Hi everyone! I'm back in Perth now after touring up the West Coast of Australia. It was really beautiful - clear water, white sand beaches and sun! Like always I kept a diary:
Day One 21/4/08:
I was picked up at Joondalup station and we set off North for our trip up the W coast. We first went to the Pinnacles desert, these amazing column-like structures of limstone and quartz (I think) with names like Batman, Dolphin and Bottle-Opener. Next we drove to some pure white sandunes to go sandboarding. It was so much fun, but I did nearly go into a bush! It was then so difficult to climb back up the sandune again because I kept sinking into the sand! We stopped for lunch and I dipped my feet into the Indian Ocean. We drove to the resort and arrived at Kabarri backpackers hostel after dark. Don't go there. The mattress was like concrete and there was noise all night long - the worst night's sleep I've had so far. But luckily being on a tour there's plenty of time to sleep on the coach the next day!
Day Two 22/4/08:
We had a bit of a detour this morning to the medical centre as one of our group was sick. We then headed to Kalbarri Gorge and walked to down to where we going to go abseiling. I was at the back of teh group and we kept getting lost, but that did mean that when taking the wrong path we were able to see the amazing Z-Bend. After eventually finding out where we were supposed to go we sat by the river for a bit before going abseiling down teh side of teh gorge. It was a bit scary at first but great fun! We had some lunch (spag bol sandwich without the spag. seriously, its really good!) and then drove to 'the loop'. We walked to Natures Window and saw the river. It was honestly one of the most amazing views I have ever seen. Next we drove to Shark Bay Reserve. We stopped at Billabong Roadhouse and had ice-cream and then went onto Shell Beach. It is, like the name suggests, covered in shells, quite painful to walk on in bare feet. We sat on the beach and watched the sunset - beautiful!
Day Three 23/4/08:
Today we got up early and headed to Monkey Mia. We saw the dolphins being fed in the water and then these MASSIVE pelicans landed on the beach. They started drinking the water out of the sprinklers and it was so funny! We went on a boat cruise and saw a few dolphins in the distance. We also saw this GIANT turtle which was floating towards us quite happily, then this was this almighty bang as it hit our catamaran. Ouch! We then sat on the beach and watched the pelicans for a bit before driving to look at the stromatolites. These are the 'beginning of life' and about 35 million years old. The water was so clear and really easy to see the columns of stromatolites. We had lunch and then drove to Carol Bay. We stayed at the Ningaloo Club which had no cold water when we arrived, and therefore no flushing toilets. Seeing as the hostel was full, it was truely disgusting. They also dont have any fresh water above a certain pint along the coast, so the water coming out of the taps, although it is filtered, tastes really salty. Kind of gross to brush your teeth in!
Day Four 24/4/08:
We spent today doing our own thing in Coral Bay. I booked to go on a tour snorkelling with whale sharks. I was so excited but unfortunely didn't see any! The crew on the boat caught a tuna and sprayed blood all over the boat when they pulled it in and we saw a seacow when we were coming back in. They're really weird looking - with a head like a walrus and a tail like a dolphin - and are called seacows because they eat seagrass! Altough we didn't see any whale sharks we did go snorkelling on the reef which was the first time Ive ever done it and it was amazing! The water just looks normal and then you put your head under and there is an incredible amount of coral and fish! I bought an underwater camera but the pictures just dont so it justice! I got very sunburnt that day sitting on the boat and then snorkelling! We then drove to Exmouth and had chish and fips for dinner - v. nice!
Day Five 25/4/08:
We spent today in Exmouth. We started by driving to the visitor centre at Yardie Creek in the Cape Range National Park and watched a film on whale sharks (just made me jealous). We then drove to Tourquoise Bay and spent the afternoon snorkelling on the reefs. The coral which makes up the reef is hard coral so its not colourful but grows really big and makes amazing structures. We saw loads of sea turtles, some of them really big, and some smaller reef sharks. I used up almost all my pictures, but I had one left so I decided to save it for something really special. And then the second time we went snorkelling it wasn't long before we came across a massive leopard shark basking on the bottom! We drove back to the accommodation and had a much-needed shower before heading out to see the sunset. Unfortunatly, it was too cloudy so we didn't bother to stay for it! For dinner we had steak cooked on teh barbie - yum!
Day Six 26/4/08:
Because I hadn't been able to see any whale sharks the last time I went I arranged to stay in Coral Bay for 4 extra nights and be picked up by the next avaliable tour bus passing through. I spent most of Saturday in bed because I wasn't very well. Then Day 7 27/4/08 I spent all say sunbathing on the beach! Read magazines, had pasta and tuna for dinner and played pool in the evening.
Day Eight 28/4/08:
Today I hired snorkelling equiptment and walked round to Paradise Beach for a snorkel and a sunbathe. I got v. tanned! I saw a couple of small sting-rays, one with lots of blue spots all over its back, and some other fish. No sharks luckily because, as I was on my own, I would be v. freaked out! I nearly had a heart-attack when I looked up and there was this massive fish swimming towards me!
Day Nine 29/4/08:
Today I was supposed to go on the whale sharks but it was called off due to weather! I was so disappointed I almost cried. Instead I went on a glass-bottomed boat and snorkelling tour of the bay. The water was a bit colder, maybe cause it had been raining, but we still saw a fair few cool things. I then went for a couple of hour walk along to the headland. The sand got really hard to walk through towards the end because I kept sinking again! I saw a few crabs which was cool but most scuttled away as I approached. I passed the shark sanctuary but it was the wrong time of year for them so I didn't see any. Someone I passed said there could be a few hundred feeding there at the same time at the right time of year! I had chish and fips for dinner (very nice).
Day Ten 30/4/08:
I was picked up this morning by the tour bus. We drove pretty much all say as we only had two days to get back to Perth. We stopped at a farmstay for the night. We had kangaroo stew for dinner and atempted to play a digaredoo, not very successfully! We were the only people staying there and people in my group kept saying it was like something out of 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.
Day Eleven 1/4/08:
Survived! We started by going to the Hutt River Province and meeting Prince Leonard. The Hutt River Province is this area which isn't techically part of Australia as Prince Leonard seceded which means he formally withdraw from the country and stopped paying taxes etc. It was an amazing place with its own curreny, stamps and flag! We all got our passports stamped and got a visa to enter and leave the country. We then had a tour of the 'government buildings', 'post office', church and souvenir shop. We then headed out and stopped for lunch (and a very quick sunbathe) and then went for some more sandboarding. This group had done the tour in a slightly different order to mine so instead of going to a wildlife park I went sandboarding twice. Not complaining though! Except I wasn't very good at staying on the sandboard and I kept falling off on the way down. We then drove back to Perth and arrived in the evening. It was so nice to stay in a room on my own again!
Day Twelve 2/4/08:
Today I went into Perth city and did some shopping! I mainly went around the shops and then walked down to the Bell Tower.
Day Thirteen 3/4/08 (today):
Today I spent the day in Rottnest Island, off the coast from Perth. I caught the ferry in the morning from Hillarys and arrived on the island about 11:20am. I started by going for a walk around part of the island. It was a truely beautiful place, crystal blue waters and green trees, and it was so peaceful. I was just sitting eating my lunch minding my own bussiness and then I notice something out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and there was this black lizard, not too big, coming towards me. I looked behind me and there were two other lizards basking in the sun and looking at me! I think they spelt my food and seemed very curious but scuttled off if I moved too much, so I very slowly got my camera out, took a few snaps, then left quietly. I walked back to Thompson Bay and then took the Bayseeker bus around the island. I then spent the last half an hour looking around at the shops.
So that's my latest update. I will upload my pictures soon (but there's a lot so it will take a long time!) and my last update before leaving Australia!
lots of love
Helenxxx
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