Blogs from Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

Ihr Lieben, beim letzten Mal hatte ich euch ja die Strecke Broome nach Perth versprochen - and here it comes. Dass ich so hinterherhaenge beim Berichten, ist zwar nicht so dolle, aber dafuer mache ich meine Reise dann immer noch mal - man vergisst doch so einiges ueber die Zeit, da ist es gut, wenn man die grauen Zellen noch einmal aktiviert. Broome fand ich bei meinem ersten Besuch nicht so spannend, und auch auf den zweiten Blick nicht so begeisternd wie manch anderer das vielleicht schildern mag. Der beruehmte Cable Beach ist schon schoen, aber ich bin ja vom ganzen Reisen verwoehnt und daher nicht mehr soooo leicht zu begeistern. Aber zu Gute halten muss man ihm auf jeden Fall, dass das Wasser wirklich ein krass tolles tuerkis-blau ist und der Strand einen weichen weissen ... read more

20/1 We had to check out at 10, though our flight wasn't until 4.15pm! The motel offered a free shuttle to the airport, and as there was nowhere to sit around at our motel, we had to head to the airport- the weather wasn't great, so not like we could even go for a walk! We got to the airport around 10.30 and sat back in Darwin airport, in the same cafe we'd spent hours in just a few days before! We got something to eat, and then checked in around 1.30. We headed through to departures into the tiny lounge! We bought a couple of snacks and a puzzle book and finally boarded the plane, which left on time! The flight was about 4 hours long, and we touched down in Perth! Hooray! We collected ... read more

Yulara to Perth. Leaving the big rocks behind us we turn west for the final leg to Perth. This proves to have a few challenges of it's own. Somehow I managed to get yet another puncture and this time in the new tyre and on sand. I think I have developed a new special talent. At least now we are all very adept at tyre changes and we are soon back underway. The great central road is a fairly decent dirt road with a few remote roadhouses and basically nothing else apart from the occasional camel. Our first stop is Warakurna Roadhouse, deciding to stay after being discouraged to go on to Warburton by the roadhouse owner. All this stretch is an alcohol free zone to protect the natives... read more

With the reunion with our family looming in Perth, we set off to catch up with them by weeks end. When we visited Western Australia (WA) previously, the only southern coastal link we had not covered was Esperance to Albany, though we had covered part of this as we passed through Ravensthorpe last time on our way to Wave Rock. This time we continued on the highway through to Albany. This coastal city has a reputation for rain, as does the southern plains. Hence we saw great pastures and land prepared for or already planted for the next grain or canola crops. The main thing we wanted at Albany was to restock with fresh fruit and vegies before turning north west for Perth. For those who have not travelled these roads, there are fruit and vegetable ... read more

We really liked the Timber Creek Caravan Park. Small park, plenty of shade, amenities fine etc. It has a lovely grassed area down by the creek which has fresh water crocs in it. On our way from the Buchanan Highway to Timber Creek we noticed the first of the boab trees. Because our booking in Kununurra started on 10th May we decided to stay in the cool for an extra day and lingered. Still no sight seeing as we will be doing it with Dave and Shirley one the way back through. Here we did a big clean up on the van. The amount of dust getting into the interior has diminished considerably with all our efforts on tracking down and blocking little leaks. I swept, vacuumed, dusted etc. I like the size of this house ... read more

What have you heard: The Nullarbor is boring? This is our third crossing and still find this area full of interest, even if spaced out over a few hundred kilometres. Keep the eyes open and something to thrill will surely pop up. Last time it was gigantic pieces of machinery being transported. There are signs asking us to watch out for camels, wombats, emus and kangaroos. But nothing prepared us for the adventure of the day. We were able to watch one of creation's most amazing birds, The Wedge Tail Eagle. Sadly, some of the wild life gets hit by passing trucks at night. In the past we have seen many crows feasting on the carrion, (road pizza to my Kiwi friends), but this trip we watched several families of wedge tail eagles joining the feast. ... read more

The final leg of our journey around Australia has involved a two week jaunt from Perth to Albany, in south west Western Australia. However, as we ended the last blog just North of Perth, still in our campervan, we thought we'd pick up where we left off... About 15km out of Cervantes we discovered that Hazel had left both of her new flip-flops at the campsite, so we turned round and retrieved them to save buying yet another pair! Part of our routine before leaving places will now be checking Hazel has all of her footwear packed. We then headed back to Perth and dropped off the campervan before catching the bus to Cottesloe and checking into our hostel for the night. We were delighted to find that Wednesday was free BBQ night, so we fed ... read more