Tuesday 28th to Thursday 30th August 2012. Perth and surrounds.

Our initial welcome to Perth was traffic, rain and cold winds, so we really were not that excited to stay too long in the big city! I think we have had so long now in regional Australia, it was a bit of a shock to our systems!

Today though, we drove into Kings Park and the Botanical Gardens in the city centre without too much fuss, to explore the largest city park in the world,doning our rain jackets and braving the grey skies! It had rained all night, but today is beautiful really, with only a few drizzle patches over the morning. The gardens are spectacular and well worth a visit, with great views of the city and Swan River from bridges and walkways and treetop lookouts. It has great displays of the wildflowers and natives of WA, including its national flower, the Kangaroo Paw.

The kids (and Daddy) had a ball in the fantastic Synergy Parklands, where massive dinosaur sculptures reside in amongst the Lycopod Island playground. This area is 3km from the Botanical walk (so we drove this bit), which gives you some idea of how huge the park is! A great day, and a great way to see Perth, without getting too lost down one way streets.

On Wednesday, the sun came out and we decided to take a drive to Fremantle, the place for the 'arty and the alternative' apparently. It is a very quaint and historic town, full of old restored buildings, galleries and cafes and brimming with atmosphere! We had a good day wandering around the parks, the wharf and the streets and lanes filled with so much character and history. We also visited the Round House which was the first public building in WA, and watched the time cannon fire at 1pm. The kids even got to help clean it out afterwards!

Thursday was pack up and move on day, and after getting off the freeways, we drove through the gorgeous dairy and winery country entering the South West. Although we did enjoy seeing some of Perth, it was great to get back out into the country again. We visited the town of  Collie today on the Coalfields trail, where the kids enjoyed a play in the historic railway precinct, then settled in the beautiful Wellington Dam National Park tonight amidst the Jarrah Forestry. The beginning of our adventures into the beautiful South West...

Monday 20th to 27th August 2012. Northampton to Perth.

As we started into the area around Northampton, the scenery really starts to change again. We say goodbye to the red dry dirt and low lying scrub with a very rare tall tree, and welcome the profuse wildflowers, soft, rounded green hills with a spattering of black-faced sheep and lush farmlands of patchwork crops, often in bright yellow or white. Northampton is the oldest settlement in WA, and has the most beautiful stone buildings around the town still in use. They are all very cute and full of character. In this area, you could easily think you were in some wee Scottish village somewhere.

On Tuesday, the rain prevented us from doing too much outdoors in Northampton, but we did manage to see some of these gorgeous old structures. The temperature is definately cooling, but still more like the cool, clear spring days in Victoria, rather than winter, so we can't really complain.

We moved just down the road to Geraldton on Wednesday, where the old buildings are just as remarkable and the scenery still as spectacular. We have camped just out of town on the Chapman Valley Road, and have our own private views of the lush, green hills and wildflowers at our doorstep at Fig Tree Crossing Rest Area. After a chilly night, the blue skies are back and on Thursday we head back into town to explore Geraldton.

We start at the HMAS Sydney II Memorial which is built on top of a hill with amazing views of the shoreline below. The memorial tour was brilliant, with the guide bringing the devastating story of Sydney II (645 navy men lost on one ship just off the Geraldton shores in WWII) and the symbols of the memorial to life for us and the kids. Our next stop is the Maritime Museum of WA, part 2 of our schoolroom for the day which was really well done, especially the Shipwreck Gallery. A picnic on the foreshore and a look at a magnificent cathedral on our way home ends a day in Geraldton.

On Friday we enjoy a relaxing day in our pretty spot before heading back to the coast on Saturday. We visit the Greenough Leaning Trees and wind farm on the way, where over 40 wind turbines are scattered along the farmlands which power all of Geraldton! A fantastic sight to see! If only more of our country could harness this amazing use of energy! We stop at North Cliff Point for the night at the northern end of the Indian Ocean Drive to Perth. It is literally a drive with the bluest of oceans on one side of you and hills patchworked in wildflowers, banksias and native grass trees on the other side. Much more scenic than the inland route and no oversized vehicles this way either!

On Sunday, on our way down to Moore River, our next night stop, we drive through Jurien Bay and Cervantes, then take a short diversion into Nambung National Park where the Pinnacles Desert is situated. A unique landscape of yellow desert sand with thousands of limestone rock spires or pinnacles rising out of the sand greet you as you drive into the park. It almost feels like you are wandering over another planet or land as you explore this fascinating landscape.

On to pretty Moore River for the night among the tall trees and banksia flowers before driving into Perth the next day. We will spend some days exploring just a little bit of the big city before moving further south.