4th trip to Collie bush camping

Well it was the Easter Hollidays and it was time for another Camping trip, and this time it would be down south at Collie. So after work I chucked four nevilles into the commodore for the drive down south, which took just over two hours and we got to the campsite just after dark. But after having a mongrel of a time getting the tent up in the dark, we sat back and got the fire going much to the delight of the kiddies. Oscar even got his little mate Tony 'TeddyBear' Butterfield to sit next to him at the fire, to be fairdinkum I didn't think Tony was going to get through the night.... but he did.









The next morning we got up to the sound of the birds in the trees, and an ache in the backbone reminded me what I really hate about camping. As you can see we had a little ripper breaky, to fill our tummys for the big day ahead.... but first I might just lay back in that green seat, and give the back a rest (getting old).










Here is Eric and Sarah standing in frount of the Federal Hotel in Collie, as you can see theres a sign on the side saying 'Sunday session'.... oh those were the days! But you might be wondering who this Eric fella is, well he is the family Gnome who was going down South to Gnomesville to live with his mates. But before he leaves us he wanted one last holiday, so he hopped in with us for the drive around town. Heres the mob on a Leopard tank which was just recently decommissioned from the Army after 30 years of service, the army has just gifted this 42.4 tonne metal Leopard AS1 tank to the Collie RSL. A bit more up-to-date Tank then what I got to play on as a little kiddie, lucky little buggers.
















Heres the kiddies n' Eric at the Wellington Dam which is in the Wellington National Park, which is were we wanted to camp but it was all full... bugger.







Then we had a nice drive through the Wellington Forest to reach the King Jarrah Tree, which is the one which looks a bit grey.











The King Jarrah Tree... what a little ripper hay, it's around 400 years old so it's had a good life.





















Then we drove to Gnomesville which is just unbelieveable, just about every place you look at theres a little gnome.







There must be thousands of Gnomes in this place this is where Eric the gnome was going to leave us to live, but the kiddies changed there minds and it looks like Eric was going to come home with us after all.











Then back at Collie we went for a wonder along the riverbank to find this spension bridge, which made the kiddies happy and also worked for me as they wore themselves out running back and forth across the river... Good.












And then it was back to the Stockton Lake Park were we had our tentsite, and just in time to get a feed into us and to start another fire.









The next morning we had our breaky at our camp then we drove to Boyup Brook, which is the National Capital of Country Music in WA. So this is the Tamworth of Western Australia, just a little down sized!








And here is Harrison at the Boyup Brook Espectice Guitar!! well okay it mightn't be as spectacular as Tamworths Goldern Guitar, but atleast if your drunk enough you can steal this one! This years event was in February and you can have a gander at there website here.









Then back in the commodore for a nice drive in the bush past Bridgetown, till we reached the timber town of Manjimup where we were going to the Timber and Heritage Park.











Inside the Timber and Heritage Park we went walkabout through the bush, heres Jacko showing us this old bush school we found.








Also this old steam locomotive which had seen better days, in fact it is a S.A.Y Class number 109 and was built in Manchester in the UK in 1907. From 1958-62 it was used to haul timber over rough bush lines, to Bunnings Brothers mill in Northcliffe before it was retired.









Then we found an old lock-up and in went all the kiddies for a gander, if only I had a friggin' padlock!







Yep this was Manjimup's lock-up for 46 years, and i'm being fairdinkum.... if only I had a padlock!














And ofcause all good National Parks have a timber Mill














After that we drove back past Bridgetown and on towards Donnybrook, but before we got there we stopped for a gander at this opencut mine at Greenbushes. Called the Cornwall Pit it's now finished it's time and what are you going to do with a hole like this? not sure but it would make a ripper swimming pool. Over the years it had 4.7 million tonnes of tin, 6 million tonnes of Tantalum, 9.2 million tonnes of Ore, and 61.3 million tonnes of waste!!! crikey that waste would of filled a few potholes.








Then we drove past the scarecrow capital of Western Australia Balingup, but fairdinkum it looks more like an old sheilah then a scarecrow... but who am I to criticise art!







Then we made it to Donnybrook where the kiddies had waited all day for, it's just a roadside park but as you can see it's still a ripper. You couldn't ask for more for a little park and it was for free! you little beauty.










Here's the twins Harrison Apple n' Oscar Pear showing us the Park, funny thing is that Oscar is the one who loves apples where Harrison loves Pears.....











'The Osk' showing us one part of the swing Park, it's a little ripper Park with a section for little kiddies. There's a part for bigger kiddies and then the big castle for the bigger kiddies, and just across the road is the Donnybrook Hotel for the bigger bigger Kiddies!











But all good things must come to an end and as the sun dropped down across the hills, it was time to head back the 50 kilometers to our campsite for the night.












Then after some camp tucker it was time for the fire to start up again, but this time it was going to be a little different. As yours truly gave in and brought some marshmallows, and so doing started the first Paul Family camping Tradition of toasting Marshmallows!








Jacko thought 'crikey I over cooked it a little bit'











But as you can see Sarah thought she just loved it a bit charcoaled... God help us! And as we went to sleep on our last night in the bush, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.... life couldn't be better.






Then as we awoke in the morning to the sound of water falling on the tent in buckets, we knew we were in for a wet day. In fact Collie had a fall of around 35mils and I reckon ever bit of that fell on our tent, this was not looking good. So after throwing one neville after the other into the car I just started to chuck everything into the back, and you can see the finished product in this photo.... and yes Chase if you pull on that pot handle everything will fall out.... go on I dare ya!

3rd trip Wave rock

And then after a trip of just over 430kms we had made it to our camping ground WAVE ROCK, here is our tent all set up ready for our night under the stars.
















After setting up camp and having a beaut feed of steak n' snags (without a veggie in sight... you little ripper), we hit the track up the hill to have our first sight of this big rock. The kiddies had a touch each and were right in their element, running all over the place scaring every animal in a range of about three kilometers. Fairdinkum they were little terrors and loving it. Here are the three little mites sliding down the rock at night, I hadn't noticed it before but they were very well colour coordinated hay.... go the red team!










And my thinking had worked a treat, who said Dad's were dumb (probably Mums), the plan was to run them stupid and then lay back and reap the rewards and it worked to perfection. After this photo in about ten minutes they were all in the dreamtime!










The next morning at the crack of dawn we were all up and ready to have a proper gander at Wave Rock, and isn't it a friggin' ripper. Fairdinkum it was really worth the drive to this place, and you just have to have a look at this thing.












I let the kiddies have a beaut run about and just spend some time looking at this rock, this rock is a granite cliff which is 15 metres high and 110 metres long. In 1960 rock crystals from Wave rock were dated as being 2700 million years old, strewth that's a bit old hay. after playing around we had our first proper bushwalk to a place called Hippos Yawn, and that just topped off the day.












And here are the kiddies at Hippos Yarn, it consists of an unusually shaped granite that was formerly part of the larger outcrop. Which formed into a cave that you can see the kiddies in frount off, well okay you can see one kiddie but the other two are there trust me. And this photo was taken with the kiddies inside the small cave, or you could say inside the hippos mouth.












After walking back to the camp site it was time to pack up and hit the road, the first stop was a place called Lake Magic which is a large salt lake. Here is yours truly with Harrison, Sarah and Jacko on the salty shores of Lake Magic.















Then it was back in the commodore and off to a place called Mulka's Cave, Mulka was the illegal son of a sheilah who fell in love with a bloke from whom marriage was forbidden, and so became an outcast and wasn't aloud to integrate with the other kiddies. As a result Mulka lived most of his time in the cave, and out of frustration he turned to catching and eating the other children from the tribe. These are Mulka's hand paintings that he placed all over the cave, but his live wasn't to last long. One day after his mother scolded him he turned on her and killed her, which pissed off the rest of the tribe. So knocking off a few kiddies 'here n' their' was one thing but taking the life of his mom was crossing the line (strange mob hay). And the tribe hunted him for 156 kilometres until they caught him and speared him to death. If only I knew this dreamtime story at bedtime last night!












The kiddies inside Mulka's Cave, In Mulka's day this would of represented a full three course meal!







Then it was back in the car and a quick drive through Hyden, Kondinin and we were at Corrigin home of the 'Dog in the ute'. Here in the park the kiddies are on the Dog, which sat in the back of the first ute in the line that became the world record for.... you guessed it, for most dogs in the back of utes in a straight line. Fairdinkum you had to have at least one dog in your ute to be in the line. And how many utes did they get you might ask ?, Well all up it was 1527 all up! Good on them and it put Corrigin on the world map for at least that week. Also in the park there was some beaut swings and this wishing well, which me and Sarah used but it must of been broken. I chucked in a five cent piece and shut my eyes and made a wish.... but when I opened my eyes I was still in Corrigin!











Then we stopped at our last reststop which was back in York, but this time Jacko was back at his best and was trying to swing the bridge... to Sarah's utter disgust (she was pissed), what a great way to end a beaut trip out bush.

2nd trip Bumbury

Well this is our second camping trip and this time we had another little neville with us. Yes it was Sarah's first ever camping trip!. This trip would take us along the beautiful coastal seaside of south Perth to Bunbury, then back through the rich farming lands of Harvey. So with the commodore packed with our new tent, some car tucker (cookies), and two of the rugrats we headed down the highway to our first pit-stop Mandurah.
Well the kiddies had some fun on the swings at Mandurah foreshore then we were back inside the commodore and off down towards Preston beach for another pit-stop. We hit the cookies and drink, had a swim and a play on the swings and off down the road.
Our next stop was our campsite for the night Bunbury. We set up the tent for the first time with the help of the kiddies... and then went for a walk to Koombana Bay beach. We spent most of the day just having a swim and doing some beachcombing along the long stretch of sandy white beach. Then we went walkabout down the Leschenault inlet which ran along the caravan park that we were staying at. The track took us along a boardwalk which ran through some old mangroves in the Sykes foreshore reserve. Then the kiddies had some fun on the swings and posed for some photos of Bunbury.
In the arvo we went for a drive for some tucker and a bit of a senic drive around Bunbury to have a stickybeak.First we drove down the main street then up to the lookout at Mariston hill. where this photo was taken.
Then we traveled over to the only tourist atraction in Bunbury...the Bunbury Lighthouse!!!, which overlooks Rocky Point. We stayed there till sundown, then had a nice lazy drive along ocean drive. Then had a stickybeak at boat harbour then back to Koombana bay caravan park.
The next day we went and had a swim at the beach again, then had a swim in the park's pool. After that we packed up the tent and then headed out of town towards Brunswick Junction. Then a drive to the dairy farming region of Harvey, then a quick drive up to Harvey Dam. Which was the best Dam I think ive ever seen, from there we drove to the information centre and had a gander at there outside gardens that were real beaut.
Then back in the car for the drive home, past Pinjarra then the quiet bush town of Serpentine. And before long we were back home in Middle swan.