Locations 1 – 3 then Repeat.

27^th October – 20^th November

So, we have about four weeks to kill before we go back to Fremantle to complete our repairs. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, we’d just pick a destination and go. But the issue with the van is that we have two bent axles, and scrubbed tires. This means, of course, that we must limit the driving and stay off any dirt or pot-holed roads.

Cervantes was the closest town to Tuarts. Wandoo and Smoke Bush were closest to Jurian Bay, our preferred town. Jurien also gave us access to drinking water, a dump point, and an overpriced but well stocked IGA. Both are coastal towns with pretty beaches a couple of coffee shops and pubs.

1. Tuarts Reserve – It’s all about the Bees.

Tuarts Reserve is a great little bush camp. It’s restricted to 72 hour consecutive stay, and we could see why, it is very popular with travelers.

We’ve been cooking and eating outside lately, and while we were doing the washing up, we noticed a few bees trying to drink from the washing up bowl. Now, bees and hot washing water don’t mix, but they were obviously thirsty, so we got them some fresh. Within a few hours, I think we were watering the whole hive. Have you ever seen a bee tongue close up? Well, you will, and they are fascinating.

A little later Peter found a hive. It was in an old, hollow tree that had fallen and broken open. It was not a healthy hive, so we were pleased we could help them out a little. The second day we were there I measured the amount of water we gave them. From 7:30am to 6:00pm, they drank 1.4 liters of water.

While I had a captive audience (their water was on our table) I made the most of our tiny neighbours’ to practice my “Bee in flight” shots.

On our last day at Tuarts Reserve, I took a wander around the camp, saw an old takeaway container at the base of a tree, bent down to pick it up, and when I looked up, I found myself face to face with this.

Now this is a healthy beehive.

Side note – No Jo’s were stung during the taking of these photos.

The Pinnacles Desert

The Pinnacles Desert is in the Nambung National Park and is a Unique landscape of upright, narrow stone columns or spires. They’re a bit of a mystery but are thought to have formed 30,000 – 50,000 years ago, when the inland sea disappeared, leaving deposits of shells and stuff that formed the spires.

We arrived around 3pm, hoping for some nice sunset shots. We did a lap of the drive, casing the joint for potential spots, stopping along the way to explore.

Picking our sunset spot was a bit tricky, we had to avoid all those pesky tourists 😊 but we found a spot with some unusual formations and waited for the sun to go down. 

We had a lot of fun and were lucky enough to be there on a full moon, and what a moon it was.

• Wandoo Reserve – It’s all about the Birds

We drove 34kms to Wandoo Reserve, also a 72 hour stay, but this one was not as popular. We had it to ourselves most days and on occasion, we stretched our visit to five nights. Shhh! Don’t tell the Rangers.

We hadn’t been there long when I grabbed my camera and went in search of the birds I could hear. I was thrilled to see a pair of Rainbow Bee-eaters, such pretty, exotic birds. Over our time there I saw a few species for the first time; Western Corellas, Straw-necked Ibis and…Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos.

Of course, there were other, less exciting but still pretty birds in the area. I identified 16 birds at Wandoo, and there were others that I wasn’t able to ID.

• Smoke Bush Reserve – Its all about the Carnaby’s

A mere 10kms from Wandoo, is Smoke Bush. This is a 24 hour stay, we stayed longer than that, but in all the time there, we never had any other neighbors. The Reserve is just a large gravel pit, but…it is elevated, surrounded by lovely country and it picked up the coastal wind. On a hot day, we just opened op the windows and stayed cool. No heat, no flies, great outlook, and this was the only place we had any kind of phone reception.

It also turned out that we were on the flight path of a flock of Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos. Not every day, but most, they flew by. As they got used to us, they came ever closer.

There was also a magnificent Black-Shouldered Kite and a local Brown Falcon.

Not far from Smoke Bush is Lesueur NP. I have to say, WA is not my favourite state, but…they do have some amazing flora, and at times we could be fooled into thinking we’re in a different country, not just a different state.

So, even though we’ve been in a bit of a holding pattern, we have still had plenty to keep us occupied. Once the car and van are fixed, we can once more hit the road in earnest. Well, at least for three weeks, then we must be back in Perth to meet mum at the airport. (Told you we wouldn’t forget.)

Editors Note

If you made it all the way to the bottom of this post…I thank you.
It is longer than the usual, but I am now officially up to date and we should get back to shorter more manageable posts.

See you out there somewhere

On tow and on the go!