Turning Toward Home
Our turnaround point
Back In Exmouth
Today we got up at 6:30am so that we could get to Exmouth at 4:30 to pick up cubby from the mechanic.
And guess what surprisingly we got there at 4:30 exact!
Now that is a great accomplishment for our family!
After we got set up we went out to dinner with Xanthe and Jasper!
We are back with Xanthe and Jaspers family!
I had and awesome day!
By Ade
Snorkelling With Xani & Jaspi
22nd June
Shout out to Gran for her birthday. We went snorkelling at Turquoise Bay and Lakeside and it is bee-u-tiful! The water was just so clear and there were so many sea creatures and one of them was a massive groper. We saw lots of different sea creatures. At Lakeside me and Dad got to swim with a turtle. That was amazing. We also saw a MASSIVE sting ray on the bottom of the sea floor we also saw three puffer fish and a cattle fish and lots of different kinds of fish. It was very, very fun to snorkel with Xanthe and Jasper. This was our last day with them because we are turning south now and they are going north and it’s very sad. It’s fun to play with them because we have more fun with them than me and Adelaide together.
By Lox
Goodbye Again
23rd June
Hello!
Today we had to say our final goodbye to Xanthe and Jasper. That made me very sad, but a good cuddle with mum comforted me.
Once Xanthe and Jasper left we thought we were only going to hang around for a little while, while we waited for the the jockey wheel to be put on, as well as our new tyres.
Guess how long we were waiting there in the end?
Five hours!
What we did?
Journal, eat lunch, sit, watch, complain, crochet, Mum and dad booked places and go for a swim. The only fun thing.
At four, we picked up the jockey wheel and at 4:30. We were off down the road.
We drove till sunset, then set up at a roadside pull out.
I hope you had a better day than me.
Because our day was very bland.
By Ade
Last sunset on the ocean
today we had a driving day we stopped at choral Bay to have a snorkel after that we kept driving in till we arrived at our camp site.
We had our last sunset on the ocean. It was sad to not have a sunset on the ocean again.
We are heading inland away from the ocean, so we are not going to see the ocean where the sunset would set. By lox
Go! Go! GO!
25th June
Today I felt like it was go go go from the start. First it was a quick pack up at camp, then then we went to shell beach.
Which is just like it’s name, the beach was iced with a layer of cockle shells.
Once going again we drove one hour down the road to the road that leads inland; to Wooleen.
Wooleen is a station; unique one, because of how environmentally friendly it is.
When we arrived, mum signed a pledge to say she would respect the land and keep it clean.
I really appreciate how much they protect the land and help restore it.
The reason why everything was go go go is because we had booked a sunset tour which was at 3 o’clock and we didn’t have very long to get there. So mum was going as fast as she could all the way inland to try and be in time for the sunset tour.
But guess what?
We missed the tour.
To our huge dismay.
Mum and dad got a bit frustrated that we missed it because it was quite expensive.
Though in the end, everything worked out fine, and we had a great evening!
I am very glad we are staying at Wooleen station!
From Chatter Box.
Adelaide
I got to feed a Dingo!!
26/6/23
We hung out at camp and did school work and played more.We went for a walk in till it was time to go to our dingo talk in our camp site. The talk was interesting and I learnt some facts about dingos and they can come
in varieties of colours like blacks browns creamy white and golden.In the dingo talk. We got to feed a real dingo and it jumped up and dad and kissed him.We were at the dingo talk for the rest of the day. We had a shower before collecting wood and coming back to camp for dinner.
By Lox box
Wooleen Walking
27th June
Today has been our most active day on Wooleen.
First, it was the usual, breakfast, (pancakes), then schoolwork, morning tea, then we were off.
First, we went to a natural lake that’s been dredge for feeding stock.
We had lunch there then hopped back into the car and drove to a walk that went along the Murchison River.
The walk was very nice and peaceful.
I really enjoy the serenity.
Then next walk, where’s the breakaway Trail, which went along some planes, then up a little gorge Hill thingy and then we turned around and went back.
Oh yeah, I forgot at the start of the walk. There is a shed with two bikes in it for guests to use. Both me and Lox took a bike and rode them on the Trail.
It was like 10 times faster, riding instead of walking.
That was out day full of walks. I hope you had a walk today as well. It’s always nice when you have some time just go for a little stroll. Not that you’ll always have time to do it but it’s nice when you do have time
for a walk.
Oh! Is that snores I hear?
Probably.
I better finish up!
By Adelaide
Beautiful sunset
Today was another driving day from Wooleen station into the scrub just off the road.
We drove on a dirt road for most of the day which slowed us down a lot.
We listened to Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire.
We pulled of the road into the bush for a night.
I hope you feel the warmth of the fire that l’m next to right now.
Over and out.
By Lox star ⭐️
Flat Tyre!
Today at 9:30 we left our roadside camp and started on the road.
At 2 o’clock we arrived at Sandstone; the town sandstone, not the rock.
We ended up hanging around Sandstone for about an hour, filling up on fuel, buying a few groceries, checking out interpretive panels and of course going to the visitor information Centre.
Sandstone was a gold rush town that boomed then bust.
It is now a very quiet town, which some travellers stop by at on their way along the highway.
Tonight we are sleeping at Ballard Lake Campground.
51 km out of the town Menzies (shout out to all Menzies!) .
On Lake Ballard there’s 51 metal statues placed all around the lake of people who lived in the town Menzies.
Tonight for sunset, we climbed up this little mountain hill thingy that was in the middle of the salt lake (lake Ballard) and we watch the sun go down.
It was an absolutely stunning sunset.
I truly truly loved it!
Today I have felt a bit sad because I know the trip is coming to an end but I really really don’t want it to come to an end.
I’m really dreading the day when will have to return. Not that I don’t want to return.
I just don’t want it to end. I don’t want the adventure to end.
I want to keep going, keep exploring and having fun.
But we all know trips will end at one point.
You need one trip to end, for the next one to begin.
By Adelaide
In Kalgoorlie
Saw some cool statues. All got muddy feet.
Big drive to Kalgoorlie and went out for dinner!
We’re Coming Home!
1st of July
Pinch and punch for the first day of the month!
This morning was very relaxed for me and Lox, but not for mum and dad.
First mum had to do the groceries then Dad had to bring the car to the mechanic to get the tire that was part replaced and get the oil changed.
Me and Lachie had a great morning relaxing and watching TV with Wi-Fi, which was a complete luxury for us.
Once Dad got back, it was an all team Go, to try and get out quickly because the people who are moving into our site where waiting for us.
Once we have left the camp site we drove to the Super Pit.
The super pit is one of the worlds largest gold mines.
And let me tell you, it was a big mine we could hardly see the bottom!
I reckon the Super Pit, is Super devastating.
Like most drives, I occupied myself with listening to Harry Potter and the goblet of Fire while crocheting, (which I simply love)!
We are now about to enter the Nullarbor Plains again, and we have now closed off the loop.
It makes me sad think that the loop is now closed.
But it also makes me excited for the journey and adventures ahead.
Going back to the north. Canada.
By Adelaide 🍁
Last day in WA
ANOTHER day of driving that probably was one of the longest days of driving.
We woke up pretty early in the morning to pack up and hit the road because we had a big day of driving ahead of us.
It felt annoying that we had to hop out of bed so early because it was chilly.
We started driving and drove to a blowhole.
We kept driving and driving AND driving till we reached a cave, which was really cool.
There was there was a little entrance to the cave where we scrambled in, and it was really chilly in the cave. The cave just kept going on and on and ON.
Dad wanted to keep going on and on, but we had to come out of the cave and have lunch.
We kept driving and driving and drove into the dark.
We set up camp on the Nullarbor cliffs.
By Lox
Driving.
3rd of July
Today was much like yesterday.
Spending most of our time in the car driving.
Crocheting, Listening to Harry Potter, driving, bickering, playing, schoolworking, chatting and sitting.
Today we have also crossed a part of the Nullarbor Plains.
Driving along slowly tackling down kilometre after kilometre.
At around midday we went down a little dirt road to a underground cave.
We explored around and guess what?
We found aboriginal hand art!
We spent about an hour looking around the cave has lunch then went on.
That was my day!
By Adelaide
Two Days In One Pebbl
4th and 5th July!
Yesterday was just a driving day that was very long.
Today we hanged out at camp for all the morning, playing and doing school work.
At 12, we went for a drive for the rest of the day and we saw lots of kangaroos and a couple emus at a water tank
We also saw a little fox.
By Lox
L
Sensationally Scenic Drive
6th June
Wiabu!
That’s how to say hello in Worimi
(that’s the traditional name of the land we used to live on, now know as Stockton).
This morning I woke up to the sound of rain, hammering down on the tin roof of our stone hut.
Arrange for most of the morning, but cleared up at about 10 o’clock.
We also left about 10 o’clock for a scenic drive through or among the Flinders ranges.
I got to say, it really was sensational, scenic drive!
At one point, we pulled out of, on the side of the dirt track and we walked up a smallish hill.
The view at the stop was flabbergasting!
We also did another walk where we walked out along the Trail had lunch turned around and went back to the car.
It was a very lovely walk.
I really enjoyed it!
Once we got back, it was dark.
Then we had pizza for dinner, then played a couple of rounds of Uno.
Then we had story bed.
That was my glorious day!
By Adelaide 🍁🪸
Big hike but beautiful
This morning we hung out at camp and I enjoyed doing fractions with mum.
We left camp at 10 to do a hike, we walked into a gorge.It was just beautiful in the gorge the cliffs were so big and beautiful. There were lots of big trees.
I liked being in the gorge because we were walking up a little creek and the scenery was just so beautiful.
We had lunch in the gorge, and then we kept going.
It’s hard to describe how the gorge looked, but I’ll try my best to describe the gorge. It was a pretty narrow gorge with lots of big Gumtrees, all in the gorge, we had to go through a little tight squeeze through the cliffs that had water in the gap, so we stepped on some rocks to get through the water.
I knew we had to turn around at one point and I didn’t want to turn around because it was so darn cool in the gorge.
We walked back to the car and drove back to camp
By Lox
Empty.
8th July
Today we have had to say goodbye to Brachina hut.
We spent the majority of the day driving, but we also checked out couple of old ruins and stopped at a couple of small towns along the way.
Tonight we were going to sleep the night in Orroroo, but we weren’t able to because if we attempted to drive all the way to Orroroo we would’ve run out of fuel.
Hence the title.
So because we couldn’t go to Orroroo we had to stay the night at a little campsite in the outskirts of the small town; Wilmington.
It was a bit frustrating for mum and dad, and dad isn’t that happy with the price of the campsite, but we are still happy and having a very nice evening by the fire.
Lots of love
Ade 🪻
Boooo
Camille writing as the kids are watching Tele, snuggled up in bed with shea and I. We’re parked on the side of the road after a poor decision to leave the amazingly quaint town of Burra, late this afternoon. We’ve not covered much distance today because South Australia is so dang interesting to explore. Lots of colonial history oozing out of the countryside, with a smattering of Aboriginal reminders of the original history. We dithered in Burra this afternoon, enjoying exploring but driven onwards by our mixed feelings to get back to Newie. There’s so much we need to do before we leave Australia but we’re so reluctant to end this road trip. Hence, our rather low-grade campsite tonight. Things may even have devolved to a ding in the bumper…when will we learn not to drive late in the evening looking for a free camp?!?!?
Big drive
Today we drove from morning to afternoon and it didn’t feel so long and boring. In the morning we posted some letters in a post office that was over 100 years old. We caught some ferry’s to cross the Murray river. We drove for a while and stopped in a town that had an adventure playground. We played in the playground for about two hours and had lunch. We kept driving and driving AND driving. We arrived at our camp site and had dinner and went to bed.
By lox
Fires Burning
Finally In A House
Today was a BIG driving day
from Yanga to Orange.
It didn’t feel like a very long drive, but it was at least seven hours.
We drove for a couple hours, then stopped in a town called Hay. We got lunch at Hay and I got a Choc chip and banana muffin. I very very enjoyed it. We kept driving and driving AND driving.
We finally stopped in Orange in the afternoon and went to one of Mum’s friends and we are staying in Orange for one night.
By Lox
Home Is Where The Heart Is
Camille here as it’s late and it’s painful to get the kids to do the pebbl when it’s late. We’re back in Stockton after a great couple of nights visiting my beautiful highschool friends in Bathurst and Orange (the kids loved hearing old stories from my school days). We’ve found our way back to our dear Stockton for a final couple of nights before starting the unpacking, cleaning, fixing, fixing, fixing, selling. Gran and Papa, clear your schedules…