7/5/21 DRUMMOND COVE

 

  After being out of service for a few days , here's a catch up . We headed up to Geraldton and decided to stay out of town for a change . Drummond Cove was the choice this time , about 13klms out of town on the north side . It is located beside the highway heading north , on the top of the hill overlooking the ocean - great views & sunsets . It also meant the sites were sloping - again not a problem for us , but most other vans have trouble getting levelled up . We set up beside a couple in another 5th wheeler - they definitely weren't level .                                                                                                                                                        There's a huge aviary with a lot of cockatiels and doves , native pigeons and a few others , beside the camp kitchen . There are a few gum trees that were out in blossom , one pink & one white .

    A few years ago we drove up to Drummond Cove and had a look around , a yellow flowering plant appeared to be growing wild on the side of the road , now it has overtaken any spare patch of dirt . The photo below shows about 10 acres covered with it , the caravan park was pulling it out and taking it down the bottom of the site to burn it - it has certainly taken over everywhere !!

    Spectacular sunsets were the order during our week here .

    This one took over the whole sky .

     Weather was interesting , they'd had wind and rain from the cyclone about 5 weeks ago , but there was more to come . We drove up to Northampton for a look , most of the damage had been cleaned up , but you could still see the trail of destruction , roofs were missing , sheds blown apart , tree's blown over , & branches snapped off . We didn't stay very long .

   On the way back we called in to Coronation Beach for a look before the rain swept in , the campground had been inundated by the rising tides and wind swell - the sea weed was well back behind the beach & dunes . One catamaran ws anchored riding out the impending front .

      Back to the park and next day with the rain gone , we headed down to the beach . After about 600m we reached what we thought was the dune behind the beach - it was but it was another 4-500m from the beach .  There is an interesting house looking like it had just been dropped into the dunes - very impressive .

    Here's an aerial view of it and looking back toward Geraldton .

 

    This is a dune area just to the north of us .

     The down side of this park is definitely the road noise , after a week here it was time to find a quieter spot for a few days . The trucks & other traffic seemed to be constant some days , other times were a little quieter - wouldn't recommend for a light sleeper . Here's a map link :-  https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1NzeMcS81zK98JR12GbFFNr3kR6M95twt&usp=sharing

1/5/21 Sandy Cape

    Leaving Yancep , smiles came across our faces as we headed further north . Friends we met at Barn Hill last year had messaged us , asking where we were . In short we found they were at Sandy cape for another night and there were spots available - so our destination was set .

     Sandy Cape is a great campground that is just behind the dunes to this beautiful bay and beach .

   After setting up & having lunch we  checked out the beach and did some jobs before our friends returned , then the rest of the afternoon was spent catching up on what , where & when , before we had a few drinks . Sunset was upon us before we knew it , it was only about 40m from the van to the top of the dune where we had the best seats in the house to view the sunset - it didn't disappoint !!

      We spotted some people over the bay standing on a platform , it was too late to go over tonight , but it may be an option in the morning before we go .

     Sunset turned it on .

     After a cooler night (10 degrees ) we packed up and said our goodbyes before we moved down the track a bit and parked - we had an appointment with a walkway . We wandered down the beach and clambered up & down a few sand dunes , finding our way to the walkway . What a spectacular view !!

     Even a few aerial shots as well , life's good 😎

     Sand dunes and crystal clear water , what a great spot to stay , no wonder it's such a popular spot !! Only about 15mins from Jurien Bay ( too close to Perth ) makes it so popular .

    We made our way back to the ute and hit the road , onwards to the north and warmer weather . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1efxQ_9N2BGy-2BD4UEm9F1t_dAvvKtl9&usp=sharing

27/4/21 Yancep NP we're free

 

     Yahoo lockdown over , we head further north to Yancep NP - we'd booked it before the lockdown otherwise we probably would have kept going north . Anyway here we are all tucked up in our little enclosure , right beside the amenities building . Henry White Oval is beside us and it's greatest use is to feed the local kangaroos at night .

     After lunch we headed over to the parklands , koala enclosure and walked around the old buildings . There are millions of grass trees in Yancep NP , here's just a few , with a few cycads as well .

    The koala enclosure is about half an acre in size with elevated walkways to get you up to their height . These ones aren't your small variety , they are large !! We saw 3 of them having a serious afternoon nap !

     The parkland areas are beside Lake McNess and feature nicely grassed areas with beautiful trees , paved paths , table's, chairs & Bbq's . Then there's a few other buildings around as well - Yancep Inn , Gloucester House which is currently being renovated , Tea Rooms , then there's the 9 hole golf course . Yes you read correctly , a national park with a golf course . There's walks , caves and plenty to explore .

     Here's one of the local greys , having a rest under a grass tree .

     Some of the cycads have flowered & fruited , the locals seem to like the fruit , lots of it being chewed and left .

   Plenty of banksia's as well .

     Next day we went for a tour of Crystal Cave , it's a dry limestone cave with plenty of features , but not as full as the caves down near Margaret River . The water levels in the cave have dropped due to drier than normal conditions and more stress being put on the aquifer by an increase in population . WA is more reliant on underground water than the other states . 

  There are over 500 caves in the park , one of those is Cabaret Cave which can be hired out for functions , weddings etc .

     The limestone is pretty fragile and you can see where some of the features have been broken off , then re fused together 

  

    The caverns are fairly large , this one has a water level marker in it .

     There's a band of crystals in the walls of this cave .

     This is Yancep Inn , you can rent a room here as well as have a drink & a meal .

   This is one of the golf holes carved out of the bush .

    More banksia 

     This is Gloucester House .

     Just across the road from Gloucester House is Boomerang Gorge , at the start of the gorge are these enormous palm trees about 25m tall .

    This honeycomb caught got our attention in one of the many holes in the limestone . we were intrigued by the bands of colour in it .

     This is one of the many cave entrances .

     Next day we headed back out to Yancep Beach for a look , we came out the other day , but you couldn't see anything due to smoke from burn offs further down the coast .

    This is Yancep Lagoon and is reputed to be a great spot for snorkelling when the tide is right . There was quite a current flowing from left to right while we were there . It's a patrolled beach - I thought that all they would have to do is wait down the far end and catch the swimmers as they were swept down . There's a reef that's only about 40m out that creates the lagoon .

     Further up the coast is the town of Two Rocks , it has a large marina that has lots of cray boats tied up and also in dry dock .

    Here's an aerial shot of it and the shopping centre . King Neptune is looking over the marina .

     He was part of an amusement park back in the 1980's and is still there watching over everything .

     Another view of some grass trees from above .

    Back at the park we found a flock of Carnauby's Black Cockatoo's having a drink from one of the puddles on the side of the road - there were more than 50 of them . We had a reasonable amount of rain yesterday and last night .

  That's it for Yancep this time , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=10KSWhWO5Fr2ZuBNRbg9OSUf35WRVcQlv&usp=sharing

27/4/21 Move & lockdown

 

     Leaving Woodman Point , we headed across to the other side of Perth , to an Advent Park at Maida Vale . Not surprising , we were there before lunch time and set up and had lunch - as you do .  Our location is at the base of the Darling Scarp ( Perth Hills ) , so after lunch we headed out to Kalamunda - just up the road into the hills . Checking out the suburb was interesting , not so much in bushfires though - picture something like the lower blue mountains near Penrith - lots of bush with people building right on the edge of the hills & valleys . Stumbling across Mundaring Weir Road , we followed it to check Perth's water supply dam . The road wound it's way through the valleys & hills , eventually coming to the weir . Our next surprise was being allowed to walk across the top the wall to the other side - a lot of water supply dams have restricted access . Don't think the dam has seen water flowing over the spillway for a long time - water level was about 8m below the spillway ! 

     Across the walkway is a valve house that looked interesting - well kept , painted & tidy . 

     We were lucky enough to get very little breeze , giving us near perfect reflections of the sky & clouds .

Below the dam wall , the stand out feature was this chimney and the pump house buildings .

      Back to the ute and we drove down , around & over to the old village and hotel and the access to picnic & Bbq areas , and lookouts .

     The valve house got another look as well .

    Following the road back out to Mundaring , we suddenly remembered we had just driven back to the Great Eastern Highway , so we did the return trip to the van on the main highway .

   

   Next day we cleaned the van and started to polish the sides - we'd done the roof about 4 weeks ago - so that kept us busy . We were looking forward to a dinner cruise on the Swan River at Perth on Saturday night - Covid had other ideas , as we found ourselves in a 3 day lockdown - at least we could finish of the polishing of the van , and washed the ute as well . Our 4 days at Yancep National Park were looking dodgy due to the lockdown , but it lifted for us to go there on Tuesday . 

  Just as well we went to the weir when we moved , otherwise we wouldn't have seen anything !!

Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1xR9m6R6Al8jAFmlKdW7Khh21dlQFyXX6&usp=sharing