We left Big Valley Campsite early so the guys could get a surf at Yallingup on our way to Perth. The morning mist over the farmland as the sun rose gave a real ethereal look to the landscape.

We had only gone a short distance when the convoy had to make a short stop as the clips on the Wells poptop were not secured – a near miss according to Branch – the whole top could have flown off (a bit like day one’s window cover 😰).

Dave and Rose had to get to Perth by 1pm to pick up their new window flap to replace the one which had flown off on the freeway back on Day 1 so they had planned to see Yallingup with us and head off to get the repair done, and meet us at our next stop Karrinyup Waters Resort in Perth that evening.

At Yallingup on all beaches (Smiths, Supertubes and Yallingup) the swell was up with large waves being surfed by a few guys on long boards. Trev and Gordon’s boards were no good for the type of surf so we continued on without Rose and Dave.

We drove up to Meelup beach on the other side of the peninusula – such a difference – no swell at all! Trev made friends with a pelican who was wandering the shore hassling the fishermen for food…

On to Busselton for coffee and to walk the famous pier..it was a perfect day and the water was crystal clear. Gordon made friends with a Scottish lady who loved to talk!! Trev could not resist the lemon meringue pie 🍰

The walk along the pier was almost 4km to the end and back but the water was spectacular. The pier has a small trainline on it that was used to transport cargo out to waiting ships but now transports tourists.

After our walk along the pier we swam in the enclosure at the beach. A pod of dolphins swam by – beautiful!

Gordon and Kerry left us then to visit their friends while we decided to make our way up the coast. The plan was all to meet at Karrinyup Waters Resort in Perth where we would be staying for the next 3 nights.

Trev had noticed that morning that one of the tyres on our van was wearing unevenly despite the fact we had ensured a full service wheel balance etc before we left. Our turn for vehicular issues it seemed 😆 so at Bunbury we pulled into a tyre shop and got a mechanic to check it out…Branch was feeling useful once again as the last couple of days had been uneventful!

The bad news was the tyre was damaged and the wheel alignment needed adjusting which could not be done where we were. A few phone calls later and we had organised for Will from a mobile tyre balancing company to come out to the caravan park tomorrow to fix the van.

We realised that time was slipping away and we were still 2 hrs from Perth so we decided to skip Mandurah and go straight to our accommodation as the office closed at 6PM. Fortunately for us we chose that course as the traffic in Perth was horrendous plus there was an accident on the freeway😨

We rang Rose who had arrived at the caravan park and she  checked in both us and the Hunters who were also running late. The sun was setting over Perth as we crawled along through the traffic.

Eventually we were all settled in. Dave was not a happy camper thanks to his earlier brush with the law…speeding fine on the way into Perth after being distracted by the camel farm. The good news was that Rosie sweet talked the policeman who reduced the fine and Dave incurred no demerit points much to Gordon’s disgust!