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Published: December 23rd 2009
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Kangaroos outside our lodge
Check out the big daddy on the right It’s really useful having friends and family in far flung places. The downside is that you don’t get to see them very often, but the upside is that you have a great time when you do.
After the wedding we ‘went bush,’ in a 4-star sort of way, as Pete and Eve had organized a trip down to the southern tip of WA (Busselton-Walpole-Albany) which is a sort of holiday resort triangle for Australians. It encompasses huge forested areas that have been designated as National Parks, golden sandy beaches galore, the fabulous wine region of Margaret River and lots of wildlife.
The National Parks are like the New Forest only way bigger, and there are huge trees called Tingles that only grow in this region. We did a tree-top walk amongst the tingle trees, which I thought was worse in some ways than Sydney bridge, because the walkways swayed a lot in the wind and you could see straight through them 80 metres to the ground.
There are also amazing caves in the region, so we donned some hard hats and had a go. We’d never been in caves without lighting, so it was quite a different and amazing experience. There
Cave experience
We both banged our heads, so the helmets were well worth looking daft. were boardwalks, however, so you could get out quickly if you came over all claustrophobic (which I felt might be a possibility). At one point we sat on a seat that was deep into the cave and turned out our lights. We couldn’t believe the total blackness. Try closing your eyes and then putting your hand up in front of them and you’ll understand what we mean, because we put our hands in front of our eyes with our eyes open, and we couldn’t see anything at all. It was incredibly still as well. There was nothing to hear except our breathing and the sound of water gently dripping.
We stayed at a fabulous Wilderness Lodge in Walpole where we could look out of the window and see around 30 kangaroos at any one time. There were baby kangaroos hopping in and out of pouches and enormous daddy kangaroos that we kept clear of as they were very protective of the female and baby. They use their tail as support and kick you with both feet if you’re not careful - didn’t fancy that experience, so we stayed a little way back to take the photos.
Pete has got a
4x4 so we were all able to pile into it and go off-road in the National Parks to get a feel for the forests. We did some lovely walks and went to some delightful bays that would’ve been out of the question with a normal car. Mandalay Bay was stunning - waves coming right at you, all the way from Antartica - fabulous.
When Pete, Eve and Kathy made their 6-hour drive back to Perth, Harry and I stayed in Albany for a night as we were advised not to travel at dusk in a saloon car. Evolution hasn’t yet taught kangaroos the concept of metal objects travelling at 110kph, and because they all wander about at dusk there is a notorious 100km kangaroo black-spot leading into Perth. Pete’s 4x4 had bull bars but we were using Eve’s car so we decided to take advice and not risk the annihilation of a kangaroo, the trashing of Eve’s car or indeed the risk to life and limb for ourselves.
By the way, on the subject of wildlife, Harry had another dunny experience but this time it was with a huntsman spider. I told him he should’ve got his finger in the
photo to give scale. You can imagine his response. I wonder what he’ll come across in Indochina!!! We also had five emus stroll across the road in front of our car and we had a very friendly duck who wandered into our living space in Busselton - fortunately it didn’t understand the implications of a 10 inch kitchen knife.
All in all we decided that the people living in the towns of SW Oz have a fantastic life. It’s quite isolated, but I’m sure that if they lived in our busy towns and cities they’d soon miss the quieter life.
Having returned from our trip we began organizing ourselves for our month in Indochina. Our suitcase is now packed ready to be sent home, and we are living out of rucksacks. I have decided to go ‘make-up-less’ and Harry is considering growing face-fuzz if he can’t charge-up his shaver so be prepared for some very scary photos.
Not sure how easy it will be to blog once we hit Indochina because there’s a lot of travelling, the accommodation is fairly basic and we stay in lots of places for one night only. Anyway, we’ll do our best to get something
In the cave
Not sure what this is!! on and let you know how it’s going. Photos may have to go on in slow time, though, as they take ages to upload even with a good computer.
Happy Christmas and New Year to one-and-all.
Lots of love - Angela and Harry xx
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Glenda Bourne
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Happy Christmas to you both
Hi, it is so lovely being able to sit here and follow your travels and see what a great time you are having. No doubt you are aware that we have had snow! and it has been freezing here all week. I am pleased to say that I have safely slipped and slided up and down the Loose Road to keep Kent Police running! and have now finished for christmas. Natalie has asked that I pass on her best wishes to you both. She thoroughly enjoyed her holiday in Cyprus and said to tell you Ange that she managed the flights ok. On returning from their holiday their computer blew up! (her words) they are hoping to get it fixed, so hence why she hasn't been in touch. I hope you have a great christmas and look forward to following your travels. This "blogging is great".