phartell

Wow, i woke to sun shine, that hasn't happened ofter. My first stop today was down a 10km dirt road, (don't tell the car hire company) in search of a giant tingle tree. This tree has the biggest base in the world around 24 metres. Everything in this country seems to have to either be the biggest, tallest, greatest or fastest!! Either way the base of this tree is so huge you can drive your car through it. A little futher down more dirt roads, (sorry hire car company) and I reached the valley of the giants. If I hadn't seen enough trees in the last 2 days here were some more. This steel walkway takes you for a walk around the canopy which i suppose is slghtly more intesting. Once back on the ground I ... read more

Finally the weather looks like it is getting better, well for a couple of days anyway. Travelling on from Augusta my first stop was the Giant Gloucester Tree. This tree was used as a fire lookout point as it is the highest tree in the area. Climbing this tree is a must. Spirling up the tree are metal spikes sticking out of the trunk fashioning a very rough looking ladder. With no ropes, harnesses or anything else to hold you to the tree is really gives you the incentive to hold on tight. Did I also mention that this tree is 250 feet tall!! Moving on from this little baby I went to the Bicentennial tree which is a whopping 260 feet and not only that but they have built a tower perched on top of ... read more

The following morning I carried on from Margaret River to Augusta. I had not planned on going here but someone told me it was a really nice place so I went for a look. The weather was like normal but I seemed to be leaving the rain behind. I drove through some massive Karri forests before finally reaching Augusta. Augusta sits on the very bottom on the coast and marks the point where the Indian and Southern Ocean meet. I went and climbed the lighthouse that marks this point and tried to look for some whales but again there were none around. Augusta is also famous for something else, Australia's best hostel. It has been voted this for the last eight years and on arriving I can see why. It is like being in a very ... read more

The following morning it had finally stopped raining long enough for me to walk to the garage and pick up the car. Next stop was the Perth Dive Academy to order the rest of my diving equipment. I now have everything I need to go diving and a very empty wallet. Oh well its only money!! I had intended to stop in Fremantle for the night but on getting there I really didn't like the place and with nowhere to park I just continued out the other side and eventually stopped in Bunbury. By now it had started to rain again. In between storms I managed to get a walk to the beach. The ocean looked evil. Massive rolling waves crashing in on the rocks. This looked more like the North Atlantic than Australia. The hostel ... read more

This morning was the last dash to Perth, just 160 km away. I stopped on the way in at Perth Dive Academy to get myself kitted up with some equipment for when I go back to Exmouth. I soon found that Diving is like any other hobby you can just keep spending. There seems to be no limit to the kind of stuff you can have and for some reason the most expensive equipment always looks the best. (Funny that). I was really good and left without buying anything, I did put quite a few things by for when I return though. My Next stop was the car hire garage, as the car seems to be making some very strange noises when I turn corners. It turns out that there is no oil in the power ... read more

As I left Geraldton the clouds closed in for the first time in months. Then the heavens opened and it started to rain. Listening to the radio on the way down you would have thought it was Christmas. Farmers and the like were literally dancing in the streets as this was the first rain they had seen for years. Probably wasn’t appropriate for me to ask when it was likely to stop!! When it does finally rain in WA it really knows how to. Coming from the UK I’m used to driving in rain but this was something else. The roads aren’t designed to channel the water away and it’s all you can do to hold onto the car as you aquaplane down the road with visibility not much greater than the end of the bonnet. ... read more

Geraldton, described in the brochure as an infusion of styles, attractions and entertainment with more than enough for everyone to enjoy. The person that wrote that statement got a bloody good degree in marketing. Geraldton is like many other towns in Western Australia. Small, run down and generally uninteresting. In contrast to this typically bland town the hostel is really nice. It’s a huge old building with large rooms and some lovely communal areas. Typical I find a nice hostel and it’s in a town with nothing much to see or do. I decided that I should make the best of it and head out to see what I could. Over the next 5 years Geraldton is trying to re-shape the waterfront which means currently it’s a giant building site so nothing much to look at ... read more

Finally I manage to get the car out of the car park and onto the road heading south. My first stop however is only a short hour’s drive to Coral Bay. Still part of the Ningaloo Reef, Coral Bay sits on the other end of the reef. The whole town is solely set up for tourists with only 126 people living there, all of which work in the tourist industry. I spent a couple of days lazing around there and starting to read my dive master manuals. As the town is so small it doesn’t have a water or electricity supply. Electricity comes from a generator and water comes from 850 metres underground. When it surfaces it is 56 degrees and has to cool in big pool before being used. It is full of minerals and ... read more

Ok so what am I doing still in Exmouth and about to undertake massive training course?? I still have about three weeks left in Australia before my visa runs out so I will be leaving Exmouth and carrying on my journey down to Perth and the bottom of Western Australia. When its time to give the car back I will now be leaving it in Perth and instead of flying out of the country I will be flying back up to Exmouth. It took less than 18 hours to get a 3 month extension on my visa. I have been given my pile of text books and stuff needed for the course, which is going to take me ages to read. The day before I was due to leave Exmouth I went out on the boat ... read more

Ok so the pier wasn't going to be my last dive.... I have now started my Rescue diver course. Yet another thick manual and this time loads more stuff to learn. There are only two of us doing the course and it’s now starting to get a little bit specialised. Myself and a German girl called Verena. My first day was taken up doing I first aid course and then it was into applying first aid to diving situations. After a day of learning in the freezing cold pool we were off to the beach to practice for real. Oh and yet another exam which I passed with 100% It was a cool windy day and the sea was really choppy, not the ideal weather for learning how to save people. We had lots of situations ... read more