Britz Barbie Perth to Darwin

Lyndon & Frank

Hello Everyone, Chapter One Welcome to Perth.... The home of Black Swans , Cosima DeVito ( Australian idol season one ) and the greatest transport system in the World. When we have been talking about this trip over the last year everyone who has been to WA said to us “ You will Love Perth” and they certainly were not wrong !!!!! We both fell in love with Perth instantly. For a capitol city it is quite small , quiet , friendly , amazingly clean and everything smells so nice ( taxis , elevators , trains ,even the train station smelt nice ) so all round we were very impressed with Perth.

We had landed and checked into our hotel by 11am last Saturday which left us the whole afternoon to explore the city and we soon found that there are 2 malls , Hay Street Mall and Murray Street Mall and they are connected by the major department stores and other shopping centres , very impressive !!!!! And for you work guys the General Pants is in Murray Street Mall and as I’m on holidays I only poked my nose in quickly and I have to say it is a beautiful store ( way nicer than Bourke Street store hahaha ). We then had a walk along the Swan River and spent some time at the Bell Tower which was a real treat for me not only because I was a bell ringer at St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney when I was a school boy but also the tower was architecturally amazing..........

Bell Tower Perth

Welcome to Fremantle.... The home of fish & chips , Bon Scott ( lead singer of AC/DC ) and the greatest Boat Quay in the World. On our second day we took the train from Perth station for a half hour trip to Fremantle , once again we both fell in love with this gorgeous little place. As the train pulled into Fremantle station I was very pleased to see the Sun Princess berthed just across from the train station so we had a great view . We spent the morning wondering around and had coffee on the famous cappuccino strip , a street full of gorgeous restaurants and coffee shops .

We made our way to Fishing Boat harbour , very picturesque , full of fishing boats , obviously , and many outdoor fish and chip eateries , we had ours at Cicarello’s and as it was a Sunday the place was very busy and exciting. On every holiday there always seems to be a famous attraction that is out of action , on my London trip it was St Pauls Cathedral that was covered in scaffolding , and in Fremantle unfortunately the same thing to the beautiful Esplanade Hotel which I was wanting Frank to photograph , never mind he did some great work at Fishing Boat Harbour.......

Fishing Boat Harbour Fremantle

So back in Perth our 3rd day was the “Big Pick-up day” of our home for the next 5 weeks The Britz Barbie Campervan. We checked out of our hotel early morning and cabbed it to Redcliff in suburbia Perth with our 12 steamer trunks and an excited spring in our step and had an amazingly fast check in , quick run over and driving lesson of the van by the young and handsome Rajan from Holland and then we were on our way !!!!!!!

Well that spring in my step soon disappeared as the trip between the pickup point and Belmont shopping centre was quite hair raising !!!! A bus pulled over into a bus stop but was sticking out a bit and as I was driving a semi trailer for the first time and a lot BIGGER than my Mazda Max I just stopped and on a 3 lane busy road the traffic behind me was not impressed BUT with that little incident aside we made it to Belmont shopping centre which is like an open air shopping complex like Warringah Mall for you Sydney people so I managed to pull into a space but was covering 4 car spots !!!!!! although a lot of cars around us , where I parked was 1000 miles away from the shops so we locked up the van and ran for our lives.

We then proceeded to buy the whole of Coles , Pam our lovely checkout lady could not believe the products that kept coming and coming down her conveyer belt , so 2 packed trolleys later and a drop off at the van we headed back and did exactly the same at Kmart !!!!!! So 3 hours later we left Belmont and hit the not too busy traffic , a few hurdles ( like how do you merge with no re-view mirror ???? ) but we soon were on the open road feeling like Fred and Ethel Murtz but listening to Lady GaGa at full volume and me starting to feel more comfortable behind the wheel....

Cervantes Pinnacles Caravan Park

Welcome to Cervantes.... The home of ‘The Pinnacles’ , Leslee Holmes (our caravan park owner and president of the Cervantes Chamber of Commerce and former manager of the WA Academy of Tennis in Perth ) and the greatest shell shop in the world. We arrived safely and I managed to pull this humongous monster into our allotted spot and after a lot of wine and cigarettes we started to unpack and build our home for the next 5 weeks , we unpacked the 45 bags of shopping , the 12 steamer trunks and The Britz Barbie was ready for our 40 day adventure.......

Well you all know my passion for cruising and that you have to be prepared to be a little bit social on a cruise (Rox, Ali, Dawn & Gary ) but I am fast learning that the Fred & Ethel Mertz’s of this world are a bit more than that .... We have been in this caravan park for less than 24 hours and already every fellow camper wants to hear our tales and whereabouts and I LOVE IT , Frank is chatting away to our fellow campers and giving photography tips and loving every minute , so great to see.

Today after a walk down to the beach (no sand, only seaweed but fabulous horizon of tiny islands and some fishing boats) we headed into see the Pinnacles via Lake Thetis which has the Stromatolites. Once we arrived at the Pinnacles we were told that the Britz Barbie was too big to do the road trip through the Pinnacles but we could do a walk through which was great for us and Frank was able to photograph away ....... So thats enough for now , We hope everyone is well and I’ll be in touch again with chapter 2 through next week...... Lots of Love to you from The Britz Barbies xxxxx

Pinnacles NAMBUNG NATIONAL PARK Western Australia

Chapter Two Hi there again everyone, Well the last time I left you we were at our first port of call Cervantes, we have since moved on, our next stop ..... Welcome to Dongara.... the home of rock lobster , Robert Bruning (film producer & screen writer) and the greatest caravan park in the world...

We headed off from Cervantes early morning last Wednesday and did a 2 and a half hour drive to Dongara , quite an easy run but bits of the stretch of road were quite thin and a bit worn on the edges so tackling the Britz Barbie (now BB) was a bit of a struggle but all good. We made it to the sleepy town of Dongara and checked into the Denison Beach Holiday Park which was so quaint and pristine (I think Steven the owner personally straightened every blade of grass each morning !!! Just beautiful).

So after Frank checked in I drove along this narrow lane only to find that to reside in our appointed lot I had to REVERSE BB onto 2 thin cement strips on a slight incline BETWEEN cabins, an en suite block, chalets, cars, gutters and hose outlets standing up on a post not to mention an audience of people !!!!!! Once Frank got back in the van he found me in tears and packing my bags to leave for the nearest airport but managed to convince me that I could do it so ( I unpacked my bags ) shoved BB in reverse and put my foot to the floor and I did it !!!!! and I have to say the 4 tyres were directly on the 2 cement strips but you could only scrap a piece of dental floss between the hose outlet and the back of BB , very close but that’s alright I can relax now, no driving for 2 days.

And that’s exactly what we did for the next 2 days , you can see from the above paragraph that I had to park next to an en suite , YES this stop we have an en suite !!!!!! Aunty Jude your voice is ringing in my head “ It’s like winning the lottery “ and you are so right , after amenities blocks , to have our own en suite is just delicious , and Melbourne Ma I even put my face on and put my special going out perfume on even though we were just going to relax and read in the sun just because we had an en suite .... For the non campers an en suite is just like Disneyland , Christmas and meeting Marina Prior all rolled into one (you can get dressed with dry feet after a shower and you don’t have to lug , soap , shampoo etc across to the communal block , YAY) So being fully chillaxed and being on the West Coast we have been taking advantage of the magical sunsets on the west side ......

Granny's Beach Dongara Western Australia

Welcome to Geraldton .... the home of a beautiful Cathedral, Tasma Walton (Actress & wife of Rove McManus) and the Greatest Memorial site in the World.... We left Dongara last Friday morning for our journey to Geraldton BUT not after our first , all important trip to the petrol station !!!!!! Well here is a classic example of where we should have read the BB manual...... So after yet another reverse I stopped next to the bowser and we start looking around the very busy cabin to find the little button with the petrol bowser drawn on it , all around the floor of the driver’s seat and passenger seat , all over the dashboard and controls around the steering wheel When the attendant who was bearded and quite large with one tooth comes over and lets us know that the petrol door just opens manually but we need a key to open the actual cap !!

Frank then starts trying all the keys on the key ring , the door key , the flyscreen key , the tool box key , the boot key , the letterbox key until after another 10 minutes our charming attendant suggested “ Try the Ignition Key Mate “ and Hello it worked , so finally at that point a good chat with him and $90 later we were on our way again. We arrived at the Sunset Beach Caravan Park for our 3 day stay only to have things go a bit pear shaped......... Unfortunately the weather and transport system was a bit against us so we decided to cut our stay short and head off tomorrow morning ( Sunday instead of Monday ). Basically there has been massive thunderstorms since we arrived and as our camp site is quite a bit out of town and there is a very bad bus system to the city (like only 3 services a day)

HOWEVER we were very fortunate this morning (Saturday) that we had a break in the weather and managed a trip into town to see the St Francis Xavier Cathedral , when My Dad and Sarah heard we were passing through Geraldton this was the attraction that they first mentioned to us and we are so glad we got to see this beautifully designed church with a quirky interior......

St Francis Xavier Cathedral Geraldton Western Australia

St Francis Xavier Cathedral Geraldton Western Australia

We then made our way to the HMAS Sydney II Memorial on top of Mt Scott, and I was just blown away, this memorial is for the 645 men who lost their lives with the disappearance of the HMAS Sydney II and it is the most informative, well designed and beautifully kept memorial I have ever seen . Frank and I spent a lot of time up there and I read every plaque and piece of history also every one of the 645 names and learnt so much about this terrible tragedy that I knew nothing of previously. The 645 men are represented in Gulls in a dome feature.... Since the finding of HMAS Sydney II on March 16 2008 they have built a memorial pool with 644 Gulls etched into the cement block circling the pool with the main feature being the 645th Gull standing on its side with the tip of the wing marking the point where they found the HMAS Sydney II ........

HMAS Sydney Memorial Geraldton Western Australia

H.M.A.S. Sydney II Pool of Remembrance Geraldton Western Australia

We were just finishing up at the memorial when the heavens opened up so we made our way back to the Caravan park arriving like drowned rats and the storm continued for the rest of the day. Well as I mentioned earlier we are moving on from Geraldton and so I’ll wrap up chapter 2 now and be in touch again soon. Hope all is well with everyone , take care , Lots of Love from The Brits Barbies xxxxx P.S.... For My Mum......we are at our 5th place so that means 5 rocks !!!!!!! (from the epsiode - I love Lucy - The Camping Trip 1953)

Chapter Three Hello Again Everyone , and thanks to the encouraging responses , so good to hear you are enjoying The BB Journal ..... Well last Sunday morning we woke to Frankie’s Birthday and only a slight break in the weather but we had already decided to move on from Geraldton so we packed up early , checked out and headed off to our next destination.... Welcome to Kalbarri.... the home of restaurants , Vivienne Anderson ( the pretty blonde who served us dinner ) and the greatest tiny town in the world. About 40 minutes into our journey from Geraldton we came across the famous Leaning Tree so we had a pit stop for Frank to do some photography and we had a little Birthday Breakfast then on our way again....

Leaning Tree Greenough Western Australia

We arrived at the gorgeous little town of Kalbarri at lunch time and checked into the Murchison Caravan Park and were very excited to find our slab of cement that you park next to as your outside area had a thatched roof and table and chairs already there which made our set up process quite small this stop. We walked around this amazing little place and were surprised at , for such a small place , how many restaurants there were !!!!! The places we have been in the past have had the caravan park, a newsagent, a petrol station and a small super market and that’s it , well this place has that PLUS about 15 restaurants !!!!!!!!

Well being Frank’s Birthday I thought we would go out to dinner ! but him being Italian he wanted to do his famous pasta sauce and eat in ( also I think he didn’t want to have to dress up and get out of his already daily comforts of holiday board short and thong !!!! ) Anyway he was happily cooking away for hours while I’m outside under our thatched roof reading when BANG the glass under the cook top smashed into 1000 pieces leaving us gob smacked not to mention a beautiful meal that probably now had glass fragments through it !!!! Clearly the cook top was not designed for delicious Italian Cuisine !!!!!

We couldn’t risk it so after a quick clean up we headed off to find a place that would feed us and because of our attire and being after 8pm we settled on the tavern , the only place that would serve us and the beautiful Vivienne Anderson served us our Parma’s , Cheers and Happy Birthday Frank. Welcome to Denham/Shark Bay/Monkey Mia.... the home of back packers, Niki the 36 year old Dolphin , and the greatest animal humanity in the world. Today is our first big driving stretch ( 5 and a half hours ) so Frank filled up my Cunard Queen Elizabeth Travelling Mug ( thanks to Mums neighbour , Rosemary ) and we left Kalbarri for Monkey Mia. As it was about 7.30am we had our first experience of skippies , a lot on the side of the road and only one close call , a bit scary but as the day grew later all was good & we arrived at Monkey Mia at 1pm.

Well this place is a treat and so different from what we have experienced so far , the whole community is in this caravan park and it is set out ,unorganised ,over a stretch of sand with 2 toilets and 3 showers for hundreds of campers that range from the retired fishermen who stay for months on end , the families with hundreds of kids , loads of back packers and hundreds of Emu’s roaming freely around!!!! ( and the 2 Britz Barbies ) ......... Well the long drive out there and our less than desirable lodgings was all worth it for our time with the Dolphins which was extremely well conducted and we learned so much about these beautiful creatures from the Gorgeous Shirley and we got to be so close to them........

As we were in Monkey Mia for 2 days we were able to witness quite a few of the conducted feedings and watched from different areas like the pier and further along the beach and we were very impressed that The Department of Environment and Conservation staff supervised the feeding and ensured that the wellbeing of the Dolphins was maintained. There was no structured “ show time” it all worked around whenever the Dolphins came to the shore during the morning hours that is when there would be a controlled feed so we were lucky that we had the time and could wait for each feeding session...... Here are a few more of Frank’s pictures from Monkey Mia.....









We did however come across a strange experience , walking back along the beach to our BB we came across 2 Camels just sitting there , obviously for organised rides along the beach and Frank just took a photo of them when from out of the blue a crazy man runs SCREAMING at him!!! and not just to say “please don’t photograph the camels “ but he was quite abusive !!! “Excuse Me ..... Excuse Me...... Can I help you ?” “Um No I’m Fine I’m just taking some photos of the camels” ..No photos No Photos Only rides ..... Frank couldn’t believe the crazy camel man who was going off his head for no reason. So we wondered back to BB and I told Frank that he should go and start making some greeting cards of the camels and set up a stall right next to him and sell them ....



So our time at Monkey Mia comes to an end and we are off to Exmouth now with a few stops along the way ( with some en suites I hope ) so until Chapter 4 , Take Care Love to all xxxxxxxx The Britz Barbies P.S.... For Rox .... Mrs Pots is dancing her head off on our dashboard and our Guarding Angel keeping us safe above our cabin door xxxxxx P.S.S.... For Laura & Sam .... Sending you best wishes and Bon Voyage for your trek through Nepal , Travel Safe and have a ball , Love Uncle Lyndon & Frank xxxxxx P.S.S.S.... Hugs , Kisses and Birthday wishes for my Mum and for little Bailey xxxxxx

Chapter Four Hello there Everyone, Well we are still plodding along and we are still bordering on the best side of half way !!!!!! We are now in Exmouth , BUT first we had a few little one night stays on the way....... Welcome to Carnarvon.... the home of Bananas ( ?? ) , Josh ( the young chap & West Coast Eagles supporter , who was my checkout operator at IGA ) and the greatest Ice cream shop in the world.

So we left Monkey Mia last Wednesday for another long stretch , we had to travel back along the road we entered on as we were on the finger of WA and once we got back to the main road we headed north with a short stop at Shell Beach. Again just amazing , after a short walk over sand hills you arrive at the water’s edge to find a layer of shells thick and deep , just imagine yourself stretched out on your towel at Bondi Beach BUT instead of sand underneath you , this is what you would be on.....





We arrived at Carnarvon mid afternoon and this was just an overnight stay , our site was nice and quiet so we set up and just did some relaxing and I did a 2 km walk into town and stocked up on a few supplies , via this amazing ice cream shop. It was an old cottage house and they grew all their own fruit and mixed it with their own secret recipe and produced this delicious ice cream which was just delectable ( but don’t tell Frank as I made this visit on my own ) and they grew herbs on the side as well and had fresh fruit and veg !!! so it was an Ice Cream , slash , herb shop !!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to Coral Bay.... the home of Kids , no one famous or special and no greatest in the world...... We arrived at Coral Bay around lunch time and as our stay there wasn’t very pleasant I will focus on Fred and Ethel for a while....... When we checked into this already VERY PACKED caravan park and found our allotted spot we also found that we were surrounded VERY CLOSLEY to the 8 points of our van ( 3 in front , 3 behind and one either side) were filled with families in these “ house style tents “ with 1000’s of screaming and crying bored kids , bikes , surf boards , fathers yelling because they have to baby sit when all they wanted to do is go fishing , wives in disappear and not to mention the FOULEST amenity block in the world .

So we have suddenly realised that Fred & Ethel have arrived in us in a big way , for example I am doing the steering wheel wave when we pass our fellow travellers on the road and when it’s a Britz vehicle passerby I even lift the hand off the steering wheel for a full wave !! and Ethel does as well !!!! When we arrive at each stop we just get on with our jobs , nothing was assigned we just go into full set up and pack up mode , Frank does all the outside van technical equipment and I set up the outdoor living area then unpack the things inside and put a batch of muffins on to bake !!!! OMG will we stop being 70 when we get home ?????? .........