http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/phartell/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from phartell en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:08:46 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:08:46 +0000 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 fastestEither way the base of this tree is so huge you can drive your car throu http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Albany/blog-80114.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Walpole/Valley-of-the-Giants/blog-80107.html 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 an http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Augusta/blog-79340.html 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 moneyI had intended to stop in Fremantle for the night but on getting there I really didn't like the place and with nowh http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Bunbury/blog-78191.html 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 tha http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Perth/Perth-City/blog-77675.html 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 wasnrsquot appropriate for me to ask when it was likely to stopWhen it does f http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Lancelin/blog-76867.html 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. Itrsquos a hug http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Geraldton/blog-76863.html 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 hourrsquos 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 ther http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Denham/blog-76861.html Ok so what am I doing still in Exmouth and about to undertake massive training courseI 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 u http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Exmouth/blog-74778.html 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 itrsquos 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 divi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Exmouth/blog-74777.html The next day of diving didn't happen at all. We headed out on the boat and spent an hour getting to the dive sight. The boat didn't even slow down but spun round and headed back to the marina. The waves were too big and the current to strong to go diving To catch up for lost time the next day we did three dives. Rob being a really good instructor didn't worry too much about the theory once under http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Exmouth/blog-74772.html I arrived in Exmouth and checked in for the week The longest I have ever spent in one place. Luckily the hostel is nice and clean. I'm here for so long as I'm starting my PADI Open Water Diving course. I had planned on arriving Wednesday afternoon and spending Thursday having a look round. After going to the dive shop and being given a 300 page manual and told to read it I didn't get to do much http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Exmouth/blog-72000.html I left early the next morning for the 6 hour drive to Port Headland. I usually try and leave early so that I get time at the next place to have a look around before moving on the next day. In the case of Port Headland I wish I hadn't. The guide book says nothing about how much of a dump the town is. I hope no one from Port Headland will ever read this. Actually I hope they do and then maybe they http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Port-Hedland/blog-71999.html I have promised a few people this so hopefully I now understand enough to be able to write it. Irsquom sure some of this is still opinionated and that other people may have had a totally different perception but this is mine.When I came to Australia I knew virtually nothing about the Aboriginal people and it was not until I left New South Wales and Victoria behind and headed into South Australia http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-69351.html The drive to Broome was 1049km and was going to take 10 hours. Now normally I would not attempt to drive such a great distance. Unfortunately I had no choice as there was nowhere to stop along the way. There are two towns between Kununarra and Broome Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. They are both aboriginal towns and several different people all gave me exactly the same advice of donrsquot sto http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Broome/blog-69228.html To get to the east coast I have to go back to Tennant Creek to get on the Barkly Highway. I wanted to stop over in Katherine as I liked the place the first time round.When I checked in someone was booking a canoe for the Katherine gorge. Having managed to go the whole of New Zealand without doing this I book one too.Up at 6.30am to get to the Gorge in time to sort out my canoe. Unfortunately they http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Katherine/Katherine-Gorge/blog-69209.html The drive from Katherine to Kununurra takes you along 530km of Victoria Highway. Otherwise known as the forgotten highway. If they donrsquot start repairing it soon it will totally fall apart. Without warning you are faced with a road full of pot holes some a foot deep. It was a boring drive made even more annoying by my CD player refusing to play anything. I also caught up with a vehicle that http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Kununurra/blog-69226.html Just outside of Darwin I stopped again at the Aboriginal Arts centre just so that I could play with the snake I was then off into Kakadu National Park passing through a little place called Humpty Doo. Nothing important about the place at all I just liked the name. Jabiru is at the heart of the National Park but being fully booked up I had to stay in Cooinda. The wet season finished late this ye http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Kakadu-National-Park/Cooinda/blog-69208.html This morning the car was packed to capacity. Along with mine and Helen's stuff we were also taking Lou and Bill up to Darwin and they had a lot of stuff. We packed it all in and headed off for the final three hour trip to the top. With every mile north we went the temperature went up and up. Just before we got to Darwin we stopped off at the Aboriginal Art Gallery and were treated to a display of http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Darwin/blog-69205.html The Tropic Of Capricorn is only about 50km above Alice Springs. We soon found the line across the road although it didn't really feel any warmer above the line. The drive up to Tennants Creek was quite a boring one so it was good that I had company. We stopped at the Devils Marbles about 30 minutes before Tennant Creek. These are hundreds of spherical rocks scattered across the ground. Some are ve http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Katherine/blog-66920.html