Stats Overview
Kms Travelled: 1014
Kms Hiked: 8
No. of Camps: 4
The Adventures
We have had a pretty big week of adventuring this week, filled with lots of highlights and fun experiences! Although we had a bit of a scare at the start of the week, when one of the engine warning lights lit up on Bertie's dash. We were able to diagnose the issue using the scan gauge but when we started Googling the code, we found out we were dealing with a potentially major issue. Fortunately, the local mechanic was able to look over the car that day. So while we were busy imagining our new lives in Jurien Bay, he told us there was nothing physically wrong with the engine but that all the dusty roads had gotten a bit of dust on the air intake sensor. So he cleaned it up for us and thankfully the light went off on the dash and we could continue our journey while only being out of pocket $25! While caravan issues are a bit of an inconvenience on the road, having something go wrong with the car is a terrifying prospect when it is your entire world!
We started off the week still in Geraldton where we went and visited some of the local sites. One of the highlights of our exploring was visiting the memorial for the HMAS Sydney II, which was an Australian Naval Ship which sunk without a trace after a battle with the disguised German Raider HSK Kormoran in 1941. We have learnt a lot about this battle as basically every town down the coastline has a memorial for the ship and its 645 crew who died on board. Of the 399 crew onboard the Kormoran, 318 of those were rescued and spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp. The wrecks of the two ships were only discovered in 2008 about 100 nautical miles of the coast of Carnarvon. Until we started travelling, we had no idea about the number of battles that happened during WWII in Australian territory.
After Geraldton, we made our way down the coast to visit Cervantes so we could finally tick off my final big bucket list item - swimming with sea lions. Although, I will be honest and suggest if you want to go swimming with sea lions do not Google "Sea Lion Attacks WA" before getting on the boat...I had to learn that one the hard way! They are very playful and inquisitive animals and after our experience we can totally see why they are given the nick name of the "puppy dogs of the sea". They will come right up to you to check you out and if you do dives and spins etc they will do them with you. We were lucky enough to have several close encounters (or "close calls" as I saw them) with the sea lions which made for a memorable morning. In spite of my fears, we both definitely rate the experience as one of the highlights of our trip to date!
While we were in Cervantes we also went and explored some of the nearby National Parks where we were so excited to discover wildflowers! We saw so many different types of Kangaroo Paws and orchids and every other size and colour of flower you could imagine. We even were lucky enough to see some fields full of daisies which were like a beautiful carpet under the trees. After our disappointment last week, it was so nice to be able to experience a little bit of the wildflower phenomena that WA is known for. We have to say that they are definitely worth the trip over to see it! While we were in the area we also stopped in to visit the Pinnacles at Nambung NP before making our way down to Lancelin to go sandboarding on the sand dunes.
We are now only a couple of hours from Perth but, as it is school holidays, we have decided we are going to delay our arrival in the Big Smoke for another week to try and avoid some of the crowds. Instead we are going to head inland to see what other gems we can discover.
Kodak Moments
 |
| The 645 seagulls on the dome represent those lives lost at sea on the HMAS Sydney II - Geraldton |
 |
| Enjoying the view from Mount Leseur - Leseur NP |
 |
| I was so excited to finally see some flowers decorating the countryside! - Leseur NP |
 |
| We found the very rare Black Kangaroo Paw! - Leseur NP |
 |
| Won't lie, I'm pretty proud of this shot! (Also the cave was pretty fun) - Stockyard Gully Cave |
 |
| Excited/slightly apprehensive about our impending swim with the sea lions! - Cervantes |
 |
| Can you see the 3 sea lions in this picture? - Cervantes |
 |
| Will enjoying his snorkel/swim with the sea lions - Cervantes |
 |
| The sea lions are pretty cute and inquisitive! - Cervantes |
 |
| The Pinnacles Desert - Nambung NP |
 |
| Some of the Pinnacles are quite large in size. - Nambung NP |
 |
| Finally found a carpet of Everlasting Daisies! - Badgingarra |
 |
| We encountered a bit of a traffic jam upon arrival at one of our campsites! - Coomberdale |
 |
| Will enjoying some sandboarding... moments before he stacked it! - Lancelin |
Comments
Post a Comment