Perth Day 3: Rushing Down to Margaret River

Setting off and checking out were so easy when your hotel is your car. Yeah, that was us. Hehe.

Returning the keys was easy peasy too. I had to make Daddy Lim take this pic outside the reception office bcos he missed out on his precious Quokkas. At least he has a picture into his memory bank.

Today would be a long drive from Fremantle to Margaret River. A non-stop drive will take over 3 hours. Of course we cant survive that with a campervan full with of kids.

The 1st stop was the Cape Peron at Rockingham, which was about 30 mins drive away. I didnt know what to expect except that it was some rock formation. I was pleasantly surprise. The 1st thing that we saw was a stairway leading to some kind of defunct fort. We saw 2 adults on the fort and they even taught us how to climb up. Ok, it was not meant to be climbed but it was supposed to be an adventure. So we did climb, my brother went 1st, followed by Zaky, me, Lil Shauna, Ferlin and finally Felicia. The not very "able" others stayed to take pictures for us.

The coming down was more challenging. There were sharp stones and I was so worried that the stones would tear my new leggings. I like them a lot. Haha. Daddy Lim took this unglam picture of my glorious butt, somemore with nice lighting in the back.

We all made it down safely and went on to explore the other parts of Cape Peron.

One of the paths led to the beach. The kids love beaches, any beaches. Lil Shauna was happily collecting seashells and found some really decent ones.

Bcos we had a long way more to go, we couldnt stay long. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic start. Unfortunately, it was not as interesting after that.

We headed to the nearby Shoalwater Island and Marine Center, which was opposite the Penguin island. We would have have visited the penguins but it was closed during winter. Boo! They operated some cruise too but that was fully booked by the time we arrived. We had some hot chocolate, chased some seagulls and continued the painful drive.

It was a long drive (1hr 45 mins) to the next point - Bunbury. It was a long road that went on and on.

If there was anything that the kids mastered on this roadtrip, it was the skill to chew and blow bubble gum. Throughout the trip, their jaw never stops.

Midway, we had to take a pit stop at the petrol kisok and also for petrol and snacks. There was even a playground and the kids had a good stretch.

After a drive that appeared never to end, we finally reached Gnomesville. According to the webpage, somebody left a gnome at a roundabout. His neighbour saw how lonely the gnome was and added another gnome. Henceforth, the gnome population and community grew.

I didnt expect it to be so huge. We should have brought a gnome too.

We found "Athena" but a tad too RA.

Bcos we were rushing for time, we couldnt stayed long. The next stop was the Farmers' Market. I had thought that it was something like the Fremantle market like only for us to end up in a supermarket with fresh products. Zzzzz. At least we got the ingredients for dinner. They were generous with the samples too and we were hungry. Rabbit meat!

We had pies for lunch, just like the Australians. Those were the best pies we had in Perth.

We had planned for Taffy's Candy Shop but had to skip bcos we were short of time. We headed down to Busselton Jetty, which is famous for the mini train that runs all the way to the end of the jetty. However, the service ended by the time we arrived and it was only until 4pm. Zzzzz. This early closing of shops and services was really hard to get used to.

Despite no train, we still walked the jetty and got some really marvelous pictures. If we had come earlier, we actually had to pay A$4 each to walk on the jetty. Yes, almost everything is chargable in Perth.

Soon, we were again on our way. We needed to be at the Big 4 Taunton Park @ Margaret River by 6.30pm for checkin. We wanted to be early so as not to repeat history and be almost stranded. This time, in addition to the powered site for 1 of the campervans, we also booked a 2-room cabin (sleep 6) in case the campervan adventure was too daunting. We made it by 6pm. Pat on our backs.

I actually felt that the campervan was comfortable. However, nothing beats the comfort of a nice warm house. There I was, on the couch that was right beneath the heater, waiting for the room to be heated up. Toasty!

Before the campervan holiday and after reading blogs of others' campervan holiday, I had envisualised enjoying the campervan park facilities, cooking, enjoying the meal and even bbq-ing. Reality is often cruel. With night falling by 6pm, it was too cold to be eatting slowly outdoors, let alone the other activities that I mentioned. Often, we were so cold and hungry, rushing through dinner and then huddling in the comfort of the campervan that has it own aircon/ heating facilities.

The cabin had cooking facilities and Popo whipped up nice dishes while we waited in comfort.

After dinner, Daddy Lim had the noble task of clearing out the campervan toilet. While we had tried as best as we could to use the public toilets or the campervan parks' toilets, there had been emergencies. Particularly, Zaky contributed to the mass, with me coming in second. He even had to take a dump earlier in the day. Arrrggghhh.

I was sure Daddy Lim hated the task bcos he had been procrastinating for days and I had been nagging. The tank was heavy when he removed it and I could see liquid overflowing as he carried the tank to the dump point. Eeewwwwweeee... The waste had to be disposed of at designated point. While it wasnt difficult after watching the tutorial, the experience aas definitely gross. We sure needed a shower after that.

My brother's waste tank was even heavier. Hahaha. At least they didnt have poo.

Meanwhile, the kids were celebrating the availability of a big common space for play. It was a night of endless heart attack and murderer.

By the time we finally settled down already, it was almost 11pm. While Zaky was lured to sleep in the cabin, it was more important to sleep with mummy. So Daddy Lim, Zaky and I slept in the campervan for the night. It wasnt too bad, we had mastered the controls and it felt like a nice aircon room.

We all agreed to wake up early the next day so that we can maximise daylight. There was too much to do in Margaret River but too little time.

Mummy Lim