Wow. This month we stayed and explored some of the most incredible places and made so many wonderful friends along the way.
We were lucky to catch up with multiple travelling families we have met along the way, or know from home. Definitely a highlight.
We started June on the Ningaloo Reef – honestly this place is just so beautiful. We enjoyed more snorkelling, exploring and a spectacular sunset with Andrew, Toni and Evie before sadly saying goodbye and heading to the famous Bullara Station for the night.
The station is a great spot for travellers and we loved our night around the fire with many new travelling friends.
From Bullara we headed to Coral Bay to swim with the giant whale sharks – unfortunately this wasn’t to be with the swell ruining our plans. However we enjoyed the downtime here (and the kids caught up on some school work) before we headed inland.
Cheela Plains station was our first stop – and we are so glad we did! This station isn’t the cheapest, but it’s got a vibe worth the extra dollars. We could have easily had another night around the fire here. Highly recommend this one.
Sunset at Exmouth Vlamingh Lighthouse with great friends, a tailgate dinner and a great way to finish this part of the trip. 
The famous bucket shower, heated by an old school Donkey at Bullara Station 
Part of Matilda’s schooling this term was to get photos at different acknowledgments of country. WA and SA do a great job of this, including describing the local seasons the indigenous way, in Coral Bay, WA 
Another great one at Nanutarra Roadhouse. 
Cheela Plains Station Stay – burger night. These were a bargain and so many people enjoyed the hospitality. We had a great night around the fire. This campground is a vibe – don’t miss it. 
Cheela Plains Station Stay
Next stop was red dust city – Tom Price and our first foray into Karajini National Park. If you’ve never heard of Karijini, check out our photos and then go off and Google more. It’s breathtakingly gorgeous and one hell of a special place.
Dales Campground, in Karijini National Park was next – from here we explored Dales and Waneo Gorges, ticked off some bucket list items (hello spider walk!), swum in the cold but invigorating gorge pools, had the most amazing night under the stars and spent some time with the lovely John and Julie again.
We were also blessed to spend some time with Aunty Kaylene who works in the Karijini NP visitors centre. Kaylene is a local Indigenous women and former teacher who is so generous with her time and knowledge. We’ll save the details for a proper update, but it truly was a special experience.
From Karijini we headed to Port Headland for the night (more new friends), before heading on to 80 Mile Beach (wow) and then Broome.
The kids loved the iconic camel rides on Cable Beach and we all thought Roebuck Bay/Beach was an absolute highlight – Dads drone shots are testimony to its beauty!
After Broome we said good bye to the west coast and headed towards Kununurra – our last stop in WA!
Yes this is a beach. That is indeed red sand like you have never seen before and crystal clear water at Roebuck Bay. 
Sometimes it’s the little things – we spent the afternoon chatting to a really interesting guy and his son on the Jetty at Port Headland. It made our visit so worthwhile. Thanks for making us feel welcome! — in Port Headland. 
Of course we found the big Wheelbarrow! — in Port Headland. 
The sunset here was breathtaking. The beach was covered in interesting shells and the weather was 👌 Pity the 🐊 spoil all the fun! — at 80 Mile Beach. 
80 Mile Beach 
These guys loved the toilet blocks at our Broome camp – not all of the other campers loved showering with them though! — at Broome’s Gateway. 
Bucket list item for the kids! — with Broome Camel Safaris in Cable Beach. 
We went looking for dinosaur footprints – but found this view instead! — at Gantheaume Point. 
Taking moments to appreciate where we are and how lucky we are to be here — at Gantheaume Point. 
We headed to towards Roebuck Bay oh an whim to find dinosaur footprints and the place where Tils Will & Wind towel photo was taken. What we found was an so much more! The rocks and sand around the boat ramp were amazing! This one sparkled. We were lucky to some indigenous women who were fishing in the bay as well. So glad we stumbled onto this spot. 
Roebuck Bay. 
One of the many “line” trees along Roebuck Beach – we haven’t edited this at all. This is seriously what it looks like — at Roebuck Bay. 
Garth smashing the drone shots 💗 — at Roebuck Bay. 
Looking west — at Roebuck Bay. 
Photo shoot as we realise we’ve got all the Will & Wind happening today – And it makes us giggle. Also massive shout out to Megan and Paul who gave us a gift voucher before we left – we used it to buy ourselves a lightweight, portable car awning which was perfect on this ridiculously hot day! — at Roebuck Bay. 
OMG who let them play in the red sand! — at Roebuck Bay.
First stop Mimbi caves, after crossing the now infamous Fitzroy Crossing. The campground here is part of WAs Camping with Custodians program and it was well worth the stop. We had the night around the fire with a great bunch of travellers including Jade, Rev and their girls who we met back in Lucky Bay!
We all enjoyed Mimbi Caves tour the next day (a MUST do) and then a cracking free camp by the river that night.
Next stop was Kununurra where we all collapsed in a heap! It’s been an epic month and we were tired. We still enjoyed our time here, with the highlight definitely being the full day trip on Lake Argyle followed by the Zebra stone and a trip to the Hoochery.
The 10 loads of washing (on one day!) also deserve an honourable mention – no more red dust!
(Who are we kidding – there’s still red dust stains everywhere but at least we’re not sneezing. )
We left Kununurra bound for the NT. We stopped at a great low-cost camp at Victoria River (note for next trip – stay another night to explore), then Pussycat Flats before finally landing in Darwin!
Our first impression of Darwin was… what the…?. There were fireworks for sale EVERYWHERE! Turns out we hadn’t just stepped into an alternate universe – we had in fact arrived in time for Territory Day.
We’ll leave that update for next time, but let’s just say it’s an experience!
We finished the month off with a night at the famous Mindil Beach Markets where we ate ourselves silly, watched the sunset with a billion other people and caught up with the Bakkers from home and Sharon, Andrew and the kids who we met at Elliston all those months ago.
That’s the ninth month in a large nutshell, so let’s look at the numbers:
- 5,130 kms travelled (35,264kms) + approx 860km on the Spirit of Tas!
- Fuel bill for the month: $1,785 ($11,329)
- Cheapest fuel: $1.89
- Most expensive fuel: $2.39
- Most expensive campsite: $75 per night
- Accommodation costs: $1,389.58 ($9,288.41)
- States & Territories visited: 2(6)
- Pools / splash parks: 2 (22)
- Natural waterholes/beaches swum in: we’ve lost count!
- ParkRuns completed: 1 (14)
- Playgrounds visited: 3 (97)
- Big things: 1 (18)
- audiobooks listened to: 9 (let us know if you want to know which ones we loved!)
Highlights
G: Astronomy night at Dales, Hammersley Gorge, Cheela Plains Station Stay, snorkelling Ningaloo, 80 Mile Beach, Mimbi Caves, Lake Argyle Cruises
E: snorkelling on Ningaloo Reef, Cheela Plains Station, Bullara Station Stay, Broome, crossing the border, Fitzroy Crossing, Lake Argyle and Darwin
M: Bullara Station, Exmouth, Broome, Cheela Plains, Kununurra, Mimbi Caves, Karijini!!! And seeing Evie again.
H: Karijini. Hands down this place has captured my heart and soul. We’ve had an incredible month but those gorges (especially Hammersly) were out of this world.
That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed the rest of the month. It’s been so much fun! I loved making so many new travelling friends and seeing so many more we have met along the way and getting up spend time with them again. The snorkelling has been next level, Roebuck Bay (while insanely hot) was the best crazy decision we made and touring Lake Argyle and Mimbi Caves were worth every cent. 80 Mile Beach is on my list of places to return – the sunset there might just be my fav (and the shells).
WA has indeed captured my heart.
Knee Deep Travels 