Australia Melbourne to Perth 2024
By Helen
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| New Zealand South Island 2024 | Kuala Lumpur March 2024 |
The flight from Christchurch was packed but we arrived on time and moved in the chaos that was Melbourne Airport. The lines to get through customs were really long and it was hard to determine which one to be in, so we ended up having to ask but we made it through. There was also a sign saying they were filming for a Border Patrol episode if we would have gone through another section. Getting an Uber was a bit crazy, we hadn’t gotten sims yet so Paul needed to be in an area to use the wifi, then we needed to ask which stop at the ride share desk. As usual he handled it and we made it over to Let’s Go Motorhomes on time. We were dealing with Carol again, which was great since she is so nice. We got an even nicer surprise when we were given a brand new Escape van with only 24 kms! Wow, it even had the new car smell. We loaded in our luggage and followed Carol over to the local Woolies for groceries, wine of course, and a sim card. It was then we realized the air conditioner in the cab wasn’t working so after our errands and lunch, we headed back to Let’s Go. This time we were dealing with Carol’s daughter, also super nice. We waited while they took the van over to the mechanic but it turns out they needed to charge the AC which would take a long time. Instead of keeping us waiting, they brought out another new van… this one was only 600km. We transferred everything over and we were on our way.
We called this van Skippy Part Four or SPF for short. Our first stop was the Airport Village location, nice and close since we were tired from our early flight… plus the Thai restaurant. We checked in, got the same spot and started unpacking. Since it was the exact same set up as our prior Let’s Go vans, it didn’t take long to get sorted and we headed off for dinner. Unfortunately the Thai place was closed, as were all the restaurants in the area. A bit disgruntled, mostly me because the hanger is real, we headed back to the van and had wraps. Have to say, we were lucky to discover that Australia has Yumi’s which made falafel’s and other vegetarian patties that were gluten free, microwavable and delicious! We’d been having them at least 5 times a week during our stay in Australia.
We decided to head back to Port Campbell and see some more stops on the Great Ocean Road. But first, we had to stop at a mall so that we, being me, could get a new cell phone!! We had been sharing Paul’s OG Pixel for about 6 weeks while waiting for the S24 release. We could have picked one up in our last week in New Zealand but like everything there, it was much more expensive. We also could have continued sharing the Pixel, but didn’t know if it was going to last and the cost was similar to Canada. We headed over to the mall to JB HiFi and got a Samsung S24. They didn’t have violet in stock, so I choose black since I was getting a cover anyway. We stocked up on grocery items we didn’t get the previous day, another sim card and some lunch. On the drive to Port Campbell we had to go past the ferry to Tasmania. We did consider a detour to Left of Field momentarily but stuck to the plan to head west.
Port Campbell and the Great Ocean Road was an exercise in patience. All the stops along the Great Ocean Road were packed with large international tour groups and buses. Walking was hard because people were all over the place and blocking pathways but we managed to muscle our way over to the railing for some photos. According to one guide we chatted with some tour groups bring over their own drivers which explains why we almost got hit by a tour bus that was going the wrong way when leaving the 12 Apostles parking area. Add to that our campsite was horrid… basically a sand pit. It seems the park was sold and while the new owners were making changes, things weren’t being maintained. There was a storm that night which blew dust everywhere so all in all, a bit of a rough start. That said, it’s still spectacular and we were lucky to be able to be there. Unfortunately we weren’t able to see the couple we had met in Tassie, but they emailed us with loads of suggestions. We had a general plan of stops but had to make some changes fairly quickly, mostly due to losing just over a week of time before we had to leave Australia due to our flight change to Kuala Lumpur. We had to make tough decisions to miss some stops and visits with friends so we could make it over to Western Australia in time.
We got up early for the long drive to Keith,making a stop at The Bay of Islands along the G.O.R for some photos. It wasn’t as crowded here and we enjoyed the views. Then it was a stop in Warrnambool for groceries, I had forgotten items the previous shop, over to JB Hi-fi for a mouse before heading to Mt Gambier for lunch and to see the sinkhole. I was able to give Paul a driving break and we saw an Emu baby and mother along the way. We arrived at the Keith Caravan Park shortly before supper time, a nice little park with grassy sites. I decided to break my kitchen safety streak by using the peeler on my pinky nail. The result was Paul cooked supper and we met Rod, an older Australian who came to the rescue with some bandaids. He is doing the Big Lap and it was interesting to hear where all he’d been. Rod also shared stories about his time as a sheep station manager back in the day.
The next day, after a stop at the local pharmacy for gauze and finger cots, we kept going to Crystal Brook. The white cockatoos in the trees were the noisiest we had experienced. We were able to see the Flinders Range as we were driving by but would have needed a 4x4 to explore. We took a break in Tumby, giving ourselves 2 nights. We had a really nice walk down the shoreline to the viewing point for Tumby Island. Then an overnight in Elliston. We were able to walk along the beach over to the historic jetty and Wellesley Point before coming back on the pathway. We did have a beautiful drive along the shore through Streaky Bay and if we ever went back, would stay there.
We didn’t get much for groceries because we were about to head across the Nullarbor. There is a food quarantine just as you cross the border so we couldn’t have loads of fresh groceries. They came into the van and checked the fridge and pantry area, luckily we had planned well and nothing was confiscated. We decided on a stop at the Nullarbor Roadhouse which was not bad. It’s a gravel lot with power sites or motel rooms and the roadhouse had a restaurant where we had a decent meal. It didn’t meet the Hi-Way breakfast standard but it was good enough. They had basic amenities along with a small area to sit or BBQ plus you could walk around a bit. I was fascinated with the caution sign that showed kanagaroos, wombats and camels. Our next stop was Cocklebiddy… mostly because of the name really. Turns out we should have kept going, it wasn’t great and we regretted stopping. Next day we planned to continue on through to Norseman so we would be across the Nullarbor.
It was +38 before 9 am! When we were driving by Balladonia, we noticed a large amount of smoke which was growing quickly. When we checked into Norsemen a couple of hours later we were told the highway had been closed shortly after we passed through due to a quickly spreading bush fire, so we were lucky to make it. There is only the Eyre Highway that connects South and Western Australia and it’s a big deal when that closes. It stayed closed for about 3 days before they started letting limited traffic through. About 10 days later the highway was closed due to flooding… crazy!
Norseman was okay, but we were glad we didn’t spend more than one night. The campground was pretty basic and I swear the caretaker deliberately set the door locks to be a mind test. The best part, it was so hot you could smell the eucalyptus trees beside the van. With the roads being closed the local IGA didn’t have much for groceries and the pub, which was an off-license, was pretty grim but we managed to make it work. Next day we headed down to Esperance which was on the coast. It was a nice little town and we had a decent campsite. We went to get some groceries and hung out in the green space a bit. It was a nice area where they had a food truck and drinks van with some live music that night. We actually tried to extend an extra night but with the closures they were trying to shuffle reservations around we weren’t able to stay. It was a beautiful area but couldn’t tell you why neither of us took photos!
We headed to Bremer Bay where we hoped to do a whale watching tour. We had a few nights at Bremer Bay Beaches Tourist Park. Our site was a bit odd due to the way our neighbors parked their caravan, it was like we were sharing a living room. Luckily they weren’t there often and we had a nice green space behind us with a bit of privacy. It was a nice beach walk route connecting back to town through some dirt track trails. We stopped at the local brewery for a bevvie and some good live music before continuing our walk back to the campsite along the “official” pathway. They had done a really nice job on the pathway with interesting stops and lots of panels with descriptions of local highlights. It was a nice 10k walk that we did every day. We weren’t able to go whale watching. It was really windy and there were large swells so it wouldn’t have been enjoyable. We did spend hours one night practicing taking night shots and moon zooms with the new phone… the planet people, get your minds out of the gutter!
Then it was over to Emu Point by Albany, for a couple of nights. It was a huge park by the beach so we did a beach walk to Albany center and back. The park was nice, had a huge water park for kids but was still fairly quiet. We did have people continually walking through our site, which got a bit irritating… especially when we were sitting out and they just walked less than a foot away. People walking right through your site really seems to be a thing in both Australia and New Zealand which we don’t remember happening when camping in Canada.
With a long weekend coming up, we booked in for 5 nights at Cheynes Beach. This was a more remote location with not a lot around but the campground was highly rated. We were actually lucky to get a decent spot because the next day it was packed solid with families. Kids were running everywhere but we did appreciate the one dad who kept telling his kids to stay away from our van. We were able to get in some great beach walks and there was a neat rock formation where people were fishing. We spent a day in frustration trying to get change for laundry, including a drive to the local post office which resulted in us back in Albany at a Woolies and ATM. When we were able to do laundry, not surprisingly, someone had washed a dog blanket and our load was covered in bits, so we had to redo it. The staff were great though and got it sorted. There was a chippy van run by the campsite, where we had some nice chips to recover from the laundry incident. The chippy staff were really funny, the older man asked Paul some interesting questions, but it was all in fun.
At this point we were actually getting pretty tired of all the driving and needed a change from all the vans. Paul had been amazing with the lion’s share of the driving, handling the roads with all the twists and turns, no shoulders, the crazy traffic, maneuvering through large cities trying to make sense of my garbled directions… he was amazing. Since we had time at Cheynes Beach, we spent an afternoon booking our remaining few days, trying to make it as easy as possible.
We had three nights at a place called Northcliffe which had us feeling that we were in a bad episode of some hillbilly spoof. It was very rustic, the kitchen was basic and bathrooms weren’t the cleanest plus our site didn’t have water because the kitchen pipe was leaking. The owner came and turned it on so we could fill our tank and we enjoyed hearing about his adventures. We headed into town for coffee and met an older man who was walking the Bibbulmun Track. We had a good first night, it was very quiet and with no light pollution, the stars were really nice. The next day was great, we drove down to D’Entrecasteaux National Park. We parked and had lunch at the point, overlooking the town and Windy Harbour Beach. We went over to Tokulup Lookout which had a fantastic view. From there we decided to head down to Salmon Beach for a walk. It was beautiful but so windy! We ended up having to use our buffs to cover our faces from the blowing sand… we both felt we had been scrubbed. It was worth it though because it was beautiful. When we got back, some serious “bogans” had moved into a site just by ours… screaming, swearing, kids unsupervised, belching… it completely changed the feel of the place to the point we left a day early.
Our next stop was just outside Augusta. The Munday Camp Ground was small and basic, but everything was clean and the owners were really nice. Luckily we were able to get in a day early since we fled the other site. We had some good chats with people in the kitchen, met Johno who was a character, Sam who reminded me of my Aunt Vee, a lady from New Zealand and two other local couples who were just traveling around. We stayed a few nights and did some day trips. We went over to Hamelin Bay to see the stingrays that come in really close to the beach and had a nice beach walk. It was really busy there but you could move away from all the people. We did the Jewel Caves which were okay. The tour guide was good but the group that was supposed to be capped at 20 ended up with almost 30 people.
After that it was over to Busselton where we stayed at Mandalay Beach. It was a large campground and we had to ask to be moved from our first site… it was by the bathroom and everyone was walking through our site plus you could hear the laundry. Our next site was great and we didn’t have any issues. They grounds staff help you line up and park your caravan, which was nice. We had some nice beach walks and were able to get our documents printed for our Thai visa applications… oh yeah, did we mention we are heading back to Thailand?
We positioned ourselves to be closer to our Perth drop off by spending a couple of nights in Mandurah. That was a mistake as it was filled with unsupervised screaming kids riding bikes through the kitchens, people walking through sites and parking boats in the middle of the roadways, pretty loud and rowdy groups. That said, we were able to pack and clean the van as well as get our laundry done so it worked. We drove up to Perth, leaving early to make the long drive. It was on a Saturday, so the traffic wasn’t bad. Slyvia at the Perth depot was great, she gave us a tour of some of the newer models and we had a really nice chat. She commented on how clean we left the van, which was mentioned each drop off, but she was saying the cleaning service would love us. And so ended our almost 6 months, approximately 25,000 KMS of driving, 150 nights in various versions of Skippy, campsites and shared facilities.
Our flight wasn’t until the next morning so we had booked into the Ingot Hotel. It was great, the staff were really friendly, we packed, went for Indian for our last meal in Australia and relaxed. Our ride to the airport the next day was fun. Paul guessed the driver was from Nepal, which made her day. Perth airport was one of the best airport experiences we’ve had. No delays, everything moved smoothly and we were quickly by the gate. Next stop, Kuala Lumpur!
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| New Zealand South Island 2024 | Kuala Lumpur March 2024 |