Mandurah to Carnarvon

Hi to all,          We have   been on the snail trail since we have left Mandurah and not putting too many miles behind us with each move, just taking our time and checking out the districts as we pass through them.
After leaving Perth behind us we travelled through the Swan Valley, really nice drive but no where the size of The Barossa Valley,but very pretty all the same...

  Went inland to a town called New Norcia totally built and run by the Benedictine Monks. The sourdough breads alone were  worth the 2 hour drive from Perth beyond the Darling Ranges deep into the wheat belt..Its like a little piece of Spain in the bush,and its the only monastic town in Australia.The monks live a prayerful life amoungst  the olive groves, so we booked in  and stayed on there oval next door to the monastry where we had permission for a camp fire...Well you all know what happened from there...  Baggy's phone has now been replaced..

Travelling back to the coast road again next place of interest was a place called Cervanties,and 17kls from there was  The Pinnacles........The Pinnacles Desert is made up of thousands of limestone pillars, which vary in shape and stand up to 4 metres high and range from 0.5 metres to 2 metres in width......We really loved that place and spent a few hours driving around them,walking around them and watching the sunset over The Pinnacles..Of coarse many many photos later we called it a night.....         NO !    Baggy did not run around The Pinnacles in the nude like Billy Connerly...(would not be a pretty site that for sure) .....                              
    Passed through Jurien Bay(stopped for a coffee with Ellen and Brian and kept moving) and camped right on the beach for 2 nights just south of Port Denision..This was a fantastic spot very similar to In Skip..This is where we met 2 couples and are still with them and others at the moment..What a great lot of people we have met, all doing the same thing, 3 couples are from the eastern states, so i am sure there will be catch ups when we all get home...I also think its the bush camping that bring people together..It does not happen so much in van parks...   When we run into each other its like some long lost friends who we havn't seen in ages...They are all fun to be around........Let me tell you Baggy has them laughing at times too with his antics.....You all would know what i mean......

We had to have a shop and a stock up in Geraldton....This was the first time we came across a Telstra shop since the big bon fire....First on the agender was a visit to the Telstra shop for a  new sim card for Baggy,he's up and going again, but we were without, for quite a while.....Reception is very limited and seems to be only in big towns and because we are not always staying in these towns we are off line more than we are on...Just loved Geraldton lots to see and do there and very pretty.


 We all went into Kalbarri for 2 nights and that was also a very very pretty town,,Played tourist for a couple of days and went site seeing to the gorges and the bluffs. Very similar coast-line like the Twelve Apostles,very rugged but on a smaller version.Had a brief visit with Ken's daughter Dee to say hello but it was short.      You won't believe it but Mick caught 2 Mullaway (similar to a Jew fish, so i am told)....Not sure if it was the way we cooked it ,but it was a really bland taste...Won't try that again
  
Today we arrived in Carnarvon..At times we need to catch up on the washing etc....4couples that we have been travelling with on and off are here in this park tonight and we have just come home from a b.b.q...Will be leaving here tomorrow,not sure yet, where to...Thats for the next up date....Coral Bay----Exmouth---or maybe  a station thats on the coast line where we could  pull up stumps and fish for a while...I'll leave that decision to the big fellow....

 Bye for now and love to all...The Baggy's       

New Norcia Hotel

One of the many chapels at New Norcia

Can someone please give us a call !

Telephone to Glory

The Pinnacles Desert Discovery

Rising mysteriously from the sand dunes are thousands of limestone pillars

Unique and spectacular .....The     Pinnacles

Our beach side resort.....Bush camp

You can't get better than this

Windy Kalbarri.....Trees grow like this from the wind

No wind at all while we were there

Geraldton.....loved this place

Kalbarri coast line

Kalbarri coast-line>

Spectacular Murchison River Gorge

Nature's window

Z  Bend gorge

Happy Hour

Party at Micks place

 Boys will be boys