• Alisha Smellie
Current
  • Alisha Smellie

Big Lap

A year exploring Australia in our Caravan Read more
  • Dales Gorge - Fern Pool

    October 10, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    WOW! One of the most beautiful swimming spots in a gorge to date. A short 5 min walk upstream from Fortescue Falls brings you to this beauty! The bonus was you got to climb up and sit behind the waterfall in a fern lined cave! Loved it so much we relaxed, enjoyed a couple of swims before the big Ascend up the ladder stairs to the top of the gorge!Read more

  • Dales Gorge - Fortescue Falls

    October 10, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Fortescue Falls was the perfect place for a cool swim after a hot hike. There was still plenty of water flowing and it was fun to swim over to the waterfall. The rock steps made the perfect place for our picnic lunch too.Read more

  • Dales Gorge Walk

    October 10, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We had the whole day to tackle the Dale's Gorge Walk. Starting with a spectacular but hot gorge rim walk, followed by a rocky descent into the gorge and a stroll through paperbark lined creek beds (we got a bit wet and miss Oli slipped several times which caused a right tantrum). But to end up at Fortescue Falls for a swim was worth the hard effort!Read more

  • Kalamina Gorge

    October 9, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    After arriving at Dales Gorge Campground, we decided to drive out to Kalamina for a short walk and swim. We had the whole gorge to ourselves and it was very pretty.

  • Mt. Meharry - Top of WA

    October 8, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Today was an adventure afternoon for Dad, with a tough 4x4 track up Western Australia's highest mountain - Mount Meharry. It was a tough, steep track with step ups, it was only for the experienced driver. The views from the top were spectacular, and was amazing to think we were the highest people in WA at that moment in time!Read more

  • Exploring Marble Bar

    October 7, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    We drove out to the Secret WW2 Airbase at Corunna Downs (Olivia actually had a car sleep 😴), checked out the Jasper "bar" across the Coongan River and visited the Comet Mine Museum.

  • Marble Bar

    October 7, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    It holds the record as the hottest town in Australia, and it's pretty hot today 🌡 but loving the dry heat (not humid), makes it feel like being in a Wagga summer!

    We had a wonderful afternoon fossicking and exploring the sights around town. We found some jasper for our collection but sadly not enough water at Chinaman's Pools for a swim, but checked out the views of the town from the Water Tank Lookout.Read more

  • Port Hedland

    October 6, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    We lobbed into the Turf Club free camp in Port Hedland early and got about seeing a few things and doing our odd jobs before we set off East for a few days. We loved watching the long ore trains roll past, and then watching the huge ore ships load and then head out to sea while Oli played in the park. Today she tackled the big slide all by herself! She was so very chuffed with herself 😍

    Another swim, this time at Pretty Pools (Oli literally dropped off the kids at the pools 🫣🤫😂🙄🫢💩), a nice cool off and some good laughs 😃.
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  • Cape Keraudren

    October 5, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    A wonderful camp in the East Pilbara Region. Our camp-site was stunning, with the ocean literally a stones throw away. We spent the afternoon checking out the other sites on tge Cape, drove down to Mosquito Creek (no we didn't stay there) before heading to the beach where we found another beautiful rockpool to relax, cool off in and splash around. Afternoon swims are the perfect time to find one when the tide drops and exposes them!

    The weather was perfect, a cool sea breeze kept the heat at bay so we could sit out and enjoy our view. The little bird boxes were perfect to see birds nesting and we got a visit from a kangaroo too! The stars were out and looking amazing too!
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  • Barn Hill Station

    Oct 3–5, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We are lucky to be able to stay at Barn Hill Station as its their last week for the season, as the temps warm up, the humidity rises and the rain starts brewing. Olivia loved the playground and the goats, and mum and dad loved sitting in the shade, cool sea breeze on our face planning the next leg of our journey. We had our first real "full day of relaxing", playing, reading researching, cooling off in the rock pools and watching the sun set with another travelling family from Freshwater and a lovely older couple we met as we got on the Horizontal Falls Seaplane.Read more

  • Gantheaume Beach Exploring

    October 2, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We didn't time the tide right and it wasn't low enough to search for dinosaur footprints, so instead we drove down onto the beach and enjoyed a stroll around the point where we discovered some beautiful coloured rocks with amazing 'windows'.Read more

  • Cable Beach Sunsets & Camels

    October 1, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Another day, another sunset at Cable Beach. This time with a string of camels infront giving us the quintessential Cable Beach view. Sensational! Plus tonight we saw whales frolicking off the beach 🐋 and Olivia loved chasing the seagulls across the sand.Read more

  • Broome Colours

    October 1, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    A huge high tide (10+m) means beautiful colour changes here in Broome. From red to blue - the drone shots are even more impressive!

  • Coconut Wells

    September 30, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We chanced an over 9m high tide this morning to experience Coconut Well "filling up" with super salty ocean water. It was a fun stop on the way back down Dampier Peninsula onroute to Broome. The turquoise warm waters were a delight for Olivia to float in.Read more

  • Sea Plane to Cygnet Bay

    September 29, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    The final part of our adventure to Horizontal Falls was the sea plane flight home. Flying at 4,500 feet gave us a much smoother ride and different perspective compared to the low level flying on the journey to the falls. Can't have asked for a better day!Read more

  • Horizontal Falls Tour

    September 29, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Our Horizontal Falls tour continued with a swim and shark feed followed by a boat trip through Talbot Bay and up Cyclone Creek into the mangrove waters. We had sensational weather, great company and so much fun together ❤️Read more

  • Horizontal Falls

    September 29, 2023, Indian Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Sir David Attenborough calls them “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world” and we can definitely see why – the fast moving, surging waters of the Horizontal Falls are truly remarkable. The massive volume of water squeezing between the narrow cliffs on Talbot Bay cause this natural phenomenon and unbelievable "sideways" falls. Bucket List item definitely checked off 👌Read more

  • Sea Plane to Horizontal Falls

    September 29, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    A late Anniversary gift to each other, we had a childless morning (thanks to Nanna & Grumpy) while we enjoyed low level flying over the amazing islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago before our seaplane landed safely in Talbot Bay. The seaplane was just part of our magical day out to Horizontal Falls. The colours and perspective you see from the air is breathtaking, we saw Cygnet Bay from above and even spotted 2 whales frolicking in the waters far below.Read more

  • Cygnet Bay Fishing

    September 28, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Our afternoons fishing adventures as the tide went out at Cygnet Bay. Mummy caught the biggest fish 🐟 and Grumy caught the most 🐠 absolutely stunning spot. Grumpy got the chance to teach his fifth grandchild how to fish.Read more

  • Lombardina

    September 28, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Located on beautiful Thomas Bay, north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula, Lombardina is a small Indigenous community with a beautiful sandy beach to explore and swim.

  • Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm

    Sep 27–30, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    The top of the Dampier Peninsula is truly beautiful and we were lucky enough to stay at Cygnet Bay, a working pearl farm. We swam, fished and relaxed in this little piece of paradise.

  • Dinner @ Matso's

    September 26, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    When it comes to beer and Broome, the famous Matso's comes to mind. We decided we must check it out during our time in Broome. We tried a few of the famous beers like the Mango 🥭 and Chilli 🌶.