We left Burekup around 9am to make our way to Olive Hill Farm, Margaret River.
We made a quick detour in to the town of Busselton to pick up a guitar Kaz has bought me for Xmas, i stupidly left mine in storage and regretted not bringing it. not that i can play the guitar but i keep trying. We then headed to the small town of Cowaramup to fill our water tanks. It took us a bit of time to find the correct tap which was not signposted. As we got to the end of filling, three more vans came in behind us. We asked them how they knew the location of the tap and they replied, “we seen you filling up otherwise we wouldn’t have found it.
We left Burekup after having had a great last night listening to some live music at the country club and meeting some of the locals. We will definitely return there on our way back north.
Arriving at the farm along the the two km dirt road, we were met by the current caretaker and Helen who owns the property with her partner Benji. Helen told us we could pick a spot wherever we liked since we would be here for the next month. The other people who were arriving with families would be allocated a space to keep all the kids in one area. This of course was music to our ears as Max is not a fan of screaming children or quiet ones or ones on skateboards or ones scooters.
The place hasn’t changed much in the four years since we stayed here. We walked with Helen who gave us a suggestion of a great site and as we always follow advice we took her up on it and got the van in without issue. We are looking forward to being in one place for so long having moved a lot in the last eight months and 21000 km crossing four borders. We did it so quickly due to COVID and the need to get in to WA as Olive Hill Farm is the only thing we have booked in the entire journey. We will now slow down dramatically and stay in places we like a lot longer.
Later we took a trip in to the town and found it packed with people all here for the Xmas break. The Main Street was awash with people Xmas shopping and the sun was shining but not too hot. We didn’t stay long and got back to the farm to see all the arrivals coming back in.
We asked Helen if Bemji was still producing haggis but she told us he stopped that some time ago. Not good news as we were looking forward to that and we will have to get a fix somewhere else. In no time it was late afternoon and we sat outside the van having five o’clock cocktails whilst listening to all the bird life. We were lucky getting a visit from a couple of male Fairy Wrens. These things are tiny but the blue colour they have is stunning. The females are an ordinary brown colour and it’s the males who have to look pretty.
For only the second time we will put our annex out which gives us a huge covered area outside. I climb up on to the roof of the cruiser, open the rooftop bag and pass the four bags containing the annex down to Kaz. It then took us 2 hours to finally set up completely but this was only the second time we have put it up and that time will fall now that we have labeled all the pieces and know what goes where. Finally we attached the solar Xmas lights, mounted the tv and job done. With the weather for this week being hot we can be inside in complete shade but with heaps of sun powering our two solar panels on the van plus the panel on the car. It’s Karen’s birthday tomorrow the 23rd. So that will be a fun day. Then Xmas day is forecasted to be 38-40 degrees so we will end up going to the beach for a swim.
Wishing you all a very Merry Xmas from Margaret River.
Steve, Kaz & Max. Facebook Group – our wee journey
So tomorrow we will head south to Margaret River for Karen’s birthday on the 23rd and Of course Xmas. We will be staying at Olive Hill Farm just outside the town. This is somewhere we stayed at four years ago and always swore we would go back for a longer period of time. Well that time is now and we have booked in from tomorrow the 20th of December for a month. It’s a great place run by great people.
Up to this point we have spent a bit of time in and around Bunbury. We were both surprised at how big and well served with facilities Bunbury is. We stayed at a couple of free camps. One in a tiny town called Burekup and the second in Bunbury itself overlooking the ocean. Burekup had Xmas carols, outdoor cinema, kites flying, giant bubbles and a couple of food vans. we also checked out wellington dam and Gnomesville both amazing for very different reasons.
Anyhow check out the pic’s and if you want to comment plz do. join our Facebook group – ourweejourney if you would like to. Just send a request to join as it’s a private group to keep spam out.
Been a while since we put anything on here. not bore you with words but just stuck up some photo’s. We got down to Fremantle, got the car serviced. we then drove to Mandurah which was a bit cloudy but still warm. we are now in Bunbury as we head south to Margaret River. We will be at this free camp for the next three nights. last photo is, kaz’s new bike. Hopefully the fires will be out by the time we get there.
We decided to stay in Three Springs some more. This morning was another early one as we were awakened by the soft birdsong of the Cockatiels. They sound like most Australian bird’s with their almost prehistoric squawking. Today we do some tourist stuff around the place. We drive out of town about 17km and arrive at the Talc Mine. Yes, as in Talcum Powder for baby’s bottoms. The mine is the largest in the world and the product is sent all over the world. Talc is used in some surprising things, like. Cosmetics, animal feed, cars, paper, tyres, chewing gum, pain and fertiliser to name a few. Walking up to the top of the viewpoint was amazing. We could see the entire mine stretched out in front as well as the wheat fields and the salt lakes. We didn’t’t stay here long due to the heat of the sun.We then made our way back towards town where the next stop was the amazing pink lake. These are always hard to photograph but we gave it a go. Next and last was one of the first pumps from one of the three springs. Unfortunately the handle on the pump had broken otherwise we could have had a go.
It was then back to the van for a bite to eat for lunch. As we sat there a couple arrived towing a caravan and parked next to us. Strange as the place was empty. The woman told us they had stayed here before but only stopped to have a cup of tea. She then asked us where we were from and where we were heading etc. She then talked non stop on the phone. Packing up their chairs and table before leaving without even a goodbye. She was back on the phone. We may have seemed a bit frosty to them or might have waved and we missed it.
We then took a drive to the next tiny town called Carnamah. The little towns around this area seem to have quite a bit of funding going on. Both the towns have excellent facilities and some of the heritage type building have been restored. We take a look at the caravan park. Why you would stay here and not Three Springs I don’t know.but different people prefer caravan parks. We check out a few other spots then head back to Three Springs.
I am chef for the night where we have beef stir fry with broccoli, mixed veggies in a coconut curry sauce, delicious. Normally we can get two meals from our evening meal but this time we scoffed the lot. Tonight we watch the movie The Devil All The Time starring Tom Holland.
Next day we leave this great town but not before we head to the local butcher where we spend some cash.
Today we are heading to a new town south of Three Springs called Moora. It’s one of our shortest drives and we arrive in the town and locate the camp area. It’s a free parking area behind the town council offices. Not great but in a great location right in the centre of town. The town is tiny but people here obviously love the place. Everywhere you look there are flowers, murals and some sculptures dotted around. At the rear of the Main Street there is also a full size swimming pool. We had a quick look but I think the pool doubles up as a crèche, there were heaps of kids in it.
We moved on and had a good wander, taking some photo’s as we walked. We then spotted a newsagent and decided to buy a ticket for the WA Lottery which had ballooned to 80 million dollars. We got back to the van and met a couple who were parked near us. They were doing the same as us, although only for one year. They had been on the road for the same amount of time. They were from Sydney but instead of going south, they intended to head east away from the coast. They reckoned going any further south they wouldn’t get anywhere to stay as everything had been booked out. We told them where we would be for Xmas in Margaret River and followed it up by telling them it was now booked out. They hadn’t intended to stay in Moora but on arrival thought it would be worth a more detailed look. With a dump point, toilets and potable water here and lot’s of bins it really is a good place to stop.
We stayed only one night and filled our water tanks before leaving. We then remembered we still had to check our lottery ticket. Kaz handed it over waiting for the usual “sorry” but the machine chimed and we have a winning ticket. Not 80 million but a handy $62. 80 our biggest win ever. We cash in and head out.
As we head south we are only an hour north of Perth. In Perth we will be staying just south of the city at the Fremantle Village Caravan Park. This will be the first big city we have been to in some time and the first caravan park since Broome.
Anyhow, back heading south our next stop is the tiny town of Mogumber. Again this is a free/donation site next to the town oval. Great for Max to run in although a bit hot at 36 degrees. It has flushing toilets (yes, a luxury), and hand washing facilities. After another short drive we pull in to the site. The place looks good as it has lot’s of trees providing a decent amount of shade. We scope out a spot under some massive tall trees and take a walk about. Once again there is no one else here although that may change later. Although the road is reasonably close it’s a quiet road anyway so not so many cars or road trains passing. There are a couple of rail crossings so we expect to hear some horn blowing but not at night. We head back to the van and with ten minutes Max starts barking. We take a look outside and there are two caravans arriving. Good on Max as we didn’t hear a thing. They park pretty close to us under some not so high trees.
In the afternoon the wind starts to increase so much so that smallish to medium branches start falling. As they do the noise as they hit the van roof is a bit scary. We don’t want our solar panels or our roof vents or the car windows getting smashed.
We make the decision to move which is easy as we haven’t unhooked the van and car. We move away a short distance and park in what was our second choice spot, still shaded. As usual we have annoying insects here. Tiny little fly things as well as the usual house type flies. There is also a massive amount of locusts. Shortly before we arrived we were hitting heaps of them and they were getting smashed in great numbers. Here as you walk around they are like a carpet. Some of the bigger ones arrive with a thud as the land on us. Later we here a light plane sounding as if was dive bombing and we guess they were crop spraying. A plague of locusts can wipe out years of work for the poor farmers.
In the late afternoon with me writing and Kaz reading, Max is outside on his mat. Well that’s what we thought until a woman from the two other caravans walks over with Max in tow. He had quietly walked off and joined these people who were enjoying some afternoon drinks and nibbles. Oops, must remember to put his lead on.
Kaz apologised, then got chatting. She told us there is a pub next to the camp about 300 yards away. We haven’t been in a pub since Broome and even then we had one drink. Apparently there is a huge area behind the pub where tomorrow night there will be live bull riding. Not the stuffed one seen in pubs but actual full size animals. I am not a fan of animal entertainment but as we have been starved of live entertainment we might take a walk up. Not sure what we will do with Max, but will probably have to take him with us.
Ok, scratch the bull riding. We just took a walk up to the pub to check it out. We were shocked to see that admission tonight will be $25 per head. Like I said earlier we don’t even like bull riding but would have had a beer and would’v given it a five minute look.
We will make our own entertainment and save the $50+ dollars. We will however stay here another night.
Our Wee Journey 
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