JulieReganAdventures

JulieReganAdventures

Regan and I make it our mission to have as many adventures as possible, even if it is just a weekend camping at a local park. Leia mais🇦🇺Melbourne

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The Long Road Home Viajante
The Last Post
11 de novembro de 2021, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
After leaving Melbourne on 27th June and finally arriving to our new home in Kaiapoi on 8th November we sure have crammed in some excitement in 135 days.

The people we have met along the way all have their own stories and are so interesting. Some have been travelling for months and even a couple of years. The tricks we learned and stories we heard were amazing. So many like-minded people and wide ranging ages from young families to all the grey nomads. Some rigs were enormous and others were more than happy living in a roof top tent. The record for me was 5 kids and parents in a Hiace van and tent which they set up each night. Another was the elderly couple with 3 dogs (one was a Great Dane) and a cat all in caravan and annex.

We stayed ahead of covid lockdowns – the closest was finding out on the NT WA border that we were 4hrs from being locked out.

Some facts:
94 nights in campgrounds (paid)
9 nights freedom camping
4 nights staying at a roadhouse
3 nights at the Big Red Bash
7 nights staying with friends
18 nights in a hotel (14 in managed isolation)
19000km driven
6300km flown (4 flights)
Nil breakdowns
1 puncture
1 new windscreen
1 oil change
1 new microwave oven
1 dentist appointment (and a pedicure at the adjoining shop. Guess who was at the pedicure??)
Quite a few hours under the caravan repairing plumbing due to rocks.
Unknown weight in collected red dust
6 Covid tests and the second covid jab each
Fuel prices varied from $1.34 to $2.06/ litre

Highlights- so many people have asked us what was our best place and that is so hard to compare what we have experienced so here’s a few:
Litchfield area- easy to get to, plenty of safe swimming and a relatively compact area close to Darwin.
Cable Beach- Broome- great beach but also the first sea swim after thousands of km driving inland.
Big Red Bash- a real bucket list experience and meeting up with such a great group of people.
Alice Springs – incredible landscapes and a very spiritual place.
Uluru- not many tourists there which made it very special.
Horizontal falls- natures best.
The long straight roads- yes sometimes boring but that countryside is spectacular.

Not so good:
Midge attack at Derby. The town was lovely but boy did we take a beating with midges.
Red dust- it just gets everywhere.
Bush flies in WA- little blighters.
The road into the Bungles.
14 days hotel isolation.
Now we are back in our little house in Kaiapoi which feels huge after 4 months in confined spaces. It all feels a little dream-like and we question ourselves if it really did happen. We are going to play a game next winter where I send Regan a photo of red rocks and dusty ground and ask him to guess which gorge it is! We both feel very privileged to have had this opportunity and for anyone thinking about a similar trip we would say go for it. Even the hard days were the best.Leia mais
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ViajanteSo pleased you are back home safely after such an amazing trip.
19/11/2021Responder
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Iso done
9 de novembro de 2021, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
The last few days in isolation continued pretty much the same as day 10. As we mentioned in the last post we were able to get two or three exercise sessions each day which was handy as I had a few potential work calls and banished Regan to the car park. Nothing concrete yet but some promising leads we hope. The last couple of days was fabulous weather so getting outside was even more enjoyable.

Our last Covid test was on Friday and we got the negative test results on Saturday morning. We received our permission letters to travel home and it was frustrating for everyone in the hotel having to stay closed up for another 48 hours. On Monday morning we stayed in bed late then had a walk before lunch. After lunch the packing began. It was all done and dusted within an hour and we had 5 very large bags.

It was a very slow afternoon once we were all packed and just waiting. Thankfully we had saved the Netflix series “Clickbait” until our last few days so we immersed ourself in a couple of episodes. The health nurse called at 5pm and give us the final sign off. The shuttle arrived at 5:45pm and we were allowed to leave our rooms. There were only 5 of us heading to the airport.

Auckland airport was completely dead, there was only one entrance. We needed to show photo ID, our permission to travel letter and our boarding passes. Air New Zealand was all self service and allowed our luggage on the plane. We had intended to have a bite to eat before our flight however we were totally out of luck as everything was closed.

There were approximately 50 people on the flight so plenty of space. They had suspended food service however we could get water if we requested it. It was a very smooth flight and we landed in Christchurch early. Our friends Deb and Gerard were there to meet us and give us the car keys. The masks come off as soon as we got in the car.

It was a miserable evening in Christchurch, drizzly and cold. The heating went on when we got home and had a cuppa before we climbed into our own bed. Neither of us slept very well. I think we were processing that we were actually home. The weather today has been just as miserable and the slippers and jumpers have been unpacked.

Mum delivered some of her incredible scones for breakfast and some essential supplies. We then exploded and emptied 7 large suitcases (shipping and plane) into to at least the right room. The house is looking very lived in! This afternoon we caught up with friends and stocked the fridge. We thoroughly enjoyed a simple dinner and sitting in our living room.

I think it is going to take a few days for it to sink in that we are back in Christchurch permanently and our Aussie adventure is finished. We have one last blog entry to put up in the next couple of days which will be a highlights summary and then we will be done and back to a normal working life......until next time.Leia mais
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Day 10 Iso
4 de novembro de 2021, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
So we are getting towards the pointy end of the isolation experience. Things are pretty routine and even the nightly menus are not so exciting. The end is close but not quite close enough. We have had a few days break from the Covid testing which we have enjoyed. Our last test before freedom is tomorrow.

Tuesday and Wednesday went quite quickly as both Regan and I have had follow up enquires regarding some work opportunities we had applied for last week. Nothing concrete yet but it appears we might both have interviews next week when we are back in Christchurch so fingers crossed.

They have extended our walking area - the same car park but three bays now rather than 2. About 150metres loop. It is good news for us as each session can have more people. We have been able to do two sessions each day. We try to do one early in the morning and then the second one later in the afternoon. Podcasts have been my saviour to distract from the endless loops.

The food has continued to be plentiful but of course because we can’t choose it is losing some of the appeal. We have had a few days where there has been a creamy sauce on at least one meal. I have started to order the vegetarian option to try and get something a little plainer. The hotel is celebrating Diwali today so we had a nice Indian lunch with sweets to follow.

When we entered isolation we had two MIQ task lists running. The first being the boring tasks we just need to get done such as tax returns, getting the truck and caravan re-registered and insured for example. The second list was more fun items such as yoga, painting, embroidery, book reading and Netflix bingeing. We did a task list check this morning and we have been very productive.

We have decided to fly back to Christchurch on Monday night. The road trip we had initially planned sort of unravelled with the level 3 restrictions in place in Auckland and Waikato. We are allowed to leave MIQ an hour early in order to make the flight so only 4 sleeps to go now and a very long day on Monday.Leia mais
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Day 6 Iso
31 de outubro de 2021, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Almost halfway through and really it has gone pretty quick so far. Today is our third test although we are still waiting for the results of the second test. After this one we get a break until day 12. We have also settled into a bit of a routine, we try to get an exercise slot mid afternoon as this seems to be the longest stretch of the day.

On Friday afternoon we were surprised with two unexpected deliveries. The first was a beautiful bag of gourmet treats from Regan’s sister including a bottle of Pinot. Not long after it was delivered there was a second knock at the door (such an exciting event) and the hotel delivered chips and fizzy. I am interested to try the feijoa one with gin soon.

Friday night we had a shared drinks catch up with Judy and Grant and then did a Campbell family call on Saturday morning. It was our chance to freak Emily and Fredrik out with tales from iso. They arrive from UK early in December and are lucky to only have 7 days of managed isolation due to recent changes. Sadly we missed out on the change. Our exercise was at midday so the morning went really quickly

The afternoon was wet and seemed to go by very slowly. I tried to break up the afternoon with a coffee treat and some yoga and a pre-dinner drink. We had managed to secure a second exercise slot for 8pm as we are struggling a bit to digest dinner in a room which is only 11 steps from one end to the other.

At 8pm we headed outside, it was still raining so we donned jacket and I had an umbrella. It is not fun walking in the rain with a face mask on but we were desperate to be out. I caused a bit of a drama as one of my ear buds fell out into a garden with a large bush. I ended up with two lovely defence people helping me hunt it out in the pouring rain. Luckily they were white and one of the guys spotted it amongst the leaf mulch. I was very thankful as I have only had them for a week.

Sunday is housekeeping day so we request what we need and it is dropped off outside our door. We are confined to our rooms this afternoon due to covid testing so our exercise was early this morning. We have requested another session tonight but due to the restricted number of exercise sessions we are on a waiting list at this stage. I feel a Netflix binge coming on.Leia mais
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ViajanteHave you got SBS I thoroughly enjoyed An Ordinary Woman, Russian with subtitles. Don't try to read the texts on phone, you miss the English below LOL (and who can speak Russian anyway) 2 series about 18 episodes in total.... You have done your share of isolation, we are wondering about trying NSW again this Xmas and having the border snap shut at a minutes notice..... hope your time is near over now as I see this was posted a while ago...xxxx
04/11/2021Responder
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Iso day 3
26 de outubro de 2021, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
As I type this it is almost the end of day 3 and we are doing okay. It is a wet afternoon here and we have been confined to our rooms this afternoon as it is another Covid test day. This will be our third test in less than a week and so far all good. I found out that all children over 6 months have to have the same number of tests as the adults, poor little things.

On Wednesday morning we got our first negative result and were issued with blue wrist bands. This means we are allowed to go outside for daily exercise and for a smoke if you wish. Our exercise yard is the car park in front of the hotel and we can see it from our room so provides some entertainment as well. In the main exercise area you are not allowed any equipment such as balls or skipping ropes and you can only walk.

If you want to run there is a smaller caged off area where one person at a time can be running lengths. Regan used this area this morning for a few lengths to get the heart rate up. Twice a day there are family sessions where the larger area is divided into smaller spaces and each family bubble have a space to play. One family pretty much filled their are with chalk drawings on the pavement. I look forward to their next artwork as it poured with rain last night so a blank canvas for them.

The food so far has been good and the misses have been more about what we felt like rather than the quality. This morning for breakfast we had a salami bagel with pickles which tasted good but a bit full on for breakfast. In the morning we also get a drink, fruit and a sweet treat. There is plenty of food and we are amassing a treat pile already.

We placed a supermarket order which arrived today and will give us a option if the menu doesn’t appeal. We were also allowed to order a small amount of wine this time. They will release it to us slowly over the stay. We are allowed one bottle of wine per person per day which is plenty for us!

We have been keeping ourselves very busy starting the job hunting and sorting out all the admin tasks we need to do now we are permanently living back in NZ. So no Netflix bingeing as yet.

The rules for people returning to NZ have changed. Managed isolation will reduce from 14 days to 7 days with a 3 day home isolation after that. Unfortunately this doesn’t start until 14th November which means we still have to stay here. Our timing was a bit early to cash in on the relaxing of the rules.Leia mais
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The Long Road Home Viajante
NZ soil under our feet
26 de outubro de 2021, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Very early start yesterday we both woke at 3am and decided we might as well adjust to the NZ time zone. Friends picked us up at 5:30 and dropped us at the airport before 6am. Check in was quite straightforward although there was a list of things to show (Covid test results, MIQ voucher, and normal passport check). I was surprised we were not asked to show our vaccination status but I think changes with this come in shortly.

We were surprised to see duty free open on the other side of departures but nothing else. I had been banking on an early morning latte before we boarded but no luck. The plane boarded early with all 34 passengers and we departed early which was a bonus. Like last time we were surprised to have three family groups with small children heading home. We had the full package so enjoyed some refreshments and movies so the 6 hours went quickly.

Arrival into NZ was quite different this time. First stop the health screening and temperature check, next was immigration where they checked our Covid test result and then two stops for Biosecurity. You don’t collect your luggage anymore and as we had declared some items including some beef jerky bites they had to find our suitcase to check the ingredients. There was no pork in them so all good.

Out to transfer where we finally found out our hotel. We are at the Sudima at Auckland airport so the drive was super quick although we had a wait on the bus for another group to check in. Pretty smooth process with reception check in and handing over of snack pack for dinner. Next was confirmation of contact details for Covid testing. Again no handling of our bags they were bought up later and we made it to the room around 9pm 2 hours after we landed.

Our room is definitely not as luxurious as last time but by moving some furniture around and sorting out the storage we think we will make it work. Thank goodness for 4 months living in the small space of a caravan as preparation. We are missing a small table which could be challenging as we need to do some job hunting which will require a large amount of computer work.

First breakfast received and enjoyed, fingers crossed this is an indication of the quality to come all week. No opportunity to choose your menu across a few days like last time but can swap out the default for a vegetarian option if we wish. We have our first Covid test this morning as we are travelling from a high risk country ( ironic as WA has only had a handful of cases over the past 18 months). We are not allowed to exercise until we return a negative result so any good YouTube workouts would be gratefully received.Leia mais
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Viajantegreat to have you back in nz
25/10/2021Responder
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Perth Week 3
23 de outubro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
We had two more days with Bill and Maree in Mandurah. We managed to wrangle the bomb site that was our guest room into suitcases within our luggage weight limit. We bought two suitcases from the charity shops that will hopefully survive one more plane trip. On our last night in Mandurah we went out for a lovely Italian meal.

Driving back to Perth on Thursday we detoured to Fremantle for lunch. It was the middle of the week but it seemed really quiet and plenty of empty shops. Regan had tracked the ship our vehicles were being loaded onto and as it was in port we drove past to check it out. As I type this the ship has left WA and is heading to Adelaide.

For our last few days in Perth we are staying in a hotel in the city so we have easy access to everything. On Thursday we had a last meal with Phil and Terri, it was another delicious Italian meal in Mount Lawley. Friday was a busy day with pre flight Covid tests in the morning, lunch with a colleague of Regan’s, afternoon tea with Sammy and Josie and finally drinks and dinner with Kerrie. It was a fun day and topped off with negative Covid test results so we are all good to fly out early on Monday.

Saturday we had a free day so we visited some of our favourite places. Breakfast was at Little Bird in Northbridge, a walk around Hyde Park, a visit to Kakulis Brothers to smell all the amazing spice smells and then exploring Elizabeth Quay. The Quay has been completely redeveloped since we lived here. They have created a whole new harbour area doubling the size.

We had a simple dinner and finished the night with a trip to the movies. It was the first time in 18 months and we had hoped to see the latest Bond movie but it does not premier here until 11th November. Instead we checked out Free Guy which is a fun light hearted movie.

Last day started with coffee with Phil and Terri in Northbridge, We then walked to Claisebrook Cove to have lunch with Lynleigh, On the way we stopped to take a selfie in Forest Chase which matches a photo we took on our very first day in Perth over 7 years ago. A few more wrinkles and grey hairs or no hair but still smiling. Pretty amazing that we arrived all those years ago and then depart this country from the same airport but with thousands of kilometres travelled in between.

Lunch was lovely sitting by the water in the sun. After that we walked across the new bridge to Optus Stadium where we enjoyed another drink and chat. Back to the hotel to repack our luggage. We have tried to pack the bags so we can leave some bags in storage if it is offered in quarantine. Early flight with friends picking us up at 5:30am so off to bed soon. More to come as we yet again enter managed isolation for the next 14 days.Leia mais
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Perth Week 2
17 de outubro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
We settled back into the same campground on a different site. The overall focus on the week was to start sorting out our stuff and begin the massive cleanup. We discovered quite quickly that there are many nooks and crannies for red dirt to get into a caravan. We also had to get brutal with some things as only have 100kgs on the plane. It sounds a lot but roughly translates into 4 medium suitcases and carry on.

We delayed the sorting of our possessions on Sunday and instead spent a great day catching up with my second cousin and his family. Again their children had grown and were now at high school. It was lovely to sit in the garden eating lunch and catching up on everything. On Monday we went and met our tenants in the apartment we still own here. They have been long term tenants and have taken excellent care of the place.

Wednesday I caught up with some friends from my time working on the hospital project here in Perth. It was lovely to catch up with Tracey and Dee and I had a delicious meal at Petition Kitchen. Thursday the weather improved and we walked in Whiteman Park in the afternoon. It is a large reserve the previous owner had shaped into a beautiful park before it became a public park. It also houses three museums dedicated to transport and has a tramway running through the reserve.

Friday’s forecast was for sunshine and the first day over 30 degrees so we downed cleaning clothes and headed to Cottesloe beach which was my favourite when we lived here. We walked along the coast line towards Freemantle and then doubled back to enjoy pizza at one of the restaurants overlooking the beach.

Last week it became apparent that we could not transport the batteries of our electric bikes home to NZ and to replace them was going to be very expensive. We decided to see if we could sell them on Facebook marketplace and remove one hassle from our list. Thankfully a couple came on the Saturday morning and bought and biked away with them which was a huge relief. With the benefit of hindsight we didn’t need bikes for the trip we did and we would have been better to wait until we had returned to NZ to buy them.

Saturday night we had a 90/65 birthday party at our friends place. Phil was 65 and his mum Josie was 90. We had spent quite a bit of time with Josie and her husband Phil Snr and her brother-in-law Sammy and his wife Madeline when we lived here. So it was so nice to see Josie and Sammy again. Unfortunately both Phil Snr and Madeline have passed away recently.

The party was at Phil and Terri’s house and there were over 80 guests. Most of us were in the garden where the band was set up. It was a great night and the birthday girl was decked out in a purple and gold sari with a purple tiara and was up dancing away. I now have a new life goal to be dancing at my 90th birthday party.

Sunday we visited Andrew and Carola again to deliver some of the things that were not making the trip home with us. Thankfully they said yes to everything! Then we drove back to Mandurah where Bill and Maree have kindly offered we can do the final pick out from. Monday was a massive clean out of caravan and caravan, sorting, then putting some stuff back in the caravan and ute ready for delivery to the shipping agent at 7am.

Tuesday back in Perth. An early start for us as Mandurah is 70km from Perth. The wind and rain storm was in full force as we drove in the dark but we got there and delivered the rig safely, albeit looking like drowned rats due to the sideways rain. Now that the rig has left we have new tasks to do before our flight to Auckland and managed quarantine this Monday. Our main holiday travel is over but we have yet to complete our travel. More to come......Leia mais
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Perth week one
7 de outubro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
It is hard to believe we have been in Perth for an entire week already. It has been a very social week catching up with old friends. There have been quite a few changes since we left and we have visited new houses, met new children and fur babies. It was so good to properly catch up again.

We managed a visit to Kings Park which was as beautiful as I remembered. As the park only plants Western Australian natives it was a good time to view more wildflowers.. The kangaroo paw display was fabulous with the most intense colours. It is also the best place to view some of the changes to the city. While we were in town we went past our old apartment and walked around some of the streets we used to frequent.

After the weekend we drove down to Mandurah to see Bill and Marie. We parked the van on the driveway and decamped into their spare room. It was a little strange to be back in a house again. It has been a lovely few days exploring Mandurah and surrounding areas. We were also the recipient of fabulous hospitality. We head back to Perth tomorrow for the next 10 days to catch up with more people including a belated 90th birthday celebration.

Our big news is we have decided to make the move back to New Zealand this month. We managed to secure a quarantine hotel room and flights from Perth to Auckland on 25th of October. It is only 2 weeks away so now the brain is whizzing with all the things we need to do before we put the van and ute on the ship and board the plane. Exciting but a bit daunting.Leia mais
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ViajanteLooking forward to seeing you again soon
07/10/2021Responder
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Destination Perth- complete
30 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 16 °C
Just a small drive today to our caravan park in the northern suburbs. The road was quiet considering it was a major highway. We stopped at New Norcia which is the only monastic town in Australia. A few of you will have visited it as well I suspect. It was first settled in 1846 to convert the local indigenous people. It was interesting to see how something that started so simply grew into something so ornate. Over the years it grew into an orphanage, as well as a girls and boys boarding schools. The schools closed in 1991 however there is still an Benedictine monastery operating today.

It also still produces wine, ale, port, honey and bread. The bread was especially tasty for our dinner. There are so many old restored buildings that must be hard to maintain. There were also very large mosquitoes just to add to the atmosphere.

Just south was a large building and satellite dish. This is a ground station for the European Space Agency which launches rockets into space from French Guyana. It's amazing how many sites are used in WA for space related support.

Driving south into Bindoon the road was still quiet but as we rounded a bend we came across a police RBT checkpoint. At 11.25am on a Thursday I hope they found no candidates for the TV programme. At least it supplied a break from an uneventful drive.

After a lunch break we took a side road through the Chittering area. A very green and picturesque drive with lots of lifestyle properties and citrus orchards.

Now that we are in Perth for the next couple of weeks while we sort our plans ahead the blog will not be daily but we will give updates now and again. We have driven over 17500km in the 96 days since we left Melbourne. Not a bad effort from our ute that hasn’t missed a beat.Leia mais
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Viajantewhat an adventure guys. Well done
30/09/2021Responder
ViajanteEnjoy your time in Perth 👏👏👏
01/10/2021Responder
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Moora again
29 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
Today feels like our last day on our tourist part of our holiday as tomorrow we arrive in Perth where we get back to rekindling old friendships. It's been over 6 years since we left and so much has changed in the city and the lives of the people we left behind.

A quiet start with light rain early then the town heated up to a humid and windy 25 degrees. A walk down the river track to town then a book read back at the van. After lunch a circuit around the outlying villages in the ute ended up well over 100km of travel. We must check the scale of our maps! Ended with a small walk in a local reserve which is set up just for tourists to be harassed by bushflies.

We tried the local pub for an evening meal. Very large helpings so a walk back to the caravan was welcome. The country pubs are always good to see the locals. A few farmers in jeans and airtex type attire shows we are in the country.

Bushfly facts:
They are suckers, not biters
They want your saliva, sweat etc, not blood.
They are officially not a pest as they don't spread diseases or adversely affect livestock. ( I beg to differ. They are a right nuisance!)
They are not repelled by insect repellent (much to my disappointment)
They are useful as they can pollinate plants. Wow... I found something positive about them.Leia mais
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Moora
28 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
Left Carnamah camp and parked up to try and locate more wildflowers in the village. Overnight rain dampened the dust and cooled the air. The campground was really good by the way. After a wander around we found nothing new so headed south 120km to Moora. We had 120km of wheat fields! We have no idea what we will find in these small towns except that they are a surprise for us.

Moora is the WA wheatbelt's largest service town. It's a clean but small town well looked after. We are staying at the very small council campground looked after by Shirley the caretaker. It is also very tidy and friendly. We made good use of the free washing machines.

We spent the afternoon checking out the town then a larger walk to Candy's Bush reserve. This is a large area with a lot of different native orchids. They hide well as we saw none! There are also Carnabys Black cockatoos which are endangered. Didn't see any of those either. So a 6km walk was good for the thirst at least. Ironically 3 black cockatoos flew past as we returned to the campground.

The weather is now calm and warm but once we get to Perth at the end of the week we are in for a shock with forecasted rain and cool temperatures.Leia mais
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Coalseam reserve
27 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
The first stop this morning was Coalseam Reserve which has displays of everlasting wildflowers. We took the caravan into the reserve as we were heading further south after we were finished. The dirt road into the reserve was rough and the caravan got a good shaking. The caravan and ute are once again dusty but with the rain later in the day the dust is now caked on. The reserve is on the Irwin river and had in the past had several attempts of coal mining, none of them successful.

The flowers were spectacular but possibly 2 weeks past their prime. They were mainly yellow and white and there were still plenty to imagine how incredible it would have looked. We did a 3 km walk and took plenty of photos. We drove onto Mingenew for a lunch stop. It is a public holiday here in WA so nothing was open.

We had thought we might stay at Mingenew but decided to push on further. The next “town” was Three Springs where there is a talc mine and the beginning of a series of salt water lakes called Yarra Yarra lakes. The next town was Carnamah which is rural supply town for all the grain farms around here. On the road down there were wheat, barley and lots of canola. The fields that these crops grow on are really large.

We decided to stay here and went to the info centre where a very helpful fellow kiwi told us all about how he had ended up here. He also told us the local wreath flowers were much better here than Pinder. After setting up the caravan in the very tidy camp we headed out for another drive to photograph more flowers. Bush flies were prevalent again today.

The flowers were perhaps younger than yesterday’s but there weren’t nearly as many. I did take some more photos amongst the rain showers. The roadside flowers on the way out were certainly worth the drive. Regan tried to catch some of the flowers on a video. My wildflower exploring is done for now although Kings Park is on the hit list when we arrive in Perth.Leia mais
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Wildflowers
26 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
We experienced an unusual event this morning being woken up by rain on the caravan roof. The first time since we left Victoria, it only lasted 15 minutes but nice to experience after 90 days without. Before breakfast we walked the wildflower walk that starts beside the campground. Some of the flowers were past their best but there was enough colour to imagine what it would have looked like a week ago.

In Mullewa there is an amazing church built by a catholic priest who was also an architect. Monsignor Hawes was responsible for over 50 churches all over the world along with being a committed parish priest. The church is impressive and the town is extremely proud of it and Monsignor Hawes.

After walking through town we had a coffee and muffin at a pop-up cafe created by local artist Helen Ansell during the wildflower season. Her art was beautiful so it was an enjoyable way to spend some time. Unfortunately that is the only business left except for petrol and a food store.

Next stop was something exciting for me. We drove to Pindar to see the wreath flowers. They are some very special flowers that only grow in a few areas. They also only grow on dirt that has been disturbed such as roadsides. They were incredible and every time I thought I had photographed the perfect one I found a better one. There were also beautiful flowers on the roadside and we reached a point where Regan threatened to take the camera off me.

On the way back to the camp we did a tour of some of the farm land and noticed how the flowers changed on each road. We caught up with some friends on video and finally finished the Schitts Creek series. Tomorrow we continue in wildflower country as we head south.Leia mais
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ViajanteBeautiful wild flowers !
26/09/2021Responder
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Mullewa
25 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
The campground was busy this morning as there was an influx of new bookings due to the school holidays. We noticed the increase in traffic almost immediately after leaving Kalbarri. On the way to Geraldton 3 out of 4 vehicles were towing a camper.

We unfortunately missed Hutt Lagoon which is a lake that is bright pink for most of the year. There is an algae which causes the pink colour. It is actually harvested as it has high levels of betacaratine and is used as a natural food colouring.

The landscape reminded us strongly of the land around Greta Valley and Motunau. There was plenty of crops and even sheep farms. Our first stop was Northampton which is a small rural supply town which many of the original shops. The news agency has the original floor boards with all the gaps and noisy creaks. There were also a collection of painted sheep statues dotted around the town.

Next stop was a shopping mall in Geraldton, very exciting for me. A few essential clothes and a large supermarket shop. We also had lunch there and watched two duelling seagulls fighting for well over 30 minutes.

Our destination was Mullewa which is small rural town almost 100km from Geraldton. The intention was to stop at a free camp site but we are still looking for it. When we realised we had missed the spot we decided to come to the caravan park in town. The main camp was full but they have an overflow area where we are for 2 nights.

As it was the AFL grand final we walked to the country club next door for a drink and caught up with some neighbouring campers from Denham. Well done to the Demons they really put on a master class in the second half of the game. The country club was really busy as there was also an 80th birthday party happening. A real local watering hole that we were lucky to share.Leia mais
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Kalbarri last day
24 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
We got out before the wind and heat (almost) and biked south along the trail following the shoreline. Mainly sealed so quite easy. The coast at Kalbarri is very rugged with weather beaten cliffs and heavy seas. A few surfers braved the waves but there seemed more spectators than actual surfers. The mouth of the Murchison River was being suction dredged as there are some fishing boats which brave the mouth. It's not a wide exit out to sea.

Julie walked into town to look in the few shops - mainly surf-wear and swimming costumes while Regan baked scones. In the afternoon the wind returned so we took the ute further south than the bike trail to check out more coastline. The bushflies were out there waiting but the high winds slowed the majority from buzzing our heads. Most were happy to just take a ride on our backs and arms and weather the gusts until an opportunity arose to annoy.

The cliff views were quite incredible and the trail around the cliff was a little surprising with no safety barriers at all. Pot Alley was our favourite with dramatic red cliffs and a hidden sandy beach. We were sand-blasted climbing back up to the car and the sea was very rough but it would be fabulous on a summers day.

Yesterday I tried to get some wildflower photos, I have attached a few but they don't really do it justice. We can both see how appealing Kalbarri is as a holiday destination as it has such a great mix of adventure and relaxation. With the WA school holidays starting tomorrow this town will fill up. We are moving south to find more wildflowers and new places to explore.Leia mais
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Kalbarri National Park
23 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 18 °C
The national park is nice and close to the town so we spent a few hours discovering. First stop was the most strenuous walk into Z Bend River trail, this drops down into the gorge between high rock walls. Warm and sunny at the top and shaded and cooler down the bottom. A bit of rock scrambling and a few ladders to negotiate.

Wherever we went today we had really annoying bushflies (Latin term..... littleliss bastardiss). This is by far the worst on this trip. Regan wore a head net which helped but they still landed on any exposed skin, especially enjoying the sweat that we produced climbing back out of the gorge.
There were more people at Nature's Window and the new skywalk so the bushflies shared themselves amongst the tourists. The skywalk was opened last year and is two large steel platforms pivoting out over the gorge. A nice cafe there also so iced coffee and iced chocolate required of course.

We decided to check out the last two walks which are about 50km further on from the skywalk. Hawks Head and Ross Graham lookouts. The latter had a megacity of bushflies waiting for a snack.Stopped for a great view of Kalbarri town at Meanarra lookout. Was very windy by then so only the high power flies were around.

Returning to the caravan park the wind had struck so a lot of people retracting awnings and reinforcing their tent ropes. The wind lasted all night so we gave up sitting outside and invited our camp neighbours inside for a drink which turned into dinner and a few wines. Great company from John and Jo.Leia mais
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ViajanteWow that looks fabulous! Not sure about the flies 😖😖😖
23/09/2021Responder
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The Long Road Home Viajante
Kalbarri
22 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
We were a little later leaving this morning as we were messaging all our friends in Melbourne and watching the news to check everyone was okay due to the earthquake. Thankfully it did not result in major damage. First stop was Shell Beach which was 50km from Denham. It is a bay where the salt concentration is higher than the rest of the environment. The high salinity has allowed the cockles to proliferate and causes a huge build up of shells, which is more than 10 metres deep. Initially it was used as a building product in the area, it eventually compresses and can be cut in blocks like limestone.

When we got back on the main highway it was super busy. It was a really interesting road with ups and downs and incredible wild flowers. Up to this point the wild flowers had been pretty but muted colours (white, silver, mauve). Today the colour wheel had been turned right up, I tried to get a few photos but by the time you find a place to stop you have missed the best bits. Also amazing today we hit farm land with fences and barley crops, the increased traffic reinforced we were in a more populated part of the coast.

We reached Kalbarri around 3pm, and had been lucky to secure a booking yesterday thanks to a cancellation. It is a great camp on the mouth of the Murchison river. Kalbarri is a very popular holiday place for people as it is around 500km north of Perth. It was hit by a cyclone in April and evidence of the damage is very visible. Lots of tarpaulins instead of roofs.

As we drove in we passed the Kalbarri National Park which we will be heading back to tomorrow for some gorge walking!Leia mais
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Shark Bay last day
21 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 21 °C
We started early so as to catch the dolphin feeding back at Monkey Mia. It was quite busy and started at 7.45am but the dolphins have their own itinerary and came wandering past at 8.25am. There were 10 bottle nose dolphins of which all were female. Only 2 of these are fed as this minimises any dependence on food from humans. There are also strict limits on the amount of food and close contact. Was quite interesting as the females stick together with multiple families grouping together and will never travel far from their birthplace. The males stick together as a team or an "alliance". We were dipped in insect repellent today so we were safe from the midges. The morning weather was perfect and very calm.

After the feeding we found a 2.5km walk through the scrubland behind the resort so worked hard in soft sand, hot sun with no shelter, and persistent bush flies. They ignore insect repellent. By the time we returned to Denham we deserved a trip to the bakery for a late breakfast.

A few household chores and calls to people today. Granddaughter birthday today (Lola is 5!). I fuelled up at the local service station then found out later from our camp neighbours that the diesel fuel ran out about an hour after I filled up.

Decided to try a swim at the Little Lagoon which is just behind the town. It's a big inland seawater lake which is clean but really shallow. We waded out in the water for well over 100metres and the water was still only knee deep. So Regan did a small swim in very shallow water, I decided to skip it.

Back to camp for drinks with camp neighbours that have just arrived. Talking to fellow travellers has been great to find out about new places to visit and of course learning their stories.
Tomorrow we have quite a big drive to another national park- Kalbarri.Leia mais
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Monkey Mia Midges
20 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
A slow start to the day with some house cleaning before the heat. We drove over the Peninsula to Monkey Mia. This is a private resort so had to buy a day pass to enter. There are resort rooms, a campground, restaurant, pools and a shop. It appears to be quite new and the campground was clean but lacking any shade from trees. People have asked the background to the name Monkey Mia, we have put an explanation into the photos.

As we were walking through the campground we happened upon an emu just cruising around. On the way back to the office a lady was shooing the emu away from her tent. The cheeky bird had pinched her toastie off the cook top, so it had definitely adapted to the human environment.

There is dolphin feeding which happens early morning, we had missed it today so will go back in the morning. After a restaurant lunch Julie sampled the cool seawater. Regan went to the pool area but was attacked by midges. Julie lasted about 5 minutes in the sand with the same issue so we both retreated back to the ute and managed to kill another dozen of the blighters as they drilled into our legs. Hoping we got away without too much damage. From experience in Derby and Cossack the bites take a day or so to show.

Headed back to Denham which by now was 33 degrees so after a break we walked down the hill into the village and visited the info centre. There is an exhibition about the sinking of the HMAS Sydney which happened when a German warship was found about 200km off the coast in 1944. It was just a bloodbath as both ships sunk. There were 645 on the Sydney and all were lost. Some from the German ship survived. The wrecks were only located a few years ago. We watched a presentation with a lot of eerie footage of the wrecks that are in water 2500 metres deep. There are still sailors shoes on the sea floor!

Back to camp for a swim as the temperature was up again today. We then had a Zoom birthday call for Pete in Melbourne. Such a different world with everyone bundled up in winter clothing.Leia mais
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Denham
19 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌬 19 °C
A short and uneventful 220km day pushing against wind gusts today. Lunch at an unmarked rest area with the temperature rising to 29 degrees. The roads are getting busier and after talking to the camp manager this area will get really busy next week with WA school holidays starting. By then we will be away from the places where most kids will be. The land today was mainly flat with lots of low scrub which is suited for the coast winds. We kept thinking we would see the sea as we approached the top of each rise. It took quite a few hills before we were rewarded.

Once we arrived in Denham mid afternoon we set up camp then walked into town for a look around. That didn't take long. Denham is a small seaside village with 3 caravan parks and 2 pubs. A small jetty and a gap in the reef for fishing charters. This is a good base for us on the Peron Peninsula for the next 2 days while we discover more seaside attractions. As I write this our caravan is getting rocked with the wind. Nice to not have to tow for a few days and battle the wind.Leia mais
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Carnarvon Exploration
18 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 18 °C
Carnarvon has a growers market each Saturday morning through the dry season. We decided to check it out and hopefully get breakfast as well. After a delicious bacon and egg brioche and good coffee we picked up some local vegetables, strawberries and hand made relishes. We then did a large supermarket stock up. We had purposely run down our supplies until we found a larger supermarket.

After finding places for all our food we drove the Fruit Loop which is through the horticultural area along the Gascoyne River. There were roadside stalls and a place called Bumbaks which makes products from all the produce that is not accepted by the supermarkets. Table grapes, bananas, mangoes and tomatoes seem to dominate but there was a full range of vegetables. I was surprised to see asparagus as I would not have thought it would be a suitable climate for it to grow.

We drove down to the historical area which is out at the old wharf on the sea side of the peninsula. There were a collection of old buildings from the turn of the century when ships were the main transportation method. They have created a museum there and are fundraising to strengthen the original jetty. It was extremely windy so we didn’t stay too long.

Back to the camp for a few jobs and some time out of the wind. A lot warmer away from the sea. Ready to move on tomorrow.Leia mais
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Carnarvon
17 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 16 °C
A 220km drive today in fairly constant head winds which slowed us down. The roads were busier as we are heading closer to the populous areas. And the area is flat with low scrub for the whole trip. Arriving in Carnarvon we set up camp then straight into town for lunch. Food choices were very limited.

We visited the Space and Technology museum in the afternoon. This is based at the OTC Earth Station which so set up by NASA to maintain communications with space capsules from 1966. It also was used for the first live TV broadcast from Australia to the UK. The TV pictures were fed via the satellites but the voice feed was via undersea cable which posed a few timing issues. Today though there is now the nbn satellite station here which gives high speed internet to outback Australia with the two skymuster satellites.

The museum has acquired so many items it was hard to know where to look first. A lot of the equipment in the museum was technology that I saw when I first started my telco career. That makes me feel old when the equipment now belongs in a museum! A meal out at Carnarvon hotel completed our day. This area sure is windy!

We also found out today that any chance of returning to NZ next month via the Aus/NZ bubble is now not possible so we are in WA for a bit longer. It's disappointing but then again we couldn't really be in a better place to extend our trip. So much still to see.Leia mais
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Beautiful Coral Bay
16 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
This morning was pretty low key, a walk and house keeping tasks. Regan emptied the spare diesel container into the ute as it is unlikely we are going to be far from a service station for the rest of the trip. After 15000km it feels like we are a bit on the home stretch, a little crazy when we still have at least a month left. There was a moments excitement when it started raining (first time since we left Victoria) but it fizzled out after a minute.

We had the glass bottom boat trip booked for midday. The boat pulled right up to the beach and there were 30 of us on the boat with at least 10 of them under 5.. The amazing thing is at Ningaloo you start to see the coral about 2 mins after the boat leaves the beach. The reef is officially the third largest reef system in the world but really edges out the Great Barrier Reef as it is one continuous reef - not like the group of reefs the makes up the Great Barrier Reef.

As we mentioned the coral was incredible and you really got to see the colours. It was quite a low tide so you were right on top of the reef. We went along the shore edge and there weren’t too many fish until we stopped the boat and offered up so fish food. Then there were so many amazing ones with the parrot fish being the most prominent. We learnt the parrot fish clean the coral and produce sand as the end product!
We were also lucky to see a turtle which is very unusual that close to shore.

After the boat trip we went looking for the baby sharks but again no luck. Although it did let us off the hook from singing the baby shark song on video as requested by some people (Phew).The afternoon ended with our last swim in the turquoise water and soaking up the sun on the warm sand. This place is perfect if you are after a laid-back holiday with easy snorkeling, but we are ready to move on to a different view.Leia mais
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ViajanteLet’s know when we can catch up for a chat??? Sounds like you are having an amazing time ❤️❤️
17/09/2021Responder
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Shark Sanctuary
15 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Today was a little cooler which made exercise easier for us. We did an early walk along the beach to the shark sanctuary. This is where reef sharks give birth and keep their pups safe. This happens from September onwards but we saw none today. We think because the tide was very low. But it still gave us a lovely 7km beach walk with a cooler breeze. Will try again tomorrow.

After lunch we headed south a little and went snorkelling. Once again the tide wasn't high and a cool breeze gave us the whole beach and water to ourselves. The fish life was there but the coral is really impressive and so accessible. We could always stand up in this water and see amazing sealife.

Our campsite is very sheltered so we could sit outside later in the day reading and a drink or two. We didn’t bother trying the camp pool today as being overrun by kids yesterday wasn't fun.Leia mais
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Coral Bay
14 de setembro de 2021, Austrália ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
It was a very easy morning today. We popped into the bakery in Exmouth to top up on their delicious treats including a cruffin for morning tea. We arrived in Coral Bay at lunchtime after only a 180km drive and was able to book in immediately. We are camped in the overflow area which is fortunate as the camp is huge and fully packed so a lot quieter over here with only about 20 sites.

After lunch we walked down to the beach and realised why everybody raves about this place. The beach is incredible with the white sand and turquoise water. It is very sheltered so a great beach for families. This place is basically two large camping grounds with a small shopping arcade to provide the essentials, gelato, bakery, fishing supplies ( in that order)

We booked a glass bottom boat trip over the reef for Thursday and then went for a swim. The water was perhaps a tiny bit cooler than Exmouth but still lovely. On the way back to the van we thought we would have a dip in the camp pool. It turned out it was us and 20 small children with all their parents looking on. It felt a little weird so only stayed in for about 10 mins. Not the most relaxing experience with kids jumping and yelling.

Simple bbq dinner and a camp walk after dinner. We are in for more wind now that we are on the coast but it’s worth being in the sand and breeze as the WA coast has a lot to offer.Leia mais
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