Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod

We have the van and now the plan is to travel around our great land. From East to West and North to South we hope to take our time exploring all the states (and territories) in 2025. Baca lagi

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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Kununurra - gateway to Kimberley
16–23 Jul 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
About 40km from NT / WA border is Kununurra - the eastern gateway to the Kimberley. We have set up camp here and will use this as a base to explore the surrounding areas.

Kununurra is a fairly young town that was established as a construction town for the nearby Ord River irrigation scheme built in the 1960s. There are some interesting features that were worthwhile checking out. Nestled on the shores of Lake Kununurra (a manmade lake from the Ord River Irrigation Area) is very attractive and a great place to cool down - if you want to share it with the 7000 freshwater crocs that live there. The lake also provides Irrigation for the surrounding farmland with crops from soya beans and chickpeas, to tropical fruits (mango, banana and pawpaw), and cotton as well as the lucrative sandalwood which produces the oils for perfumes etc.

There is also the Mirima National Park which is also known as the mini bungle bungles which has some nice walks. I did the easy ones and sent Brad off to do the harder sections. Also climbed Kelly's knob for some great views over Kununurra. We drove to the Ivanhoe Crossing to watch people cross the causeway in their 4WD. It seems to be the thing to do when you are here.

Visited an ornamental stone factory that works with zebra stone. A very unique stone that is only produced in 2 places in Australia (possibly the world?). The other place is Litchfield in NT and they don't even understand how it is made. I bought an egg to go with my collection of stone eggs.

While at Kununurra we also visited Wyndham, Lake Argyle and did a flight over the Bungle Bungles but I'll cover these in separate footprints.Baca lagi
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Great shots of all the amazing sights!! Xx [Molly]
23/07/25BalasTerjemah
Very pretty [Chris]
23/07/25BalasTerjemah
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
Wyndham
18 Julai 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Wyndham is about 100km NW of Kununurra and is considered Australia's most north western town. Quite a small town, it is home to a working port (iron ore - the abattoir and meatworks have long since shut down). We drove here mainly to go to the five rivers lookout. Driving up to the bastion that overlooks the town you come to a lookout point with a fantastic view of the Cambridge Gulf that has 5 rivers coming off it (Ord, King, Pentecost, Durack and Forrest) A spectacular sight - a little hazy but that is due to the burn off that they do in these northern areas in the dry season as a method of fire control.

Wyndham is also "home to the largest Boab in captivity" (their words, not mine), meaning the largest tree in an urban location - there are probably larger ones out there. This Boab, situated in the caravan park, is 20 metres in girth and estimated to be around 2000 years old.

We chatted to other travellers trying their luck at fishing down at the jetty, had lunch at the only cafe in town, took a photo of the big crocodile before heading back to Kununurra. We dropped into a small gorge called the Grotto but only a picture from the top because the steps to the base looked a bit dodgy.

Overall it was an enjoyable day except for the stone chip we picked up driving back. This is the third one we have had (since owning the car) and each time it has been on bitumen roads.Baca lagi
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Bungle Bungles from above
20 Julai 2025, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
The original plan was to drive to the Bungle Bungle caravan park and pick up a 4WD tour into the national park as the road in is inaccessible to tandem axle vans and by all reports, the 50km trek is very corrugated with several water crossings and takes 3 or more hours to travel in (and then another 3+ hours to return). However, the company that offers these tours is awaiting the permits, so it is currently not operating. As we don't want to drive in ourselves, we did the next best thing and did a 2 hour flight from Kununurra. I think we made the right choice.

The flight left Kununurra, followed the Ord River down to Lake Argyle and then onto Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) where we got a good look at the striped beehive shaped domes the area is renowned for. I guess we missed the Cathedral Gorge and Echidna Chasm, but you can't do everything.

The return took us over the Argyle Diamond mine famous for its pink diamonds (as well as others). The pilot told us that they took out $60 million in diamonds every 10 days. We flew over the agricultural areas made possible by the Ord River Irrigation Area. What is incredible is only about 10% of the water is used for irrigation - the surplus is discharged out to sea.

Anyway, I'll let the pictures tell the story.Baca lagi
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Argggg [Chris]
23/07/25Balas
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
Lake Argyle
21 Julai 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Our last day excursion was to Lake Argyle, about 70km SE of Kununurra. The Lake, created by damming the Ord River, is the largest man made freshwater Lake in the Southern Hemisphere with a water capacity of over 9 times Sydney Harbour when it was opened in the early 1970s and then almost doubled that when they raised the dam wall in the mid 90s.

Lake Argyle stretches 70km to the south and 40km to the east. We went to various viewpoints and tried to get onto a cruise, but they were booked out. We visited the Argyle Homestead Museum - home of the pioneering Durack family. Many may be familiar with the book "Kings in Grass Castles" by Mary Durack, which chronicles the story of her family. The story of the family was very interesting and it was actually the grandson of the original Durack that recognised the area to be rich agricultural land and was the catalyst for creating the Ord River Irrigation Area.Baca lagi
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Derby.... and the journey to.
26–27 Jul 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
We left Kununurra in the east Kimberley to travel across the top of WA to reach the west coast at Derby. It's quite a long journey, and we needed 3 overnight stops where we free camped (along with about 30 other caravans also free camping). There are only 2 major towns along this route - Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing - and while we fuelled up at each, the general impression was not somewhere you wanted to stay. One of the few camps we stayed at was Mary's Pool and we actually saw several freshwater crocs on the banks of the river.

Arriving in Derby it was nice to have a decent shower (we had to conserve water not knowing how long it would last free camping) and also be hooked up to power so we could use our 240V appliances. There is not a great deal to see in Derby but there were a few points of interest - the prison Boab tree, long water trough, the jetty and the sculptures on the marsh.

The prison Boab was reported to hold Aboriginal men who were stolen / kidnapped from East Kimberley to work as pearl divers on the coast. The sign board gives information about this. Nearby is a long water trough (120m - longest in the Southern Hemisphere) that could water almost 1000 bullocks at a time.

The jetty is horseshoe shaped and is a place that experiences huge tides of 11m. It was nice enough to look at during the day, but at sunset it was just spectacular. Along with the sculptures that depicted different aspects of life/people/animals of the area, it really was a highlight of our visit to Derby. Hope you enjoy the photos.Baca lagi
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A magnificent sunset!! You are missing out on the cold weather we are having. [Molly]
30/07/25BalasTerjemah
Great photos, as usual, and great information. Looking forward to the next part of your journey. [Chris M]
31/07/25BalasTerjemah
Pengembara Love all the sculptures..
4/08/25BalasTerjemah
Pengembara Opps..not this real one. 😆
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
Broome - camels on Cable and more..
27 Jul–3 Ogo 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
A couple of hundred km down the road from Derby and we arrived in Broome, our home for the next week. The town itself reminded Brad of Byron Bay, similar vibe, although instead of surf shops, there were pearl stores as pearling was one of the main industries in the early days. The industry was important not for the pearl itself as natural pearls were hard to come by, but for the shell which were used for buttons. Once plastic was invented, pearl buttons became more or less obsolete.

So, in Broome we did the iconic camel ride on Cable Beach. Didn't do the sunset one because it was booked out, but the late afternoon ride was fine. Fairly sedate, it was a pleasant experience.

We visited the museum, which apart from the pearl industry, told stories of when it was bombed during the war (a few weeks after Darwin was bombed). I didn't know this part of history (but of course Brad did). The Japanese bombed a number of Catalina flying boats that were carrying Dutch refugees from Dutch East Indies. There is a memorial on the foreshore near the town beach jetty to these refugees.

There is also an area south of Cable Beach where there are dinosaur footprints although they can only be seen at very low tide. Couldn't find them but there is a cast of the prints, and the surrounding rock formations with the colour of the water and contrasting sand was interesting to look at.

The main reason for going to Broome was to do a tour to the horizontal falls. As it was a big day, I'll include it in a separate footprint.Baca lagi
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PengembaraBeautiful.. how cool are the 🐫 🐪 🐫
4/08/25BalasTerjemah
Looks amazing Mandy and Brad xx [Vanessa]
4/08/25BalasTerjemah
Give me a camel any day, I prefer camel to horses. You both look nice and relaxed. [Chris]
4/08/25BalasTerjemah
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Horizontal Falls and Dampier Peninsula
29 Julai 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Our tour to the horizontal falls started with a 5am pick up to take us to the seaplane for our flight to the Falls. Landing at Talbot Bay (our first ever water landing) we were quickly whisked aboard high powered speed boats to the Falls because they were at their absolute best (according to the skipper).

It was quite exhilarating travelling through the gap as the force of the water is trying to push you back. There are 2 gaps - the one we went through was about 20 odd metres wide while the narrow gap is only 7 or 8 metres wide. Tourists are no longer permitted to traverse the narrow gap - I'm not sure if this is because of an accident several years ago, or whether it is because it is an area of cultural significance to the Aboriginals, or a combination of these things. As it was, the tour company were the only ones with permits to pass through the larger gap. There were zodiacs from a luxury cruise ship and they could only observe, not travel through.

After our several passes through the Falls, we came back for a cooked breakfast before taking another cruise around Talbot Bay. Back on the pontoon, after morning tea, there was a marine show where they feed some of the local fish - mainly tawny sharks. If you wanted you could get in the water (cage) with the sharks, but as it was quite a cool day nobody took up the offer.

Half a day gone and we were back on the seaplane for a flight over the archipelago to Cygnet Bay for a barramundi lunch and tour of the pearl farm. An extremely well run tour, very informative about how pearls are cultured and ended with opening an oyster to find the mystery pearl.

Then it was the 200km journey back to Broome, stopping off at Beagle Bay, a former mission, to have a look at the Catholic Church that had been decorated with pearl shells.
It was a long day but very enjoyable.Baca lagi
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Pengembara Wow! Stunning
4/08/25BalasTerjemah
Pengembara Great pic.
4/08/25Balas
Pengembara 😆 survivors 😉😘
4/08/25BalasTerjemah
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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The bits between Broome & Port Hedland
3–7 Ogo 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
The Great Northern Highway (aka Hwy 1) from Broome to Port Hedland is around 550km through pretty uninspiring landscape but we took our time staying at a free camp (Stanley) and a couple of roadhouses along the way (Sandfire and Pardoo). The main bit of excitement was almost running out of fuel before arriving at Sandfire - down to one bar and flashing. This was due to the strong wind, which really chewed through the fuel. (We did have jerry cans of diesel... just in case)

We spent 2 nights at Pardoo and took a run back to Eighty Mile Beach, which is a very popular destination in this area. I can see why it is popular - very pretty, white sand and turquoise water. Great for people who like fishing , driving on the beach, or collecting shells. While there we caught up with Barb and Graham (from Potty) who were staying at 80 mile Beach caravan park. It was nice to catch up with someone from home.

Also, while at Pardoo, we visited Cape Kedrauden. That was quite a surprise. Very pretty and the rock formations are most unusual. Lots of people camp out there too. (Unfortunately the photos don't really show how vivid the colours are for the Cape or Eighty Mile Beach)Baca lagi
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Fantastic Mandy - wow is sll I can say x [Vanessa]
9/08/25BalasTerjemah
Interesting rock formation [Chris]
13/08/25BalasTerjemah
You would definitely have to wear things! [Chris]
13/08/25BalasTerjemah
Thanks very interesting. [Chris]
13/08/25BalasTerjemah
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Port Hedland - in the Pilbara now
7–10 Ogo 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We spent 3 days at Port Hedland which is a major industrial port in the Pilbara region of WA. Iron ore from places like Tom Price is transported by massive trains that are almost 3km long to the port which is then offloaded into iron ore carriers (ships). The operation operates 24/7 and there is always about a dozen ships waiting off the coastline for their turn. We were able to watch the ships both coming and going from quite a close range - really massive.

The other industry here is Dampier Salt and is somewhat of a tourist attraction in itself. Huge mountains of salt being pushed around by a bulldozer, surrounded by the salt evaporation ponds.

The city itself is quite modern (well, it really only grew in the 1970s when mining and the port were established). The marina precinct is only a couple of years old and the Foreshore parks are very attractive. There is also a spot where you can witness the phenomenon "staircase to the moon," but we are leaving a day too soon. Hopefully we will catch up with it in Karratha.

Port Hedland is probably the most cyclone prone city in Australia. Even the caravan park we were staying in had anchor points in the slab to tie down the van if you happened to be there when a cyclone came through. It could be one reason why there is a satellite city about 15km from Port Hedland called South Hedland where the main shopping and services are. It could also be because they ran out of suitable residential land due to tidal flats etc.Baca lagi
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Looking very relaxed [Heidi]
12/08/25BalasTerjemah
Beautiful! [Chris]
13/08/25Balas
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Staircase to the moon @ Karratha
10–13 Ogo 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Living on the east coast it is not unusual to watch the full moon rise over the ocean, however, in certain parts of WA, the full moon rising over low tidal flats creates a phenomenon known as staircase to the moon. It is really only seen 3 days of the month (around the full moon) and only from March to October. It doesn't occur in the summer months because the low tides do not line up with the lunar cycle.

We are at Karratha, which is the main city for this area. Once again, Karratha is not very old, being built to service the mining industry and has all the facilities a city needs, including an airport, probably mainly for FIFO workers. Even though it is on the ocean, the city doesn't really hug the shore like most other coastal towns or cities.

A short drive from Karratha via a causeway, is the island of Dampier - a pretty little town that has a port for exporting iron ore (from Mt Tom Price) and other industries such as Dampier Salt and a gas plant. It is from the eastern side of this island that we witness staircase to the moon. Dampier is also the home of Red Dog - the kelpie that wandered the Pilbara in the 1970s - and there is a statue there in his honour. I had never seen the movie so I found it on Stan and watched it. Nice movie - bit of a tearjerker.

The other interesting sight in the area are the petroglyphs (rock art), estimated to be up to 40,000 years old. It was fun trying to match the particular image on the sign and finding it in the rocks. There was even one believed to be the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger). Another picture, thought to be made by a sailor whose ship - the Mermaid - had run aground, is dated around the early 1800's. (However, when I went to add the photos, Brad had not taken one of these - Thylacine or ship - he said they were too faint on the camera or some excuse)Baca lagi
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Pengembara Love it!
16/08/25Balas
What are Petroglyphs?? A dinosaur??🤣🤣 [Molly]
16/08/25BalasTerjemah
Brad and Mandy PearcePetroglyphs are pictures in the rock made by carving using another rock as opposed to painting.
16/08/25BalasTerjemah
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Carnarvon - an interesting assortment
15–19 Ogo 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 25 °C
There is a variety of things to see and do in Carnarvon that make it quite a unique coastal destination.

Carnarvon supplies over 80% of WA's fresh fruit and veg. They have a fruit loop trail that takes you past the farm gate sellers. We picked up most of our fresh veggies from these places. Not necessarily cheaper but probably fresher than the local supermarket. Also picked up some nice relishes and jam. There is also a cactus farm on the route, which was worth a few photos.

There is a space museum here. Originally, it served as a major communications link in the 60s and 70s for Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions from NASA. It closed down in the 80s and has reopened as a very good interactive museum with a mini planetarium, a replica of the command module capsule where we sat / lay in as the astronauts would have done, and experienced the actual recording of the take off to the moon. Lots of videos and props, including the actual footage of the first ever live TV cross from Carnarvon to the BBC in London. Got a photo of us standing on the moon, and there were quite a few interactive games like space invaders and asteroids that the kids (and adults) were enjoying. Spent over 2 hours here.

We headed back north (75km) to visit the Quobba Blowholes - a bit of rugged coastline. There is a memorial to HMAS Sydney II that was sunk in a battle with the German ship Kormoran during WWII off Carnarvon. All 645 sailors on the Sydney died, while on the German ship (which also sunk), there were only about 60 casualties. Also got a picture of the KING WAVES KILL sign that all travellers in the area seem to post a photo of.

Finally, the caravan park we are staying in has its own bowling green, so Brad and I had a game of bowls. Brad's aim is to play bowls in every state (NSW, NT & WA - ticked off the list)Baca lagi
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Pengembara One small step for Brad
20/08/25BalasTerjemah
Interesting as usual. Bowls, Blowholes and a walk on the moon, what more could anyone want. [Chris M]
20/08/25BalasTerjemah
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
Denham - Shark Bay - Monkey Mia
19–22 Ogo 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
For the first time on our trip, the weather has spoiled our plans. We had booked a tour to Dirk Hartog Island, leaving from Denham, which unfortunately was cancelled due to strong winds and rain. Oh well, you can't do everything. (We also wanted to do the
whaleshark swim at Exmouth but couldn't get accommodation, so we skipped that town)

Denham is the closest town to the most westerly point on mainland Australia but to actually go there it is either by boat (which we would have seen on the day at Dirk cruise) or by 4WD over a hundred and something km. It's not something we were keen to do. We did find some other interesting things to do.

We travelled down to Shell Beach, appropriately named as the beach is composed entirely of small white cockle shells - no sand - apparently the highest concentration of cockle shells in the world. Eagle Bluff, just south of Denham, had a great boardwalk along the cliff, and we managed to spot a shark in the water below.

We drove out to Monkey Mia, which is the main draw card of the area. This is where the dolphins come in to feed. In recent years, it has become over commercialised, named conservation park rather than a national park, so charge an entry fee not covered by the national parks pass. So, we didn't go to see dolphins being fed but wanted to see the area anyway. I must admit it is a very pretty area - calm and peaceful.Baca lagi
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Beautiful. [Chris]
30/08/25Balas
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Kalbarri - a natural beauty
23–25 Ogo 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 19 °C
Considering we didn't see Kalbarri in its best light, it certainly is spectacular. There are 2 quite different scenic areas - the coastal cliffs and the inland gorges - all within 20km of the town.

It was extremely windy for the days we were there but we managed to see the sights while dodging showers. The coastal cliffs are awesome, especially Natural Bridge and Island Rock. National Parks have done an excellent job of building boardwalks and paved walkways so all can access the areas.

In contrast, Kalbarri National Park is also spectacular. They have constructed 2 skywalks that protrude over the gorge and Murchison River. Nature's Window is another frequently photographed site in Kalbarri. Z- bend lookout is another of the lookouts we went to, but persistent rain showers put an end to our exploring.

We have come to the area and the season for wildflowers. At some sections along the highway the plants looked like a beautiful native garden. I wish we had taken photos of it but it isn't always practical to stop, especially when towing a van. I have included some wildflowers in the photos.Baca lagi
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Wow! [Chris]
30/08/25Balas
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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It's Pink... colourful Geraldton
25–27 Ogo 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
We debated whether we would leave Kalbarri or wait and see if the wind would ease, but as we had already booked for Geraldton we headed off. On the way we passed by Gregory with its pink lake (called Hutt Lagoon). It most definitely is pink, like strawberry milk, although it shows up better with blue skies and sunshine. The pink is caused by a salt loving bacteria and an algae that produces a red pigment. It was nice to see some farmland with green wheat crops and the brilliant yellow of flowering canola crops.

Spent a couple of nights at Geraldton. Even though it is quite a large place, there isn't any real tourism drawcards and I think we saw most of them for the time we were there. These included;
Memorial to HMAS Sydney II - this was the ship that was sunk by the German ship Kormoran (which was disguised as a merchant ship), off Carnarvon. Quite impressive dome structure with 645 seagulls representing the number of sailors that perished.
St Francis Xavier Cathedral - designed about 100 years ago by the priest Monsignor Hawes, a rather striking if somewhat unusual interior.
Horizon Ball - a novelty art sculpture like a huge crystal ball, very popular at sunset (we didn't get there at sunset)
Point Moore lighthouse and a nice marina foreshore area which has been developed into a nice recreation area with quite a few points of interest, some included in the photos.

One thing that Geraldton has that we haven't seen since May is an Aldi - none in most of SA, NT and the top half of WA. It was good to get an Aldi fix.Baca lagi
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Now that’s a pink lake! [Chris]
6/09/25BalasTerjemah
That is a sad story, didn’t know that had occurred during the war….a lot we didn’t learn [Chris]
6/09/25BalasTerjemah
Different, unusual [Chris]
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Cervantes - gateway to the pinnacles
27–29 Ogo 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Cervantes is a very small town on the Turquoise Coast about 200km north of Perth. It is the closest town to The Pinnacles but also convenient to Jurien Bay. We had a bike ride at Jurien Bay which has a pretty cool bike path halfway to Cervantes (with plans to extend it all the way)

The Pinnacles are thousands of weathered limestone pillars up to 3m tall, scattered over a sandy desert. We have been here before in 2007 so it was nice to revisit. There have been some improvements with a Discovery Centre (gift shop/ information) and lookout areas.

Cervantes claims to be the lobster capital of the world (several other places also make this claim), and is home to the Lobster Shack. We partook off a lobster meal ( well, snack - hot lobster roll, and small lobster tacos - pretty expensive at around $30 each meal)

There is a large weather vane at the entrance to the town with a sailing ship, Don Quixote and his side kick. What has this got to do with Cervantes? Well, the town was named after the sailing ship Cervantes that was wrecked off the coast and in turn, the ship was named after Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote. I found this interesting.Baca lagi
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More interesting than seaweed [Chris m]
6/09/25BalasTerjemah
Noice [Chris m]
6/09/25Balas
Smelly? [Chris]
6/09/25Balas
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Out and about in Perth
29 Ogo–15 Sep 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
We have just spent a bit over 2 weeks in Perth which gave us a chance to catch up on some essentials - caravan and car service - a bit of relaxing, and some sightseeing. Weather was a bit of a mix of some beautiful Spring days and some horrible, awful, cold wet days.

We stayed in the Swan Valley area of Perth and it was convenient to the train for our trips into the city. Some of our excursions included:

The Perth Mint - home of the largest solid gold coin in the world. Weighing one tonne, it has a face value of $1 million, a gold value of over $181 million, and as a collectors item.....priceless. We saw a gold pour to create a gold bar (value around $800000), and picked up a gold bar worth $2 million. It was an interesting tour, unfortunately they didn't hand out free samples.

Swan River lunch cruise - a pleasant cruise from the city to Fremantle and return with a nice lunch included.

Kings Park - lovely botanical gardens and the elevated Federation Walkway gave great views of the city. Also, check out the crocheted dresses in the info centre ( see photo)

Cottesloe Beach - this was OK but not what we expected. Quite a small beach with a lot of (smelly) weed. Possibly it is the lovely old pavilion that it is renowned for.

Would have liked to do a bike ride around the Swan River, however, the replacement bike battery for Brads bike (that we ordered when we were in Broome) only arrived a couple of days before we left and the weekend weather was lousy. We also had a day down at Mandurah but will cover that in another footprint.Baca lagi
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Pengembara Wow, impressive. It’s Freeform Crochet - all those individual pieces sewn onto black dress. Noice.
16/09/25BalasTerjemah
Quite hot at craft! 10 of us here today!! M [Molly]
17/09/25BalasTerjemah
Pengembara Clever! Stunning 😍
17/09/25BalasTerjemah
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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The Giants of Mandurah
9 September 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
While staying in Perth, we took a run down to Mandurah to search for the Giants. Created by Danish recycling artist - Thomas Dambo - there are 6 Giants hidden around the area (and one in Perth).. The locations are discovered by collecting a mud map from the visitors centre and driving to the various spots. There is a sixth "hidden " giant whose location can be found by recording a symbol on each of the other 5 Giants and retuning to the visitos centre to decode.... or, you can be lazy like us and they will provide the address on a separate card.

The search involved a considerable amount of driving and then walking from place to place. Some Giants were obvious, while others hidden in the forest. The Giants are rather amusing characters made from recycled timber (think fence palings). We were quite tired at the end of the day after visiting 5 of the Giants. The one in Perth we visited on a separate day. This activity was great way to explore Mandurah.Baca lagi
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Lots of work have gone into all the “giants!! [You both look great.]
17/09/25BalasTerjemah
Very clever, [Chris]
20/09/25BalasTerjemah
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Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
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Cowaramup (Margaret River) and south
15–22 Sep 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 14 °C
We based ourselves in Cowaramup, a short drive north of Margaret River for a week. Managed to secure a great deal - powered site for$20/night - bargain! Even though we had been to Margaret River before, it was 18 years ago and we barely scratched the surface. The area is very lush and green with many wineries and other agricultural type products (olive oil, coffee and chocolate). A lot of artists live here too.

Cowaramup is a quirky little town with several gift/trinket shops and lolly shops. It is a hard name to pronounce (cowara = type of parrot, and up = place of), so it is often referred to as "Cow Town". There are lots of cow sculptures around the town and several years ago the town was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the most people dressed up in a cow onesie. I think there were over 1300 people - hilarious!

We spent a day exploring the Southern coastline down to Cape Leeuwin at the most south western spot of mainland Australia and where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. The lighthouse museum was very interesting and it is obvious a lot of money has been spent to attract tourists to the area.

We also checked out the famous surf break at Margaret River (Prevelly) as well as Hamelin Beach where stingrays are often seen at the shore line, but not today. The washed up seaweed absolutely stunk here too.

We also did a full day wine and food tour which was very enjoyable. There was only Brad and I, plus a young German couple and we started with coffee tasting, followed by two separate wineries, lunch at another winery, an olive oil place where they make skin care products as well as infused oils and vinegars and other condiments, finishing off by sampling chocolate at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory. It was a very enjoyable day.

The Northern and NW area were also explored but I have included it in a separate footprint.Baca lagi
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As they say.... it's a small world! [Alison]
1/10/25BalasTerjemah
PengembaraSeems to be a lot more touristy things since we were there in 2017. Specifically went to see the wild flowers but didn’t see any as the winter had been extremely dry and cold. Enjoying seeing your adventures.
1/10/25BalasTerjemah
PengembaraChris
1/10/25Balas
Fantastic Mandy! [Vanessa]
1/10/25BalasTerjemah
3 suka
Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
1
Busselton and surrounds
20–22 Sep 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
While based in Cowaramup (Margaret River), we visited areas to the north of us such as Busselton and Dunsborough. Busselton of course is well known for its jetty which is the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere at 1.8km long. We walked to the end just as we had done 18 years ago when we visited the area, but this time it was cold and very windy, so the experience was not a nice as it could have been. However, we returned a couple of days later for a bike ride on a beautiful sunny Sunday and the area was picture perfect.

In the area, we also visited Cape Naturaliste lighthouse, Sugarloaf Rock and Canal rocks. Some very dramatic coastline and the local authorities have done a great job in making these areas to lookouts etc. very accessible.Baca lagi
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PengembaraSo pretty x
1/10/25BalasTerjemah
Beautiful scenery. Looks calm where the surfers were. Molly [Molly]
2/10/25BalasTerjemah
PengembaraWe really enjoyed Busselton, what a difference a day makes!
4/10/25BalasTerjemah
2 suka
Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
Manjimup - south west forests
22–25 Sep 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
We stayed at a delightful caravan park called Fonty's Pools near Manjimup. We did a little tourist train trip to cascades set amongst forests of tall Karri trees. This was pleasant enough. Also checked out some of the tallest trees in WA - the Gloucester tree used to be used as a fire lookout tree and people were still able to climb it until only fairly recently. There is one tree that you can climb to the first level (about 20m up), but it looks a bit scary to me. Visited another waterfall with a swinging bridge which was a nice walk too.Baca lagi
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PengembaraWe missed this, looks interesting.
4/10/25BalasTerjemah
2 suka
Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
1
Albany - lots to see here
25–29 Sep 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
Last time we visited Albany we only spent a couple of nights and really remember very little about the city. I remember visiting the whaling museum so we skipped it this time although I'm led to believe there have been improvements to the exhibits.

Quite interesting were the lookouts and museum/war memorial on Anzac Hill. Albany was where the soldiers sailed out from, bound for Gallipoli. The museum focused on this event and the stories were brought to life through hand held audio. The various lookouts showed fantastic views over the port and bay areas - it was unfortunate that the weather was not showing it at its best.

There are a couple of great natural rock formations - the Gap and Natural Bridge - which once again have been made very accessible so everyone can enjoy. There is also a place where a guy makes sculptures using a chainsaw. They were pretty good and I've included a few photos.Baca lagi
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Pengembara That’s different
10/11/25BalasTerjemah
2 suka
Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
1
Denmark - more tall trees
26 September 2025, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
We had intended to spend a few days at Denmark after Manjimup but school holidays and the long weekend meant we couldn't get accommodation there. So we stayed at Albany and did a day trip back to Denmark and the Valley of the Giants treetop walk.

As with other recent entries, we have visited here 18 years ago, but things have certainly improved in that time. I enjoyed walking up amongst the canopy and there was quite a lot of birdlife. On the way back to Albany we called into Greens Pools and Elephant Rocks. Unfortunately the day was grey and cold so not as beautiful as it can be. I've included a couple of tourism style pictures so you can see the difference.

We quite liked Denmark - it seems to have a lot of character. We enjoyed a couple of award winning pies, then drove to a couple of lookouts in the area. When we returned to Albany we met up with some other caravanners- one couple from SA and another from Murwillumbah - ha! For the next 3 evenings we enjoyed drinks and nibbles and chats. That was fun!Baca lagi
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Pengembara Looks like elephants to me, more natural
7/10/25BalasTerjemah
PengembaraAnother interesting place is Walpole, take the Nature/enviroment day trip, really interesting.
7/10/25BalasTerjemah
1 suka
Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
Wave Rock ... (and Kalgoorlie)
30 Sep–3 Okt 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Leaving Albany, we headed north through the Stirling Ranges to Lake Grace overnight and then via the tin horse highway (see pics), onto Wave Rock. It's another place we have been to before, but I wanted to see it again. Eighteen years ago, we stayed in villas in the Wave Rock Resort, which were about a 1.5km walk to the Rock. This time, we were right next to the Rock (about 100m) and there were a lot more facilities in the area.

After visiting the Rock and Hippo's Yawn (where the mozzies nearly took us away), we walked out to Lake Magic and the salt pool (this was new), although the weather wasn't warm enough for a swim. We also walked across the top of the rock and were surprised to see an echidna there.

There are several museums and a wildlife park which were all worthwhile checking out ( $20 for entry into all 4). The Lace Place had displays of vintage wedding dresses and other lace items; the Toy Soldier museum had 100's (probably 1000's) of miniature toy soldiers ready to do battle in the American Civil War, or The Battle of Waterloo for example. The Pioneer Museum showed household items from yesteryear - it shows how old you are getting when you can remember some of these items such as Bon Ami cleaning powder and the old Arnotts Biscuit tins. The Wildlife Park was surprisingly good - mostly birds, but quite a few we had never seen before.

After Hyden (Wave Rock), we made our way to Southern Cross and onto Kalgoorlie. The reason for going to Kalgoorlie was to start the Nullarbor Links - the longest golf course in the world. However, when we arrived, it was blowing a gale, and the temperature hit 41°C so we decided it really was going to be unpleasant. So, we photographed "The Super Pit" and that is all we did in Kalgoorlie.Baca lagi
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Fantastic Pictures! [Vanessa]
13/10/25BalasTerjemah
PengembaraDidn’t get here, may one day.
18/10/25BalasTerjemah
PengembaraLove how all the animals are so well behaved and lined up.
19/10/25BalasTerjemah
3 suka
Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
Crossing the Nullarbor
4–10 Okt 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 38 °C
Crossing the Nullarbor was not as arduous as I thought it would be. We took our time and surprisingly found various points of interest along the way - some of them spectacular!! Below is where we stopped and what we saw.

Norseman - western gateway to the Nullarbor. Turn left, go to Esperance, turn right, go to Kalgoorlie and Perth. Norseman was established in the 1890's after a man was visiting his brother, and his horse went lame. Found a gold nugget in his hoof, which started a gold rush. The horse was called Norseman.

Balladonia - in 1979, parts of Skylab fell in the area. 2 The 90 mile straight is not far from Balladonia but couldn't get a photo because it was raining and we had a truck right behind us. A very uninteresting sign anyway.

Cocklebiddy - funny name, funny time zone (had to move clocks forward 45 mins). It was wet, and when we checked out the Nullarbor links hole, it was so slippery we decided to give it a miss. There are a couple of wedgetail eagles in captivity there. They were hit by a truck on the Nullarbor and rescued. Their injuries mean they cannot be released back into the wild.

Border Roadhouse - goodbye WA, hello SA. Played our first hole on the Nullarbor links. Lost my ball, found 3 others and then found my ball. This is where we see the spectacular Bunda Cliffs - and we had a great day for it too.

Nullarbor Roadhouse - this section that is very flat and during the height of summer I imagine very dry and dusty, but at the moment it is somewhat green. We played another hole and Brad managed to lose 3 balls in the scrubby bushes. He wasn't searching for them because we had seen a snake on the way to the tee. The Head of the Bight is also nearby. The Southern Right Whale congregates here to have their babies although it is a little late in the season. We did see a few spouts.

Penong - into farmland now. Penong has a windmill museum and is home to the largest windmill in the Southern Hemisphere (I think it had a diameter of 35 feet). Played our last Nullarbor Links hole - only did 3 of the 18. They were pretty rough fairways and the tee and green were astroturf, but it was a bit of fun.

Final port of call was the quarantine station at Ceduna - no fruit and veges unless they had been peeled and /or cooked, or honey. Onward to Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula.Baca lagi
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Wow, how time flys. You'll be home before we blink. Thanks for the updates! [Virginia]
17/10/25BalasTerjemah
PengembaraInteresting stuff
18/10/25BalasTerjemah
3 suka
Travelling Oz in our PearcyPod Brad and Mandy Pearce
Streaky Bay
10–15 Okt 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
It's nice to be back on the coast and away from the dusty area we have been in for the past week or so. On someone's recommendation, we stayed at a great caravan park (about 7km out of Streaky Bay), which would be almost perfect if it wasn't for the flies. Huge sites and the amenities were individual ensuite that were spotlessly clean.

The day after we arrived, there was a big celebration for the reopening of the jetty, which had been closed for maintenance for over 12 months. This was a pretty important event for this small town.

There are a few drives to see the see the sights within a 50km radius of Streaky Bay, and for once, the dirt roads were in very good condition. We did a loop that took us to Murphy's Haystacks - large rocks (inselbergs) that are weathered away into unusual shapes. From there, it was to Point Labatt, where there was a seal colony - and we saw dozens lounging around on the rocks below the cliff. The coastline is pretty spectacular too.

The next day, we did the other 2 drives. The Westell loop took us to the Granites and some cliff top lookouts. The Cape Bauer loop had Whistling Rocks and Blowholes which was a pretty impressive stop.

Overall, it was a good place to visit - did some sightseeing and also some relaxing. Brad got a game of bowls in, and I caught up on some reading, craft and this blog.Baca lagi
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PengembaraThanks for the preview, we’re thinking about doing Eyre Peninsular eventually. Do you actually need a 4 wheel drive.
18/10/25BalasTerjemah
Brad and Mandy PearceNo, everywhere we went was accessible by 2WD - in this case the dirt roads were good.
18/10/25BalasTerjemah
PengembaraThanks.
19/10/25Balas
4 suka