With the fast pace of the big city behind us, we travelled south to Lane Pool Conservation Park. Once again a good campsite is all about timing. Stopping at the pay station entering the park the Ranger asked “had we been here before”, answering “no” he explained that the camp area was busy with private and school camps this weekend. So he directed us to brand new van sites not yet opened.

Our own open space, set in a forest of tall trees. This area has a history of milling tall timbers, there are remnants of an old mill and rail line from years gone by. A couple of days rest and we were on the move again.

A couple of hours away and we were in the town of Bunbury. We walked the streets, viewed the town from Marlston Hill Lookout and then walked down to the marina area to sample handmade toffees and chocolates at Taffys, we all left with a goodies bag.

Traveling on we made Busselton our stop for the next couple of days, right on the beach and a few kms out of town.

Next day we did some sightseeing of the area. We skirted Geographe Bay that took us up to Cape Naturaliste, a great piece of coastline. The vegetation had now change to coastal plants, therefore different wildflowers. There were viewing platforms to stop and rest at or if lucky enough, watch for whales.

South down Caves Rd and we stopped in a Cape Leeuwin. We went through one of the old lighthouse cottages, read the history and marveled at the endurance of the lighthouse keeper and his family. The coastline was rough, the seas were wild and the winds roared.

We had a day touring the Margaret River region, it’s a tourist drive, wineries, cheese factories, art galleries, chocolate factories and nut farms, we stopped at most of them.

Busselton is a coastal town that relies heavily on holiday times and tourists.

Only 120km away was the big city of Perth. We are having a few days here to sightsee, restock and do some van maintenance. At this point in time we have been away 6 months and done over 22,000 km.

We are staying in the suburb of Karringup, a huge van park with “wow” all the mod, cons. It is about 10 km from the city which is not a worry, the public transport in Perth is excellent for the over 60’s, an all-day rider ticket will cost you $4.80, bus, train and ferry great for visitors.

We explored the streets of this mixed City, old architecture preserved for history, yet still in use today, alongside modern slimline towers that are today’s offices buildings.

We went to the WA Mint, did a tour to hear the history of gold, saw a demonstration on the high temperatures needed to melt gold down, held a gold bar in one hand and got weighted in the price of gold on the day. “Now that was a talking point”.

We caught a free inner city bus to the famous Kings Park, where you could see the City landscape from high on the hill. The gardens were set out in different regions of the state and showed their flora, it was excellent, wildflowers at their best. The park paid tribute to our fallen soliders, to today’s artists, indigenous women groups and the Founders of Perth City. To really appreciate the acres of land here you would need days to see it all. There was just not enough time.

Another free inner city bus and we were down to the wharfs, past the old Supreme Court building and Parliament House to another modern structure, the Bell Tower.

Next day we were on public transport again with the day rider ticket, taking us to Fremantle. This day trip is like taking the train from Brisbane down to the Gold Coast in Qld. The old stone buildings that have been renovated to be today’s coffee shops, art galleries and museums. The walk around took us to the Port area, through the old port warehouses, that are now today’s e-markets and the brand new Maritime Museum.

From Kalgoorlie we were starting to slowly travel back to the coast. We passed through some small towns with funny names, Bullfinch, Mukinbudin, Wialki and Beringbooding Hill, once again the area surprised us with its ability to be so versatile in the early        19 hundreds.

We stayed at Beringbooding water tank, an engineering feat in 1935. Farmers needed water and the only catchment they had was solid rock so they contained the water by constructing small walls around the edges of the rock catchment. Diverting the water by gravity into the 2.5 million gallon tank that was also constructed at the same time, just amazing to think that farmers in the area are still using the water collection system today. We had a couple of days in the area to explore, Bonnie Rock and Elachbutting Hill, some great landscapes, hours of wildflower searching and some unusual rock formations.

Through Bencubbin, Koorda and into Wyalkatchem, easy to spell but hard to say. We were working our way to New Norcia, Australia’s only monastic town.

The very old town is run entirely by Benedictine monks. Established in 1846 the town was setup to integrate, educate, house and create employment for the Aboriginal community that lived in the area.

“Doing the town tour introduced us into the life of the monk’s. The architecture of the impressive buildings, the history of shaping people’s lives and a diverse range of local products and produce that sustain the monk’s existence.

Bread from the bakery, all ingredients sourced from the farm, olive oil pressed from olive picked from the original trees planted in 1847 and honey that comes from the large bee colony housed in the old Apiary building and of course tourism plays a big part in their income source.

We strolled up the hill to the grand hotel and felt like Scarlet O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind” as we entered the huge foyer with a grand staircase. We had a delicious meal and of course the men had to try a couple of glasses of premier Abbey Ale, once again made from the old Benedictine community recipe.

Moving right along and heading west once again, we made it to Nambung a farm stay at the back of Cervantes on the coast. We were staying for a few days as it was the weekend and Bathurst racing was on and there were things to see in the area. Stockyard Caves, Lesueur NP where the wildflowers were in abundance, Jurien Bay and Cervantes.

Then onto the Pinnacles, an ancient land that has stood the test of time for thousands of years.