Before I describe Day 4’s adventures I thought that I might give a bit of background to our journey. Before Steve and I had reconnected we independently had plans to travel this immense and beautiful country – Steve on the back of a bike while my dream was to get a teardrop caravan and spend my days painting….and look what has happened! We have both realised our dreams, but it is even better because we are together.

 Initially we were just going to travel, but one day it occurred to me that we really should give our travels some purpose, so proposed the idea we get involved with a charity in some way. Given the experience of our loved ones, Steve decided that the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation would be our charity of choice, and here we are on our journey to hopefully raise $50,000 over the next 7-8 months.

 Our evening at Yallingup Beach Caravan Park was delightful, and quite a few young people staying at the park stopped to chat to us when they saw our table with Cure Brain Cancer information and merchandise set up – kindly some donated money, while others who were leaving the country gave us their left over food. The view from the BBQ area is magnificent overlooking the beach and headlands heading towards Cape Naturalista.

As Steve found yesterday’s ride quite tiring and hot after leaving quite late in the morning, we determined that we would aim for an earlier start. He was also suffering from lack of calories, so I made sure that he was well resourced for today’s ride, which was a bit shorter than the previous days fortunately as he needed some recovery time. All went well and he was on the road shortly after 9 am.

 Once he had left (after backing the van into a parking spot as I am yet to learn the intricacies of reversing with something attached to the back of the car…) I settled down to put brush to canvas and did my first little plein air oil painting of the beautiful view across the beach – having not painted much for awhile I felt a little nervous, but have learnt from experience that I just have to dive in and have a go – here is my attempt.

Yallingup Beach, Windy Morning

Oil on canvas

8” x 10”, 2015

 When we figure out how we will go about it, we will put up some of the works I make for auction and donate half the proceeds to the cause. In the meantime, if you are interested in any of the works you that you see here or posted on instagram, @miranda1459, please contact us.

 By 11.30 I was all done and ready to head down the road to Augusta. I passed Steve about three quarters along the way – all seemed well so I continued on to the gorgeous Westbay Caravan Park just outside of Augusta. The permanent tenants there appear to be in some sort of gardening competition with an amazing array of flowering plants – they were to be seen to be believed…but sadly no pics from us. The park is in a delightful bush settings with the most amazing amenities block – a great change from the standard fare in the caravanning world.

 Steve arrived within the hour and we headed off for a short ride into town. Initially we planned to ride the 11km to the lighthouse and back, but I chickened out (hills and a sore back) so went to explore Augusta and Cape Leeuwin and its famed lighthouse by car. Sadly we got to the Cape too late to get an up close look of the lighthouse, but instead we checked out the nearby historic water wheel – no longer working but beautifully returning to nature with moss growing all over it. The surrounding area was amazing with fabulous rocky formations and windswept foliage.

Back at camp we decided that as the weather had cooled and rain threatened we wouldn’t put up our shade tent – packing up a wet one in the morning would be a drag. Turned out to be a wise decision as it rained much of the night, but happily had stopped by morning. After a delicious vegetarian stir-fry we retired for the night to rest for another day of adventure.