FriendlyBrooks

Behind every mishap is an opportunity.

Lance Brooks, always finding the positive in life, April 2026.

After a fabulous 3 weeks back in Sydney we had a very pleasant  flight to Perth and were looking forward to being on the road again.  We had booked a night in Rottnest Island but first we had to  drop the car in for a service at Melville Toyota.  We had hoped to be there by 1pm so we could catch the 2pm ferry and despite the flight landing half an hour late everything went like clockwork. Our car started perfectly after being in the long term carpark for 3 weeks. We drove through the light Perth traffic, the check-in at Toyota was incredibly smooth and they even booked and paid for an Uber to the ferry wharf. At the wharf we checked our luggage through to our accommodation.

We hired bikes and when we disembarked we collected them and rode into the small settlement – called The Settlement, We bought some snacks and champagne to have on the beach and then rode 10 minutes to check in to our glamping tent at Pinky’s Beach. It was very nice, having a large comfortable bed and a nice bathroom.

Once settled in we went for a short ride and visited a couple of beaches where we swam, of course. We found a nice place to watch the sunset and enjoy our drinks and snacks 🥨.

Once the sun went down we got changed and went for dinner at the resort restaurant. We were the only people there but it meant we had the pick of the tables and chose the one closest to the beach with a view of the lighthouse. The restaurant also came with its own pack of quokkas.

Breakfast was included with our glamping tent so we ate at the same table the next morning. We walked on the beach and swam and walked around the lighthouse. We also made use of the resort pool before checking out at 10am.

The island has a luggage service so we could leave our bags and go for a ride. We had just under 5 hours to get around the island. We managed to get to all the beaches we wanted to visit as well as to the west end lookouts. It was all very beautiful but bike riding is not my strength (as my friend Candy will attest to)  so I was quite exhausted by the time we got back to the wharf for the trip back.

We thought we had timed everything perfectly as we wanted to pick up the car, then get our van by 4.30 and be at our next campsite by 6pm. But everything seemed to stand in our way. Firstly there was an extra stop on the ferry so whilst it had been a half hour trip out to the island it was an hour getting back. Then the Uber driver got lost on his way to pick us up, then we had to fight the Friday afternoon traffic. Of course being Friday of a long weekend we were not the only people picking their cars up from Toyota and then there was more traffic to get across town to pick up our camper trailer. We kept poor Josh waiting for an hour on his wife’s birthday, and he was good enough not to complain. After that we had to go to the supermarket and then drive 45 minutes so we checked into Sunseeker Camp at 7.30pm. We set up in the dark again!!

We spent a pleasant day relaxing at the camp which was in the hills on the outskirts of Perth. It was Anzac Day so we attended their version of the dawn service at 7.30am. We met some lovely people and we spent the day chatting, swimming in the pool and watching football. In the evening there was a drinks party around the fire which we enjoyed very much.

We packed up on Sunday morning and went to Mass and headed off to Wave Rock. It was about a 4 hour drive and we stopped at York which is a pretty heritage town.

We arrived at Wave Rock about an hour before sunset which was perfect timing. Wave Rock is an amazing rock feature in the middle of the state which you guessed it, looks like a wave. It makes for some very nice photos.

We had booked at a bush campground not far from the rock, which was very peaceful. We planned to leave early the next morning as we had a 5 hour drive to get to our next destination, Kalgoorlie. Somehow we were the last to leave the campground (again). We then drove into the local town of Hyden to find nothing open as it was a public holiday weekend. We checked with a local for the best route to Kalgoorlie and they suggested a road which had about 70km of dirt. Bring it on we thought! On the way we stopped at Mulka’s Cave which contains over 400 Aboriginal drawings. We were able to find a handful of handprints (pun intended).

The drive on the dirt road was spectacular. We passed by part of the Rabbit Proof Fence and a couple of mines but other than that there was vast expanses of open land.

We finally arrived in Kalgoorlie at about 5.30pm which would prove to be a problem. We hadn’t booked anywhere. There was a free campsite in town provided by the council but we didn’t like the look of it. I had read some bad reviews of the caravan parks and in any case it was now too late to book in. We were not getting a great vibe from Kalgoorlie so we decided to stay at a hotel. After trying a few options unsuccessfully we booked into the Hospitality Best Western. 

We checked in and went straight into town to view the Super pit gold mine. Its the biggest gold mine in the southern hemisphere/world or something. It is actually all the original shafts in Kalgoorlie golden mile joined together. After viewing the trucks driving around in the pit we went for dinner at The Exchange hotel, one of the grand old hotels in Kalgoorlie. It was packed, mostly but not entirely with young men. Dinner was quite nice. We went back to the hotel and I did some work whilst we watched MasterChef.

As it happened the bed at the hotel was extremely uncomfortable and the room got suddenly very hot in the middle of the night. We woke up intending to play 9 holes of golf at Kalgoorlie Golf course, then we thought we would have a quick look around, complete 2 more golf holes on the Nullabor Links golf course and leave town. We were just getting ready for our included continental breakfast when Lance came back from the car to announce that someone had smashed in the driver side window. We were not having a good time in Kalgoorlie!!  Lance does what he does best and spoke to multiple people, including Toyota Insurance (fantastic service), Millers glass (equally fantastic) and Melville Toyota. We were lucky as there were only 7 replacement windows in the whole country and 2 were in Perth. Millers arranged for one to be shipped overnight. They put some plastic covering on the window so we would have some protection for the next 24 hours. Meanwhile we booked into the Discovery Caravan park for a night.

We couldn’t get into the caravan park until 11am so we first visited the Kalgoorlie gold museum. We arrived just in time for a guided tour which was well worth it. The museum has some great exhibits and we got a good idea of the history of Kalgoorlie and its characters as well as a better understanding of the town. After just a few good encounters with locals we were starting to appreciate Kalgoorlie.

We dropped the van off at the caravan park and drove to Boulder for lunch. Originally Boulder was a different town but it is now part of the one Kalgoorlie Boulder city. Boulder Town Hall is worth a quick look and it also housed the War Museum. Boulder itself is quite run down with many businesses closed. We had been told that there were some decent cafes here but we only found one and when we walked in at 1pm we were told that they were just closing. All we could get were takeaway sandwiches an Anzac biscuit and a coffee. All were pretty decent to be fair.

After the disappointing lunch we ventured out to Hannans North Tourist mine. This place encapsulates Kalgoorlie perfectly. Its actually very interesting and has some great exhibits, but at the same time it seems unkempt and has seen better days. Having said that we had an enjoyable couple of hours there getting the feeling for gold mining, including having a go at panning ourselves.

Finally we went to Kalgoorlie Golf Course and played 9 holes. This is a stunning course with perfect green fairways and greens set amongst the red earth. We had a great game there although after six holes my game took a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse. It could have been because we were talking with Jack and Cassie whilst playing and I was concentrating less.

By the time we finished golf the sun was setting. Lance had found out that there was a 5.30 mass on so off we went. When we went back to the caravan park, we still hadn’t set up and it was dark, yet again, but we are certainly getting quicker. Just 20 minutes later we were preparing our lamb chops for dinner.

We needed and wanted to be out of the caravan park by 10am but first we had a number of things to do. First things first, Lance went to 7am Mass (yes he had just been the night before). Then we got the call from Millers glass that if we got there by 8am they could replace our window straight away. Lance came and picked me up in a rush so I missed getting my morning coffee – not good. However whilst we were waiting for the window to be fixed we sat in the lovely waiting room which thankfully had a coffee machine. It was all done by 9am and we could be on our way. We went to the visitor centre to get our Nullabor Links certificate (even though we had 2 holes to complete). Then we stopped at an open cafe and got breakfast. We were back at the caravan park at 10.01am. We packed up in record time and were out by 10.20am.

Our first stop was hole 16 of the Nullabor Links at Kambalda. Before playing the hole we went up to Ref Hill Point for a view of Lake Lefroy which is a huge salt lake. We then played the golf hole.

Time to drive to Woogiemooltha for our last hole on the Nullabor Links ( actually hole 15). Woogiemooltha was the site of the discovery of The Golden Eagle, a 35kg gold nugget which became the symbol of hope for the Western Australian economy. All that remains at Woogiemooltha is a couple of houses, one golf hole and the road house.

We had a 3 hour drive to our planned campsite at Baladjie Rock.  The road along the Great Eastern Highway was good if a little monotonous through the goldfields country. Once at Southern Cross we headed North West. The turn off to Baladjie Rock was not sign posted but Google maps led us perfectly to one of the best campsites we have been in. Its in the middle of nowhere with an incredible rock formation on the edge of a salt lake.

The campsites were spread out and there were only 3 other groups who were quite a way away. Each spot had a fireplace so we enjoyed an open fire for the first time in ages. If it wasn’t for the literally thousands of flies it would have been perfect. Even so it was pretty good.

The fire was a real bonus as Lance used his camp oven for the first time and cooked a cake 🍰. It was pretty good for a first try.

The morning was beautiful and we watched the sunrise over the salt lake talking to Michelle and the kids. Lance then did a yoga session by the lake whist I got a bit of work done.

We were packed up and on the road by 10am with a 5 hour drive to do to get to the coast. The drive was spectacular as we drove along back roads through the wheatbelt and the day went very quickly and pleasantly. We finally arrived at Jurien Bay to start our trip north.