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I left Perth when it started really raining, and headed into the tropical north of Australia, a land of eternal sunshine!
On Friday when we left it rained pretty badly, and it rained most of the time when we were driving to our first destination, but miraculously the rain stopped when we got there. That was the Pinnacles dessert, a very strange phenomenon of stone poles, different heights, sizes and shapes, just stuck there in the middle of the sand. I can't say it's an amazing place but really interesting.
We continued driving further north and stopped for the night in a tiny town called Northampton, where we stayed in a backpacker called "the old convent" and it's really a building of an old convent. It felt a bit spooky to go through the angels sculptures in the entrance... to make up for that we spend the night in the local pub (one of 3 pubs in fact, surprising for such a small place).
On Saturday we continued up north to the next destination - Kalbari. It's a lovely resort town and I wished we could stayed the night, but it was nice also for the picnic lunch we had.
And then there's the national park. The first part is the rugged coast line - not so impressive after the great ocean road and even Esperance, but the red cliffs are lovely colored (you know I love red, don't you?). The second part id around the river that bends unbelievable number of times. In fact at one point you stand on a narrow path and the river is at both your sides and you see maybe 4 bends around you. The cliffs around are also red and the view is really lovely.
We decided to continue the same day to Monkey Mia. It was another 400km north and the time was already pretty late. It's not a good idea to drive here at night cause the Roos tend to jump into the road just under the wheels (they are apparently attracted to the lights). So we had to drive very carefully (let's say only 130 km/h :-). The part I drove I had 4 roos at the side but the didn't jump, and dozens of rabbits running under my wheels (one didn't really survive...)
Monkey Mia is a small resort famous for the dolphins that visit regularly, as they
get fed there. It feels a bit like a zoo but as they are so cute we couldn't take a decision to skip the place. We arrived late on Saturday and the place was packed with people and we didn't like it at all. In addition we were under "moth attack" and that was quite disgusting... but we survived and woke up early on Sunday to try and beat the crowds at the beach. It didn't really help as they actually come closer to the shore once they get the food, and by then the whole world was there. So it was very crowded but I still got some nice photos and some close look at the dolphins, that were, as usual, sooooooo cute.
Not far from there we saw a sign from the road saying "Ocean Park". It wasn't in the book but we decided to stop and see what it was. Apparently it's a really new business started by 2 young guys interested in maribe nature. They would like to show some marine animals and tell about them, educate people about them, and also do some rehabilitation work on animals in trouble. They had some sharks, turtles, some
nice fish, and the bad news of the day: sea snake. I wish I didn't know they existed!! They look like snakes and they are even more venomous! I didn't have to know that!
From there we had a long long drive. We planned to stop in Coral bay but luckily we called in advance and found everything was fully booked. We waisted an hour on many calls and finally had no choice but to go all the way to Exmouth, another 120 km. Again it was a night drive, this time I had one feral cat and one fox! At least the hostel in Exmouth was ok and we were lucky to get a room that is normally for bus tours, 12 beds but it was only us and it was en-suite, what a luxury :-)
Helen, my English travel mate is very much into diving and all that, so we spend a few days here. I booked a safari tour for tomorrow - half dry and half wet, and it will probably be enough for me. Yesterday and today are just relaxing days, enjoying the sun and my book. The only nightmare is are my friends from
Sea snake
I would live better without knowing they existed... NZ - sand flies! yes, the horrible little creatures are back in my life, and I'm under a total attack including 3 bites on my lip. I thought it was herpes which worried me quite a bit cause I never had it, so I was happy to learn those were "only" sand flies bites... I'm back on anti-histamines once again...
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Lisa
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Perth to Exmouth
Hello we are off to Exmouth on Saturday 10/7/05 i was wondering if you have any tips you could share ? we have a 4x4 too thanks lisa magnum2@arach.net.au