Blogs from Broome, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 37

Camping is the way forward.... Even though you are well prepared for the fact that your money won't go that far in Australia after being in the cash cushion of Asia....it still manages to take you by surprise somewhat. For example the bus ticket that I bought for all my travels in Vietnam..from the North to the South of the country cost $20 USA...To travel from Perth to Darwin on a Greyhound bus cost in the vicinity of $600 aussie dollars, obviously the mileage is somewhat greater in the latter of the two but you get the idea of the disparity. Consequently hiring a campervan is an affordable way of seeing the country. It comes with fringe benefits too: you can stop when you want to break up long journeys, with a ten minute pit stop ... read more

Joe flew to Perth on 12th October and, after mourning and feeling a tad lost for a day or so, I moved to Cable Beach Backpackers with Sian and Anna. I soon gained a job Housekeeping at Cable Beach Resort, which is what they were already doing. We walked to work each day, and after 3 days training were sent out alone with a trolley and a list of rooms. For services we were allowed 20mins and 1 hour for departures. Although it was very hot, we were in and out of rooms - thank goodness for air con! After working a week, we gained a house through the resort HR - $62 per week with the 1st week free as we volunteered to clean the house! :-) Life was grand, for a whole week we ... read more

Well, we survived the Gibb River Road. Unfortunately our number plate didn’t and we’ve left it lying somewhere between El Questro and Ellenbrae. Some sections of the road were really corrugated and rough but generally the road was in pretty good condition and we managed an average speed of about 70 kms an hour. We particularly loved Manning Gorge and Bell Gorge where we swam both above and below the falls. Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Gorge where very exciting although Molly was nervous about what she couldn’t see below the water as we waded through the dark and all of us were a bit wary as we walked only metres from huge fresh water crocodiles at Windjana. At the moment we are in Broome and loving the cooler weather (30 degrees rather than 38!) and really ... read more

Caught up on a lot of sleep and then blew the budget on an amazing fishing trip as I've ALWAYS wanted to go big game fishing - well, it wasn't quite that exciting, especially as i managed to catch diddly squat!! But we did see a huge manta ray that came right up to the boat and absolutely stacks of whales, including 2 that were sleeping side by side, and another one that was really curious and circled the boat for ages, diving underneath us (slightly worrying) and coming up really close. We were so lucky and the guys on the boat taking us out who are there every day said they'd never seen anything like it. I kept losing my bait, so I don't think my fishing skills would keep me alive if i was ... read more

Last day of the Kimberley tour...! After breakfast we walked down Windjana Gorge which was right next to where we camped last night. The gorge is in a huge ridge of rock that rises out of the desert and actually used to be a West Coast Great Barrier Reef about 375-350 million years ago. It's a really stunning spot as the gorge walls rise up 90m, and the Lennard River runs through it - which is the best spot in the Kimberley for seeing freshwater crocodiles. We took loads of photos near the crocs, hoping to god that they didn't move. After lunch we were driving along when the truck suddenly screeched to a halt and Finn yelled SNAKE!!!!!!! So we all crowded over to the windows and started snapping away! The first snake that I'd ... read more