My reading and research led us to decide to try to find a nice place to stay in the southwest region that was fairly central and we could do some day trips from. I found a place that sounded nice and was good value. It was called Big Valley caravan park. It is about 10mins out of the town of Margaret River. It is actually a working sheep farm, which has a campground on the side. It was only $36 per night for a powered site (one of the best value on our trip). We rang this morning and booked in and they gave us good directions.

We didn’t get away from Perth until 11.30 as we had a bit of shopping to do and so on. I thought it would take over 4 hrs to get to Big Vally, but it was only about 3 hrs, which was a nice surprise. The distances are a bit smaller down here than they are up north. The countryside as we got closer to our destination became a bit more ‘English’ – quite green and lush, with cows and sheep grazing. Lauren, in particular, made note of it and how much she liked it.

We arrived and set up and breathed a sigh of relaxation because it was such a lovely place which just oozed that feeling of ‘slow down and relax’. I loved the sounds of the sheep bleating and the sights of rolling green pastures. There was lots of space between caravans, lots of trees, lots of rustic but efficient facilities, and friendly and laid back staff. I felt pleased to be there and looked forward to travelling around and seeing the region.