Blogs from Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 559

Boulders and blue water Australasia » Australia » Western Australia By Geoff n LexaMarch 29th 2007Geoff Long and Lexa Wokersien First stop on this leg was Cape Leuwin, the most south western point of Australia and the claimed ‘meeting point’ of the Indian and Southern oceans. A bit like Lands End really, including the fact that you had to pay to get to the actual end . After that we took in Peaceful Bay a beautiful long sandy beach with only us on it - the coastline here really is stunning and beats the east coast hands down. Even more striking is William bay a little further south, home of Elephant rocks and the Green ... read more

Arrived in Perth early morning and drove south along the old coast road to Busselton for one night. The next morning we drove down to Pemberton for Jo & Dennis' wedding at Brook Dam and the wedding reception was held at an old mill town. Great wedding in a lovely location and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The next day, late afternoon, we headed off to Margaret River. We were warned about the dangers of kangaroos on the road but didn’t imagine that we would run one over. RIP Skippy! We then spent a few days in Margaret River sampling the wine at various vineyards, has to be done! We then drove down to the Valley of the Giants (treetop walk), Walpole, which was good fun. Done some more wine-tasting at various vineyards in Denmark. Back ... read more

Got the ferry to Rottnest island today with Corillie a french girl from work. It is 11km long and 4.5 km wide. We hired some snorkels and fins and walked for about 45 mins to one of the snorkel beaches. It was stunning. All the beaches we past were gorgeous but the one we went to was a lttle cove and just amazing. Did some snorkelling although it wasnt that amazing and it was very cold! On the way back we saw some Quakkas. They are beaver like marsupials that to me look cossed between a larch rat and tiny kangaroo! They are quite cute and they are not found anywhere else in the world not even on the mainland or in zoos! The only downer on the day was that i didnt have long enough! ... read more

Early start into Kalbarri National Park to see the loop, Natures window (Hawks' Head and Ross Graham lookout) and the Z bend gorge. The landscape was fantastic, 400 million years old - red sandstone rock interspersed with the occasional bush scrub. The views of the area were really amazing and from the top you could see far into the distance all along the gorge with the clear sparkling river snaking its way into the horizon. The rocks were a variety of rich reds and the view from Nature's window, (which is a rock that has a hole formed in the middle) was amazing, overlooking the beautiful landscape and winding river gorge at the loop. Some of our team decided to abseil down the gorge -however we decided to save our money until NZ. After lunch we ... read more

Gene and I decided to take the 250 kilometer drive north of Perth to see yet another of Australia’s unique attractions, the Pinnacles. According to the Lonely Planet guide, the main town closest to the Pinnacles is Cervantes, located 17 kilometers northwest of the attraction. Not wanting to make the long trek twice in one day, we phoned the first hotel listed under accommodations, the Cervantes Lodge. An overly eager voice answered on the first ring, reporting that there were still rooms available and that we could have the ocean view room if we booked by telephone. Trying our best to stay within budget, yet avoid hostels at all costs, we decided not to look any further and made a reservation for one night’s stay. Cruising into the town of Cervantes with a population of only ... read more