Well, its official, the clocks went back this morning so i suppose winter has arrived!! And with the temperatures set not to drop below 28 degrees this week, i like winter here!!
As im not prone to 'doing' winter these days its probably a good thing that i only have 4 days left in Australia, oh my god, 4 days!!! After 5 months i cant believe that when i get on the plane i will be actually leaving Australia, its taking some time getting used to! I am however very excited about the next couple of weeks, which will see me visit Singapore, Borneo and Thailand which will be a great way to end my trip.
This week, flying solo again, i headed down to Albany, about 500km or so south of Perth for the week. I got the coach, my first coach trip since the east coast and with no one to talk to, the six hours dragged a little, thank god for i-pods!! I am really pleased i went down there, it was very beautiful and reminded me a lot of New Zealand, the town is situated on the coast inbetween rolling hills and the temperature is a bit cooler as well! Although 21 degrees wasnt as cold as i expected it to be, although it was the first time i used a duvet in about 3 months, hehe!!
I didnt really get up to much, just went on lots of walks and enjoyed the spectactular scenery. On Thursday i hired a bike and cycled along the coast which was lots of fun and hard work too, did i mention it was hilly!! Although it was a beautiful day and every now and then i stopped at the next deserted beach to sit and read my book! Life is hard! I also had a very bizzare experience, i was just getting to cycle bike and looked up and a kangaroo was hopping straight for me! You might think, awww how cute, i can assure they are not! They are pretty massive animals and very powerful, they could knock you flying in a second! I could see visions of bikes going flying and arms being broken, so decided to stand very still as it bounced past at an incrediable speed, the power vibrating through the ground! It was at this moment, i decided that i really have had an incrediable time here and it is time to move on.....one more step along the world i go!!
I am enjoying this time to myself, the hostel is packed out every night and there is always somebody to talk to, if you want, but its nice just having some time to myself. It has been a very luxurious morning as everybody in my room has checked out and so i have the room to myself until 1pm! I decided it was a good opportunity to sort out my stuff and the pile for the post office is getting higher and higher!!
Yesterday, after wondering around town in the morning i decided it was probably hot enough to brave the beach, a mere 28!! And within the hour i was catching the last few summer rays! Perth is great like that, it can cater for a number of moods! This afternoon i am off out to check out the art gallery and hopefully catch the Grand Prix too!
Hope you are all having a gd weekend! xxx
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
Just a quick shout out to all those mums out there! New mums, expectant mums, mums who have been around for years....where would we be in this world without our mums?!!
Mine is the BEST and I love her very much!
xxx
Mine is the BEST and I love her very much!
xxx
Perth!
Where has this past month gone? I cant believe I have now been in Perth over a week, i have a week and a half left in Australia and Kirsty leaves tomorrow :-( Crazy!!
Another interesting Western Australia (WA) fact for you; WA has a population of 2 million, and Singapore 4 million, but Singapore can fit into WA, 4,000 times!!!! This is a massive state! Perth is said to be the most isolated city in the world, for its size!
I had heard so much about Perth before i arrived, all great things! And its been a really good week, but i think its safe to say now that im a Sydney girl at heart! Perth is very laid back and chilled and small really, the sun shines most days and its all very nice, but im not sure there is much happening for a 20 something!!
Saying that, we have done lots since we arrived, and its the longest I have stayed in one place since Darwin. We arrived and i just crashed out last weekend. There was no accomodation left for the weekend where we were staying and so decided to go to Freemantle for the weekend. Its really nice there, we went back for the day yesterday, and did a cruise down the Swan River rather than getting the train and I appreciated it a lot more as i was a lot more with it! I think Freeo also felt very European to us last week, which took some time to get used to after 2 weeks of the outback! They have a great market there though and stocked up on some lush fruit both weekends! Im really going to miss the fruit here! Its amazing, im not a fruit person at all at home, but here i dont go a day without eating at least 3 pieces!! Yesterday we also treated ourselves to lunch out, being Kirsty's last weekend and we went to Wagamamas!!! it was SOO good, I have never been to wags before, and sat outside with the indian ocean in the background!! Yaki Soba is still number 40 and it went down a treat! We had a lovely day yesterday and after chilling around Freeo, came back and then took a picnic up to Kings Park and watched the sun set over the skyline, with a bottle of wine. It was really nice and the park was full!! Lots of weddings and school proms and lots of people just enjoying the evening sunshine!
What else have we been up to this week? We had hoped to do a tour to Margaret River although there was no avalibility this week, so instead we opted for a wine tour around Swan Valley and what a great day we had! 5 wineries, a brewery and a chocolate factory later, we were more than giddy!!! We also thought it would be a good idea to buy a bottle of port!! So thats going back with Kirsty tomorrow and will be cracked open when I go up to Liverpool to visit her when im home!! The port is so good though, and Jen and I had really loved it on our Barossa Valley tour in Adelaide, so maybe its not just a drunken thing ;-)
On Friday we went on a day trip to the Pinnacles, a national park a couple of hours north of Perth (we had driven past it on our way down but didnt have the time to stop) with 1,000s of limestone formations. It was a really eiery experience as black clouds loomed, but a really cool sight to see! Unfortunatly, this tour was a bit disappointing. It was the worse I have been on since I have been away, which was a shame as Jen used the same company when she was here and had a great time. It just shows you what a difference a good guide makes. Never mind, you cant win them all and one out of all the day trips I have been on isnt bad at all, its just a shame it was my last one.
So thats been it really, we have enjoyed the sunshine in the parks and did a walk around the city and been mesmorised by shops and skylines and people, which we havent seen for ages!! Its been a great week as usual!
Tomorrow I am getting the bus down to Albany for the week. Six hours south, its going to be a bit fresh down there (21/22degrees!!) but is meant to have a beautiful rugged coastline and i really want to see some of the south west before i leave. Then I have 5 days back in Perth before i fly to Singapore. I cant believe it! Its top 10 time again, i have done too much to have a top 5 like New Zealand! So i need to get my thinking cap on and go back to last year and my time in Melbourne to start with! It seems like yesterday!
xxx
Another interesting Western Australia (WA) fact for you; WA has a population of 2 million, and Singapore 4 million, but Singapore can fit into WA, 4,000 times!!!! This is a massive state! Perth is said to be the most isolated city in the world, for its size!
I had heard so much about Perth before i arrived, all great things! And its been a really good week, but i think its safe to say now that im a Sydney girl at heart! Perth is very laid back and chilled and small really, the sun shines most days and its all very nice, but im not sure there is much happening for a 20 something!!
Saying that, we have done lots since we arrived, and its the longest I have stayed in one place since Darwin. We arrived and i just crashed out last weekend. There was no accomodation left for the weekend where we were staying and so decided to go to Freemantle for the weekend. Its really nice there, we went back for the day yesterday, and did a cruise down the Swan River rather than getting the train and I appreciated it a lot more as i was a lot more with it! I think Freeo also felt very European to us last week, which took some time to get used to after 2 weeks of the outback! They have a great market there though and stocked up on some lush fruit both weekends! Im really going to miss the fruit here! Its amazing, im not a fruit person at all at home, but here i dont go a day without eating at least 3 pieces!! Yesterday we also treated ourselves to lunch out, being Kirsty's last weekend and we went to Wagamamas!!! it was SOO good, I have never been to wags before, and sat outside with the indian ocean in the background!! Yaki Soba is still number 40 and it went down a treat! We had a lovely day yesterday and after chilling around Freeo, came back and then took a picnic up to Kings Park and watched the sun set over the skyline, with a bottle of wine. It was really nice and the park was full!! Lots of weddings and school proms and lots of people just enjoying the evening sunshine!
What else have we been up to this week? We had hoped to do a tour to Margaret River although there was no avalibility this week, so instead we opted for a wine tour around Swan Valley and what a great day we had! 5 wineries, a brewery and a chocolate factory later, we were more than giddy!!! We also thought it would be a good idea to buy a bottle of port!! So thats going back with Kirsty tomorrow and will be cracked open when I go up to Liverpool to visit her when im home!! The port is so good though, and Jen and I had really loved it on our Barossa Valley tour in Adelaide, so maybe its not just a drunken thing ;-)
On Friday we went on a day trip to the Pinnacles, a national park a couple of hours north of Perth (we had driven past it on our way down but didnt have the time to stop) with 1,000s of limestone formations. It was a really eiery experience as black clouds loomed, but a really cool sight to see! Unfortunatly, this tour was a bit disappointing. It was the worse I have been on since I have been away, which was a shame as Jen used the same company when she was here and had a great time. It just shows you what a difference a good guide makes. Never mind, you cant win them all and one out of all the day trips I have been on isnt bad at all, its just a shame it was my last one.
So thats been it really, we have enjoyed the sunshine in the parks and did a walk around the city and been mesmorised by shops and skylines and people, which we havent seen for ages!! Its been a great week as usual!
Tomorrow I am getting the bus down to Albany for the week. Six hours south, its going to be a bit fresh down there (21/22degrees!!) but is meant to have a beautiful rugged coastline and i really want to see some of the south west before i leave. Then I have 5 days back in Perth before i fly to Singapore. I cant believe it! Its top 10 time again, i have done too much to have a top 5 like New Zealand! So i need to get my thinking cap on and go back to last year and my time in Melbourne to start with! It seems like yesterday!
xxx
Thursday, 19 March 2009
West is Best Part III - The Final Chapter!
Our last few days of our roadtrip were spent hopping from one place to another, getting closer and closer to Perth.
Day 11- We left Denham and drove back through the spectacular shark bay to the highway, in the comfort an air conditioned, fly free zone! Today was one of the hardest drives, it was 5 hours to Kalbarri, but today more than others the road seemed never ending and the sign posts were few and far between, it was a long morning. but completly worth the wait! We headed to Kalbarri National straight away, as we drove past it on the way in and thought, why not!! 28km off the highway, an unsealed road, is always a bit of fun and tests the driving! The park stretches for 1,000 sq/km and it comprised of the most spectacular gorges and rock formations that I have seen since Kings Canyon on our Uluru tour!! We stopped off at a number of different look outs and short walks. It was SO SO hot and the flys were horrific, but we stuck it out and was so pleased we did! There was a fine art, to taking pictures that day, i can assure you, to make sure there were no flys or flying hands in the way!!
When we got to the hostel and checked in, we were told it was a mild day of 39 degrees, but that it would have been 12 degrees hotter, at least, in the national park!!! crazy!! I knew it was hot, but blimey!!! By the end of the day, i was completly drained and exhausted! Kalbarri is a small seaside town where a lot of people from Perth go on their holidays. The national park is their main attraction and we only had one night here. To recover, we spent the next morning on the beach and then in the afternoon headed along the costal road to Geraldton, Capital of the mid west and civilisation!!! This was the only part of our journey that we could see the Indian Ocean from the road and made a refreshing change!
Arriving in Geraldton was like arriving in central London, after 2 weeks of nothing. They drove in lanes and everything there, which was all thoroughly confusing!! We saw our first McDonalds in 2 weeks, so knew then that we were back in the 'real' world!! Going from all the small villages that we visited to a town with a population of 19,000 it was a real shock! We arrived late afternoon on Day 12 and then had a whole day here last Wednesday, which we used to acclimtise and do some odd jobs, such as washing! We also visited the Museum of Western Australia, which was really interesting and gave an insight into the local indiginous history. It also had a temporary exhibition on HMAS Sydney, a Australian naval war ship that disappeared off the west coast in 1941 with 645 men on board. After a skirmish with a german ship, it was never found, until March 2008. It was a really interesting exhibition, and to think that it has only just been found, the history is still waiting to be written.
Our last day i drove 590km from Geraldton to Perth, capital of WA. We left early and made good time, although the last 100km were a struggle! And the last 20km seemed to take hours! We dropped the car off at the airport, thinking that would be easier, although it has to be the most unsigned airport in the world!! We only saw a sign with 3km to go, which is just ridiculous! Although on the way in we did drive though Guildford (which made Kirsty happy!) and past Heath Ledger's school, which was worth the slight detour! We got the shuttle into town from the airport, the joys of public transport!! It took for ever and was so unorganised!
So thats it, the greatest road trip ever! Completly worth every km and every kangaroo that got in our way!!
Day 11- We left Denham and drove back through the spectacular shark bay to the highway, in the comfort an air conditioned, fly free zone! Today was one of the hardest drives, it was 5 hours to Kalbarri, but today more than others the road seemed never ending and the sign posts were few and far between, it was a long morning. but completly worth the wait! We headed to Kalbarri National straight away, as we drove past it on the way in and thought, why not!! 28km off the highway, an unsealed road, is always a bit of fun and tests the driving! The park stretches for 1,000 sq/km and it comprised of the most spectacular gorges and rock formations that I have seen since Kings Canyon on our Uluru tour!! We stopped off at a number of different look outs and short walks. It was SO SO hot and the flys were horrific, but we stuck it out and was so pleased we did! There was a fine art, to taking pictures that day, i can assure you, to make sure there were no flys or flying hands in the way!!
When we got to the hostel and checked in, we were told it was a mild day of 39 degrees, but that it would have been 12 degrees hotter, at least, in the national park!!! crazy!! I knew it was hot, but blimey!!! By the end of the day, i was completly drained and exhausted! Kalbarri is a small seaside town where a lot of people from Perth go on their holidays. The national park is their main attraction and we only had one night here. To recover, we spent the next morning on the beach and then in the afternoon headed along the costal road to Geraldton, Capital of the mid west and civilisation!!! This was the only part of our journey that we could see the Indian Ocean from the road and made a refreshing change!
Arriving in Geraldton was like arriving in central London, after 2 weeks of nothing. They drove in lanes and everything there, which was all thoroughly confusing!! We saw our first McDonalds in 2 weeks, so knew then that we were back in the 'real' world!! Going from all the small villages that we visited to a town with a population of 19,000 it was a real shock! We arrived late afternoon on Day 12 and then had a whole day here last Wednesday, which we used to acclimtise and do some odd jobs, such as washing! We also visited the Museum of Western Australia, which was really interesting and gave an insight into the local indiginous history. It also had a temporary exhibition on HMAS Sydney, a Australian naval war ship that disappeared off the west coast in 1941 with 645 men on board. After a skirmish with a german ship, it was never found, until March 2008. It was a really interesting exhibition, and to think that it has only just been found, the history is still waiting to be written.
Our last day i drove 590km from Geraldton to Perth, capital of WA. We left early and made good time, although the last 100km were a struggle! And the last 20km seemed to take hours! We dropped the car off at the airport, thinking that would be easier, although it has to be the most unsigned airport in the world!! We only saw a sign with 3km to go, which is just ridiculous! Although on the way in we did drive though Guildford (which made Kirsty happy!) and past Heath Ledger's school, which was worth the slight detour! We got the shuttle into town from the airport, the joys of public transport!! It took for ever and was so unorganised!
So thats it, the greatest road trip ever! Completly worth every km and every kangaroo that got in our way!!
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
West is Best part II - Shark Bay World Heritage Area!
Hello again from an overcast and drizzly Perth!
So on Day 8 of our adventure we arrived in Denham Australia's most westerly town. Which is pretty cool as i have also been to Australia's most easterly point of the mainland (slightly different i know, but cool all the same!)
We turned off the North West Costal Highway into Shark Bay World Heritage Area. I have now been to 6 out of the 16 world heritage sights in Australia and this one was definitly up there with Uluru National Park for sure. The drive off the highway to Denham was the most scenic drive of our whole adventure.
We stopped off at many significant sights along the way, all which contribue to the area's distinction. But my, were they fly ridden! At one point it was SOOO bad, it was like stepping into a fly farm, which was a shame as we were at Shell Beach and this is where we had planned to sit and have our lunch, no chance!! Despite the flys it was still pretty impressive and we just grim and beared it for as long as humanly possible, the shells go 10meters deep in places!
Another stop was Hamelin Pool, which is a marine reserve containing the world's best known colony of Stromatolites. now i dont really understand this, but the book says, they are the oldest form of life on earth! Hamelin Pool is the first living example found in the world and is estimated to be 3,000 years old!!! Stromatolites are brown rock like formations which are made up of modest microbes almost identical to organisms that existed 19 million years ago!!!! All pretty cool anyway and worth the fly ridden stop :-)
So by the time we arrived at Denham, we were both pretty traumatised. All the hostels along the coast were really quiet and we were blessed with another room to ourselves and kitchen and bathroom too, as the hostel was made up of lots of appartments, luxury! So we just made the most of it, wandered along Denham's one street with the Emu's and that was about it!!
Day 9 - was Christmas Day take two, for sure! It was all about the dolphins at Monkey Mia and was such a special day. It was like going to bed on Christmas Eve, i was just soo excited at the thought of seeing dolphins and we were up at 6am to make sure we did!!
The wild dolphins of monkey mia have been coming to the shores of Shark Bay for 30 years, a lady thought it would be a good idea to train them to come into the shore by feeding them and they have done ever since. When the road was sealed and more and more people found out about it, a more controlled enviroment was set up. The dolphins are still completly wild, and dont necessarily come to the shore everyday, you are just unlucky if they dont! Thankfully by the time we arrived at 7.30am they were already there and the first feed was under way. They are fed up to 3 times in one morning a third of their daily intake, so that in the afternoon they still have to go off and hunt. 6 adult females are fed. When we first arrived it was a bit of a circus, with about 150 people in the water, but after the first feed they soon disappeared and we were front row!!
It was just an amazing experience, being in the water, fairly shallow and the dolphins just swimming past you, and out in the distance as you stood there and watched, it was very special. The second feed happened fairly quickly as the dolphins hung around and people are just randomly picked to feed them!! It was like Shrek, pick me pick me and yes, they did!!!! Hooray!! Now it was even more like Christmas!! it was sooo cool, over in a moment but i got to feed a wild dolphin! And then i got picked out again, haha!!! It must have been my lucky day, so Kirsty got to as well! Talk about the cat who had the cream!! We watched the third feeding, sitting on the beach with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction, and then we saw a turtle too! Not bad as by now it was only 9.30am!!! We chilled out on the beach for the rest of the morning and by lunch time it was like your own personal oven, so we headed back to find out on the radio it was 39degrees! We went out in the evening and had a drink to celebrate, Saturday night out in Denham, not quite as happening as the Borderline!!
Day 10 - A chilled out Sunday morning on the beach, although fairly windswept by the end, i dont know the things you do for the cause!!! We escaped the afternoon sun with a visit to the World Heritage Discovery Centre where we learned about all we had seen and experienced over the past couple of days. It was a really modern exhibition but very informative with some stunning photography. In the evening we went back to Monkey Mia, about 28km east and had some fun on the beach with the flys and sunset before we went on an aboriginal dreaming evening. It was SO amazing! An aboriginal guide, led us out into the bush a bit and we sat around the camp fire, learning about the aboriginal people of the area and the stories they are told from childhood about how the land was formed. In that part of Shark Bay it is known as Malgana Country, although there are about 16 different tribes in the area, all with thier own language (not english!). It was a really great evening, a lovely experience as the stars came out and the guy played the didigerdoo and we ate fish that had been caught that day and cooked on the fire in front of us.
The drive back was a bit exciting, the Australian bush comes alive at night and we saw snakes, rabbits (ok, not so Australian) and loads of Kangaroos on the road, it was all very eventful in the pitch black, i had to drive so slow and be on true kangaroo alert! I think at one point kirsty made me jump more than the kangaroo on the road next to us!!!
So that was our weekend in Shark Bay, amazing! just when we thought our trip couldnt get any better, it just did!! I nearly have as many dolphin pictures as i do crocodiles, which is alot!!
I will leave the final part of our trip for another post! xx
So on Day 8 of our adventure we arrived in Denham Australia's most westerly town. Which is pretty cool as i have also been to Australia's most easterly point of the mainland (slightly different i know, but cool all the same!)
We turned off the North West Costal Highway into Shark Bay World Heritage Area. I have now been to 6 out of the 16 world heritage sights in Australia and this one was definitly up there with Uluru National Park for sure. The drive off the highway to Denham was the most scenic drive of our whole adventure.
We stopped off at many significant sights along the way, all which contribue to the area's distinction. But my, were they fly ridden! At one point it was SOOO bad, it was like stepping into a fly farm, which was a shame as we were at Shell Beach and this is where we had planned to sit and have our lunch, no chance!! Despite the flys it was still pretty impressive and we just grim and beared it for as long as humanly possible, the shells go 10meters deep in places!
Another stop was Hamelin Pool, which is a marine reserve containing the world's best known colony of Stromatolites. now i dont really understand this, but the book says, they are the oldest form of life on earth! Hamelin Pool is the first living example found in the world and is estimated to be 3,000 years old!!! Stromatolites are brown rock like formations which are made up of modest microbes almost identical to organisms that existed 19 million years ago!!!! All pretty cool anyway and worth the fly ridden stop :-)
So by the time we arrived at Denham, we were both pretty traumatised. All the hostels along the coast were really quiet and we were blessed with another room to ourselves and kitchen and bathroom too, as the hostel was made up of lots of appartments, luxury! So we just made the most of it, wandered along Denham's one street with the Emu's and that was about it!!
Day 9 - was Christmas Day take two, for sure! It was all about the dolphins at Monkey Mia and was such a special day. It was like going to bed on Christmas Eve, i was just soo excited at the thought of seeing dolphins and we were up at 6am to make sure we did!!
The wild dolphins of monkey mia have been coming to the shores of Shark Bay for 30 years, a lady thought it would be a good idea to train them to come into the shore by feeding them and they have done ever since. When the road was sealed and more and more people found out about it, a more controlled enviroment was set up. The dolphins are still completly wild, and dont necessarily come to the shore everyday, you are just unlucky if they dont! Thankfully by the time we arrived at 7.30am they were already there and the first feed was under way. They are fed up to 3 times in one morning a third of their daily intake, so that in the afternoon they still have to go off and hunt. 6 adult females are fed. When we first arrived it was a bit of a circus, with about 150 people in the water, but after the first feed they soon disappeared and we were front row!!
It was just an amazing experience, being in the water, fairly shallow and the dolphins just swimming past you, and out in the distance as you stood there and watched, it was very special. The second feed happened fairly quickly as the dolphins hung around and people are just randomly picked to feed them!! It was like Shrek, pick me pick me and yes, they did!!!! Hooray!! Now it was even more like Christmas!! it was sooo cool, over in a moment but i got to feed a wild dolphin! And then i got picked out again, haha!!! It must have been my lucky day, so Kirsty got to as well! Talk about the cat who had the cream!! We watched the third feeding, sitting on the beach with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction, and then we saw a turtle too! Not bad as by now it was only 9.30am!!! We chilled out on the beach for the rest of the morning and by lunch time it was like your own personal oven, so we headed back to find out on the radio it was 39degrees! We went out in the evening and had a drink to celebrate, Saturday night out in Denham, not quite as happening as the Borderline!!
Day 10 - A chilled out Sunday morning on the beach, although fairly windswept by the end, i dont know the things you do for the cause!!! We escaped the afternoon sun with a visit to the World Heritage Discovery Centre where we learned about all we had seen and experienced over the past couple of days. It was a really modern exhibition but very informative with some stunning photography. In the evening we went back to Monkey Mia, about 28km east and had some fun on the beach with the flys and sunset before we went on an aboriginal dreaming evening. It was SO amazing! An aboriginal guide, led us out into the bush a bit and we sat around the camp fire, learning about the aboriginal people of the area and the stories they are told from childhood about how the land was formed. In that part of Shark Bay it is known as Malgana Country, although there are about 16 different tribes in the area, all with thier own language (not english!). It was a really great evening, a lovely experience as the stars came out and the guy played the didigerdoo and we ate fish that had been caught that day and cooked on the fire in front of us.
The drive back was a bit exciting, the Australian bush comes alive at night and we saw snakes, rabbits (ok, not so Australian) and loads of Kangaroos on the road, it was all very eventful in the pitch black, i had to drive so slow and be on true kangaroo alert! I think at one point kirsty made me jump more than the kangaroo on the road next to us!!!
So that was our weekend in Shark Bay, amazing! just when we thought our trip couldnt get any better, it just did!! I nearly have as many dolphin pictures as i do crocodiles, which is alot!!
I will leave the final part of our trip for another post! xx
Friday, 13 March 2009
West is Best Part I!!!
Hello from Perth!!
Well i dont know where to start!! Kirsty and I have just had the most amazing two weeks travelling down the west coast of Australia. 3692km, Australia's biggest state, equivalent to the size of India!!!!
We left Broome, after I had a great week there, the weather was lovely, although very hunid, the hostel was great and I just chilled and made the most of the pool. So we left Broome in a shiny white car and headed to Port Headland on our first day of the ultimate road trip! We knew we would see nothing that day and we didnt! 600km of nothing, apart from 2 roadhouses (basic service stations). It was GREAT!! We plugged in the i-pod and put the world to right and i just drove and drove and drove! And by now was pleased that the car was an automatic! A new experience for me, but one i came to love! So we arrived in Port Headland, after 7 hours of driving and shattered. This was only just a stop over, there is nothing there really - although it is Australia's biggest export of Iron Ore. There are not even any hostels so we had the luxury of a hotel, the first for me since New Year! And it was lovely, but very wierd. I am now very much at home on the top bunk and people coming in and out of the room all night, so i did find it all a bit strange and very quiet!!!! But it was a much needed rest stop.
Day 2 - was intended as a short drive day, to counter act the day before. Just 3 and a bit hours to Karratha in the Pilbera Region. So we just poodled along really as the clouds got blacker and blacker. We were aware that a cyclone was forming off the pilbera coast, but it was still not known where it was going to hit. By the time we got to Karratha it turned out it was coming straight for us!!!! Typical!!! At this point i thought me and the coasts of this country and just not meant to be! The hostel owners at Karratha advised us to keep going to Exmouth, as if we didnt we would likley be stuck for at least 4 days, but Exmouth was 6 hours away and by now it was 1.45pm and Kirsty does not drive!! I was SOO tierd, but really didnt want to experience what Jen and I went through at Airlie Beach. So we went for. 2 cans of red bull, a bag of mini eggs (lovely proper tasting UK ones!!), one very long playlist and 6 hours later we made it to Exmouth!! I couldn't believe how far i had driven over 2 days, i think about 1,600km, which is just crazy and i would love to know how far that was in miles and from London to where?!!!
Day 3 - Sunny Exmouth! And boy was I pleased to see the sunshine when i woke up on Sunday morning and a lovely 35degrees! Exmouth - a former US naval communications base, small town which you could drive through without even noticing, population about 2,500km. But home to some of the most spectacular beaches i have ever seen! We had 3 nights here in total and it was stunning. Our first full day we stayed close to town, you still had to drive to the beach, but it was only a few km and i could cope with that! We went up to the lighthouse as well and got fantastic views of the coast line and the outback in the distance, it was stunning! An afternoon on the beach was very much needed, although when the temperature started to push 40, it was like walking on coals!
Day 4 - our last day in Exmouth and we spent it exlporing the amazing Cape Range National Park. You know its not a bad monday, when you hire your snorkel gear, throw it in the boot and then off you go for the day! And thats exactly what we did! The park was on the western side of the cape (if you look at a map) and as we drove in a kangaroo jumped out in front of the car and emus were wondering down the road (and around the town too!!) We got the ticket and thought that there was no way that the beaches could look as good as that, but oh my god they did!! It was the most amazing day ever!! I had a great time snorkelling at Turquoise Bay (very aptly named) the reef was amazing, and i will come onto that in a bit. We beach hopped for the day, and saw hardly anyone! It was just lovely and we were both completly blown away!
Day 5 - We left Exmouth and headed 155km south to Coral Bay. One of the great things about hiring the car was that we could stop for photos whenever we wanted and go wherever. On the way to Coral Bay we took a detour to Charles Knife Canyon and it was completly spectacular! This was real Australia and just completly amazing! The canyon was great and you got great views of the sea in the background.
Coral Bay - is just that, a bay!!! Population 50!!!!!! No running water as such, everything, including the showers were salt water!! One shop, petrol station, a few tourist offices and thats about it really. The bay was beautiful and we had 2 nights here. Its not a recognised town, hence the very basic facilites and it is very much just bare essentials. It was here that we were first introduced to our friends that would then be with us for the rest of our trip....the flys! Dear god, they were everywhere!! Buzzing around, up your nose, in your ears, it was horrible! Thankfully i still had my fly net that i bought for Uluru. I never thought i would wear it EVER in public, but i was never so grateful for it! You look like an idiot fly swatting with your hands, so i figured you might as well look like an idiot with a fly net on and conserve some energy in the heat. From here on in we never had a day below 35 degrees!! I have never got through so much insect repellent and sun tan cream in two weeks!!!
Between Exmouth and Coral Bay, all along the coast is the Ningaloo Marine Park. 250km long and only one of two reefs to be on the west side of a country in the world. Most people say that it is better than the Great Barrier Reef. Ningaloo is a fringe reef, so it is much more accesible and at most points is only 100m off shore. It is home to 500 species of fish and 220 species of hard coral. It is also home to the whale shark, the largest fish in the world, it can weigh up to 21 tonnes and 18m long!!! I explored the reef by snorkelling at Exmouth and Coral Bay and then both Kirsty and I went on a glass bottom boat and it was completly amazing!! I have never seen a reef like it. I didnt go to the Great Barrier Reef, but Kirsty did on her last trip and she said that Ningaloo was miles better! We didnt see any whale sharks, as it was out of season, but the coral was just amazing, it was great to see it from the glass bottom boat and then just jump in and have a snorkel too!
Day 7 - after a morning on the beach we headed back into civilisation (well as much as you can on the west coast!!) and headed 260km to Carnarvon. Here was literally just an over night stop, to break the journey, gather supplies at the supermarket and put my photos onto CD- by now i had taken 246!!! Opps!! We stayed in a caravan this night and it was SO much fun and such good value! It was all very grown up with the car and everything and by now i felt like i was truly on holiday!
Next stop and week 2- Shark Bay World Heritage Area. I will let you digest all this first though and blog again early next week with part II as we are off to Freemantle for the weekend to keep working on this tan, which has now suddenly appeared from nowhere, hooray!!!
Hope all is rockin with you guys!! xxx
Well i dont know where to start!! Kirsty and I have just had the most amazing two weeks travelling down the west coast of Australia. 3692km, Australia's biggest state, equivalent to the size of India!!!!
We left Broome, after I had a great week there, the weather was lovely, although very hunid, the hostel was great and I just chilled and made the most of the pool. So we left Broome in a shiny white car and headed to Port Headland on our first day of the ultimate road trip! We knew we would see nothing that day and we didnt! 600km of nothing, apart from 2 roadhouses (basic service stations). It was GREAT!! We plugged in the i-pod and put the world to right and i just drove and drove and drove! And by now was pleased that the car was an automatic! A new experience for me, but one i came to love! So we arrived in Port Headland, after 7 hours of driving and shattered. This was only just a stop over, there is nothing there really - although it is Australia's biggest export of Iron Ore. There are not even any hostels so we had the luxury of a hotel, the first for me since New Year! And it was lovely, but very wierd. I am now very much at home on the top bunk and people coming in and out of the room all night, so i did find it all a bit strange and very quiet!!!! But it was a much needed rest stop.
Day 2 - was intended as a short drive day, to counter act the day before. Just 3 and a bit hours to Karratha in the Pilbera Region. So we just poodled along really as the clouds got blacker and blacker. We were aware that a cyclone was forming off the pilbera coast, but it was still not known where it was going to hit. By the time we got to Karratha it turned out it was coming straight for us!!!! Typical!!! At this point i thought me and the coasts of this country and just not meant to be! The hostel owners at Karratha advised us to keep going to Exmouth, as if we didnt we would likley be stuck for at least 4 days, but Exmouth was 6 hours away and by now it was 1.45pm and Kirsty does not drive!! I was SOO tierd, but really didnt want to experience what Jen and I went through at Airlie Beach. So we went for. 2 cans of red bull, a bag of mini eggs (lovely proper tasting UK ones!!), one very long playlist and 6 hours later we made it to Exmouth!! I couldn't believe how far i had driven over 2 days, i think about 1,600km, which is just crazy and i would love to know how far that was in miles and from London to where?!!!
Day 3 - Sunny Exmouth! And boy was I pleased to see the sunshine when i woke up on Sunday morning and a lovely 35degrees! Exmouth - a former US naval communications base, small town which you could drive through without even noticing, population about 2,500km. But home to some of the most spectacular beaches i have ever seen! We had 3 nights here in total and it was stunning. Our first full day we stayed close to town, you still had to drive to the beach, but it was only a few km and i could cope with that! We went up to the lighthouse as well and got fantastic views of the coast line and the outback in the distance, it was stunning! An afternoon on the beach was very much needed, although when the temperature started to push 40, it was like walking on coals!
Day 4 - our last day in Exmouth and we spent it exlporing the amazing Cape Range National Park. You know its not a bad monday, when you hire your snorkel gear, throw it in the boot and then off you go for the day! And thats exactly what we did! The park was on the western side of the cape (if you look at a map) and as we drove in a kangaroo jumped out in front of the car and emus were wondering down the road (and around the town too!!) We got the ticket and thought that there was no way that the beaches could look as good as that, but oh my god they did!! It was the most amazing day ever!! I had a great time snorkelling at Turquoise Bay (very aptly named) the reef was amazing, and i will come onto that in a bit. We beach hopped for the day, and saw hardly anyone! It was just lovely and we were both completly blown away!
Day 5 - We left Exmouth and headed 155km south to Coral Bay. One of the great things about hiring the car was that we could stop for photos whenever we wanted and go wherever. On the way to Coral Bay we took a detour to Charles Knife Canyon and it was completly spectacular! This was real Australia and just completly amazing! The canyon was great and you got great views of the sea in the background.
Coral Bay - is just that, a bay!!! Population 50!!!!!! No running water as such, everything, including the showers were salt water!! One shop, petrol station, a few tourist offices and thats about it really. The bay was beautiful and we had 2 nights here. Its not a recognised town, hence the very basic facilites and it is very much just bare essentials. It was here that we were first introduced to our friends that would then be with us for the rest of our trip....the flys! Dear god, they were everywhere!! Buzzing around, up your nose, in your ears, it was horrible! Thankfully i still had my fly net that i bought for Uluru. I never thought i would wear it EVER in public, but i was never so grateful for it! You look like an idiot fly swatting with your hands, so i figured you might as well look like an idiot with a fly net on and conserve some energy in the heat. From here on in we never had a day below 35 degrees!! I have never got through so much insect repellent and sun tan cream in two weeks!!!
Between Exmouth and Coral Bay, all along the coast is the Ningaloo Marine Park. 250km long and only one of two reefs to be on the west side of a country in the world. Most people say that it is better than the Great Barrier Reef. Ningaloo is a fringe reef, so it is much more accesible and at most points is only 100m off shore. It is home to 500 species of fish and 220 species of hard coral. It is also home to the whale shark, the largest fish in the world, it can weigh up to 21 tonnes and 18m long!!! I explored the reef by snorkelling at Exmouth and Coral Bay and then both Kirsty and I went on a glass bottom boat and it was completly amazing!! I have never seen a reef like it. I didnt go to the Great Barrier Reef, but Kirsty did on her last trip and she said that Ningaloo was miles better! We didnt see any whale sharks, as it was out of season, but the coral was just amazing, it was great to see it from the glass bottom boat and then just jump in and have a snorkel too!
Day 7 - after a morning on the beach we headed back into civilisation (well as much as you can on the west coast!!) and headed 260km to Carnarvon. Here was literally just an over night stop, to break the journey, gather supplies at the supermarket and put my photos onto CD- by now i had taken 246!!! Opps!! We stayed in a caravan this night and it was SO much fun and such good value! It was all very grown up with the car and everything and by now i felt like i was truly on holiday!
Next stop and week 2- Shark Bay World Heritage Area. I will let you digest all this first though and blog again early next week with part II as we are off to Freemantle for the weekend to keep working on this tan, which has now suddenly appeared from nowhere, hooray!!!
Hope all is rockin with you guys!! xxx
Thursday, 12 March 2009
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