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25.01.2022 August Eleven Day One Hundred and Thirty Five. Smithy took Jim, Mike and a few of the Grandsons out fishing early morning and a few blue bones were caught. The highlight was the traditional Turtle hunt. The extended family was all travelling down to Broome for their Mum’s 80th celebration so Turtle was on the menu. It was sad to think about but one turtle feeds three families and is only hunted in the traditional way, taking only what they need. ... The Turtle is spotted, speared from aboard the boat then who ever is quickest dive’s overboard to swim down to catch the Turtle and swim it back up to the surface. This one wasn’t tried by Jim....

25.01.2022 October Twentieth Day Two Hundred and Five. Plans to hug the coast in Cape Range National Park, languishing in the torquise waters casually swimming with whales and turtles was quickly dashed by the jag-jillion knot chilly winds and really bad weather. We made an executive and pulled up camp a week early. ... We pushed down towards Perth, popping into Kalbarri to explore, staying on farms and stations meeting other travelling families and generous hosts. It’s the little gems that you find tucked away like the sheep farm where Neave was instantly spoilt rotten by the grandmotherly owner, I was in wildflower heaven and Jim was surrounded by firewood. Bliss. These long generation sheep farmers choose, along with the perils of maintaining a property and the sheer stupidity of sheep, to protect and tend to the rare and beautiful wildflower’s some of which are now only found only on their farm. What a magic little slice of our big country.

24.01.2022 October Forth Day One Hundred and Eighty Nine. After narrowly missing the local transfer to Gili Meno we decided to book a private boat, hummmpfft How very fannnciiiieee you say? Let me assure you as we waded through thigh deep water on an rough incoming tide to clamber aboard I had no plans to pay the Ferry Man... Just as they had no plans to conduct a safety briefing, throw in some token life jackets or stem the steady flow of water leaking in through the glass bottom f...eature. As I listened to Neave’s squeals of delight ( or was that my projected barely masked terror?) I pondered if we were actually fit to make adult related / parent child safety decisions... too late now.... we were off through the white capped waves that were steadily increasing in their freaking me outness. Now I don’t speak Indonesian but I do speak universal panic and as we approached the Meno Island shore sideways I’m certain ‘old mate up the front was yelling Slow,slow,slowwww, turrrrnnnn. Shit We’d made it. We did a full lap on foot, determined, and made it to the Turtle Conservatory where Neave got to adopt a rescued baby turtle. After much gentle holding, shell stroking and silent prayers from us there were no predators lurking in the shallows, She released it back into the wild. It was beautiful to watch and well worth the water crossing!

24.01.2022 August Six Day One Hundred and Thirty Tunnel Creek as it’s aptly named was voted as one of the highlights by Jim and Neave.... I personally was so out of my comfort zone I wanted to vomit and fall asleep all at the same time. Picture this, you clamber into a small opening of a cave system and find yourself in the mouth of an underwater channel cave, the remains of ancient reef shelf from an inland sea. There are bodies of water all along the edges and debris from floodwater ...throughout the tunnel system and it is quickly a headlamp on, torch out situation. This is where is gets skin crawly creepy. You have to wade in through the water, mid thigh in some spots, to continue your trek through. These murky, cold pools fester down there in the darkness and you know for a fact there are crocodile’s living is them. We sighted a few on the way out of the water. Yep people do this for fun. Jim and Neave loved the thrill of it all, me I narrowly avoided up and bolting out of there screaming run now, save yourselves.... but with little shiny eyes urging me On we waded through two decent water crossing’s and to my relief, we didn’t die. I’ve never been so happy to see sunlight quite literally at the end of the tunnel. Then I realised there was only one way back. Yep. Back into Tunnel Creek. See more

23.01.2022 August Third Day One Hundred and Twenty Seven We battled through the second day, limping along at times at 30kms over bone jarring corrugation. Each time we stopped for a welfare check we were faced with more carnage, mystery screws and rivets, piles of glass and of course the RED DUST. We had been tag teaming with another family throughout the day making sure we all stayed safe and there were cheers when we all made it to Mount Barnet Station and to the oasis of Manning Gorg...e. The kids loved being ferried across the river in half 44 gallon drums as a reward after the Gorge trek. We loved being able to have an unshaken beer! D2- 1 x Re Broke the bathroom Door 4 x Busted Microwave brackets 2 x Inch of dust 5 x fallen screws and 2 x random rivets (origin unknown) 1 x large Pile of exploded glass fragments ( origin unknown- seriously can not work out what it was from) 1 x Tub of yoghurt spilt through the fridge 1 x Exploded Mega Jar Moccona 6 x Collapsed beer can’s 1 x Broken Car aerial 1 x Brake controller booth unscrewed itself Corrugation Factor 4/5 Distance Traveled 185 km Time it took 4.5 hours #gibbriverroad #carnage #manninggorge #grr #threebrasrequired See more

21.01.2022 September Twenty Nine Day One Hundred and Eighty Four. After celebrating Mums 60th Birthday with these cool cats it was time to slow it down a little now it’s just the three of us once again. What a week it was....We came, We saw, We conquered! From a relaxing Girls Day exploring Batik, Silver jewelry making, weaving and an amazing lunch in Ubud. Yummy dinners prepared in house by the lovely Wayan and her team while all the cousins ran wild. Lazy lunch’s beachside to rice fields, wood carved everything’s, hawkers, scooters, swings, close calls, Koa Spa and of course the Monkey Forest with all the kids in tow....thankfully no one got dacked but Neave did get a big scare from a hair grabbing cranky Monkey that mistook her for someone looking to pick a fight but we all made it out in one piece!

19.01.2022 October First Day One Hundred and Eighty Four. We Island hopped our way to Gili Trawangan, after the constant beep,beep, beepidy beep symphony of Bali the relatively quiet beachside road was a tad off kilter. No cars, no scooters just bicycle’s and Cidomo’s the horse drawn cart’s. Neave was beside herself excited by these! Sunset found us bums in beanbags on the beach for the essential Happy Hour and a solid people watching session.... it seems the tables were turned on us and try as I might to stop it I’m certain Neave ended up on a few random’s Instagram posts. She was looking pretty darn cool but!

17.01.2022 October Twenty Eight Day Two Hundred and Thirteen. Back in the big smoke of Perth was a wonderful reprieve from the weather we packed it all in with trips to the Aquarium for shark feeding, Sci tech for some hands on science interaction (I’m not sure who had more fun Neave or Jim?) We caught up with Aloyah and Luke and a day at the Zoo followed by way to much wine was to set the scene for the week. Big thanks to those guys for a delicious home cooked lasagne of love, being f...ellow survivors of some of the dodgiest Chinese food ever and making sure the bottle target was achieved! The Fremantle Prison tour, Ferris wheel encounter and a long boozy lunch at a Little Creatures Brewery for Cup day ticked off some of the Freo must do’s but there is so much more to see and do in this quirky part of the world. We will definitely be back.

15.01.2022 August Ninth Day One Hundred and Thirty Three. Beautiful Broome, the obligatory beach camel ride a few smashing sunsets and we were headed up The Dampier Peninsula and another cracker beachfront spot at Gunbalum in the community camp. One of the Traditional owner’s and head of the family Smithy took us to catch mud crab up in the estuaries. After a slightly nail biting ride in his cruiser down narrow tracks and sandy corrugations we popped out on the pristine headland. It ...is virtually untouched and only accessible to those living in the community’s. Neave had made an instant bestie in camp so Imogen and her Dad Mike came along as well and we all set off into the mangroves with little more than a silent prayer that there were no snap snaps, a few wire hooks and a spear. Knee deep sucky mud or crotch deep murky water were the choices of transport so we alternated between the two trying to stay upright and remember it was all about the crab. Smithy quickly found little nipper tracks in the mud and the hidden crab holes on the banks. Boom, in goes the metal stick, quick twist of the wrist and out pops a crab hooked around its claw. Looks pretty straight forward, I’m sure we’ll have no problem pulling crabs.... ummmm No. It was tricky perched on slippery mud gouging about in a small hole trying to convince an angry crab to stop trying to avoid capture but we all had a go and snagged a crab it was so much fun! Ten crabs, enough for a feed and we were bouncing and rattling back to camp.

14.01.2022 August Seventeenth Day One Hundred and Forty One. Horizontal Falls... we jagged a massive spring tide and what would also turn out to be the last calm day for quite some time. And what a day it was! Straight into a Fast boat trip through the Dampier Archipelago with all its sneaky submerged and uncharted reefs. Up into a Seaplane for a spectacular view of this amazing natural phenomenon, millions of gallons of water pouring through an impossibly small opening creating only o...ne of two horizontal waterfall’s in the World. Into the open air Jetboat to tear through both of the falls at high speed amidst squeals of terror and delight. A quick swim with the sharks and a delicious dip at a hidden silica swimming cove that brought out a touch of homesickness for Whitehaven Beach. Onto the home stretch back to shore only to loose all steering on the boat......Never fear after some Mc-Jiner-ing by our amazing Skiperess and the much applauded comfort package of booze dropped off by the Mother Ship, we were well on our way! Just to top off an absolutely fantastic day we scored a stunning sunset from the water, something we had been hankering for. Winning!

13.01.2022 August Twenty Six Day One Hundred and Fifty. We said goodbye to The Lush family today, they have been our trusty travelling companion’s for the last few weeks. Imogen Midge and Neave became instant twinning besties, finding it hard to be apart at any given moment. Many an a pose was struck, old man joke poked, bread baked, wines by the fire and easy meal’s were enjoyed with this bunch of beautiful people. ... Neave is counting the sleeps till next time ... I think Craig might be as well!

03.01.2022 August Twelve Day One Hundred and Thirty Six. We moved down the beach into Pender Bay and scored a spot right up on the headland complete with a fire put and track to the beach on our door step. Neave’s little friend is two Van’s up so we’ve been sharing the girls throughout the day which has been great. They’ve been sqidding in the shallows of an afternoon and rock pool hopping. We’ve seen dolphins playing in the bay and Humpback’s and their calves right here on the point ...everyday in front of our camp. It’s so beautiful up here with the towering burnt red cliffs butting straight up to the beach this is very special Country indeed.

03.01.2022 November Tenth Day Two hundred and Twenty Six Margaret River.. Apart from the obvious appeal of a never ending supply of wine and vineyards, people in Margs are just so welcoming and friendly. You instantly feel at home and I found myself chatting to all manger or random people - I know right? Unusual for me but still it was an area that we instantly fell for. We camped at a little boutique winery nestled down in the vines and watched Neave pulled off death defying runs up... and down the rows on her pushy. Each time narrowly avoiding the almost blind sheep dog who took it upon itself to risk its life by attempting to herd her up on each turn. Naturally she was un fazed and just picked up speed. Jim lit his fire. We sampled the wine. And thought That Barry knows what livin’ is See more

01.01.2022 August Twenty Eight Day One Hundred and Fifty Two. After a few days at Barn Hill Station stay in another cracker camp spot on the headland we were chasing somewhere that was not on the tick tick tick list. What a find! Bordered by a beautiful beach and a working cattle station this small friendly camp was topped off with happy hour round the campfire to get to know everyone. Most importantly though was the Bush Bath the warm waters are fed into the bath from a natural ho...t spring, even better it is literally in the middle of nowhere. Perfect. There was nothing left to do but enjoy an icy cold bottle of bubbles, watch the sun set and enjoy a long awaited soak in the mineral waters. This is living!