Advertisement
Published: November 3rd 2006
Edit Blog Post
Continuing on from Perth we decided to do a tour of the South West. We left Perth bright and early at 6.30am - needless to say as i am an unemployed bum i struggled with this!
After managing to get myself up, dressed and checked out i ventured in to the back yard of the hostel for a little ciggie, blistfully unaware that there was 18 people sitting on a coach at the front of the hostel waiting for me! Even the other side of the world and i have earned myself a reputation for being late!
Our tour guide Scottie was a good sport about my tardiness and for the remainder of the trip he monitored my location and prompted me on the time!
After departing Perth we travelled South West on the longest , straightest , dustiest road i've ever seen , only stopping along the way at the petrol stations run by the country folk who all seemed to be clad in the same dungarees, checked shirts and beards (this is just the women!) We also stopped at 'Castle Rock' which is , in short , alot of rocks up a bloody steep hill ! I thought my
trekking days were well behind me but i didn't want to be a wimp about it so i hauled arse up the hill and over some pretty questionable rocks to get to the viewing platform. Up on the viewing platform the view was pretty special , we could see for miles and had a good view of the surrounding mountains and countryside. I managed to navigate myself back down said steep hill and it was onto Albany which was to be our accomodation for the night. We arrived in Albany and it was F**King FREEZING! I was totally unprepared poncing around in my bloody pashmina!
Nothing for it but to pay a visit to the bottle shop (this is off licence in our lingo) and purchase a bottle of voddie to warm the cockles - not only this but we were in mixed dorms of 10 and i was sharing bunk beds with John who had already informed me that he snored. (John was guy on our tour who was travelling alone for his 4th consecutive year in Australia, he is 67 and kind of fathered us by giving history lessons and made me tea - bless)
DAY 2
Again
up bright and frigging early and continuing on our way along King George Sound coast line to visit a whale museum which was actually an operational whaling station until 1979 - it's quite disgusting what they used to do to these animals and i was shocked to learn what they still do to these animals in Scandanavian countries and China. I also learnt that 3 million sharks a year are killed for sport and shark fin around the world. Now i don't like the buggers but i did feel quite sad about it! - Think i may embark on a save the whale and sharks campaign upon return and start wearing tie dye and not washing, anyone with me?
After leaving the whale museum we continued up the coast to "the gap" and no not the store before i get any smug comments! The gap is basically a natural bridge which formed millions of billions of years ago when antarctica broke away from Australia. It had some of the most fantastic views along this coast line of which any picture i took would just not do it justice - it was beauitiful!
After leaving the gap we visited the blowholes
which are formed by holes in the cliffs that the water runs underneath creating a build up of pressure that blows through the hole , it was quite amusing watching my group take it in turns to have their hair blown up on end.
We continued on to the Valley of the Giants which is a walkway which runs up to the top of the trees giving you views down into the woods and over the top of the trees. This was a bit wobbly and i wasn't fussed to be honest. You always got some jerk off who thought it amusing to bounce up and down whilst 70ft in the air!
From here we visited a local winery to sample the locally produced wine, i got a little carried away and tried all of them red and white , about 7 in all. We then proceeded on to a meadery where they produce honey wine so i had to sample this as well - be rude not to! We left the meadery to go to our accomodation for the night which turned out to be a cabin in the middle of the woods, the decor looked like children had
contributed and the bathroom was outside - not fabulous!
DAY 3
Once again up at the crack of dawn after approx 4 hours sleep becuase it was a.) FREEZING and b.) I'd stayed up drinking with the Irish couple on our trip singing westlife songs to them!
Packed up the bus and headed north east to meet up with the boat to go whale watching - again! This time we did actually manage to see some whales - they were huge humpbacks (approx 12) migrating south , they came very close to the boat so we got a good view of them.
After whale watching we visited a chocolate factory where i obviously sampled and sang oompa lumpa dooba dee dee - i was tired!
We departed the chocolate factory and started the long drive North back to Perth.
DAY 4
Another early morning for our last day in Perth as we were visiting the Pinnacles which is a desert just north of Perth, did just what it said on the tin - it was a desert! Lots of naturally formed limestone rocks in the pinnacles which the aussies have convinced themselves actually resemble things like batman and
wizards - loons over here i tell you!
Was very hot and dusty and full of flies in the desert so i won't be rushing back.
After the desert it was on to the sand dunes for sand boarding , this was actually quite fun even though i only had one go as walking up the dunes was far too much like exercise!
Left Perth and flew via Sydney to Melbourne to visit Kirsty's cousin and his wife who live 2 and a half hours from the city on a farm , had a nice couple of relaxing days on the farm apart from running away from the Sheep that had it in for me. We borrowed a car and drove up to Mount Buller which is about 2 hours away from the farm and is a Ski resort in the winter , the drive up there was a little nervy with me behind the wheel with white knuckles and sweating palms and when we arrived at the top we were a little alarmed to see no people - it was like a ghost town! So just as my knuckles had recovered i had to drive back down the
sodding mountain!!
Am in Cairns now until Sunday am and then start the long trek down the east coast , first stop is Airlie beach. Am pleased about the next stretch of the journey as it's all beaches and a quick stop in Brisbane where i am planning a trip to the zoo, got to pay my respects to Steve - RIP Croc Hunter, you were a legend!
Update on all the beaches coming soon - it's a tough life!!
Em
Advertisement
Tot: 0.11s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0668s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
mARIA
non-member comment
Hi Emma, Looks like you are really enjoying it! Let me know how you get on in Cairns, it won't be long and I'll be there too!!! Ciao MARIA