The Chofie's Oz Tour

It was only a leisurely drive from Bullara Station to Exmouth and we found a great spot at the Lighthouse Caravan Park before lunch. We spent our time here beach frisbee-ing, swimming in the crystal blue water, snorkelling on the best reef we've ever seen, watching sunsets from the lighthouse and cruising/exploring the Ningaloo Coastline. Coral Bay was next where we did some more beautiful snorkelling and relaxing on the beaches. A good night at the local (and only pub) watching some footy and eating hot chips as the sun went down. After that it was to Quobba Station where family friends had lived and helped out on the station but we were a bit slow in getting there and they have now moved on (we will see you in Tassy Anne and Bob!). The beach was covered in amazing shells and we spent hours forraging through them and found some rare special keepers. We also spotted some whales off the coast while watching the sunset and had a night inside playing cards listening to the rain patter on Carmen. The weather was still a bit inclement but we drove up the coast a bit to Red Bluff and Cape Cuvier which was a nice scenic drive and left that afternoon for Carnarvon.

Sunset at Exmouth Lighthouse

Snorkelling on the Ningaloo Reef

The shells at Quobba Station

Some unlucky bugger didn't watch the tide!

Sunset and whale watching at Quobba

We were hoping to find some plantation work here as we were told they always need itinerant workers short term but we came a bit too late for them. We did find choc coated mango icecreams that day though, so we were stoked. Not much else to do in Carnarvon so we went fishing on the jetty all afternoon until it was too dark to see. We caught 5 bream keepers and had a good barbie that night of chicken rissoles, bubble and squeak and fish in foil with our favourite seasonings. It was then down the coast a little further to Denham and Monkey Mia. We splurged a bit and stayed in the camping resort where we drank passionfruit mojitos, watched dolphins in the bay, listened to live music and watched the sun fall behind the ocean. The next morning I was lucky enough to hand feed a wild dolphin that came to the shores for breakfast before we moved onto an almost free camp ($5 permit for all 3 of us) at Goulet Bluff which had no facilities at all but rich in beauty and awesomeness (we also had it to ourselves). We explored a nearby beach called Shell Beach which was made up entirely of small crushed up shells that they use to make bricks with back in the day and there were also stromatolites nearby (the oldest living organisms on the planet). Jammimg , frisbee and reading took up the afternoon and evening in this magical spot.

Mmm...mango ice creams!!

One of the unlucky bream we caught, so delicious

Hand feeding the wild dolphins in Monkey Mia

Goulet Bluff camp spot

The shells that made up Shell Beach

Kalbarri was our next port of call and we stayed 3 nights so we could explore. We drove down the coastal cliffs of Kalbarri NP with some amazing views out to sea, did 10km of walking around Natures Window and Z Bend in the NP and relaxed by the fire in the evenings along the river with fellow campers. A lovely coastal town with a river inlet where we could of stayed a lot longer but our money was running low and we needed to move on. Geraldton was next but it poured down with rain all day and night so we went to the movies that night and then drove further south. We went through a nice beach town called Jurien Bay which we'll have to revisit and then through the Pinnacles which were 1-3m rock stalagmite like formations coming out of the ground with the ocean on the horizon if you looked west. It was still raining so we drove the track through here and then thought what the hell lets go to Perth. It was farewell to Mazza for a little while, she was off to make new friends and adventures in the hostels but she did shout us to dinner one last time which was just lovely.

A surfer at Kalbarri

Lookin hot on the coast trail

The Natural Bridge on the coastal cliffs

Ash havin a swing at camp

All 3 of us at natures window

A panorama of Z-Bend, could see the fault lines and all

A rainbow at The Pinnacles

We basically job hunted for 2 weeks pretty unsuccessfully because no one wanted 2 people, we didnt have the right experience, we only had one car and rent in Perth is expensive! Inbetween job searching though we still did a few touristy things like a tour of the WACA Ground (WA's home of cricket for all those non-sport enthusiasts), Hillary's Boat Harbour, Cottesloe and Scarborough Beaches, Freemantle: Little Creatures Brewery and Fish & Chips and catching up with friends. Ash's cousin Mitch, his wife Laura and two kids Ella and Finnley lived a short drive south of Perth and we decided to go stay with them for a week or so before we got work. It had been about 8 years between visits and we think we made up for it in 1 nights drinking haha. We got to meet some of Lauras family which was lovely, watched Finn play soccer and have his 7th birthday, hung out at the waterfront, went fishing with Mitch in the boat and caught up on life since the last visit.

View from The Bradman room at the WACA

Ice creams again in Freo

Vibin brewery in Freo, so yummy

Watched some of the Avon Descent

View from Kings Park over the Swan River and Perth hills in the distance

Fishing with Mitch, crazy early and cold but a good day at the 'honey hole'

It was while we were here we came across a farm course on Gumtree that had a good possibility of obtaining work on completion. We took the gamble and paid for our 4 day course in York, 100km east of Perth and crossed our fingers. The night before our course we stayed with Tammy and her husband Pete who is a family friend from Evans Head and was on maternity leave after having their 1st baby, Talon. They cooked us a lovely dinner and Pete had some amazing stories from his time in the Australian Army and SAS. The next day we started our farm course with Ley Webster at '2 Workin Oz' and were joined by a canadian girl and a german guy. We got to spend a day in a shearing shed as rouse abouts learning how to pick up and throw a fleece, got to ride and drive in a header, a front loader, a chaser bin and farm utes, learnt about fencing and knots, herding sheep, tailing and docking lambs and lots of other general farm duties. We had such a great time on the farm and we both found it very interesting all the things that go on on a farm that you dont realise. Ley was so helpful and in 5 days she had found us casual work with the Springbett's, a local grain farming family (Tim the son who is taking over the farm, his wife Claire and their two kids Chelsea and Annabelle and Tim's parents John and Chris.) We helped tidy up yards and rock pick at first and then helped out with their family homes and kids too. We were also passed around to other locals in town to help them move out, garden, house sit and babysit. Everyone in town was so lovely and we were happy to help anyone out, we were getting paid and it didn't even feel like work. Ley also found us casual work with an Ag research company, Agrisearch, and we did some field data entry before they did their harvest. This included stuff like counting weeds, counting wheat heads, dating when they flower, hand cutting and weighing samples, pulling rogue samples out of plots, bug catching and counting disease infected varieties. So, so much science behind grain farming that we had no idea about. Taisiya was a backpacker who worked here too for harvest and we got along really well, having her over for drinks and beach trips to Perth together.

Ash in the loader and me in the ute

Drying our wet boots in front of the cosy fire

The yellow canola fields were so beautiful

Flowering notes, we were experts by the end haha

Rogueing was nearly the death of me haha

At about this time we also got our first visitor come to see us, Alex and her then 5 month old little man Louie! We stayed in Perth sightseeing, beaching and even brought them out to the farm for a night. Such a massive effort for her but we loved every minute of it and appreciated it alot.

Sunset and nibbles at Scarborough Beach

After a couple of weeks working between all the locals, Agrisearch offered us full-time work over harvest which is what we needed. We got to drive and sample in mini headers for 7 weeks and got to see alot of the wheatbelt, from Goomalling to Albany. We got to stay on the Springbett's farm while we did all this work and we were very greatful for their generosity. They had some workers for their harvest too and we got to house share with Tim from NZ(otherwise known as Kiwi Tim) and Steve from Germany, having lots of family dinners and jam sessions (both were great on guitar). As it happened to be Claire is pregnant with number 3 and they asked if we could come back for seeding in April to help again. Agrisearch said they'd love to have us back too, so we'll be back to York in April to share our love between the two again.

10 hour harvest day sunset

Our little trial plots we harvest one at a time

Ash in Springers big header ( like 6x bigger than the research ones)

In the fields, about to harvest some more

Unloading the chaser bin

The end product of canola

Me driving the research header

As most of you who read this i imagine know we also came home over Christmas and January. It was so lovely to see and spend time with our family, growing nieces and nephews and friends. We got to attend Jodie and Mark's engagement party, Christmas with the family, start the new year with a bang, go to a T20 cricket game, do a roadtrip to see Sheree and the boys, Sam and Joe's engagement party, a couple of birthday parties and we ate and drank copious amounts of food and alcohol with everyone. Our next adventure is down to the south-east and south-west of WA and we are very excited, I best keep on top of that blog too. Love us xxx

Jode and Mark's engagement

Meeting little Keanu for the first time

Me, Ash, Kiwi Tim, German Steve, Maree and Taisiya

It's race day in Derby, and we're going to the races. Ash, Maz and i got the courtesy bus from our caravan park into the track and had our first drinks at lunch. We put our bets on the 5 races and settled in on the grassy lawn under the sun kicking back taking in the day. Maz and i were a bit hit and miss but Ash was on a roll winning in every race, helping out her drinking cause for the day;) They have a special licence for two-up which was played with 50's flying everywhere and us just watching on. A great day and night out with Maz even filling her tent haha. It was then farewell to Derby, via the Prison Boab Tree and hello to Broome.

The Prison Boab Tree where they held prisoners overnight before walking into Derby

Expensive but beautiful. We watched sunsets on Cable Beach while playing soccer and frisbee, caught up with Cam and Sarah, had cheap Tuesday pizzas in the carpark and overpriced thai the other. We then all decided to do the offroad trip upto Cape Leveque and Maz invited a guy she'd met earlier in her travels, Ben. Although we'd been warned, this was the roughest and most corrugated road that we had driven on our whole trip yet... and we took Carmen! It was more than worth it when we got up there though. One of those true postcard kind of places, everywhere you looked a vibrant colour strikes your eyes and you just sit back and take it in. We had an arvo swim at the beach on the east side and fishing and sunset on the west side that day. Ben left early the next day but we stayed and visited Cygnet Bay where they cultivate pearls and One Arm Point, a small community right at the tip where we visited a Trochus Shell hatchery and watched the reef sharks dance in the ocean. Some more (unsuccessful) fishing, red wine and cards that night. We did move a little further south the next day to Middle Lagoon and stayed two nights. We made the most of the calm, warm weather the first day tanning on the beach, snorkelling and shell hunting along the endless coastal beach with shells sprawled all over it. The wind picked up pretty fiercely overnight which made Rhonda and Carmen shake all night and all of us sleep pretty restlessly. We decided to drive to Whale Song and Two Moons cafe close by to chill, beach walk and shell collect again. Our first attempt at damper in the cast iron pot for lunch didnt turn out to bad and a roaring fire, red wine and curry for dinner was lovely. Ash and Maz were highly amused when i managed to fall out of my camp chair too that night! It was then back to Broome where we chose a different caravan park on the east side of town namely to
see the staircase to the moon phenomenon which coincided with some night markets very close by. We also visited Gantheaume Point where we saw dinosaur footprints, Matso's Brewery where we got a great tasting paddle, listened to some live music in the courtyard and then took some takeaways and drove Gina up the north end of Cable Beach with all the other 4WD's for another WA sunset special. We spent the next morning waiting for our computer to be fixed which was going to cost as much as its original price even though it was just the screen needing to be replaced.

Frisbee and beach soccer in Broome

One Arm Point beach hut

Sunset fishing at Kooljaman

The colours were just amazing at Cape Leveque

Nearly a full moon rise as the sunset

Wine and crackers at Middle Lagoon

Beagle Bay church, made almost entirely of mother of pearl shells

Dinosaur prints at Gantheaume Point

Staircase to the moon

Exploring Chinatown and icecreams made it go fast and we were back on the road by lunch heading south to a freecamp. Sharing a free rest stop with several other travellers, frisbee in the gravel and easy risotto for dinner. It was off to Port Hedland next where we setup camp at the Golf Club overflow and Ash arranged to catch up with a family friend/old next door neighbour/cousin/brother from another mother, Bryan to watch game 2 of origin (even though NRL is on no ones agenda in WA unless your from east). They put on a free bbq, NSW wrapped up the series and we drank plenty into the night to celebrate. A slow morning start but we got to Roeburn visitors centre just before lunch and they were the loveliest and most helpful info centre weve come across. We checked out the museum which was the old gaol back in the day and then drove upto Point Samson where we had a ripper of a hangover cure lunch at the Beach Tavern, plus stunning views. We splurged and decided to stay the night too, at a very lovely caravan park, with grassy sites, a 2 min stroll to Honeymoon Cove beach, darts, great amenities, a fishing spot where we caught a fish and a cinema room where we watched P.S I love you. Next day we were off to Karratha and Dampier, unfortunately booked out though and caravan parks being grossly overpriced we visited the waterfront of Dampier, saw the statue of 'Red dog' and then headed into Millstream-Chichester National Park. Arriving on dark, setting up and settling into a night of cards was a nice way to end the day. We drove around the next day to see some sights including the McKenzie Spring 4km walk(which was dry), morning tea at Python Pool, a 2km walk up Mt. Herbert and lunch at Deep Reach along the river near camp. We also did a short trail around the homestead at our camp and Mazza cooked us up some delicious savoury crepes for dinner.

Honeymoon Cove, Point Samson

Red Dog statue, please watch if you already haven't:)

We made it to the top of Mt Herbert, M-C NP

Ash by the edge of Python Pool

We were then off to Karinjini National Park with a few detours, one being Hammersley Gorge (part of the NP but 150km to back track, and where Ash swam in freezing water in her bra and pants) and two being Tom Price to replenish our food/water stocks and petrol. We booked in 3 nights to allow us 2 full days and a half if we required to see it all. First was Dale gorge where we walked the rim and then down into it passing by Fortescue Falls and having a chilli swim in Fern Pool. At the other end of the gorge was Circular Pool, a much colder waterhole but just as beautiful. A short drive to Kalamina Gorge in the afternoon with another gorge walk and $2 showers at the info centre on the way home, early to bed for our next day of adventures. Excited to see more of this magical place we got off relatively early to be one of the first in Weano Gorge. This then led to lower Weano where we had to wade through waist deep water and then down a steep rock face into Handrail Pool, Ash swam, Maz slipped in and i took in the natural beauty all around haha a great view from the junction lookouts of Oxer and Weano Gorges then into Hancock Gorge after lunch. I waited behind with a dodgy shoulder while Ash and Maz waded in high thigh deep, cold water and spider walked down to Kermits Pool. My legs were getting tired so we drove to Knox Lookout and then Joffre Gorge, where Ash and Maz did a short walk at the latter, finishing off our grand self drive/walk/hike/wade/swim tour of Karinjini NP. It was our biggest day of driving the next day through the Pilbara (619km) with it being both a vast region of red dirt, empty plains, endless railway lines and then the aqua blue/green ocean over your right shoulder, magical gorges and wild animals dotted along the way. The Pilbara was a very special part of our trip so far and we ended at Bullara Station just shy of the coastline with their open roofed bathrooms, horses, goats and camembert cheese and bread on the fire:)Much love Soph and Ash xxx