here relaxing and soaking up the sun before we headed back to Broome for a new set of tyres for the Gibb. The Gibb River Road is a 690km road known for being the last remaining ‘real outback experience’. This was something Tim was particularly excited about. Challenging  tracks, water and river crossings and no shortage of fresh and salt water crocs made the trip through the Kimberley unforgettable. 

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After a cracking 3 days inland we headed back to the coast to see Paul and Hayley off in Broome. Of course this long boring drive had to be accompanied by a series of breakdowns which meant a few extra days in Broome while the car was looked at. As we had time to kill we went rock climbing to find some of the many dinosaur footprints preserved in the rocks. This made Jessie very excited. We were also lucky enough to be there for the Staircase to the moon. This is a spectacle created by the reflection of the rising full moon over the mud flats at low tide. What a show!

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It was time to head inland to possibly Australias best nation park, Karajini. This park is full of challenging walks and amazing swimming holes. To reach the best bits we had to traverse rock faces and swim through narrow passages. This made the swimming at the at the end even better! We spent three days driving in the middle of nowhere down dusty tracks to these natural wonders.

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Once we’d shaken off the birthday hangovers we got back in the car and head for the Cape Range Nation Park and Exmouth. Again it is an amazing part of the coast (known as the coral coast). We stopped in Exmouth and bought some snorkels and head for the national park. Here we saw lots of life underwater…unfortunately the pictures don’t do it justice, as well as some great hikes in the gorges and some amazing camping and fishing.

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After a brief two nights with the ‘Glampers’, Paul and Hayley left us to our own devices. We were all aiming for the same place but with different time frames. After stocking up in Geralton (the last city for a while) we headed for Shark Bay. This part of the coast line is renowned for pristine beaches, warm waters and yep….. Sharks. We spent a couple of days in Francois Peron National Park testing the car out in the sand and seeing tonnes of wildlife (including this HUGE Tiger shark) and then headed to Monkey Mia for Jessies birthday which included a meal that we didn’t cook, dolphins at our feet and a thrilling pedalo ride.

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Next stop was Perth to meet up with Paul and Hayley who had flown over and hired a van for a couple of weeks. On our way we made a few stops, firstly in Busselton and walked along the 2km jetty, next Eagle hawk where I had a very unsuccessful fish and then had a night in Bunbury. We spend a couple of days with Suzanne in Fremantle before I got a surprise when Paul and Hayley jumped out of the Bathroom in an apartment for the next 2 nights. We then hit the road and headed for Jurien Bay and the Pink Lakes!

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The Margaret River region was a great place to spend Easter weekend. Being an Australian Easter everybody in the country seems to dust off the caravans and head for the coast which made finding a camp very difficult. We eventually managed to persuade a farmstay to let us and our little tent in and we had a base to explore from. We visited Leeuwin Estate and Voyager Estate wineries and enjoyed some samples and even bought a bottle to save for the future. We also visited the world famous surf spot and watched for a while as well as finding some little hidden caves and water pools. The last highlight was watching the huge Eagle Rays swim in the shallow water at Hamelin Bay.

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The south west coastline brought much joy to us. Beautiful blue waters, great fishing, numerous dolphins and endless 4x4 tracks. Cape Le Grande and Fitzgerlard nation parks didn't disappoint but it was nice to enjoy some city life in Esperance and Albany. After a fairly gruesome tour of the old whaling station we thought it was time to head to a more uplifting place... Where better than the wine region Margaret River.

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After another great week camping on the coast we left for the dreaded Nullarbor. This is a 1300km road of pretty much nothing. We left the Peninsula in high spirits only to be knocked down by..... You’ve guessed it..... the car. 300km in there was a little splutter followed by a very poorly engine. We pulled over and camped just outside a very small town hoping that it was a once off. In the morning we limped the car to this one horse town, rang our roadside assist and got told it was $5500 for a tow. This was a tad too much so we met a ‘bush mechanic’ who had a look at the car with no luck and sent us on our way with some very wise words....“Its better than walking”. After 4 days of driving at around 60kph we made it to the end and called the tow truck as we were now within our towing limit and got a ride to Kalgoorlie, a gold mine town in the middle of nowhere. We spent a great week here and were very well looked after by a lovely couple who owned a small hotel. Whilst waiting for the car to be repaired they gave us some work to try and fill our time and pockets. One week later we finally had the car fixed after 5 mechanics and hit the road to Esperance.

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