Oct 8 - 14

 8th October Sunday
Week 25

The York weather is overcast and cool this morning allowing for a good sleep in. We had a vintage rally meeting roll up this morning and the road filled up pretty quick with beautiful vintage cars ready for their rally run.
Bathurst motor racing is on TV so Russell will be occupied, leaving Sue to wander the shops at York which is always  fun. We caught up with a friend again who lives here in York which was nice, and throughout the day we chatted to other travellers. We met a couple who are travelling for two years and enjoy the freedom life on the road has to offer.
Sue found a collectable old lantern in an antique shop, and spent a few hours cleaning it and researching where to purchase parts for when we return home…looks like I will have another thing to fix.:). It will make for an interesting feature and talking point on our pergola table outdoors as it will be a useable lantern.
The weather changed late in the afternoon to sunshine so we had afternoon tea outside on the grass.
Tonight is our last and possibly final visit to York and we shall miss it incredibly. We made a friend from a stranger and enjoyed sharing in many activities that York had on offer.
We will always have fond memories of York, where we chose to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary at Alice on The Palace, experienced a Medieval Fete festival that raised over $5,000 for the homeless shelters and spent a lot of time visiting the sights and looking at every shop.
9th October Monday
This morning as we leave York it is with a sad heart but we will never forget York and maybe someday we will return.
The school holidays in WA are now finished so we are heading back towards to coast and hope the weather stays sunny, but the forecast does not look good.
We stop at Kwinana Beach 43 kms south of Perth via the Kwinana highway, it is here we stop in at a park for lunch beside the water. Billy of course was already on the beach and in the water. Beautiful white sand and no seaweed as far as the eye can see.
After lunch we locate a BBQ’s galore at Rockingham to refill our gas cylinder then continue to have a look around the area.
Tonight we have stopped at Lake Clifton in a paddock style camp that is free for travellers should they wish to stay 24 hours. A small town located on the east side of the lake in the Peel region of WA, just off the Old Coast road, between Mandurah and Bunbury at the north end of Yalgorup NP.

10th October Tuesday
We were in no rush to leave this morning which allowed us to look over some brochures and maps of where we might want to go.
Once on the road we decided to follow a section of the coast taking us to Binningup Beach, we were the only people here on arrival so had the carpark to ourselves. The ocean was very rough due to the rainy weather but Billy still enjoyed the beach.

While we were here we chatted to a fellow traveller who was keen for more advice and information on our Bushtracker van, and where our journey has taken us.
From Binningup Beach we continue to Harvey River Bridge Estate Winery and an admire an orange orchard next door. Within the winery grounds was The Big Orange structure with a lookout area at the top, and the view over the plantation was awesome. We also enjoyed looking at all the wine they produce here before continuing further up the road to the next town.
 Harvey Cheese was our next visit which was in the town of Wokalup, where we admired the craftsmanship of timber tables and chairs and viewed the large selection of cheese that was on display.
A few kilometres on we drove into the town of Boyanup to check out the Bonking Frog winery, but their wine cellar is now off site elsewhere so we decide to find a camp for the night in the local area. We set up in really the only spot available beside a hopefully not busy road, and unfortunately, we find it is also been the local dumping tip. As travellers we have seen this type of thing a lot in many places we have stopped and we are always disgusted why people do this.
In one rest area we had been there were open plastic bags of asbestos exposed to the elements, other bags of rubbish and household furniture strewn everywhere with empty rubbish bins within walking distance.
Opposite the road we find a flowing creek so Billy will be enjoying that tomorrow, as this afternoon is too late to have him wet and cold.



11th October Wednesday
Leaving camp this morning, the sun is out so our plan today is head to Bunbury and see the ocean and let Billy have a swim. Of course signs everywhere not allowing dogs on the beach and only on restricted areas of the beach, which makes it a bit hard.
From the beaches we head into Bunbury city and found it was almost impossible to find anywhere to park with the van, so we decided to go back to the beach area and unhitched and left the van.
So much quicker and easier to drive where you need to with a big van, so we enjoy a few hours walking in and around Bunbury. At lunch time we sat beside the ocean for a while enjoying the quiet, before taking a drive up to The Lookout Tower Bunbury.

Billy was a little concerned running up the spiral staircase to the top and looking through the railings. The view was spectacular overlooking the ocean and many houses here.

After leaving Bunbury we continue out towards a small town of Capel in the south west region of WA, located 212 kms south of Perth and midway between Bunbury and Busselton.
We are next to a paddock with horses on one side and a resident water bird on the other.

12th October Thursday
We spent a few hours within Capel township as we needed to do a small amount of shopping for meat and groceries.
After leaving Capel, our drive takes us past some lovely forest with white lily type plants so we stop and take some photos.

We get into Busselton and have a look around, and lucky to find a park in town and walk towards the Busselton Jetty with Billy. Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed at all on the jetty to walk which is disappointing and the beaches have sections for dogs as well, depending on the months.
To walk the 152-year-old heritage listed 1.8km long jetty it is a cost of $4 per person, or you can take the jetty train across the Geographe Bay and admire the beautiful calm waters.
So now that our plans have slightly changed we have lunch then drive down to the other side of the jetty where dogs are allowed and Billy can swim for hours, allowing us to relax and enjoy the afternoon in the sun.

13th October Friday
This morning we left Capel for the second time and heading to a farm stay at Jindong only 11kms to Busselton. We plan to stay at least over the weekend and have time to explore the areas in the South West of the region.

After unhitching the van, we take off into Busselton and enjoy the morning, walking and sightseeing a lot of the inner-city malls, side streets and shops. From here we then drive to the beaches for Billy to have a swim and enjoy the 30-degree temperature and the beautiful clear waters.
After lunch we take a drive up to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, although renovations were underway on the lighthouse we couldn’t get any closer and we had Billy in a National Park.
From here we drove through Dunsborough, where Billy had his last swim and play on the beach for the afternoon. As we continued towards Jindong farm stay, we noticed the sky was full of smoke and was very close to where we were camping, although it did appear to be a planned back burn under control.
It was very pleasant and relaxing to return to base, where we took out our chairs and table, and sat back with a beer, cheese and crackers and enjoyed the peace and quiet amongst the green pastures.