We have found paradise!

It was an easy drive across the Eyre Hwy down to Streaky Bay, where we filled the caravan tanks up with water before camping at Perlubie Beach.

We had seen photos of the beach where our friends the Beesons and the Cronans have been camped. I thought they must have taken the photos at an angle to make it look like they were right on the beach, but I was wrong… they actually were camped right on the sand in a beautiful little bay called Perlubie Beach.

We pulled up next to them and set up on the sand. We felt like we had found paradise! The beach had handmade thatched shelters, soft white sand, crystal clear shallow water and plenty of rock caves for the kids to explore.

 
 

 

The first night, as we sat and had a few drinks with our friends, nature put on a show for us with a magical sunset over the ocean. We fell asleep to the beautiful sounds of the waves gently crashing as the tide came in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our second day in paradise was Will's 9th birthday. A very excited little boy woke us up early and was busting to open his birthday presents. We were soon joined by some of the other kids who were keen to see Will's new toys.

After a very relaxed breakfast we drove along the beach to some fantastic sand dunes. The kids (both big and small!) grabbed their body boards and headed up the steep slopes. After a few rides/runs/falls down the side of the dunes, their legs became tired and they became hot and sweaty. They had great fun but the sun was beating down on them so they headed to the ocean to cool off.  Some of the kids came back in the car, the rest swam back along the bay to our camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch and a game of beach cricket, we had birthday cake, then the older boys went exploring the rock caves. The tide was in so they jumped on their boards and explored from the water.

 

 

 

Just as we were putting three very exhausted kids into bed, the heavens opened. It poured with rain all night and for most of the next day. We decided it was time to move on as it's not much fun camping on the beach in the rain.

We parted ways with the others because we needed to get to a caravan park with power. Dan's new laptop won’t charge from our inverter and he has work to do. So we are off to stay at Ceduna for a couple of days before tackling the Nullarbor Plain.

On the road again!!

There was a real buzz in the air as we pulled out of Mum and Dad's street. It was sad to be saying goodbye again, but very exciting to be back on the road.  We are starting our third year of travelling around Australia in our 25ft caravan.

Our first stop was to Bacchus Marsh in Western Victoria, were Sam and Pete and their three kids live. We met the Richards family in Alice Springs and they have been home since before Christmas while trying to sell their house. We had a lovely time visiting them, and the kids really enjoyed seeing each other again.

 

The kids all started the year of school together, after discovering that they are in the same classes at DECV (Distance Education Centre of Victoria). Once finished school, Sam served an amazing roast lunch and homemade crumble, both cooked on their BBQ.

 

We left Bacchus Marsh, promising to see Sam and Pete on the road somewhere, and drove to Ballarat. Dan's Dad has been working in Ballarat, so we decided to call in and say hi. We stayed at the Eureka Caravan Park for a couple of nights, and Dan caught up on work while the kids settled back into the school routine.

Leaving Ballarat, we drove for nearly 10 hours and arrived in Adelaide. We are staying at Levi Caravan Park where Mark and Amanda are staying while working in Adelaide.

Dan and I were pleasantly surprised by the kid’s behaviour in the car. It has been months since we have done a big day driving and we didn't hear a single complaint from them. Their new electronic purchases are most likely the reason for our peaceful trip. We have ipods, ipads, andriod tablets, phones, laptops and dvd players, to keep them amused.

Mark is working evening shift at the moment, so we didn't get to see him until Saturday afternoon. We had dinner with Amanda and the kids on Friday night and went to the caravan and camping show on Saturday morning.

We were tempted to sit around, drinking beer and chatting all afternoon on Saturday, but the weather was too good to waste. We reluctantly packed our bathers in the car and headed to the beach. We were so glad we did, because we had a wonderful afternoon and evening at Henley Beach.

After a swim in the ocean, we got fish and chips and sat on the grass, while an orchestra serenaded us.  We got ice creams for desert and watched a beautiful sunset over the beach.

 

We left Mark and Amanda, and Adelaide on Sunday and headed north to Port Augusta. We didn't stay long in Port Augusta (just long enough to fill up on fuel and groceries) and continued through to a little town in country South Australia called Kimba. The home of the giant Galah and officially 'halfway across Australia', we stayed in a little rest area next to the railway.

 

 

We are now heading to the coast to spend Will's 9th birthday with the Beeson and Cronan families at Perlubie Beach, near Streaky Bay.