Albany, Esperance and South West

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Was delayed for 3 hours at Santiago Airport, LAN airlines not communicating too well but I gu ess if you're flying 12 hours over the South Pacific skirting Antartica, with no land for 1000s of miles, you want you're plane right! Further delays at Auckland airport, but bumped onto a not much later flight at Sydney by Qantas then finally racked up in Perth and took a taxi to Britannia on William in Northbridge, a great place to get a souless but mercifully single room for cheap. A few days just recovering in Perth then joined a Western Exposure Tour taking in the highlights of the far South West corner of Australia.

First stop was Busselton Jetty, adoringly picturesque, but closed. Gem of the day was Canal Rocks, not on the official agenda of any tour but a natural canal with sparkling blue water, a tricky walk but well worth it for that perfect photo.s
Visited the lighthouse where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean, well they say it does but you can't be sure where the line is really drawn. Stayed in the sleepy but refreshing town of Augusta with a BBQ tea.

Other visits included the impossibly high milenium tree, only 2 were stupid enough to climb the hin metal rods to the to top and I do mean stupid. Okay with a little bit of bravery, but for what it's worth it's extremely dangerous and if you go up there, you have a good chance of falling.

Perhaps my highlight was the hike up the Stirling Ranges near Albany, in searing heat it's a pretty intense if not epic hike but the view and precariousness of the edge make it well worth the effort.

Esperance is a town that sits right on the perhipary of Australia, but it's just what makes it worth a visit. The pier is a lovely walk away from the shore, and watch out at the start for the resident sea lion, if he's not looking for a free feed from the fisherman, then he'll be snoozing right under the pier. For a night out we did Kareoke and the locals are a friendly bunch if you want to hog the stage.

On the return we stopped by Wave Rock for the obligatory group surfing picture, with temperatures at 40c and hosts of flies it was some spot.

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