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6 February 2009 - Middleton Beach Holiday Park, Albany.
Start of road trip in the 'Ox'.
Wooo! Our road trip has begun and I am so so so enjoying myself.
So the first night (last night) in the Ox went surprisingly well!We stayed at the Fremantle Village camp site on a pitch in the Ox.We parked up and arranged the car to sleep in - food/cooler bags/backpacks in front on driver and passenger seats and foot wells, airbed inflated with duvet and pillows in place, handbags next to us, foldable chairs and fuel tank and water tank and washbags surrounding us - and settled in for the night.
We used the camper kitchen to prepare our delicious and nutritious pot noodles but still got hungry and had to have muesli later! And we shared a bottle of wine to knock us out a bit! JWe played cards for a while inside the ox with the airbed deflating rapidly and then decided to turn in about 9 pm!It seems we will be rising and falling with the sun whilst camping as we only have two tiny lights and don't want to waste the batteries - ha.
There was a slightly stressful situation where I slammed by fingers shut in the door and I'm still not able to feel the tip of my middle finger now!Its also bending backwards in a very strange way but I m choosing to ignore that! So we got ready for bed but found that the Ox was incredibly hot and stuffy! Not wanting to open the windows for fear of letting a huntsman in, we decided to sleep in our bikinis. Big mistake!We woke at about 3 am - FREEZING cold!We had to scramble around for our hoodies; so tonight we are prepared with long thick socks and layers!We woke in the morning as the sun was coming up , before our 6.30 alarm!We were hoping to get an early start as we had a big journey on the 1st day of our road trip - Fremantle to Albany.We ended up leaving at 7.30 after re-arranging the whole car and spilling coffee everywhere! But we had an amazing day!
We drove for about six hours, stopping twice to change over and have a lovely warmed up snack!We found a caravan site to stay at called Middleton Beach Holiday Park, where we got a pitch for $30 (a bit of a lot I thought) but we did have the use of the camp kitchen/fridge/power points/toilets and showers and there was a lovely swimming pool but unfortunately it was raining so we didn't use it!
Our second night in the Ox went very well indeed!It rained in the night but Ox kept us dry as a bone and very cosy! We woke and showered and then left for a day's sightseeing around Albany!One of the first things I noticed on our drive from Perth was just how easy it is to get out of the city into the unknown.We drove through miles and miles of open, parched land between tiny towns and country villages - it was brilliant Albany is lovely - kind of reminds me of Pai - there are huge mountains surrounding the city but there's a real country town feel here!There is no paid parking or traffic lights in the entire city!We first took a historical tourist drive to Mount Clarence which has amazing views of Albany and a huge monument symbolising something to do with Australia and New Zealand but I'm not sure what because of the tribe of grey-haired tourists who all clambered out of the coach just before we got there.We couldn't get anywhere near!
We then headed for the wind farm which was great!I don't know how anybody travels around here without a car or vehicle of their own!The distance between everything is mind boggling!The wind farm was great - there were about ten massive great wind turbines which supply much of the power for Albany.I remember doing some work at school in geography about renewable energy.I want to go back and learn it all again!I wish I had listened more at school!Anyway, we walked a tourist trail around the turbines, through the bushland and out to the magnificent coastline between Sharp Point and Hanging Rock.Sar and I were absolutely speechless.We just sat and watched the waves lapping into the shore as if in slow motion.The waves were breaking so far out and the turquoise colour was so lovely.I think that colour is easily my favourite colour ever!
We then took a drive down to Frenchman Bay and stopped at a few places en route.We stopped at The Gap and Natural Bridge which was my fave!They are two natural features carved from ancient granite by the forces of nature. The Gap has a 25 meter sheer drop to the ocean which was spectacular to look at!The waves were crashing in and were really scary!
Next we drove round to the Salmon Holes where salmon, looking for calm waters, come to spawn.This beach was beautiful but apparently very dangerous for swimming so we decided against it.After this we drove right back to Denmark Road - the main highway between Albany and Denmark.There is a museum called Whale World which we decided not to visit as it is all about how they used to harpoon whales here until a few years ago.I don't like that they used to be so cruel so we didn't go!
We had been to the information centre where a girl had advised us of where we can camp for free (in our car of course) as recommended by the DCC - so we decided to stay at Cosy Corner Beach tonight!There is a beautiful beach literally ten steps from us, a free BBQ, minging toilets, an outdoor shower (public too!) and picnic area.But this will be a testing night as it's our first night staying in the Ox without the safety and security of a camp or caravan site around us.There are a few cars around us now and one tent up but I'm not sure who will be actually sleeping here.Plus, some strange man just approached us in a car/van - blonde surfer-looking idiot - asking if we want to go for a drive along the beach with him!We said no, naturally, but I've got to admit I'm slightly worried he might turn up in the middle of the night!But I've got a penknife and Sar has the kitchen knife by her side in case!
Also a bit of news! We didn't spend anything today!First time in absolutely ages! Not a dollar!
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