Hewitt's Hill bush camping

Yesterday we went for a spot of impromptu hiking/camping in the bush, as our new lightweight camping mattresses arrived in the post and we wanted to try them out.

We jumped in the car, and parked in a nearby picnic area and then hiked 4km to one of the camping huts along the Bibbulmun track. I didn't fancy much more of a hike than that being 6mths pregnant!

There are two long distance trails in Western Australia; the Bibbulmun track for walkers and the Mundi Biddi  trail for cyclists. Both of them have, at regular intervals, camping huts that are completely free to use and inaccessible by vehicle. There are also areas next to the huts to pitch tents.

Rather than use the hut we took along our little tent. We didn't originally have space in our suitcases for the tent when we first came over to Australia. But we couldn't find anything comparable here to replace it with so we had it shipped all the way from England for us by Nick's kind parents. Shipping the tent out should have been easy but it wasn't. Won't be using Parcelforce again.

Once the tent was up, we got a brew going with our trusty Trangia stove that we also brought over from the UK. They do sell them here (because they are awesome) but they are a bit pricey.

Here are our new Thermarest mattresses. They weigh a whopping 350g each!

We had a little campfire by our tent, then headed down to the hut where there was a bigger fire going and we sat around it with the other campers using the hut. There were three younger guys, and an older couple who had all walked from Kalamunda (about 11kms away).

We awoke to another beautiful day. Very pleased with the mattresses, both comfy and warm.

Time for a quick brew and we packed up to make our way back to the car.

This little hut is the drop dunny - essentially a toilet on top of a big hole in the ground.

We spotted a kangaroo foraging during the morning. You can just about see it to the left of the the closest tree.

Demonstrating one of our new mattresses, fully packed.

The camping hut, called Hewitt's Hill.

The fire pit by the hut had an ingenious metal arm you could swing over the fire to hang your billy can or kettle on. It also had a metal plate to use as a cooking surface.

There is no drinking water at these campsites, but they do have large rainwater tanks. All the other campers were boiling the water before drinking it. I decided I didn't want to risk catching something so we brought all our water with us.

It's a beautiful experience waking up in the Australian bush, surrounded by bird calls and kangaroos and I'm sure we will be doing lots more in the future.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

E&N x

Winter is coming...

We awoke this morning to the smell of bacon and campfires - but we weren't camping as you might think but tucked up safe in bed at home.

Although it was forecast to be a pleasant 23 degrees today, my parents thought it was cold enough to put the fire on! (And they'd had a cooked breakfast.)

Don't get me wrong I do like a good fire. Australian homes typically don't have heating, so many (particularly older) houses are built with fireplaces and wood burning stoves to keep the chill off on the coldest winter nights.

But I think its going to have to get considerably colder here before we personally start feeling cold! After camping in Snowdonia, in November, in sub-zero temperatures, with ice on the tent, the word 'cold' takes on a whole new meaning.

Shops over here are full of thermal underwear, electric blankets, hot water bottles, and intriguingly, snow boots and ski wear. The heating is already on where I work.

I think Australia gets as excited about winter coming as Britain does about summer coming!

Here's Nick with the new gate he fitted on the chicken run. Our two chickens are looking so much better now. They have both regrown almost all their feathers, and love kicking around and scratching in the dirt. They are laying eggs on a regular basis too.

Mostly the weather has been sunny and temperatures in the low twenties, perfect for us, but recently we did have a severe weather warning in the Perth area. Coastal areas were hit by storms and strong winds. We live inland so we luckily missed the worse of it. But we did have about three days of heavy rain, that have reinvigorated the garden and carpeted it in luscious green grass. I can't wait for the wildflowers to start blooming and the creek in our garden to start running.

I'm now clocking in at 25 weeks, and currently I'm feeling pretty good with plenty of energy and a ravenous appetite! I'm getting comments from strangers about the bump, and it's maternity clothes all the way now.

I'm absolutely determined to stay as active as possible for mine and baby's sake, so I'm going to keep walking and camping as long as I can. We've got a few hiking and canoeing trips planned to try and fit in before our little one joins us on the outside.


E & N xxx