I'm still going!

Hi, Dane here. Well its been tough these last couple of weeks. I've now lost all the fingers on my right hand. Might have a bit of trouble handling the footy this season. Saints first up in the NAB cup though, so I don't really need all my fingers. The arms healed up nicely, and I'm happy to be away from the South Australians.

Bye for now.

Esperance and Cape LeGrand NP

We were very happy to get to Esperance and do the 2 weeks of washing that had been piling up around us. A hot shower and stocking up on supplies were required before we headed off to Cape Le Grand NP. We camped at Lucky Bay and met up with Roy and Kim and their kids from portland Vic. who we had met in South Australia.

Lucky Bay was magnificent. It had the whitest sand and bluest water we had ever seen. There were lots of kangaroos, goannas, emus and blue tongues. After spending the day snorkelling and swimming we noticed a small fire up on the hill. Over the afternoon it got bigger and bigger until we were told to evacuate back to Esperence. It's the second NP we have been evacuated from because of fire! I'm sure we will be popping up on some government computer as suspected arsonists!

Across the Nullarbour

We teamed up with the Vallees for the big crossing. Everyone was quite surprised how much there was to see after expecting 2-3 days of nothing. There were plenty of big trucks, the great Australian bight, the Eucla telegraph station and the Nullabour golf links. We didn't play golf but had a hit with a crazy poms clubs who was driving across on his own and played the odd holes. Then he was driving back and playing the even holes! Can't believe they ever had an empire!

Our favourite however was the trees. There were decorated trees all the way across. We saw the teddy bear tree, shoe tree, bottle tree, undies tree (photograph), hat tree, kitchen tree and the bone tree.

All in all it wasn't too bad. No-one got strangled anyway.

Cactus beach

Before embarking on the journey we stayed at a great camp at the iconic surfers mecca of Cactus beach. The camp is nestled in among the sand dunes and has limestone toilets and showers. All pretty basic and rustic, but thats how we like it. Ruby and Darcy added their graffitti to the collection that dates back several decades.

The weather was pretty cool and it even began to rain. There were 3 Italian guys camped next to us travelling in an old Falcoln with 3 surfboards and 3 pushbikes! I thought we were cramped. There was no fly on their tent and all their stuff was getting wet. I went to give them a hand and they explained that they bought the tent from an op shop and it didn't come with a fly. Great in the hot weather but no so good with rain. I lent them our tents and they had a dry night, before packing up and heading out next morning. Funny blokes!

Perlubi Beach

Between Streaky Bay and Smoky Bay we found a little gem of a camping spot called Perlubi Beach. The Vallees met us there and we camped under the huts that were on the beach. Some other French backpackers that we had met in Streaky Bay called Bruno and Beverley met us there with their French buddies and before we knew it we were the ones speaking a funny language. There was a night soccer match on the beach under lights (kids lost 10-9), fishing from the pontoon and a very relaxing few days with great company.

Baird Bay

The little backwater of Baird Bay has a colony of sealions who love to play with humans! Alan and Trish Payne run tours there and we went out with them. We swam in a rock pool which gradually filled up with curious sealions. Even Anna got in this time! We swam with them for an hour and a half. Tracey describes it as the best experience of her life (I'm presuming after getting married to me). On the way back we were lucky enough to have a swim with some dolphins as well, although they didn't get as close or hang around as long as the sealions.

Coffin Bay NP 5-6/2/2010

Coffin Bay NP was picturesque and very tough to drive around. The sandy tracks were very soft

and we were relieved to get out without getting bogged. We gave a hand to pull out a couple of other Victorians which will hopefully go into the "karma bank" for when it's our turn to get bogged.

Back at Port Lincoln 30/1 - 4/2

Unfortunately we encountered some car problems and had to stay in Port Lincoln for another few days to have the repairs done. While we were there we met the Vallee family from France. Fabrice, Julie, John & Edith are travelling around Australia in their faithful camper called Matilda for a year. We have had a great time with them and hpe to meet up frequently during our trip.

We also went swimming with the tuna which was awesome. The fish weighed up to 80kg an

d were very hungry! We all went in for a swim with them except Anna who had great fun lobbing sardines on our heads and watching the swarm of tuna attacking us.

Lincoln National Park 27th Jan - 1st Feb

We've just had a perfect week or so in the Lincoln National Park. We stayed at September Beach which we had all to ourselves most of the time.

We did some walking, swimming, and ate very well. The kids have started doing some school work wich they love (not).

We watched the most spectacular full (blue) moon come up over the sea sitting next to our fire on the beach while we ate the obligatory marshmellows.

Getting set to begin the long trek west!

Dane sustains an injury!

The rough roads have taken their toll on young Dane. His broken arm required surgery with a prosthetic bone implant to keep it all together. He is in alot of pain but recovering well.