Hi Guys well as the picture suggests it dose not get any better than this.
We, Alice and i had been free camping for most nights but decided to have a few days in a caravan park.
Well as it turned out there are very few caravan places available around the Perth surrounds.
Anyway to cut a long story short we could not find one so decided to drive along the coast near Rockingham WA and came across this place, it was actually a very large open space right on the water.
So, what dose one do when one has no caravan park to go to, yep you guessed it we stopped there for the night, and it was free.
And the picture speaks a thousand words, those two people are Alice and myself watching the sun go down over the Indian Ocean.
Also known as Garden Island. If you like forest camping places. Head inlands just before you get to Bunbury and head up the hill towards Collie and stop in at the national forest surrounding Wellington Dam. That's if you are heading down that way.
That's so awesome Leon, really glad you are having such a wonderful trip! We have been doing much the same on our Great Ocean Road trip, it really doesn't get any better
Thanks guys, have to admit it is pretty good stuff.
Trevor the cops or the ranger can't really do that, if one has been driving most of the day,and is to tired to drive on, or is not well, "hypothetically" one has 24 hours to move on, they can't move you by law.
Try getting across that bridge in a mid winter storm Leon........ They have traffic lights at either end and if they are red you just don't bother or you will end up in the drink. I worked on Garden Island in the mid to late 80's building two wharfs for the navy. There is a lot of history on the island that most of the general public never get to see. It was the first place Stirling stopped and camped before exploring the swan river and there are relics of that camp on the north side of the island. Where the main navy buildings and docks are situated (facing the mainland) used to be inhabited by chinese market gardeners and lots of garlic plants still grow there. The navy has facilities scattered across 3/4 of the island but there are still some wicked untouched beaches on the west side of the island. Its a great spot and the fishing is excellent as much the surrounding water is a marine park so nobody else can fish there but its okay off the island itself. Spent a lot of time in a dingy inspecting the bottom of the wharfs for structural integity, just happened to have a pesky fishing line that kept baiting itself up and falling over the side of the boat .
I have been on Garden Island a couple of times and crossed that "bridge" without any bother, I had a security pass. It was also in the mid 80's. I was preparing HMAS Swan for the disasterous refit that was done in WA. That's another story!
It is a lovely place but you need to be careful where you walk at night. The Tammars seem to take up every open space.
They are cousins to the Quokas. Little wallabies that "infest" those off shore islands in WA.
I think everyone seems think they are Quokas but they are a different species.
Nice pic Leon!
You must have driven right by my house to get there.
It is indeed a nice spot, shame about all the crap out of frame (behind you and over your right shoalder)
CSBP, Alcoa, BP refinery, BOC gases, Western Power and the rest of the industrial strip
You are correct about the police/rangers moving you on. It just doesn't happen. There is another smaller(but much nicer) beach carpark about 5k west of where you are (a few hundred metres west of the biggest Jetty(Palm Beach) that usualy has some semi-permanent 'temporary' residents... sometimes there will be three or four vehicles there at a time. They have been camping there untroubled for years.
Thanks guys, have to admit it is pretty good stuff.
Trevor the cops or the ranger can't really do that, if one has been driving most of the day,and is to tired to drive on, or is not well, "hypothetically" one has 24 hours to move on, they can't move you by law.
Leon
You tell'em Leon .... Don't let them push you around mate....
Last edited by FlashDrive; 18-03-2011 at 10:11 AM.
you would be the first to do so. 
I'm not from this part of the world ya know. 
