Lily, Caden, & Gia Lovers: Campervan Adventure North to Ningaloo

Monday after Corey finished teaching, we embarked on our campervan adventure…

Corey and Randy went to pick up the campervan, while I pulled together into clothes baskets the items we wanted to tuck away into the campervan. So nice not having to pack the suitcase. You just stuff the cubbies full!

When renting online, you are always a bit anxious about what you will get, but we were thrilled.

Ready for the road

Funny shot showing how big the campervan looks next to the house.

Then we were off! We stopped a few short hours into our journey on day 1 to stay with our friends the Langford’s and Clark’s at the beach house they had rented for the week. The kids were beyond thrilled, staying up until 10pm!!! It was so wonderfully relaxing to sit and visit.

From left to right, Charlotte, Ella (Ms. Kat), Gia and Millie

Charlotte and Gia being jumpy monkeys

Our morning send-off crew - Millie, Kat, Ella and Ollie

We were on the road by 7am, stopping first at the Pinnacles.

Not bad views from the road!

Roos in the parking area of the Pinnacles

Mommy Roo and Baby Joey

As Wikipedia notes, "The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier epoch rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime rich sands which were blown inland to form high mobile dunes". I just think they're purdy :) And just amazing. The yellow sand and the odd shapes stretching into the beautiful blue of the sky, with the ocean just beyond.

Gia was being spunky.

Notice the ocean in the background.

Fine, yellow sand

We didn't read the 'do not climb' sign until AFTER

Another wayward 'roo

This picture gives good perspective to how close the kids were to the roo

This is a photo shoot for J Crew :)

On the back of the 'Pinnacle Wolf'

Uncle Randy, Lily and Caden climbed this sand hill to try and find our way out! The fact that I am typing this lets you know not to worry.

We drove most of the day, arriving at Shell Beach in the Shark Bay region of WA about 4pm. Again, posting from Wikipedia," Shell Beach...covers a 110 km long stretch of coast It is one of only two beaches in the world made entirely from shells.^[1] ^[2]The beach was named "Shell Beach" because of the great abundance of the shells of the cockle species. The seawater in this area has a high salinity due to both the geomorphology and local climate of the area. This high salinity has allowed the cockle to proliferate unchecked, since its natural predators have not adapted well to this environment. The shells typically reach a depth of 7 to 10 metres. Over time, the shells have formed a limestone that is known as Coquina. Before Shark Bay became a World Heritage Site, the limestone was mined and used for the construction of a number of buildings in the local town of Denham, Western Australia. ^[3]

As you can imagine, Caden was in heaven with so many shells! We were dismayed to find the signs posted that you are not allowed to take any with you. However a couple may have made it into his pockets.

The water was clear and warm. So peaceful!

Corey and Gia

Shell Beach

Uncle Randy just over the mound of shells

Lily and Caden hunting for shells

A close up of the beach

Our little grandma Sandy - she was the only one to do a full swim here

The fam - photography by R.Ruddy extoardinaire

'Plllleeeeeaaaase pick me up'

Croc-Randee

Can you see the white heart in the water? It took us seeing initials next to realize it was man-made with cockle shells carefully placed. Pretty clever.

Beautiful water

Caden and I trying to get shells with our feet

His shell loot. Not to cull down to top two.

Carefully sorting to pick his favorites.

My and Caden's shadows as we hustled to catch up to the others.

We made it to our campervan site in Denham in time to catch the sun set. We walked into town to find a place for fresh seafood. Denham was quite a sleepy little town and the kids were a bit tired, as you might imagine, so we left Corey and Randy at the restaurant and picked up a pizza to take back to the campervan. Then all were fast asleep, excited to head to Monkey Mia in the morning.