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Published: February 2nd 2006
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Sunset at Legian Beach
The sunsetting on Legian on Christmas Day.
Just like being in London... Hello there. It's been a while. I bet you all thought we had disappeared or something in the vast expanses of the Autralian outback. No such luck, tempting as it may be. Too many flies, for one thing.
No, we've just been busy. The new year has brought many exciting developments. When last I wrote, I seem to recall we were in Ubud in Bali. My, how things have changed.
2006 has so far brought with it an ear infection for Mia and a chest and sinus infection for me. On a brighter note, for those who don't know, Claire is expecting (a baby) in July. We have also made it out alive from Bali and are now half way up the west coast of Australia. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Bali was lovely, we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. After Ubud we visited a small island of the coast called Nusa Lembongan, which enjoys the dual trades of tourism and seaweed farming. We found a very informative book at one of the cafes there about how to set up a seaweed farm in Kiribati. The pictures were great, and it all seems very straightforward, so it is
Meeting of the Oceans
This is where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. It is windy. now one of the career options we are mulling over. Well, it's that or chickens, and what with the bird flu pandemic, I reckon seaweed's a safer bet. The island itself was very relaxing. There are some good surf breaks there (dude), but as we are not surfers, they held limited appeal. Content to just sit around and not do a lot, we happily spent 5 days there. The boat journey to and from the islands were not the easiset, involving wading through thigh deep water (or head deep if you're Jake) and clambering on board whilst balancing a rucksack, buggy and children on your head. Still, it's all part of the great "travelling experience" which we all thirst for.
Our last week in Bali saw us holding court in the Presidential Suite (yeah, you heard) of a hotel in Legian. It was great, a bit of a blow out before heading back to Oz. We rented a DVD player and bought loads of cheap DVDs. We KNOW how to live it up!
Back in Australia, we picked up our camper van. It's not that it's small....well, it is that, actually. It sleeps four, but if the four
were fully grown adults I don't know how they would all fit. Fortunately, neither Jake nor Mia fit this description, and some would say neither do Claire or I. So we're all right in it. We have covered some vast ground in it. Western Australia is a huge place, with not many people in it. After leaving Perth, we have been to Fremantle, Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River, Augusta, Pemerton, Walpole, Denmark, Albany, Wave Rock, back to Perth, Cervantes, Dongara and now Kalbarri. I can feel your excitement from here.
We visited Rottnest Island for a day, which was beautiful, but very rushed. Fremantle, Bunbury and Busselton were all very busy as it was still the school holidays. Fortunately, the little buggers are all safely back learning again, so the campsites have calmed down a bit. Busselton is home to the longest timber jetty in the world (or the Southern Hemisphere, depending on which brochure you believe), at 2km. We walked to the end of it. And then we walked back.
The region round Walpole and Pemberton is known for it's huge trees. And with good reason- they are enormous. Much taller than me, Claire, Mia and Jake combined.
Mia and Jake and an umbrella
The reason for the umbrella is because it was raining. The reason for Mia and Jake is not so easy to put in to words. The kauri tree is the second tallest in the world, after the Californian Redwood. They are an impressive sight, with their ramrod straight trunks and silver bark. Some are used as fire lookouts, and have had pegs knocked in to them to enable the lookout to scale to the top. Tourists, too, are allowed to climb them. The Gloucester Tree, at something like 60metres is the best known. Unfortunately, due to my chest condition at the time, I was unable to attempt it. That, at least, is the official reason and I'm sticking to it. There are also tingle trees, not quite as tall as the kauri, but just as impressive. They can live for over 400 years, and as they don't have deep roots, the base of the trunk spreads out to compensate and support the tree. They are also prone to attack by insects, fungi and fires, which leave the base hollow and means you can walk through some of them. All very interesting.
The weather down on the south coast wasn't particularly good, so we decided we would chance it up north. Wave Rock seemed like a convenient stopover on the way back to Perth (at
Balinese rice terraces
Rice is grown in these fields. I was mobbed by trinket sellers whilst taking this photo. a 350km detour it would want to be impressive)- it was okay. As a geological formation, it is quite bizarre- a huge monolith with an overhang that looks just like a wave about to break- but at the same time, we thought it might be...well....bigger, or something.
One place that truly was impressive was the Pinnacles. These are a series of granite outcroppings in the desert north of Perth, and whilst it doesn't sound like much, it really is an amazing sight, particularly at sunset when the lengthening shadows make for some incredible scenes. None of which came out in the pictures we took. So you'll just have to go and see it for yourself.
Currently we are in Kalbarri, a pleasant little place about 400km or so from Perth. We are all still enjoying ourselves, after almost 6 months of travel, and in just over a week we head to South Africa, which will be the last country on our trip (unless we go to Lesotho or Swaziland. Or Mozambique). But you get the idea. We are going to Monkey Mia (a place with a name like that has to be visited), where there are dolphins and
A komodo we caught trying to get in to our room
Fortunately we scared it off with one of Jake's cars. stuff. That's as far north as we'll go before heading back down to Perth.
Suffice to say, Mia and I have recovered from our ailments, Jake has taken to drawing all over his trousers and body with felt tips and Claire doesn't look five months pregnant other than she appears to have a small melon stuck under her t-shirt. You will have noticed I have stuck some photos on here. Hope you like them. Once again, thanks for the messages of goodwill, comments etc. And Oksob- congratulations on the Bees advancing to the 5th round. Probably the first time in many a year (if ever) that Brentford have progressed further than Arsenal in the FA Cup. I didn't know DJ Campbell was now a Brentford player- but it's safe to say there are many things I don't know about Brentford...As for Arsenal, well, the reserves are doing superbly at the moment. And that's what's important.
January 20th also marked the tenth anniversary of my flying to India. We marked this auspicious occassion with a packet of Bombay mix and some bottled water. The joy of this was tempered slightly by the knowledge that it was also the four
Climbing a kauri
Mia climbing up one of the giant kauri trees. She jumped down shortly after this photo was taken. monthly anniversary (montiversary?) of Claire's bag being stolen in Kuching. We took a moment to reflect on this, and to wonder whether the man who stole the bag had derived as much enjoyment from it as we had. We have come to realise that the stealing of the bag was actually a blessing in disguise. But we're not sure why.
That's your fill, anyway. Until the next time and in the meantime, make the most of the glorious weather in the UK! What? Oh....
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imogen
non-member comment
hello to mia
i have been playing with my little pony. i hope you had a good time on tha beach wilh your bucket and spade. when the buucket and spade . when the baby ls , born, can you and jake come to play and tea love imogen