Mount Gambier, South Australia {Caravan Park}

I know I have said this before, and I am sure on this trip I will be sure it again but I am surprised at the size of Mount Gambier.  What I am not surprised about however is the number of amazing old buildings that it had.

We headed right to the caravan park when we arrived, setting up and doing a little school work before heading off the the visitors centre to see what we could explore around the town.

I had never heard of Blue Lake, ever but this beautiful volcanic crater is the towns water supply and is an ever changing colour.  We got to experience it in all it's blue glory.

 

Our next stop was to drive up and around to Valley Lake.  A beautiful picnic spot, with large play ground and loads of beautiful looking water.

 

Heading back towards town we decided to actually drive around Blue Lake to see it from the other side.  It is so crystal clear and inviting looking you just wish you could swim or float in it.

We decided to end our afternoon adventure with a trip to the Umpherston Sinkhole.  A beautiful garden that has been created around what was once an under ground cave. Surprisingly it was filled with bees, who had used the limestone walls to create amazing looking honeycomb and made hives within the holes in the wall. I can just picture what it would look like with water running in it after some rain.

 

 

Saturday we started the day with pancakes before heading into town to do the 'Historical Walk'.  This is a self guided walk that takes in the towns historical buildings, each having a plaque with information on its parts use.  During our walk we also stumbled across two markets within town and also got to explore Cave Gardens.

 

 

 

 

    

We jumped into the car now to go and explore some of the antique shops.  I found a lovely set of kitchen canisters but refrained because how many sets does one woman really need {given they are going to the sea container haha}. There was also a beautiful dresser and kitchenette and bookcase and clock and and and, alright I have a problem.  It was lucky we are in a camper because I am sure I would've easily brought at least two of them because not only did they look lovely, they were an amazing price.

Next stop was a lovely ploughmans lunch at Valley Lake.  Where we sat under the trees, watch the water skiing and the kids played on the play ground.  We then headed into the car and went to look Devils Sinkhole {which is used by cave divers and kind of scared me a little}, Little Blue Lake {which is actually green and used for swimming by locals, some crazy kids even jumping of a cliff into the deep water} and tried to find some other places, with no luck.

 

Winning Station {Visiting}

Can't drive past without stopping in and of course it gave me a chance to catch up with Nana & Pop for a few days before we disappeared {and they returned back down south}.

It was lovely to catch up with everyone, Justin took some measurements but really we didn't do much at all.  Well I reviewed some family history in the form of hand written recipes, all in preparation for my sisters 30th Birthday present.

Kalbarri {Caravan Park}

It was just as lovely as the last time we visited, just shy of two years later.  The biggest difference was it was quiet, so few people, so much more space and some lovely weather.

A few days, just the four of us was exactly what we needed after the last few crazy busy months.

We stayed at the same caravan park as last time, right at the front overlooking the river.  It was a beautiful spot and a lovely place to watch the sun rise and set.

Exploring the coastline that leads up to Kalbarri was, as last time, spectacular.  They have recently spent some money in the area with new paths and broadwalks added to some of the locations, which did make it easier with the kids to do some walking.  We got blessed, several dolphin sightings.  They kept the small people amused and me on my toes as I tried, probably a little too hard, to capture a picture of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fishing was high on the agenda and much to J's pleasure he managed to get out everyday, all be it with a child or two in toe.  We had a nice afternoon the first day we arrived down at the jetty, another afternoon with all of us at the beach and the boys took off the last day for one last fish.  They even managed to get enough whiting for us to have a fresh fish & chips meal for dinner.

 

 

Not that it was planned, but we left just at the right time, before the rain started.

Next stop Wooramel Station.

Donnybrook {Visiting & Working}

Another night in Perth after our overseas holiday and before we left we got to go meet Sadie who made her arrival last week. She was tiny, soft, squishy and so very cute.

We made it back to Donnybrook in reasonable time, not a sole was there so we set up the camper again and started on the dreaded holiday washing.  There is always something unrelaxing about coming home from holidays, even without a house there is stuff that has to be done.

A few relaxing days before we started school.  Trip for ice-cream and craft for the kids but poor Justin started right back into work.

 

 

The rest of February saw work, school, heaps of baking/cooking, gardening and trying to find our rhythm again. Before we knew it March had arrived and not much had changed {except for Kyla's age - which is a separate post}, well other than my Aunty breaking a bone in her foot! We had Sunday drives with lovely lunches or sometimes just a drive to take a look around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did spend one of our driving Sunday's out looking at Gnomesville, Wellington Dam and spots along the Collie River.  We even stopped in at a space called Honeymoon Pool where I camped with my family as a child, it looks almost exactly the same as it did then

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 April and we've been back for more than a month!

Justin spent sometime down in Manjimup doing some work, picking potatos {the biggest I've ever seen & the tastiest) and also some building. We had more school, more baking, the kids had a trip to the dentist and we had a lovely dinner with Nana Pat & Pop. The kids and I also had a fabulous time with different experiments!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Before we knew it, it was time to hit the road again {all be it a short trip}.  Everything was sorted & repacked, the camper closed up, attached to the car & off we went again.