Cheyne's Beach

Waychinicup (near Cheyne's Beach)


Our week at Cheyne's Beach has been great. We ended up staying 7 nights as not only did we get a 10% discount for being Family Park member's, but they give you 7 nights for the price of 6.

The Rare and Endangered Thong Tree Found at Cheynes


The park was lovely with shady spacious sites and pretty good amenities. We had our friends Ron and Del there too, so it was lots of fun. We made dinner together for Russ's birthday, then they cooked one night and we cooked another. It was great to have the company.

We managed to get out in the boat 3 times and caught ourselves some great mixed bags of fish. It's lovely to see all the different types of fish coming in after Streaky Bay where it was either whiting or tommy ruff 99% of the time. We reckon we caught at least 16 different types of fish.

We're Not Stuck Jan!


Ron and Del took us on a great afternoon of 4WDing along various tracks through the Waychinicup National Park and along Cheyne's beach. It was lots of fun ( especially digging ourselves out a few times) with some spectacular views of the local coast.

Storm Approaching Cheyne's Beach


On Friday we went into Albany and visited Tom at the brewery (amazing) and Trudi at home. I got my tooth fixed finally, we picked up our repaired cooler, bought Dan and Verity a highchair and Russ an annex floor for his birthday. It was a very pleasing day.

Saturday we went to cook some lunch in the microwave and it decided to die. It seems the death of appliances never ends! Repair one and another pulls the plug.

Today (Tuesday 18th) we moved on to Walpole (and closer to those kids in Perth!). We'll be here for 2 weeks and hope to catch lots of fish like last year. It was lovely to have Bill (one of the park workers) remember us.

This Thursday it's our 15th wedding anniversary so we stopped in Albany on the way and bought ourselves some nice food and wine to celebrate with.

Albany

Trudi and Me


We’ve just left Albany after three lovely days there at the Middleton Beach Big 4 CP. It was a lovely park and we really enjoyed meeting our neighbours Thel and Barry. Barry is a retired bank manager who has worked in Warragul and Warrnambool (as well as many other places). They now live in Echuca. I loved the fact that they really enjoyed good food and wine and Barry did the cooking the two nights they were beside us.

We were both surprised at how beautiful the area around Albany is so Sunday we drove out to check out various little bays, inlets and caravan parks as we’ve decided to head back down here before Christmas (which we’ll spend in Perth).

Yesterday we got round town and bought ourselves a new awning floor, and a new mat for those times we have a concrete slab. We got our fish finder fixed and found the Waeco repairman so left our car fridge with him. After about 10 calls to local dentists I took myself to one and stood there and sooked until they fitted me in. I have an appointment on Friday (when the fridge should also be fixed). I can cope with the tooth now I have a firm date to get it seen to.

Last night we had dinner with Trudi and Tom. Trudi and I met through Recipezaar but had never actually met in person. They invited another couple along (Carry and Michael) who own a local yabby farm. It was a wonderful night that finally finished at 1.15 this morning. It was very relaxedand really interesting and it seemed like we had known each other for ever. Tom is American and he and Trudi (who was originally from South Australia) met in Alaska. Oldest son Ben (8) was born in Alaska and their gorgeous daughter Katie (4) was born in WA. Carry and Michael run the yabby farm but need to work as well-she is a waitress, he is a relief teacher. Each year they take a couple of months off in the winter and head north to camp, fish and hike. They’ve decided to have a lifestyle rather than work themselves to death. They were lovely.

Tom at their Albany Ale House


This morning, we back tracked out to Cheynes Beach where we will spend 6 nights, It’s a really good caravan park which we decided to stay at so we can catch up with Ron and Del. We met them at Lake Argyle, then spent a bit of time with them in Katherine and Darwin. They’ve had a van and boat on site here for 15 years and travel here from Perth as often as they can.

Today is Russ’s 62 birthday.

Eucla to Norseman and on to Jerramungup

Eucla-The Middle of Nowhere

Yesterday we left Eucla thinking we might make it to Cocklebiddy Roadhouse but it was so hot, we just kept driving. We got to Fraser Range Sheep Station Caravan Park and thought we might stop there, but still too hot. So we kept on to Norseman. That was about 720ks and lots of people who drive the Nullabor would say "only that far?" but it was so hot our aircon in the car died if we went faster than 90ks. If we backed off to 80-85ks it was OK, so a slow cool(ish) drive that took us 9 long hours (including lunch and fuel stops). When we stopped to make our lunch it was a cool 42c in the van.

The fridge in the van was struggling, the aircon in the car and van struggling and russ and I struggling too, but the car was cooler than anywhere else.

When we arrived, the floor of the van was almost too hot to walk on, the bed was hot, inside all the cupboards were still around 40c. We put the aircon on, sat outside for a couple of hours then finally went to bed with the aircon on. Russ went for a shower before bed, I got myself a drink of water from a 10 litre cask. The spout came off and I had water GUSHING all over me and the van. I mopped it up, went to bed and discovered my bedlight had died. The end of another great day across the Nullabor!


Norseman's Premier Tourist Attraction !!!

Today we drove from Norseman planning to make it to Albany so I could see a dentist tomorrow. We had a tail wind all the way to Salmon Gums, then the wind changed to a nasty cross wind. The first metre of top soil on any crop farm seemed to be being blown across the road all the way to Ravensthorpe, it was hot and horrible. We actually heard on the radio that three shires had banned the movement of machines or working of land in their areas (I guess to stop more dust). When we arrived in Jerramungup, we decided enough was enough and pulled up for the night. It was a chilly 30ish and dropping, so we've enjoyed a lovely evening sitting out in the cool.

WA!!!!!

We had a lovely last few days at Streaky Bay (left there this morning) but it was sad to say goodbye to Cec and Caroline, John and Mary and Des and Gaile.

We finally took the boat out to Purlubie (20ks from SB) two days before we left and put it in on the beach. It's a beautiful spot and it was a beutiful day out there especially when we caught ourselves 9 HUGE KG whiting. We ate 1 feed, but bagged up another 2 feeds and gave them to Cec and Caroline who repayed us with some lovely mangos from their trees.

Today we left late, stopped in town for a few things and as we headed out spotted Peter and Barb (from Dapto) driving by. We'd sort of been expecting them a little earlier, but had a quick kiss and hug and catch up and made promises to try and see them next year!

Our fridge (the Waeco in the car) decided last night to shit itself. GRRRR. It's just out of warranty and although they aren't cheap, we have to have another one-we'll see if it can be repaired in Albany first though and try our friends at the insurance company too.

It was an excellent drive here today but hot. When we stopped at Nardoo Roadhouse for fuel, the temperature was 47c and it was 36 inside the van as we made our lunch. It's cooler now in Eucla and the aircon is finally winning, but I hope it drops another 10c tonight.

We made ourselves yummy pizzas for dinner, but as I was eating mine, I felt something yucky and gritty in my mouth. It was a chunk of tooth the size of a short grain of rice. It's horrible so I'll have to try see a dentist in Albany on Monday. What really annoys me though is that it isn't the one with the hole in it that I'm booked to see a dentist in Perth for.

I messaged some friends from WA to let them know where we were and it turns out they are in Cheyne Beach outside Albany. So, we'll go into Albany for a few nights, do some shopping, visiting, tooth, fridge and fish finder repairs and then go out to Cheyne Beach for 5 nights before going on to Walpole. We haven't see Ron and Del since we had lunch together at the Darwin Casino so I can't wait to catch up. They reckon Cheyne Beach is a lovely spot too.