Week 13 | Coral Coast Cavorting

SNAPSHOT

We have loved every second of this epic adventure of ours, the good the bad and the ugly. We have had our eyes wide open and experienced so much.....our relationships with each other are stronger (but not without occasional fault) however our next mini goal of Perth has appeared on the horizon at the most opportune time - my sister is my best friend, and the distance between Ballarat and Perth is so tough - we miss out on seeing each other and our girls growing up so the thought of time with her, my ever patient BIL and their spunky girls had me fairly excited but aside from that, the sudden turn to colder weather strained relationships within the confines of the car and caravan - nothing life threatening but I counted to ten A LOT, there was bickering and snappy comebacks, probably pre-teen eye rolling from the back (actually there was - I can see her in the mirror)......all in all we just needed a small break so HEELLOOO Perth - hope you realize what you are in for Lowe Family 😂

WHERE ON EARTH ARE WE?

Bullara Farmstay | Somewhere near the Coral Coast

Im trying to be so careful that in my haste to see my family we are not rushing this leg of the trip, but this stretch, heading back toward the coast was a big one and we gratefully pulled into Bullara Farmstay at the the end of a long day. Along with approx 50 other campers we had power and water and were thrilled to enjoy the campfire, damper and bush poetry in the evening......we had to get cracking in the morning but by all accounts the coffee, Homestead tour and scones are second to none also!

Exmouth | Northern W.A

Here is the perfect example to try some places out despite advice to give it a miss! We made a last minute call to turn right to Exmouth instead of left to Coral Bay and boy are we glad we did! The bakery is insanely good and after pulling in at the beach to stretch our legs we were rewarded with breaching whales, a submarine and fighter jets overhead - it was completely surreal and made Leigh's day! Even if you don't choose to stay in Exmouth we thinks it's a gem worth making the extra few km for!!

Coral Bay | W.A

Not sure what else to say except wow and bugger. "Wow" because what an awesome sparkly bayside oasis and "Bugger" because in our naivety we didn't book ahead and could only get one night in caravan park - absolutely and unequivocally not enough - we did fit in a swim in the pristine waters, dinner at Bills (freakin awesome!) and made some beautiful new friends, Dave and Tanya......all in all it was fun! Just not enough of it hah hah - Coral Coast you are most definitely on the list for the next trip - will try and remember to book ahead perhaps? LOL

Kalbarri | W.A

Okay, listen up folks - I'm gonna call this one - my favourite place so far! Yup. As you well know I am a lover of all things seaside but seriously? A National Park too?? And a river? We visited Natures Window, viewed whales from the incredible lookout.....again another place we could have done with extra time in.....you guessed it! On the list to revisit for sure 😊

Dongara | W.A

Last stop before Perth, this was my Dad's suggestion and a cute little fishing town - yes it was wild and woolley but to be completely frank so are we, so a good match all in all! If you call in here try the Beachside Cafe - beautiful clean food and lots of it = no dinner required for the Stollery's today......a massive storm rolled in and we tried out our very first ensuite powered site - was lovely to have good showers given the sudden zero temperatures blowing a gale outside.....had to pack up in torrential rain but still feeling lucky it was only the second time since we left in May so sucked it up 👍

BEST PART vs WORST PART

🐣Liv

Best part: Coral Bay! It was so beautiful and we loved taking our new bathers on their maiden voyage hah hah.....

Worst Part: That we only got two days in Coral Bay - so sad to leave but excited to get to Perth too! So so sick of the car and set up/pack up....

🐴 Maggie

Best Part: Ummmm Coral Bay - the water was so clear and blue - I didn't even care that that it was cold - Dad did though 😂

Worst part: The roads in between the cool stuff was so boring - I read three books in three days, also it rained. I'm sick of our car food.

🏌️Leigh

Best part: My fave of the week had to be Exmouth, whales, submarines and fighter jets don't normally go hand in hand so was pretty special!

Worst part: No worst part at all.....

🌺 Rana

Best part: Mmmmm definitely the west Australian Coast full stop. Don't underestimate the time it will take to fully appreciate this stretch of Aussie!

Worst part: I'm questioning my parenting this week - we've all been intolerant and snappy and unfortunately it has collided with cold weather so yup you guessed it! Nowhere to go - I sat in the car one afternoon for twenty minutes just because I could hah hah

LESSONS LEARNT:

📝 Sometimes you are better to book ahead then change the booking if need be, than to not book at all.

📝 Caravans get smaller as time goes on - I'm convinced!!!

📝 It wouldnt have mattered if we had an extra $30k and another 12 months up our sleeves - we still wouldn't have seen everything this country has to offer so have decided to chill out, go home poor as church mice but know we did everything humanly possible to see what we could within the constraints of time and budget!!

NEXT DESTINATION:

Perth. Woo hoo!!!!

The road thus travelled!

Bullara Station - enjoyed by all (well except Liv hah hah)

It's been a long time since we have played "Cloud Art" anyone spot Maggie's koala???

Exmouth turned on the sun.....and the whales....and submarines and fighter jets! (This amazing photo is coming! It's on the camera currently locked up in storage in Perth)