The West Side!

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Hey!! Finally grabbed some time to write a little about Australia so far...

Well, we arrived in Perth on the 26th August. We were both really excited but also pretty nervous about what we were going to do and what was going to happen-as we hadn't planned anything. We caught a bus to a random backpackers hostel and stayed there for a couple of nights. First impressions-blooming expensive! ( But I guess any where compared to Asia is!) The hostel wasn't cheap, and as we were in the city, nothing else was cheap either! We spoke to my mums friends Suzy and Julian, and spent the week with them. It gave us the opportunity to find jobs, somewhere to live and mode of transport...well, the first two didn't really work out, but we found 'Muppet' a 4x4 camper van, on e-bay for $1500...BARGAIN!! We liked Perth, although it was a little chillier than we had been use to in Asia. But it was kind of nice to put the ol' jeans on again for a while, and give the legs a rest!! On our first night with Suzy, Julian, Ellie and Cody, we had a bbq on the beach-proper Aussie style! The sunset was beautiful!
After searching for places to live and jobs, we just had enough and decided to start driving up the West Coast and see what happens...we brought the bare essentials, such as bedding, tinned food and our free camp book (which is sooo handy!), and then got on our way! Woooo, very exciting!

From Perth, we drove as far as we could, as we did everyday, and ended up at our first night destination. A place called Cliff head. It was very exciting, we cooked sausages on our gas stove and watched the sunset! Waking up in the morning was lovely, as we looked out over the beach and sea. We then made our way to Geraldton, then got a little lost (as I was the map reader) and ended up in Port Gregory. Now this meant little to us, except something happened to catch our eyes as we were driving past. I think it was a double take moment, because the river leading up to Port Gregory was pink! We think its because a certain type of sea weed is grown in the river, but imagine our astonishment at seeing a PINK river 😊

Then it was onto Kalbarri. This is a lovely place, although the first place we attempted to stay was plagued with flies...not a few, but a few thousand, everywhere I tell u! So we decided to go further into the town and stay at a paying site. Geoff brought himself a fishing rod, and we sat on the beach as the sun set, catching the tinniest fish ever...but of course, its not the size of the fish that matters! (We didn't eat them either, our friend Stumpy the sea gull enjoyed most of them!) It was nice staying on a paid site, as we got to shower-which was soon becoming such a luxury!

We started to think about working, as we were spending money fast on petrol and food etc, so we stopped in the first road house we came across...unfortunately they didn't have any jobs available, but sent us onto the next one. We pulled up to the next stop, Geoff got out, spoke to a random guy, with the longest beard, and before we knew it, we had jobs at Hamelin Pools Caravan park! We more or less started that day, Geoff outside with Shane (the bearded man) and me inside the shop/kitchen/cafe! There was up sides and down sides to this job, the up being, all our accommodation, food etc were included, the down side, we weren't getting paid an awful lot. Oh well, we thought, at least were getting some money...we worked for about 2 days, before the bearded man and the woman working in the shop (Judy) told us they were going a way for just over a week, leaving us with a nutty old couple, Pam and Terry. Noooo... So they left, promising us that one of the owners will be there within the next day or two...the day before they return, Bob the owner shows up!! The place ran fine (although the old couple really were nutty!) The generator ran out of diesel one night, which was a slight pain, because the bearded man hadn't told us what to do if such a problem arose, although both Geoff and I asked him...'the generators plenty filled with diesel' he told us! indeed! Working in the shop was straightforward, Geoff got a lot of grief from Shane. I think he saw Geoff as a bit of threat when it came to 'knowing things' so Shane was always right (when in fact Geoff was most of the time.) But we got on with it. This work was also able to go towards our second year visa-you have to do at least 3months of various jobs that 'help' Australia in some way, in this case, we worked a long side a billion or so year old living organisms called Stromatolites...and plus (in Aussie terms) the town we were working in was really old, so we were technically helping to maintain and restore old buildings!! So this was another upside to us staying in Hamelin Pools. Just before Shane and Judy came back off their trip a young couple asked for a job with us. Jemma and Blaire, our saviors!! Haha! They both live in New Zealand (Jemma's originally from Sydney) and both came over to see and work in Australia for a bit. Having young people to work with was awesome, they made the whole experience fun! (Were hopefully seeing them in Sydney for New year, then going to New Zealand with them!...but thats another story)

On a free couple of days we had off, we visited Denham and Monkey Mia. We didn't spend a lot of time in Denham, although it was nice, it was just another town with not a lot to do 😊 So we moved swiftly onto Monkey Mia. When we arrived the lady on the gate asked us to pay for the ticket, we casually mentioned we were working at Hamelin Pools, and she replied 'well, your the closest thing to locals, so go on in!' No pay... AWESOME! We also got a sweet deal off Shane (the bearded man) by getting a free trip on a boat to watch the wildlife. We saw dolphins, and Dugongs...Did you know Dugongs (and manatee's) constitute the only remaining species of the serenia, or moon creatures, distant relatives of the elephant. They apparently have a somewhat human facial appearance and feed standing upright in the water, their flippers held out before them like arms...Dugongs are said to have once lured female-starved sailors, giving rise to the mermaid myth. 😊 Also, apparently, when they have young they develop bosoms, so when they turn in the water-as you can imagine-the sailors got quite an eye full of these 'mermaids!' haha, brilliant! So anyway, the trip was nice, the dolphin's followed the boat, like they do in the movies, jumping up out of the water and dancing beside us. Back at Hamelin, life carried on as normal...we met some great characters, although most of them were completly nuts...but I think thats what being in the out back does to you 😊 Geoff met the roo man. Basically he's the guy that shoots the kangeroo's in the area and sends them to various places to be eaten, or what ever they do with them! Geoff had his first hunting session, and shot a few roo's, gross gross gross!! But by the sounds of it he had a great time! Jemma and I also had a laugh in the kitchen, rustling up random food for everyone's dinner...favourite being, pizza made from scratch! Yum Yum! Hamelin Pools was getting hot, days were high in the 30's and the flies were taking over the place...swearing and swotting became part of your daily routine!

On another break from the land of the nutters, we decided to travel further up the West coast..(the original plan was to travel up and over Australia, the plan got changed by the customers, putting us off. 'ohh its really the wrong time of year to go up North, cyclones, hot humid weather, storms etc!') So we went as far as Gnaraloo Bay. First off, we visited the blow hole, which were pretty cool! We then carried on as far as Gnaraloo Bay, which was beautiful! It was a gorgeous white beach, obviously very popular with wind surfers, as there were loads of them! We chilled on the beach for a little while, enjoying the sun, then had a casual walk along the beach. We found ourselves on our own, and which seemed like a perfect private beach just for us 😊 It was stunning! We then reluctantly, returned to Hamelin. After a couple more weeks, Jemma and Blaire decided to return to New Zealand, which was great incentive for us to get moving again 😊 So we said our 'Good byes' to Hamelin Pool Caravan park and got going back the same way we came 😊

Traveling in Muppet is an experience in itself! Basically our whole lives, consist in one vehicle, which is an improvement to a backpack I guess! We were advised to drive only during the day, as kangaroo's become suicidal at sun down 😊 So that's what we did, woke up at the crack of dawn, drove, sang (well me anyway) played driving games, and then found a free parking spot before night! The good thing about driving, apart from the singing, is what you get to see on the way...kangaroo's, emu's, random things people have made, amazing views, sunsets (usually trying to find a camp spot at this point!) Which makes all the driving worth it!

We hit Kalbarri National Park on the way down...was very beautiful 😊 We visited Nature’s Window, a natural rock arch that frames the upstream view, then walked the 8km Loop Trail. We then visited the Z bend. We stood at the look out, seeing the gorge that plunges 150 metres to the river below. There was various other walks and look outs, which were all stunning!

From Kalbarri National Park, we drove to Hutt River Province. We left it a little late, and had a bit of van trouble...as in, Muppet stopped working 😊 Geoff managed to get him going again, after we got some local policemen to push us to the car park!Whilst driving to Hutt River, we got a tad, ony a tad, lost and didnt end up getting there until after dark...wooops! We now know that kangaroo's do become suicidal, one tried to run into the side of the van-complete nut cases! When we eventually found the place, the camping site was derelict! We had been warned about it seeming scary and unsafe, but were assured by fellow travels we'd met on the road, that the place was fine. So we camped for the night. For those of you who haven't heard of Hutt River Province, it is an Independent Sovereign State having seceded from Australia on the 21/04/1970, and is about the size of Hong Kong. Prince Leonard, Princess Shirley and their family live in Hutt River Province, where they have their own laws, police force, currency, passports etc, and everything else that makes them their own country! Its hilarious, they refer to each other as 'Prince' and 'Princess' 😊

From Hutt River Province we went back to Perth...here we stayed with a friend Renee, who we met whilst working at Hamelin Pools. We stayed with her and her room mate, and got up to all sorts. It was nice to have access to a shower and toilet again! Renee has so much energy, she's a real entertainer! We stayed at Renee's for a couple of days, then on our way out popped in for a cuppa at Suzy's! Was nice to have a catch up!

From Perth we went to Geographie Bay and the Margaret River area. This was wine central...beautiful vineyards, green and lush, not like the dry outback we'd been use to further up North! We visited various beach's and look out points (was definitely colder here, was wrapped up in my blanket most of the time) We also visited a chocolate factory, which was Geoff's paradise!! Spent a bit too much on chocolate, but it was woth it! We also saw a hippies Art gallery, laid out in her garden...was pretty cool! I think we were just amazed at how green this place was, and how versatile this country is...

We then made it to Pemberton. We visited a lot of forests and did loads of nature walks, which were stunning. The place is known for its tall tree's, and when I say tall, I mean the tallest I've ever seen! Geoff actually climbed a tree, which was used in the 1930's/40's as a fire look out. The tree's called the Bicentennial Tree, and is 75m tall! I didn't dare climb it, as it was wet and I'm a wimp!
We carried on with the 'tree phase' and traveled to Walpole, where the infamous Tingle trees live! We also visited Mandalay Beach, which was very pretty, and supposedly home to a ship wreck, that lays hidden in the sand.

Later we visited Green pool near Denmark (yes we were still in Australia!) The magical pools were so calm and beautiful! Surrounded by sloping rocks and white beaches...stunning! On the trip back to the van, we found a friend waiting for us. We later found out that this 'friend' was a very venomous Tiger snake! We didn't stay friends for long 😊
Albany, was the next place on the map. This was a sweet place, as was our camp spot called 'Cosy Corner.' We visited the local museum, and pirate ship! We also saw a few Long Neck Turtles-they had long necks, as if you couldn't guess! Geoff and I tried our hands at fishing again...and still we remained beaten by the fish Gods (was beans again for dinner!)
The Natural gap and bridge were interesting..especially the Natural gap, some how the mad thrashing of the water had you mesmerised for a bit...hmmm strange!

On our way to Hyden, we went past the Sterling ranger mountains, which was a beautiful landscape. Then onto the Kulin high way, which is a horse lovers paradise! Apparently the farmers on the East and the West side of the main road, are caught up in a massive competition, to see who can out do the other in making horse related objects. Very funny, horses playing tennis, driving carts, going to the toilet etc! Ha!When we eventually got to Hyden we found what we were looking for...Waves rock...a rock that has formed into the shape of a wave-we both surfed it of course 😊 Radical!We also visited Mulka's Cave. The name Mulka comes from an Aboriginal legend associated with the cave. Mulka was the illegal son of woman who fell in love with a man with whom marriage was forbidden according to their law. It is believed that a result of breaking these rules, she bore a son with crossed eyes. Even though he grew to be an outstandingly strong man of colossal height, his crossed eyes prevented him from aiming a spear accurately and becoming a successful hunter. Out of frustration it is said Mulka turned to catching and eating human children and he became the terror of the district.He lived in Mulka's Cave, where the imprints of his hands can still be seen, much large and higher than that of an ordinary man.

As a last minute decision we decided to visit Koolgorie. I personally wanted to visit a working brothel, and Geoff wanted to visit the Super pit! Unfortunately the brothel was a rip off and the place was pretty feral! The super pit was HUGE and kept my attention for the whole of a few minutes...had a nice coffee though! So Koolgorie was a total write off...wont be going there again! Unless of course, the brothel lowers its visiting prices 😊

We then found ourselves ready to say 'seeya' to Western Australia and got on our way across the Nullarbor. We drove 1900km, which took us 3 days...a distance between Norseman and Adelaide which was mind numbingly boring! We played many a eye spy game, with little more to choose from than,'I spy a...tree' 'I spy the sky' 'I spy another tree!' Fun fun times 😊 Was a experience we're proud to say we survived! Haha!

Hello South Australia!

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Photos

The bar rules!
We came from Asia, where you barely need a pulse to enter a bar, to this...hmmm!!

Barbe on the beach!
With Suzy, Jules, Ellie and Cody