I just spent a nice, relaxing week in W.A. I flew out to Perth last Friday evening on a long 4.5 hour flight. After getting a bit of sleep, I started my tour up the coast early Saturday morning. The other people on the bus were Clint and Wes (our guides), Gary and Sarah (a couple from the UK), and Tammy and Vanessa (also from the UK). We started by seeing the amazing Pinnacles and Pink Lake. Next we stopped at a Wildlife Park where we got to see kangaroos, emus, camels, dingoes, and snakes. I had almost forgotten how remote all the little towns are in the outback. It’s so beautiful out there – sunny, hot weather; dusty, red roads; green shrubs and big boab trees. I could do without the hundreds of flies though! :-) Most of our drive was on the coast, and the cliffs and beaches are gorgeous! We stopped for the night in Kalbarri, where we had an amazing seafood dinner.
Sunday we went to see Z-bend gorge where we did a bit of hiking and abseiling…yea!!! Then we went to see Nature’s Window, a cool rock formation…in the shape of a window (surprise, surprise :-) ) We also saw the Hamelin Pool Stromatolites (for those who are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromatolite). Our last stop for the day was at Ocean Park to see some turtles and sharks. We stayed overnight in Denham.
On Monday, we went to Monkey Mia to see some dolphins. They swim very close to the shore here – you could almost touch them! It’s a bit too touristy now, though, so they don’t let you get in the water and swim with them anymore. :-( Next, we stopped at Eagle Bluff lookout and then Shell Beach, before heading to our hostel in Coral Bay.
On Tuesday morning, we went snorkelling on the Ningaloo Reef at Coral Bay – absolutely beautiful! Then we drove to Exmouth (seeing the plastic and very cheesy Big Prawn on the way). The Melbourne Cup (huge horse race in Oz) was on that day, so we stopped at the Potshot pub in Exmouth to have a few drinks and watch the race. We made a couple of small bets on the horses, but we all lost, of course! After the race, we headed out to Turquoise Bay (also on the Ningaloo Reef) for some more snorkelling. The fish and coral are very colourful and beautiful. While I was snorkelling in the afternoon, I saw 3 sharks pass by me!! Even though they were sort of small and probably harmless (they looked like nurse sharks), I freaked out and had to get out of the water. :-) For sunset we went to a nice lookout place at the lighthouse and drank some champagne. Back at the hostel, we had a few drinks and chatted before I had to say goodbye to the people I was travelling with…They were heading up to Broome, and I was staying in Exmouth for a day before heading back to Perth.
Wednesday, I just hung out in the small town of Exmouth. I bicycled for a few hours, went to the beach, studied a bit of Japanese, and finished my book, Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
All of Thursday was spent on the Greyhound bus on the very, very, very long drive back to Perth…how exciting, eh?
Friday, I got up early and took the ferry from Perth along the Swan River to Rottnest Island. I got to island about 10:30 and rented a bicycle to get around. (They don’t allow any vehicles to be brought onto the island.) I biked around the entire island, about 25-30 km. I saw some cute quokkas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quokka), beautiful flowers and coastlines. After my bike ride, I laid on the beach for a while and had a much earned beer at the Quokka Arms Hotel on the water before taking the ferry back to Fremantle later that afternoon. In Fremantle, I went to the Little Creatures Brewery to sample the best beer in W.A. :-)
Saturday, I explored Perth a bit more and went for a nice stroll to King’s Park. Then I walked down to the Supreme Court Gardens, where Muse was performing that night. The band was out doing their sound check so I stayed to listen for a bit. Then I went back to the hostel to get ready for the evening. MUSE put on a great show…They are just amazing!! I made my way to the very front…I have a few bruises, but it was all worth it!
Woke up Sunday and had a nice walk along river before flying back home…The week went by so fast! It took a couple of days to adjust back into work-mode again. Since we don’t have Thanksgiving over here, everyone is gearing up for Christmas, and I’m really getting into it. I’m going out this weekend to buy some decorations for the house.
Hope everyone is doing well. I’ll be posting photos from my trip in the next day or two.
