WINTER FINALLY

Hello from the teeth chattering Wood family! I really need to get my act together it has been too long.

So we head south down this amazing, rugged, untouched western coastline. From the yummy Carnarvon produce to the crazy tow surfing at Kalbarri to the Pinnacles and to my  home away from home Fremantle. Now I'm not going to bore all of you with blow by blow description of the trip this week. Let's just say we are having the time of our lives, loving every minute of this adventure. It's not only about the places and ticking things off on the map. For us it is alot about the people we have met, the friendships we have formed and hoping to maintain. But I have to say there is something about the WA people, they have been so warm and friendly. Everyone is so happy here and so accommodating towards the kids.

So we stocked up at Carnarvon on loads of fresh fruit and veg and met some locals at the markets. Love the chocolate coated fruit! Now I love the markets mixing with the locals and really getting a feel for a town. Michael is at the other spectrum, I think he would rather pull his toenails out but he did like these ones! We did a few day trips from Carnarvon, the weather wasn't great they got their worst windy weather in 20 years. So for Spencer's birthday we  went to the local video store and had a lazy day. Stocked up on the old classics for the kids and they actually loved them.Storm Boy was a fav.

We stumbled across an amazing place called Gladstone. At $10 a night right on the coastline.

We did Shark Bay area from here, we missed the dolphin feeding at Monkey Mia unfortunately,  but we did see Denham and pretty places along the way. Shell Beach is a white haven of shells, they say the shells actually go 5mt under the surface. Eagle Bluff was really windy and you can see an array of sharks out here, not that we saw any that day.We  hit the point where we were a bit over the driving. And let me tell you, you do get sick of sitting in the car for days on end . We've started to do schoolwork in the car which seems to be working well.

There are some pretty amazing free campsites along this stretch and the next place we stopped was Kalbarri. A great little surfing town, amazing rugged coastline, and we did actually see some daring tow surfing in 10ft surf. The national park had been closed from the rain so we had a day doing the loop around Red Bluff, hope the pictures do it justice. The kids loved this place still being school holidays there was plenty of kid action.All the boys were playing AFL, poor Spence didn't have a clue what they were playing but had fun. Phoebe was queen of the playground and Scarlett developed turrets syndrome. Yes I think she has been around me too much.We got to see the pelican feeding . Now this was pretty funny there were about 50 people all waiting at 8.30 in the morning freezing our butts off waiting for "the amazing" pelican feeding!!!!Well only 1 pelican turned up!!! But the story behind the local tradition is cute a local fisherman started about 30yrs ago feeding the local pelicans and when he died they continued on the tradition . Every day volunteers come here and talk about the history.

We found a little beach town which I have to mention, Horrocks, what a cute little place. Little cottages a line the beach and a lovely place to have a cuppa.

This is the area of the Pink Lake, and yes it is pink due to a special algae in the water, it just glistens.We thought we would have a stopover in Geraldton, but once we got there it wasn't much chop so quickly kept moving  and had some freebies. All along this coast they have the most beautiful sweet fish and picked up some local snapper and lobster at Julien Bay, which was amazing. We have been running the high stakes of best fish and chips and I think Exmouth is still in the lead.  At times I think we are going to turn into fish and chips.

The Pinnacles is an interesting place, we've all seen the pictures and I thought it was going to be quite small but the amazing limestone structures are quite big and the area is quite vast. They don't know how they were formed but approximate they are about 500 000 yrs old. AMAZING!You can actually drive through this area but I think it is much better to walk through. Getting a feel for this bizarre desert terrain should be felt up close and a must to see.

Now I could devote a whole blog to Perth, Freemantle and Cottesloe. Ok I thought here we go, just another major city, boring. Traffic jams, expensive living, rude city folk. I couldn't have been further from the truth. And yes we have read alot of blogs about this area and they were pretty negative. I am here to say it is the most amazing, easy to get around place. Filled with character and charm. We based ourselves in Fremantle, what a vibrant place. Why couldn't you be closer to home, you have the beach and the cool shops, fantastic cafes and gorgeous people all at your doorstep.

We had a great lunch at a place called Monk and the kids just drew for 2 hours while we had a couple of wines and had a really normal time, which we have craved for. Yes the kids were fantastic they have really grown up, have become so confident. Fremantle has 1 major street with everything happening and many an hour was spent here shopping, eating, going to the markets seeing movies and having a great time. Really do not want to leave. The houses here are full of charm and the people here are very trendy and very friendly.

Perth itself feels a little like Brissy but scratch the surface and it is so pretty and green and a really pleasant place to be. We went and saw Mama Mia which was lots of fun and the botanical gardens overlooking the city are spectacular.Cottesloe Beach is an amazing place to just have a coffee and watch the world go by. If only I could afford a place here. Michael and I drove round for hours just having a look at the most interesting, charming architecture. Would love to live here, it's right on the beach and has incredible views out to the ocean and Rottnest Is.

We have had a few problems with condensation in the van, so as soon as we hit Freo we invested in a small heater which seems to have fixed the problem of droplets on our bed. But I don't know how we are going to go with free camps and not being on power. Michael was also very proud of himself and saved ourselves $300 replacing the bearings and stabilisers on the van himself. I don't feel so bad about my shopping addiction!  The countryside has dramatically changed from half way down the coast, with lots of green rolling hills, sheep, heaps of cattle and horses. Which they actually eat over here, yes horse meat! It is incredibly cold at the moment and have had to succumb to wearing ugg boots. I hear you all saying oohh! But they are the warmest things things and have had to buy some warmer clothes for everyone. Hitting 2 here at night and going to get cooler heading down south.

No Tam's Tips this week but thought I'd leave you with this funny sign we saw at Horricks.

So I will leave you until next time, where we will be heading to Margaret River, wine country, can't wait to go!!