On the road again, Perth to Geraldton via The Pinnacles

The day the springs were fitted, I failed poorly in managing expectations.  We had expected the springs to take all morning to complete - so arranged a late check out from the caravan park.  

All was going well, I thought we would be on the road shortly after lunch - and being the beginning of a long weekend, we were keen to head north and secure a good site for the weekend.

The front springs were a fiddle - and the back wasn't much easier.  At least the boys knew their job, and I wasn't going to rush them.  Finally the brakes were bled, the wheels aligned and I was away... at 3pm.

To make matters worse, we had a medical item to pick up that was on the other side of town - and it too had been lost in the system over the Easter weekend.  I got back to the caravan park around 4pm to find Jo an the boys had packed everything up.    

My arrival was not greeted with warm hellos - in fact a glance told me I was in deep trouble.  They had been ready to go since lunch time too.  I suggested perhaps we should stay where we were and get on the road tomorrow, but another look told me that was not a smart thing to say.

New Norcia

We had been well and truely spoilt in York, and we were sad to leave.  We still had no idea where our springs were for the car.  No doubt we weren't the only ones in the Perth area waiting for goods from the derailed train - but we were itching to get on the road north.  Easter had disrupted the normal timelines too, and with ANZAC day creating a three day week, we feared we would be held up another week before being able to head north.

With nothing to do but stay in a holding pattern around Perth, we headed north from York to New Norcia.

New Norcia lies on the Great Northern Highway - and as we came into town, we  were held up by - and eventually waved around two massive 8 metre wide dump trucks, on their way north to the mines.  In fact the volume of trucking on this road, was incredible, as was the number of wide and oversized loads.  As we rolled into town, two more dump trucks were on their way south - waiting at the widest section for the northbound trucks to pass.  It was of course fascinating for the boys, who checked out every truck that rolled on through New Norcia during our stay.

Unfortunately for the boys, New Norica is not just a great truck observation post.  It is an historic community founded by Benedictine Monks in the early 19th century.  It has incredible collection of historic buildings, priceless artworks and a Monastry.  We checked out the art gallerys which had some beautiful, albiet very symbolic paintings.

Life on the farm, we have a break at York

With the Easter weekend fast approaching, we took up a kind offer to share the weekend with some friends at their family property near York.  The best part was that the boys had a friend too - and it wasn't before the three of them were inseparable.  We were extremely lucky to be able to have a beautiful campsite on the only bit of green grass on the property - the front lawn - which had been carefully manicured by the resident kangaroos and alpacas.

With any farm, there are always jobs to do - and the boys soon embraced the new lifestyle.  Of course the best part was riding in the back of the trailer on a special 'first class' board constructed especially for their comfort! 

Riding first class

Our friends run a mixed farm on their 500 acres.   A large area is reserved native bushland.  The rest is mostly sown oats, which is cut and baled into oaten hay and exported.  We helped out clearing some of the paddy melons or gourds (cucumis_myriocarpus) from the paddocks.

Charming Fremantle and Perth

We planned on a brief visit to Perth, and could easily have stayed a month.  The main reason for our calling was to get some new springs fitted to Rocky, to hopefully get a bit more space between us and the rocks we had been scraping over.  Plans were thrown into disarray when a freight train derailed near Tarcoola in South Australia, and it seemed our replacement springs were in one of the 18 carriages that had become a semi-permanent feature of the South Australia landscape.

In a way it was a blessing in disguise - even if it didn't seem like it at the time.

Fremantle

One of my favourite cities in Australia would have to be Fremantle.  I had many fond memories of hanging about here in my youth - and whilst some things had changed - many of the best were refreshingly unchanged.  Unfortunately it was me that was a little older and wiser - so we didn't spend the day at the Sail and Anchor, or Little Creatures, or even the Norfolk...  No, it was off to the playground for us.

I never thought my first stop on a return to Fremantle would be the playground!

Be that as it may, it was fantastic to wander around the city with no real timetable.  We found our way to the Visitor Information Centre, and armed with a map with all the things to see and do, we decided to pick just a few to visit.  The first on our list was The Round House.  Formerly a gaol, and a maritime signalling station, it is Western Australia's oldest public building.  The stocks were popular with the kids - but it is probably a good thing I didn't have any rotten tomatos in my pocket when Mum had a go...

They could have charged by the hour for babysiting!

Margaret River - would you believe it's not all about the wine...

Margaret River is synonymous with wine, delicious wine, and we came expecting to enjoy a bit of grown up time exploring the wineries.  We hadn't factored on there being so much to do, that it took us four days to visit our first winery!

This is a fantastic region to visit with a family, that seems to undergoing burgeoning growth.  The old favourites are still here, but in the 12 years or so since my last visit here, many new ventures have started, bringing new activities, tastes and even fashions to the area.

We camped at Contos Campground, just near the stunning Lake Cave.  There are some 300 steps to descend into the cave, and a new addition is a suspended deck over the collapsed cave roof.  It was a little unnerving stepping onto the clear observation points in the deck - but for some crazy reason we all ended up on the deck and took this amusing selfie.

On the suspended deck.... The cave is some 300 steps below us!

Lake Cave's show-piece is the magnificent suspended column - one of only two known in the world, and the only one open to the public.  Whilst the cave is beautiful, I felt sure the water level of the lake had dropped since my last visit.  The guide confessed that all the caves in the Margaret River region have dried up, and they lined the bottom of this lake with plastic to ensure it didn't dry out too.  Of course no one really knows why - but the huge number of massive dams supporting the grape industry (and don't forget the aesthetics of a nice big dam) must surely have something to do with it.