Our Holiday 2011 - Show 'n' Tell

We made what has become our annual pilgrimage to the NW coast of Western Australia last month. Four weeks with Steve and the kids, camping on beaches, days spent in and beside the ocean, shell collecting, surfing, snorkelling, walking, fishing and reading. We'd get up when the sun hit the camp in the morning, and go to bed after all lying on a rug together by the campfire, looking for shooting stars. This year we spent almost 3 weeks in one spot near Coral Bay before driving back to Carnarvon for much needed showers and to restock on groceries. Then a week at Gnaraloo where we were joined by our lovely mates, sculptor Tony Docherty, and photographer Tony Warrilow. We had a beautiful, creative time with them - Doc had us all making shell mobiles to pretty up the camp, and Tony W divided his time between photographing with me, surfing with Steve and snorkelling with the kids. Check out his breathtaking wave photography here including some images from this trip.

We spent the last night with Doc camping in the bush just outside Gasgoyne Junction, a little outback town which got flooded around the time of the floods in Queensland earlier this year, losing its pub, shop and petrol station. All around our camp that night were signs of the damage done - sheds, fences,furniture, TVs in the dried out river beds or stuck up trees - people's lives washed down the river and discarded by the waters as they receded. The next morning the rain came again and wandering around the town we were left with the feeling that it would never feel completely dry again. Only a few hundred kilometres inland from where we'd been camping but it seemed like another world entirely.

Finally, apologies to anyone left feeling queasy by the dingo photos but that's outback Australia for you...I couldn't end on these shots so finished off with a couple of Ella and Eden   :-)