With ANZAC Day on Thursday this year, it was an obvious opportunity to take an annual leave day on Friday and create a long weekend! Never miss an opportunity …
Many months ago we booked a new-to-us place, Stargazers on the road between Nannup and Pemberton. We have explored the area before but somehow we’d never heard of this spot! Its reviews on wiki camps say things like “the best place we stayed on our lap” and “10 out of 10”. So we had to see what all the fuss is about.
We made the long trip after work on Wednesday, arriving well into the evening, something you are welcome to do. Of course arriving somewhere new in the dark is never fun, but we found our site with a little help from the caretaker and were instantly delighted! We were in site 6 of 7, with heaps of room to spread out. The site includes a rustic and very comfortable ensuite with a verandah for sitting out of the weather and a hooded bbq with plumbed gas. The site also has a mat the length of the van, an upright fireplace, power and water. And fairy lights! Fairy lights!
Once we were set up, we were ready for a late dinner of nachos, a couple of drinks, and a wander in the dark to stretch our legs and say hi to the kangaroos. Eventually we headed off to bed, excited to see what the property looks like in the daylight.
ANZAC Day 2024
As usual we weren’t the first folk out of bed, but we did make it up before our neighbours left so others could arrive. There are 7 sites curving around the lake and open grassy area. By the end of the day all were full and remained so all weekend.
After breaky we wandered around, checking out the lake, the tucked away cabins and the orchard. Most of our neighbours left for the day, but we were very happy to spend the day in the sun, watching people arrive into the empty sites, and throw the frisbee around.
This is our first trip with the kerb side of our canopy all decked out, so today we enjoyed using our appliances and repeatedly admiring our handiwork. There are still things to do, but it’s looking great so far, and it’s amazingly functional.
As the evening came along, the temperature started to drop, and without a fire, thanks to the drought, we needed to rug up as we made our pizzas.
As the sun set the little birds went off to bed but one very noisy bird started letting us know it was there. I have no idea what it is.
Friday
Another later start with a lovely slow breaky, including lovely fresh coffee! We had our seats set on the ensuite veranda to avoid some of the cooler morning air. If there is one drawback of our site, it’s the shade. Yesterday we pulled our seats out across the road, but in summertime I am sure this would be a great site.
Of course we also needed to take our morning toilet. Now obviously I wouldn’t normally describe this part of our day, but part of the charm of this place is the rustic ensuite structure. The loo is the same as any other, although it’s in a big space! Then there is a lovely sink, with industrial copper pipes and raw tapware. On the opposite side to the loo is the shower. What a great space! There is more than enough room to thoroughly enjoy the rain shower. How cool! Once a fire is permitted, or it’s warm enough to swim in the lake, I could stay here forever.
After taking our time to get cracking, we headed out to have look around. We landed in Pemberton for a coffee, some sweets to go with the caffeine, and a super soft winter jumper. I just couldn’t resist, and I really don’t need another hat.
After toddling along the main street we headed up to Manjimup in search of a patio heater so we can stay outside a bit warmer tonight. Despite looking everywhere, we couldn’t find one, so we headed down to the heritage park. We’ve been here before but not visited either the electricity museum or the adjacent timber museum. I have to say that we were underwhelmed by the drawcard electricity museum, but really enjoyed the bonus timber museum. Seeing how people lived and worked in the area, the tools and animals they used, and the trees they harvested and milled, was interesting and relevant. I think they have their drawcard and bonus the wrong way around.
Back in Maz, we took a new-to-us road back to Dan, pleased to be back at our lovely campsite and ready for our steak dinner. We are absolutely making the most of this hooded bbq we have at our disposal.
With the night feeling much cooler than the last two, we opted to head inside and watch the news, thoroughly enjoying the latest additions to Dan, a pair of backrest reading pillows! Very nice and comfortable, perfect for avoiding lying down and taking off my glasses!
Saturday
There are a few spots we haven’t visited and a few activities we haven’t tried around the area, so we set out to tick a couple of these off today. Firstly we headed to the nearby campgrounds along the road to the Donnelly River boat ramp. These are lovely tent camping sites, hence unsuitable for us in the future! I guess that was one of the many advantages of Tas. The river however looks like a lovely place for us to put the kayaks in sometime in the future, and take a quiet paddle along the river. Next time …
After sussing these spots out, we headed back to the first campsite and enjoyed coffee and lunch, making the most of our kerbside set up. How convenient is it to choose a spot anywhere and do exactly what we can do at home! There are no little wrens and robins at my house though!
After coffee and lunch we headed down to the lovely Karri forest and along another dusty road, to check out the Leaning Marri campsite (and there is a huge leaning Marri) and the sand dunes at Yeagarup Lake. I don’t think we would camp at any of these sites when Stargazers is so close by, but I can see the appeal for others. I also don’t think we’ll be heading out on the dunes in Maz anytime soon, given our experience in this neck of the woods on a sandy track, but never say never …
Time to head home for a couple of drinks, a tender roast chook and duck fat potatoes and a delicious sweet potato. After dinner we enjoyed sitting out and relaxing on the verandah for the last evening of this trip.
Sunday
It’s a real shame to leave here, but we will definitely be back. Without too much fuss we packed up and hooked up and headed off to enjoy a breaky wrap and coffee in Nannup. We should really explore this town more than just the front street, but the caravanning options in town don’t get great reviews. We have stayed at the local NP a few years ago and it was lovely. Maybe we should give that a go again.
Despite some traffic heading into Bunbury we arrived there in good time to get icecream, and try to get cider. While we weren’t lucky on the latter, we did find the brewery so hopefully next time they have the cans needed to contain the brew so we can take some with us! It was still lovely to enjoy it there in the late afternoon sun.
So that was our introduction to a new spot. Of course the million dollar question is did we see many stars or even the 12P comet? Unfortunately we picked a full moon weekend to go to a place called Stargazers! Needless to say we didn’t see many stars after the moon rose. But before that, we saw loads and loads, including Orion, Scorpio, Crux and Gemini. We didn’t see the comet though, thanks to a cloudy and tree’d horizon.
I think the best time to be here if you are chasing stars, would be mid week, new moon, clear but warm skies. You could run around and turn off all the fairy lights on the ensuites, take a seat to the middle of the grassed area and enjoy a beautiful sky!
The Solo Avocado 