31 May 10 – Geraldton

By Lou: Our stay in Cervantes was a short one. We checked into a caravan park after our sunset tour of the nearby Pinnacles and did a quick flick of the tent. We made dinner in the camp kitchen and enjoyed the company of a lovely Danish couple who were on their honeymoon. Both had travelled around Australia before, which is how they met, and they would love to love here permanently but it is extremely difficult for them to do so. A consolation was that they loved Our Mary and thought she did both Denmark and Australia proud.

Next day we set off for Geraldton and made lots of stops along the coast on the way. I think we passed through about 5 different shires along the way. One stretch of road would have 'No Camping' signs at every road off the highway, and then once you crossed into the next shire they were conspicuously absent. Wasn't impressed with Jurien Bay - getting a bit too developed for my liking. I did however like Green Head and Dongara. They're the types of town where you think, this cute and quite little town could take off, you know. And then you go to the real estate window and realise, judging by the hefty pricetag on a rundown old shack, that it already has taken off!

I was amazed at how big Geraldton was. The sprawl starts kilometres before the heart of town, in a narrow strip between the coast and sand dunes. We checked for mail, gave the car and trailer a wash, picked up some groceries, and held up traffic at a petrol station while we chatted to another family doing the 12 month trip. The mother was a teacher and said, give me 30 kids belonging to someone else and teaching's a delight; home schooling my own two is a nightmare! That made me feel so much better I only ate one packet of chips that day.

The HMAS Sydney memorial was lovely although Sam thought it sucked because I wouldn’t let him climb on the walls. For those who don’t know the story, a German ship, HSK Kormoran, bombed HMAS Sydney in 1941 off the coast of WA and by the time the smoke cleared the whole ship and its crew of 645 men had sunk. The exact site of the watery grave was not known until 67 years later when it was eventually located about 8 nautical miles from the scene of the principal battle site and at a depth of 2470 metres.


The Dome comprises 645 seagulls representing each of the 645 lost sailors. The waiting woman represents the anxious mothers and relatives looking for the return of their sons serving on the HMAS Sydney.
If you discount a rowdy, bored senseless 7 year old kid running around, it was a really poignant tribute.








By Craig: We passed through Dongara mid afternoon and decided to stop in this quiet seaside town. The bay was protected by large rock walls and as we sat having a late lunch we watched local fishing boats returning to the harbour.
















Geraldton held an interest for both Louise and I as it has a memorial to the HMAS Sydney. We had read an article recently about its discovery and I had read a piece on the ship when we were in Whyalla SA visiting another historic ship.


Just beyond Geraldton we found an overnight stop at Coronation Beach, a beaut spot with stacks of campsites and a great boardwalk up the hill to a lookout. In the distance you were able to see a beautiful coastline with big surf.

30 May 10 - Pinnacles

By Craig: The Pinnacles, large erect rocks. The sun set was spectacular as the sun was large and the combination of haze and cloud made it look as if it was a mirage.
The walk around the Pinnacles gave us a chance to see the rock formation up close but they still looked like large erect rocks.

29 May 10 – Wedge Island

By Craig: It’s often the way when something great happens at the least expected moment and when a place you identified as the next stop just because it was a dot on a map at about the right distance for the next stop, becomes a place you hold close to heart because of the people you meet.
We arrived at Lancelin, a seaside town north of Perth, mid afternoon but with enough time to check it out, take a drive up and over some sand dunes and decide if we stay or go on to the dot on the map named Wedge Island. The advice we received while chatting at the local information centre indicated Wedge was not only 60min or so along the track and an easy drive but we could camp there. Yes! Free camping. Yeh! Right!
We had decided to move on to Wedge thinking we would be there before dark however as is generally the case with us darkness came and we were not at Wedge.
In fact we were still making our way along a very rough track with large limestone rocky outcrops, never ending turns and soft sandy patches. I was loving the 4wding although I was a little concerned with the time factor. I think Louise was over it at this time and concerned about the road conditions.
Finally the dim and sparsely lit lights of Wedge were in sight and the GPS was showing a full grid of roads. The roads in fact were not as depicted on the GPS and we found ourselves reversing the trailer away from the beach and back over a dune when I remembered passing a side road approximately 300 meters back which turned out to be good enough to turn the car around.
We found ourselves stopped in the middle of a semi flooded area with absolutely no way of knowing where or how to get to the camping area.
I got out of the vehicle and stood up on the side step; as I looked around I saw a large fire burning and heard laughter. I immediately thought they can’t be all that bad and we ventured over to ask for some help.
Wedge Island is made up of shacks and possibly a squatter or two but mainly the portions of land have been leased to the shack owners for generations. The people we were about to meet were shack owners from various backgrounds and very quickly we were shown over to the front yard of a shack to set up our camper. Yes you’ve guessed it, there was no camping ground. Apparently the owners of the shack were not coming up for the weekend and we quickly set up and found ourselves back at the fire for a couple of beers and a chat.

We woke the next morning to the sun shining and the sound of rolling surf. We could now see where we were and after breakfast we were shown around Wedge by Annie. Annie, whom we met briefly the night before, is one of the local characters and one of two nurses looking after Wedge. We were also priviledged to be able to see a family of frogmouth owls resident at the back of Annie's shack.

A long time resident of Wedge, Annie has a passion for the place and was more than willing to share some of the history with us. Wedge is a fascinating place with an equally fascinating history and after a couple of days we had walked along beaches, helped Sam with his sand art and sat on the beach to watch a beautiful sunset (as you do in Wedge). More times than not we found ourselves at Ros & Lex’s shack, Annie would come over and we would all have coffee, cake and biscuits or pizza freshly made and baked in the pizza oven Lex had made out the back.
Sam took up an offer by Lex to make a bow & arrow and diligently practised his archery skills.
All too soon it was time to move on and although we had a fair idea of how to get out of Wedge we were shown the way out via the beach. The beach road was an 8km journey along the beach running the tide and then over the dunes and on to Cervantes via Grey
Now a story must be told, all in jest of course, as it concerns a local Wedge personality (Lex) who upon taking the lead to show us the safe way up the beach found a soft section of sand and went down to the axle. Lex took it all in his stride as he watched the strangers in town (us) turn their vehicle around (trailer included) and snatch them out. Not a bad effort but I can still hear Lex commenting ‘well at least my flag’s higher than yours’.
Although our trip to Cervates had only just begun we parted ways with the Wedge Island gang who we had run into by accident, whom we had found refuge with and left as friends, beautiful people, a great experience and one we will hold close to our hearts as we remember our journey.

We were to cover another 30kms of hard closed in track until we finally made it out onto the new road, a pity as we were now aware that the new road when completed would signal the finish for Wedge.






Footnote: The plight of Wedge hangs in the balance as shack owners attempt to retain their little piece of paradise. Governments are poised to take control, cease leases and throw people off the land. Many of the 300+ shack owners have been coming to Wedge for many years and now to see it all disappear is devastating to say the least. What will become of Wedge, who knows, but with new roads encroaching and the eye of developers glancing over the area one can only surmise that the freedom Wedge has to offer will one day be a thing of the past.
Check out http://www.wedgewa.com/savewedge.html


By Lou: Wedge was a pearler of a place because of the adventure it turned out to be, and the wonderful residents we met. I was not keen on setting out from Cervantes at 4:30pm - I'm never keen on setting out at that hour. The rate at which darkness descends and road conditions worsen is proportional to the laxative effect on my guts. I was briefly alarmed when in darkness Karen our GPS showed us on one of the roads one minute and then inexplicably the marker on the screen jumped 10cm to the left into nowhere. However, Craig is an expert trailer backer-up-er-er and he got us back on track.
We are very grateful to the lovely locals who provided a sanctuary for us in a neighbour's front yard when we discovered there is no formal camping ground in the town. We extended our stay due to their hospitality and good company.


Wedge Island is actually an uninhabited island just off the mainland town called Wedge Island. On a peninsula, there are two wave breaks at right angles to each other which looks quite crazy.

Was fun making pizza (don't underestimate your car's warm engine bay for rising dough) and sharing stories and laughs. Sam struck it lucky on pizza night because Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were on telly so he snuggled on the couch in kid's heaven.
Annie is a retired nurse who voluntarily mans a first aid station and has tended to many a maniac sand dune biker's broken bones. They even have a helipad next door for the inevitable air lifting to hospital.



The sunsets were magnificent, and even the locals don't get tired of watching it.





It is true to say I was taken out of my comfort zone for both the trip from Lancelin to Wedge, and then again from Wedge to Cervantes via Grey, and I'm the better for it.

27 May 10 – Perth

By Lou: On the whole we haven’t been attracted to the major cities but Perth is the only place Sam has mentioned he really wanted to see so given it was on the way to heading north we pulled in. We think it’s because one of his classmates, Emma, came from Perth. Thankfully he was satisfied with a visit to Kings Park and a spin through the city (oh, it’s not that big) and job done. Craig and I had both been to Perth before and as much as we loved it, we were sick of the cold and wet and wanted to hightail up to the sun in the north. We did a bit of clothes shopping for later in the year and took a drive out to Cottesloe and Scarborough beaches and then we were out of there.

By Craig: Perth, well I’ve been here before with Louise but Sam was interested as Louise suggests above, so we took a look. A visit to Kings Park provided time to wander and take in a coffee and a sculpture or two. A pleasant place to stroll, even if it was in the rain.
OK! While we’re here let's buy some clothes and spoil ourselves a little, I heard Louise say. I think Louise was joking to start with and she certainly didn’t expect me to jump at the chance. So shopping it was and I have to say it was fun, I think the rain was getting to me.