Shark Bay and Carnarvon (May 2015)

We travel onwards towards Coral Bay, we are planning to swim with whale sharks and are getting more and more excited at the prospect. However Denham and Monkey Mia better known as Shark Bay are on our way up, so we pay a very brief visit to more stromatolites at Hamelin Pool. 

We stop over for the night at  Shell Bay for the very best sun set so far.

The next day we visit both towns. Well, Monkey Mia is not really a town, but it’s known for it’s dolphins, and sure enough: while Jolmer and Laura are in the water, a happy gracious grey foursome come to take a closer look. Jolmer catches it all on film. It is only a brief encounter, but they really are very close and both are overwhelmed.

The water temperature is lovely.

Further north we come through Carnarvon, not much to report apart from an aged and tired looking Space and Technology museum, and a worn down jetty you shouldn’t walk on after sunset.

Cervantes-Geraldton (May 2015)

We continue our journey with two vehicles. Our first free campsite is just slightly north of Cervantes. A perfect spot for Pieter to look for finds on the beach, for Jolmer to take the boat out on the water, to play on the beach, try our hand at night fishing while a full moon rises over the dunes. It’s a wonderfully quiet little spot and it sets the tone for many lovely spots to come on our way from Perth to Broome, our family extended by the presence of Pieter and Els.

We pass through many beautiful places towards Geraldton. The WA museum is of special interest to us because of the Batavia exhibition. Opa Pieter is just reading a book to the children about the ‘Scheepsjongens of Bontekoe’, It has been translated into English under the title” Java Ho!: The adventures of four boys amid fire, stor and shipwreck. It is about a journey of Captain Bontekoe and his ship The New Hoorn to the East Indies, in the Golden Century around 1618, with on board three ship-boys. The travels to Batavia, now Jakarta, are anything but easy and we are all sucked in to the story. The display in Geraldton fuels our imagination and we just love strolling through the museum reading all the signs, and trying to think what is must have been like. The ship The Batavia of course found a sad ending on Australia’s West Coast in 1628 and the survivors suffered an even sadder ending on two of the Abrolhos Islands with mutiny and murder galore. A most fascinating part of history where the Dutch and Australian ancestors meet.

The HMASII Sydney memorial is also a very impressive site well worth visiting.

Kalbarri is pretty. More Dutch history: the Zuytdorp, another VOC ship ran a shore around this area in 1712. Sir George Grey who was shipwrecked in 1839 at the river mouth names the Murchison River after Sir Frederick Murchison and walked back to Perth with his crew, which all but one successfully managed. An incredible feat.

Stromatolites (May 2015)

Apart from the Pinnacles Cervantes is also one of two places on earth where you can see life stromatolites (the other is in Shark Bay further north in WA). Stromatolites are very ancient live forms where colonies of bacteria form a thin living layer that captures sand and sediment and as such slowly build rock, continue to grow over time. In fact this is as far as we know the earliest form of live –correct me if I’m wrong- and therefor worth a visit. What stromatolites need to be able to grow is very salty water, saltier than the ocean. They look like rocks in the end.

Perth (May 2015)

Firstly we need something fixed on the light weight trailer we have for the boat, which is done in no time. We can stay in this street overnight. The next day we set out to find a spot to camp. It needs to be a campsite that will allow dogs, can house big rigs and will have a cabin for Pieter and Els (Jolmer’s parents) where they can recover from a jetlag when they arrive. We settle at Banksia Tourist park, but it’s not a red hot favourite of ours.

Picking up Pieter and Els is a highlight for the children, they even make a banner. 

They are bringers of lots of hugs kisses and also quite some gifts. 

After a goods nights sleep a delegation goes into the old harbour town of Fremantle. We hope to go to the Shipwreck museum but unfortunately this is closed for renovations. Luckily we find the "Duyfken", a replica of a VOC sailing ship from the 17th century Which gives us a nice introduction to further explorations of the Dutch /Australian history of the 17th and 18th Century. 

On the farmers market of Margaret River we had bought a box of tomatoes that we still need to transform into Tomato sauce. Oma Els gives her undecided attention to stirring the pot until a perfect sauce is created. This went very well with the Fish and Chips made with the Salmon captured earlier in the week. (for Beer Batter Recipe click here).

Other business we have in Perth is getting the Toyota in for a service. Laura and I decide to make a day of it. We bring in the car in the morning and are advised it should be ready at 3pm, so we have time to stroll into town for breakfast, a haircut, some shopping and lunch.

The only thing left now before we can pick up the Campervan for Pieter and Els, is to get them both a nice camping chair, forget the cheap rental stuff. They will be on the road with us for four weeks, they need to be able to sit nicely. So Jolmer sorts that out and then we’re ready to go on Monday morning sharp. Unfortunately the rental company is not nearly as ready as we are, and after a fairly long wait, we end up getting a 4WD, with the promise someone will bring out the camper-van to our first destination that evening.

 Cervantes it is. We go and visit the pinnacles. Interesting lime stone formations.