Perth and Parents

---

After working for 3 months I find myself wanting to take a holiday and fortunately for me, so do my Parents. We make a plan to meet up in Perth and I also book a 4 day trip up the west coast to coincide with my arrival to WA. Here is what happened.



I awake in my Sydney Hostel with a fuzzy head and a dry mouth (wouldn’t want to break with blog tradition.) I pack up my bags and say my goodbyes to my roommates ( my Canadian one left but I was lucky enough to replace him with a English guy and a Irish girl.) After a brief scare while checking my flight details I realise that my flight is 30 minutes before I thought it was. Due to problems with the train lines I grab a bus and head for the airport. Apart from a two hour flight delay the journey is a smooth one. I arrive in Perth tired and make my way to the Hostel. As I enter my new room I am reminded of just how good I have had it the past few months being in a private room. The hostel isn’t bad and certainly isn’t the worst one I have stayed in but is far from the best and I am glad to be spending only one night.

I have a little look round Perth and the city seems nice enough although a little quiet compared to Sydney. I grab an early night and apart from being woken up by some random at 4 am looking for a man named Seb the night is uneventful.



Day 1

My Alarm goes off at 6 and I gather up my things and get ready for my west coast tour. The Bus appears on time and I am back on the road. The first real stop is the pinnacles dessert which is near my favourite bay in Australia (you will have to check on a map to see which one it is.) The dessert lives up to its name and I try to be arty with my camera (thanks to several talks with a person at work I was persuaded that I need a digital SLR in my life and have subsequently bought one.) We spend an hour walking the dunes before hoping back on the bus and heading to the spot where we will be having lunch. Next we move on to the sandy cape dunes where I get to try my hand (arse) at sand boarding. Due to health and safety you can only sit on the board and after one run down the dunes I can see why. The thought of standing seems crazy. We move on and pick up some beer in local liquor land and I am shocked to find out that we can’t drink on the bus. We wind our way to Kalberri which is our overnight stop and the driver informs us that during the course of the day we have covered 630 km. The place is basic but will do for the night.



Day 2

Thanks to a busy day we have an early start and make our way over to Kalbarri national park where I partake in some abseiling at z bend gorge. The first few steps over the edge make my nerves jangle but once over the edge the view is fantastic and I enjoy the decent. We walk the gorge and then head onto Natures window which is a famous picture spot due to a whole in rock with a stunning view behind. We head onto 120km shell beach (more arty photos attempt.) Then Denham for Glorious sun set and then overnight stay in Monkey Mia. Drinking and a twilight stroll on the beach to see if we can hear any dolphins

Day 3

The day starts early (yet again) but this time it is worth it as today I get to see wild dolphins. We all stand in the sea and the dolphins come right up to where we are stood. Some seem to be staring right at me and it feels as if they are trying to suss me out. We spend about 45 minutes doing this and we head on. The next stop is the Stromatalites which is believed to be one of the first few places that oxygen was produced. After this stop is Lunch on a village green and then a farewell to most of the group who are heading further up the coast. We get picked up by a new bus and start the journey south once more. The first stop is a farm. Here we have a very basic (prison style) meal for dinner and then have marsh mellows round the fire while swapping stories of our adventures in Australia. After several hours there the cold gets the better of the group and we turn in for the night.



Day 4

Another early start and it is on to Hutt River Province, not sure what to make of the place (or the people.) It certainly won’t be making a top ten but does some up Australia quite well. Then it is on to Greenough Wildlife Park, where you have the opportunity to hold a baby joey. I pass on this as it seems like just a money making scheme (although I get a picture of someone else doing it which is just as good.) Then it is back to Perth for more farewells and a meet up with Mum and Dad. Thanks to them I get to try a different style of traveling. One where I have a double bed and the use of a car (a 3.6 litre no less,) but more on that in the next blog entry.



P.S. Due to my new camera this blog site is unable to host the pictures it takes. They can be found at https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=962FEBBFD2142187!137&authkey=!AFZGLOuc0Cn_lxA

---