It's been a while...
I've been very slack with the blog as we have been doing so much during the day that I've just been too stuffed to do this at night & we don't always have internet connection when we are travelling either but I will try my best to update more regularly, I promise.
Where do I start??? We spent a month in Burra SA where Glen worked on renovations at the local school which was built in 1887...can you believe that & they still use it today, it is a beautiful old school. Burra while incredibly tiny was such a lovely place to spend a month. We met some wonderful people while staying there & we made some lifelong friends who we miss heaps. Burra Caravan Park is fantastic & if you ever stay there say hi to the managers Anne & Wayne for us, they are such awesome people & we had such a great time with them. We got tonnes of school work done while Glen was working which the kids are doing really well at. Tiana gets in & does her work without questions, Ty is so keen to start school I can't give him enough work he always wants more & that leaves Master Zac who spends more time day dreaming out the van door than doing work & I've never known a kid who needs to go to the toilet as much as Zac does when it's school work time...hahaha. We are getting there slowly.
After Burra we spent 10 days driving SA's Eyre Peninsula which is really pretty but it was very windy most of the time which made it a bit cold. We also got our first flat tyre of the trip which was a little exciting for us & thankfully it happened in the Hungry Jacks car park so we had plenty of food & drinks to keep us happy while Glen changed the tyre. After staying at Point Lowly (beautiful) & Whyalla we set of for Port Gibbion a place I had been wanting to go since I starting researching this area a year ago... so it had been raining & we had abit of a muddy dirt track for 14kms to drive down & although Glen wasn't really keen on the road he knew I really wanted to go there because I had read it was beautiful & there was a really good chance of seeing a Seal on the beach. So we arrive at Port Gibbon & we could smell the beach before we saw it, it was full of seaweed piles about 1m high & the wind was insane & there was no way you could walk on the beach with all the seaweed so plan B was put into gear & my wonderful husband happily got back behind the steering wheel & drove us to the next camp spot. When we arrived at Port Neill a couple of hours later we were so glad we decided to go there as it was gorgeous & our free camp there was off the beach about 100m so you felt like you were in the country (we even had a windwill behind the van!) but the ocean was a stones through away & this beach was absolutely beautiful. The next day after a spot of fishing off Port Neill's jetty we headed to Louth Bay which was another lovely spot & only 20 mins north of Port Lincoln & for $5 a night instead of a van park in Lincoln for $50 a night we spent 5 nights at Louth Bay. We did lots of fishing here but spent most of our time in at Port Lincoln. Something I have wanted to do since I can remember was to cage dive with Great White Sharks at Port Lincoln but when I looked into the prices I just couldn't justify the money so in Mummy mode decided that money would be better spent taking the whole family out on a tour to swim in the ocean with Sea Lions at Hopkins Island & then take a tour of a Tuna Farm (in the ocean), hand feed the Tuna & swim with them too so that's what we did & it was fantastic. The Sea lions was something I'll never forget!!! Glen, myself & the 3 kids all got wetsuited up & jumped in the water but the poor boys only lasted a couple of minutes in the water before they had to get out because they were too cold. Tiana lasted about 10 mins before she had to get out but at least before she got out she got to experience a Sea Lion swimming around her...awesome moment! The staff were fantastic & wouldn't let Glen & I get out of the water to look after the kids, they looked after them & told us to enjoy our time in the water. It was incredible having these wild animals swimming all around me & one in particular came up & eyed me off & the more you move around the more interested they are in you & so this one keep swimming around me & playing with me & in the end I popped my head out of the water to talk to Glen & the Sea Lion came up behind me & hit me on the back!!! Next we went to the Tuna Farm which is in the ocean made from a massive big net & a few other things holding it together obviously...hahaha. Anyway we got to go in an underwater observation room & see the Tuna & see just how huge they were & how many there were. Next we got to hand feed them. You could use tongs which I did to begin with but then Glen dared me to feed them with my hand (but you have to wear a glove to protect your hand from their teeth) so I did & it was brilliant but so scary as they just come from no where with so much force & rip this tiny fish out of your hand. I let a few little girly screams out every time one took my fish. The kids absolutely loved feeding them & they were alot braver than me & continued feeding them the whole time we were there. Glen jumped in to swim with them & eventually Zac braved the cold water & had a quick swim with the Tuna too. Minus the sea sickness vomit on the way to the Sea Lions I had...today was an AWESOME day!!! Back to the cage dive with Great Whites story on the way back from the Tuna Farm we got talking to the owner of the business that had taken us out for the day & Glen told him how I wanted to do the shark dive but spent the money on this instead & believe it or not he was taking his staff & a couple of other people out 2 days later for their first cage dive of the year & said we could all go for the same price it was going to cost me to go on my own..so of course we calmy said yeah that would be great & then when I got in the car I jumped around like a lunatic so excited!!!!!! So a couple of days later we were on the boat heading out to the Neptune Islands to hopefully see these amazing creatures of the ocean! Poor Tiana this time was so sea sick but she didn't complain at all, she was amazing. The boys were brilliant as well for spending a total of 10 hours on a boat...fabulous kids! We spent abit of time waiting for sharks to come around & in the end we just had to get in the cage & wait. Tiana got in with us but again a couple of minutes later she was freezing & had to get out but I was so proud of her giving it ago. Honestly it was terrifying getting in the cage but once I was under the water & got my breathing under control it was so fun just waiting & then about 10 mins later I got a tap on the shoulder & there it was this massive monster of the sea swimming straight at the cage & slowly gracefully swimming under the cage & just disappearing into the water. I was so excited I had to go up for a proper breath & tell the kids I had seen one & then a couple of minutes later Glen grabbed my leg & I put my head back under & there was another one gliding past the cage....I was more than a little excited by now!!!!!! After that I got out of the cage to let someone else have a go but as it ended up by the end of the day those 2 sharks were the only 2 to come around the boat that day & Glen & I were lucky enough to see them!!! loved our time in Port Lincon & so incredibly happy I had done something I'd always wanted to do.
We spent another few days staying at some other beautiful beaches on the Eyre Peninsula before making our way across the mighty Nullarbor. Interesting thing is that although for the most part the 1200kms across the Nullarbor it's flat & nothing to see it is so amazing to see, if that makes sense? We took 3 days to do it & spent one night sleeping on the Great Australian Bite Marine Park lookout only about 100m from the cliffs. The cliffs straight into the ocean was an amazing sight to see. I was really wanting to see a camel on the drive but all we got to see was a dingo & 100's of mice. Very exciting when we crossed the border & entered Western Australia!!!! We are in Esperance at the moment & although it is abit rainy we still had a great day driving out to Cape La Grand National Park to see some gorgeous beaches. Can't get over the colour of the water here, it is the most amazing colours of blue & green & so clear, although the water is absolutely freezing! Heading off to Albany tomorrow & making our way up to Perth by Easter.
This has turned out to be a mighty massive blog...hahaha. I'll try to post some pics soon :)
