queensland: wonga beach, mossman gorge

We got lucky with the Piccadilly Caravan Park on Wonga Beach. The unpowered sites were on lush green grass as close to the beach as you can get. The kids practised riding without training wheels on the grass but we all crept under the shade in the humid afternoons. 

It was the first time most of us remember hearing the haunting screams of the curlew in the night. A couple of parents and little chicks made the caravan park home. 

Mossman Gorge is an easy half day trip from Wonga. We took our swimmers and clambered over the huge boulders and in to the cold water which was welcome relief from the humidity. The gorge is now accessible by bus and the walk is raised through the rainforest canopy. 

Sunrise at Wonga Beach

Fathers Day was celebrated at Eonga Beach. The kids planned the breakfast for J and we visited the farmers markets at Mossman to buy the freshest fruit and homemade vanilla ice cream (with locally grown vanilla beans) for pancakes.

To top off a great few days J kayaked out to Snapper Island - 6km from Wonga Beach - and camped overnight on the beach. The highlight was drinking a Mount Uncle single malt whisky by firelight under the setting sun looking out to the Daintree. 

western australia: karijini national park, fortescue falls, fern pool

A few walks in Karijini National Park are achievable with kids. A few others are achievable but I would also describe them as a challenge. The kids staying at Karijini were all good bush walkers and accepted some great challenges for their ages and abilities. It turned out to be a week for teamwork all around - for the parents and the children.

The walk down to Fortescue Falls and then on to Fern Pool was the easiest of walks as well as picturesque. A swim in Fern Pool was refreshing. Tiny fish were attracted to the dead skin on our feet which was amusing and ticklish! The pool must have been special place for locals for thousands of years.

Photos courtesy of Vivid Imaging. 

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western australia: karijini national park, dales gorge

Karijini National Park is north east of Paraburdoo and south of Port Hedland. The predominant industry in the area is the mining of iron ore but the National Park attracts thousands of visitors each year and it's not hard to see why. This part of the country is overwhelmingly beautiful. The landscape is dotted with huge termite mounds and rocky outcrops change from black to orange to red throughout the day depending on the sunlight. We spotted a couple of dingos during our stay.

Thanks Jo for the photo of our girls! 

A bunch of travelling families happened to all be staying in the same campsite area (Warlu Way)at Karijini. We met New Yorkers Miranda, Jay and their twin boys at the Bay of Fires in Tassie and then Carnarvon. Luke and Jo are travelling with their two children from Newcastle. We met new friends, Ben and Saskia, from Belgium with their two children too. It was inevitable that the kids would play and they had a ball wielding sticks, creating hideouts and generally getting bronzed by the red Pilbara dust.

Meanwhile we prepared up a huge combined feast for brekky - bacon, eggs, pancakes and fruit salad. It turned out that none of us can live without coffee, so we compared coffee grinding and brewing techniques in caravans, campers and camping trailers. There can be some in-depth conversations on the road!

The days at Karijini went like this - wake, breakfast, kids play, Baby A's sleep, school work for all the kids, lunch and a gorge walk before dinner and then happy hour, ukulele and a drink under the Karijini stars once the children had gone to sleep. What a great week!

J had to drive to the car park to let Jay and Miranda know that we wouldn't be joining them on the first day for a gorge walk. He recognised Robert Irwin from a book B has been reading, Dinosaur Hunter, and which we'd only bought a few days prior in Exmouth! B was so envious that his dad met the Irwins but they kindly gifted an edition of Australia Zoo magazine. It turned out J's friend, Paul de Gelder is featured in the mag too! It's a small world!! We hope we'll get to Australia Zoo in Queensland and B is desperately hoping Robert will be home!

western australia: bullara to paraburdoo

western australia: exmouth to bullara

Getting away in the mornings requires everyone to 'pitch in.' In other words the kids have to limit their craft, J & I work flat-out packing away each thing in the van (other caravanners and those with camping trailers know how it is!) and Baby A has to amuse himself which usually mean she crawls around the caravan inspecting everything. 

It seems Baby A enjoyed the week at Osprey Bay, Cape Range National Park too. 

We left Osprey Bay, dropped in at Exmouth to refuel, do laundry, fill the fridge & the water tanks. We pulled in for a night at Bullara Station which has a good set-up. There are showers, toilets and washing machines. I should have waited to do the washing there. 

Happy Hour, around the fire pit, is at 5 o'clock and camp host, John, cooks a damper to share. Coincidentally John is far from his home near Goolwa, South Australia, a stones throw from the Seaview Grove Olive Oil olive grove where we stayed with Andrew and Emily on our way through! 

If you're lucky you might stay on a night when John cooks a sourdough damper from his two year old starter!

John was kind enough to use the coals to hear the bbq plate so we could cook the hamburgers I bought from the Exmouth Butchery. We stocked up with meat from these guys and it's been very good. I served these on fresh rolls with fresh beetroot, carrot, lettuce, homemade relish and my sauerkraut!

western australia: gingin

The view from the 13 storey purpose built tower for learning about gravity. 

Sandy Lake Farmstay ($35/n) a short drive from Perth, was a good place to base the family for two nights while we reacquainted ourselves with the caravan. It is exciting to hit the road again knowing that we don't know what adventures are in store for us. 

The  Gingin Gravity Discovery Centre and Observatory is a short drive from the farmstay and we thought we might stay an hour. It cost $54 for the family but it really was money well spent. Four hours later we dragged the kids and ourselves from the Discovery Centre. If you've been to Questacon in Canberra then the Discovery Centre is a similar concept on a smaller budget with incredible resources and hands-on activities - the best way to learn about science!

western australia: south west

Poor little A had a nasty reaction to some bites after commandoing around at the picnic ground in Walpole. 

Within an hour his face, ears and neck had swelled but we were in Nornalop by then. He'd not had a reaction like this before. A wasn't really distressed, just itchy around his eyes and ears. It's good to take photos in these cases to see how much/little the swelling improves and the rash spreads. J raced back to the pharmacy for antihistamines but it was a worriesome night. Although rare, children can have a delayed anaphylactic reaction. The closest hospital was 45 minutes away in Albany and, fortunately, J had adrenalin on hand in the event that A deteriorated. 

western australia : cocklebiddy caves, nullabor

Before we hit the Nullabor I had two dominating thoughts:

1. there's not much to see, and 

2. the kids will struggle with long days in the car. 

There is so much to see out here. It might not be obvious but it's beautiful and it's subtle and I don't mean anything manmade. 

The vegetation is so varied in colour. I've never seen so many greens and greys of grasses and shrubs. The plains expansive (obviously) and you can see a vehicle approaching from a few kilometres ahead. 

Unfortunately there's so much litter along the Nullabor. The motels and caravan parks are rundown and if you can I'd be freecamping as much as possible. Be aware of the locations of dump points too. And take a shovel to dig a hole if you need to. 

The kids have done so well. In the past I'd have been anxious about doing a four hour drive with the three kids but we've got the routine sorted for these long stints. We do 2-3 hours in the morning then only up to 2 after lunch. We have two substantial stops and a few wee breaks but we also play it all by ear!

Cocklebiddy Caves is about 5km off the highway down dirt. It's probably the most recognised cave diving site on the Nullabor and possibly the most accessible. I wonder what it would have been like discovering the entrance and then diving it for the first time. 

The entrance was far bigger than I'd expected and it only sparked J's enthusiasm to, maybe, one day, get down there and dive. I couldn't think of anything more claustrophobic! 

The cave is closed to the public and permission is essential before entering the cave. So far about 6km of cave has been explored. That blows my mind!

A game of cricket at Cocklebiddy. 

tasmania: bruny island in a day

If someone tells you "it's just not worth seeing Bruny if you've only got one day" don't listen! 

We didn't but we had a neat plan for the day because we wanted to make the most of our time and get back to Woodbridge for the kids' dinner. The weather was predicted to be beautiful and it was. 

This was how our day went. 

0840 leave Woodbridge. 

0900 Visit Snug Butchery to stock up on local meat - lamb for toast, vaccuum packs of roast beef & silverside for lunches, local eggs. This is why I love travelling with the car fridge! Thanks again Uncle!! 

0930 Ferry at Kettering. We had time for J to grab a take away coffee while we waited! 

The first stop after arriving at Bruny was The Neck. If you arrive earlier (at dawn) you can see the penguin march. 

Next we took the road to Adventure Bay 

and stopped at the Bruny Island Berry Farm to grab some blueberries for morning tea. The kids were also allowed to pick some strawberries from the farm. 

The walks around Adventure Bay look amazing but we can't bite off too much with three littlies. The 1km walk to Grassy Point seemed an ideal walk along the beach and through the casurina forest but we ended up stopping for morning tea a little before Grassy Point. 

We passed the remnants of two whaling stations. The history of which is fascinating. 

After our bushwalk we took the 4WD - unsealed road to Lunawanna. We were pleased to have left the caravan behind! There are two signs on the road which indicate look outs to the east and to the west. We stopped at the lookout which had the most magnificent view to the west in the direction of the most southerly point on Bruny Island. 

Lunch (which turned in to a long lunch) was tapas (& wine) at Bruny Island Premium Wines. This place was accommodating of the kids. The lunch  was delicious - seafood chowder, beef croquettes, mushrooms with haloumi, skewers - all showcasing local ingredients. The kids menu was salmon with cheese and carrot sticks - such a change from deep fried fish and chips or crappy pizza. 

It was a hop, skip and a jump back to the ferry via a quick stock up at the Bruny Island Cheese co. where we grabbed some soft and semi hard cheeses. Yum! Next door we spent $9/dozen on two dozen unopened oysters though one dozen turned out to be only ten. Get Shucked Oysters has a drive through service! Best idea ever and these oysters were meaty and so tasty. 

I'd read that the little shop on Bruny Island at the ferry terminal has fresh veg for sale so in the few minutes we had to wait for the ferry I grabbed some cherry tomatoes for the following night's dinner - grown a few metres away in the owner's small market garden. 

There's no doubt we'll be back to Bruny because we had such a memorable day on the island - combining what we love - being outdoors, food & having an adventure! One day was just enough to whet our appetite!

tasmania: huon valley food adventure

We love Tassie for its produce! Today we had the morning in Cygnet at Lotus Eaters. It wasn't long after breakfast but who says you can't have a Lotus Eaters banana cake with creamed cheese icing, clotted cream and fresh plums for second breakfast? No one. Ever. I don't need lunch!

I just love Cygnet. Local producers supply as much of the ingredients as possible to meet the needs of the cafe. A few doors down Cygnet Garden Larder provides the ultimate in grocery shopping  for local (& consequentially seasonal) produce. We came home with this huge box of groceries (potatoes, silverbeet, an avocado, two capsicums, huge head of broccoli, lemons, tomatoes, two punnets of strawberries and two organic hunza pies) for a little over $50! 

There was a welcome downpour which sent us in to the homeopath. They deal with the homeopathics behind the counter but the front-of-shop is for fun - secondhand and new books and beautiful European toys. Can you imagine our two kids playing quietly from the toy box while we perused? Well they weren't but it wasn't that sort of book shop. In my bundle of purchases I bought The Field Guide to Tasmanian Produce. The book should really be named The Field Guide to Tasmanian Produce and a Million Reasons Why You Should Move to Tassie. 

This praying mantis enjoyed reading up about local food tonight in the camp kitchen! 

Making our way back to our caravan, we stopped at the Pagan apple farm cellar door for juice & cider. 

We barely ventured more than 20km from our roaming home today but we had a really delightful day full of good food, people and inspiration. 

tasmania: huonville

We had a few days at Huonville Caravan Park which had been recommended to us by other families. The park has daily farm demonstrations & is set by the junction of the Huon and Mountain Rivers. It's a great spot for kids with plenty of space to run. There are powered and unpowered sites and a big camp kitchen. You'll need coins if you want a shower or need to do washing.  

Despite wanting to catch a fish J didn't manage to in Huonville. The kids loved kayaking. 

There is a resident platypus but we didn't spot her. 

You could use Huonville as a base if you want to visit the Hastings Thermal Springs, Cockle Creek, Sushi in Geeveston, the many cider house cellar doors nearby, the Tahune Airwalk and any of the other attractions on the Huon Trail. 

The town of Cygnet is also only fifteen minutes away where there's a great fruit & veg shop, a book store & my favourite little cafe Lotus Eaters. 

Huonville is a large centre with big supermarkets, some take away outlets and other shops. We were pleased to restock the pantry & grab nappies for the baby.  

tasmania: brady's lake

Bradys Lake is in Camps 8 and there are a few spots to pull in to for the night for those who are self-contained. 

Last night we sat by a fire with some lovely Tassie locals. Our son introduced us to them and our kids cooked marshmallows over the fire.

Bradys Lake is meant to be a great spot to catch brown & rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon. We were hoping J would bring one in on the kayak or B on the rod but it wasn't to be! 

What a morning! 

This was a stunning place to wake up. We were shrouded in fog but it cleared to reveal the mirror-like lake.