The Lap - Nov 2022 - Jul 2023
November 2022 saw the Pender family head off on an 8 month lap of Australia, focusing on the western states (South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory). We were doing the lap with our trusted 2005 Prado (the veteran of many trips) and our 2017 Savannah X camper trailer.
Below you will find :-
- Our Polar steps Blog and Photos
- Our Wikicamps Itinerary
- A growing collection of videos from our trip
Bathurst Lap - On the way from Dubbo to Canberra we decided to make a small detour visiting Bathurst and the Mt Panorama race track. We grew up watching the "Great Race" but had never been to the track. Our lap times were significantly slower than the V8 Supercars so we were able to enjoy more of the scenery :)
Port Lincoln Sealions - While planning out lap of Australia one of the things we all wanted to do on the trip was a swim with the sealions. We choose the very cold waters (wet suits required) off Port Lincoln for our swim with the sealions. Emily was able to get up close and personal with a couple at the start of her swim. The girls were also able to have a ride in the support tender (including steering) and we also able to have a go each piloting the cruise boat back to harbour.
Coffin Bay Kayak with the Dolphins - during our visit to Coffin Bay (South Australia), Cath sampled a large number of the local oysters and I went on a couple of kayaking paddles throughout the bay. On one of the trips I spotted some dolphins which I watched for awhile before they disappeared. On the paddle home the dolphins reappeared, much to my surprise.
Mandurah Giants and more kayaking with Dolphins - The Mandurah Giants are located south of Perth in Western Australia. The giants have been created by Thomas Dambo from recycled wood. As we went on the trail to discover the giants we found one overlooking the water. While there we spotted some dolphins nearby. A couple of days later Sophie and I went for a kayak paddle to get a photo of the front of the giant. On the paddle back the dolphins appeared again, much to Sophie's delight.
The Pinnacles of Nambung National Park in Western Australia - are approximately 200km north of Perth. The Pinnacles are natural limestone structures of various widths and heights (up to 3.5m). This video is a little longer and shows one full lap of the national park.
For Sophie's fans, not wanting to watch the whole video, skip to the 7:00min mark and watch for a minute.