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Published: November 6th 2005
Sky Line
Downtown Perth.October 6th Deb
Shuttle back to Sydney airport and catch our flight to Perth.
Our vegtarian meal request did not follow our flight change. Stewardess helpful but
irritating hole in their system.
This was followed by a hole in Steve's rucksack.
Picked up at the airport by the hostel 4WD, the boys are impressed.
The weather is cool and wet. Very unseasonable we are told.
The Shiralee hostel is between the city and the suburbs.
We search for a supermarket but in the end make do with one of the hundreds of small asian shops. They sell everything you would expect to find in a far eastern market including chicken's feet and bird's nests.
Large, clean kitchen at the hostel but there are a lot of people trying to use it at the same time.
October 7th
Up too early for breakfast!!! You wont hear me say that often.
Mind you Breakfast at the Hostel does not start until 9am.
Again this means there are too many people in the kitchen at once, but the cereal is good and there is wholemeal bread for a change.
Steve walked into town and bought a new rucksack.
I was
The Bells
Bell Tower next to the Swan River feeling under the weather so I went back to bed.
October 8th
Free Blue Cat (bus) to the town centre.
Stroll along the Swan river which is not a pretty colour.
We are accompanied by the bell tower's chiming.
Several chic cafes and lots of boat trip advertising.
Turn up Victoria Avenue and pass the Catholic Cathedral on the way to the centre.
Some charming residences here. There is a lot of green and space in the area around the shops, and there is an elegant feel to the place.
Lunch was in a 'Food Court' - we all had dishes from different outlets.
October 9th
Car reserved via internet did not materialise.
When Steve rang they offered us a Jeep Wrangler for only AUD5 per day extra. Would have been fun but not practical for long journey. And the boot is smaller than most of my handbags.
Then offered Daihatsu Sirion...A mini in Enlish. No thanks.
Steve: Could not get cash from ATM, service unavailable.
Walked around Hyde Park, built from 1870 onwards on the site of Perth swamp number three. Wildlife chart includes Black Swan but none visible today. Saw a Kookaburra though.
Suburbia
Close to the hostel. By early 60s the park was in decline. Following construction of playground and bbq area in 1965 it grew in popularity with massive crowds celebrating Labour Day long weekend. Unfortunately by the early 80s the crowds were having such a negative impact that the celebrations were halted in 84.
Steve: Walking back through Northbridge came across three federation villas Alfred, Ada and Arthur isolated on cleared ground. Unfortunately someone else has noted their potential and begun refurbishment.
Found reasonable price for Nissan Pulsar with Budget, booked for tomorrow.
Weather cool, wet, blustery. I was still feeling the effects of my cold so I napped while Steve and the boys went walkabout.
Steve: Into town past museum, gallery and over railway. Feeble speakers corner. Owen gave up. Cash from bank. Into gallery with Rory, optical illusions, pottery, 19C in Police Court House.
Museum 'discovery centre' a little higgledy piggledy. Western Australian history OK but Rory tired by then.
Tried to upload the blogs that are building up but internet connection was not up to it.
October 10th
Deb:
No Pulsars left so we got upgraded to a larger car..hurray.
Fill the extra space
in the boot with a supermarket visit.
Head north through the Swan Valley farmland. Several roadkill Kangaroos.
The landscape becomes populated with small trees and colourful shrubs.
Stop for a break but the volume of flies outside makes it a short one.
Where do they all come from and what do they live on? There is nothing out here except roadkill kangaroos.
Outside Geraldton we glimse views of huge sand dunes.
Find a campsite just a few minutes from town. There is a strong wind and it's not that warm so we rent a 'park cabin'.
The cabin is a medium caravan size prefab with kitchen and beds. There is also a metal 'awning' with a dining table and and extra bed. More than adequate for us.
Showers and facilities are in a block a couple of minutes walk away...and they had piped music in them too.
October 11th Tuesday
Until the end of Perth entry the author is Steve:
Checkout at 0955. Most places have a 1000 checkout. Drove until Overlander Roadhouse where the road forks to the Shark Bay World Heritage area. Stopped for snack, alongside two oz families who had overtaken
The Open Road
Just 30 minutes out of Perth us in their giant 4WD towing boats etc. Deb worried they may be headed our direction.
Reached Denham (most Westerly town in Oz) just over an hour later. Tried to find fuel for camp cooker. Lady in service station featuring 'fishing and camping supplies' did not understand what we were looking for, only had gas cylinders.
Very quiet place. Maybe it bursts with fisherfolk in season. We had considered staying here but now we will push on to Monkey Mia, another 25Km.
Got lost and found ourselves headed back towards Overlander. Turned round and noticed the Monkey Mia sign only visible from the Overlander direction and not when leaving Denham.
Monkey Mia is a resort, not a town. Even so it has a range of accom from luxury apartments to camping. Camping was surprisingly cheap at 19AUD a night in total, kids free.
MM is also a nature reserve and we paid 12AUD for a day permit , apparently valid until Friday !
The camping area was small but was not busy. We had plenty of space. Typical of many Oz campsites it had a camp kitchen. Free gas griddles, fridge and w/up facilities.
Controlled feeding
Dolphin feeding at Monkey Mia The gas was empty and instead we used the kitchen area of the backpackers lodge, large, bright and clean.
Sausages for the boys on the gas griddle.
Wednesday 12th October Dolphins, Catamaran and Dugong
Up early, down to the beach by 0830. Crowd of around 60 people already gathered with 2 'rangers' in attendance, waiting for bottlenose dolphins to turn up for free food, something they have been doing every day for some years.
Pretty parky waiting on the breezy beach. Did not paddle for long, water quite chilly though there were kids in swimming costumes who did not seem to notice.
3 or 4 dolphins made their way in, splashed about, cruised up and down. Eventually were hand-fed by selected members of the crowd.
Booked for 10:30 marine wildlife cruise (100AUD payout for anyone seasick) on catamaran Shotover (does the word 'queue' exist here ?). Breakfast then back to the jetty complete with warm clothes.
Shotover is a lovely big boat and not too many sailors today. No sooner had we set off than Owen and Rory were lying on the netting stretching between the hulls. After a while Deb joined
Hanging around for scraps
The Pelicans know when feeding time is too. them.
Due to wind we were less likely to see much Today . Found quite a few offshore dolphins and eventually a dugong, though not close enough or for long enough to take photos. Nevertheless everyone enjoyed the two hour trip.
Trip back to Denham expecting to find somewhere yummy and cheap to eat. Disappointed by two tired and empty cafes we went to the 'Loaves and Fishes' bakery. Tried pies. I remained disappointed. More supplies then back to camp.
Nature trail with Owen and Rory, tried bird hide but all we saw was a seagull. Beautiful beach walk on way back.
I went to an evening talk on turtles given by a relatively young Canadian bloke involved in various tagging/monitoring projects. To tag the large turtles they leap into the water and manhandle them back to the boat. Once they can put the foreflippers over the side they are quite docile. They attach a monitoring device which drops off after a week.
It takes around 20 years for turtles to mature. Most of this time is spent drifting on seaweed.
Thursday 13th October To Kalbarri
Staff at Kalbarri information centre said
Cruise
On the nets of the Catamaran the overnight temperature would be between 5 and 10 degrees. Found Kalbarri Tudor Caravan Park a little way inland, expected some shelter from the continuing strong winds. Booked in and realised it was windy everywhere. Tent on next pitch was fortunate as it had trees at each corner to run extra guy ropes to. We were not so lucky. Pitched tent and went to explore with poles bending almost like in Oahu but base not moving up and down.
6pm and not much still open. Pubs, supermarket and chip shop. Sat inside chippy, reading 'Weekly Express' , Lonely Planet Oz and local papers while waiting for pizza and chicken and chips.
On leaving supermarket had closed. Bottleshop still open. To bed for a very flappy night, though by morning it was almost dead calm.
Friday 14th October Dongara - Tent or Cabin
Recharged camera in camp kitchen, had breakfast and off site by 0900.
Kalbarri area has famous gorges but to reach the better trails you need a 4WD. Our car insurance is not covered for unsealed roads. Instead investigated the coast south en route to Port Gregory. Red Bluff Cove is a superb area
This is the life
Relaxing on the nets of the Catamaran of multi-coloured sandstone, ideal for scrambling on and watching the sea, crabs etc
Further along there are a number of signposted turnoffs with viewing points though I found little amazing compared to the English south coast e.g. Durdle Door, Golden Cap. Once again lots of flies. They must generate massive torque to keep buzzing around in such strong winds. A party of people had hats complete with full-head netting. Perhaps we could sleep in them instead of mozzie nets ?
Further down the coast we caught our first glimpses of the pink Hutt lagoon north of Port Gregory. It was difficult to photograph as the roadside parking gave no clear view. I did not realise at this point that the road into Port Gregory rose alongside it and gave excellent views from a parking area by the PG welcome sign.
As I was taking photos some other people stopped and I asked what makde the waters pink. 'The salt' he said, adding that he lived in the area when a kid and his father used to work at the salt farm. Later on we established the colour came from algae cultivated for its beta-carotene.
Into Port
Gregory. Low-rise, tin-roofed, unassuming housing plus a playground and a general store complete with 'we are open' sign. We carried on and drove up to the car park at the top of the dunes, very similar approach to many parts of Norfolk. Suddenly the deep blue ocean is visible. We get out and the wind is incredibly strong. Find shelter for picnic.
Wander along beach, notice washed-up tiny blue jellyfish, and pink sand . Later find out that the pink sand is nothing to do with the lagoon or algae, but is from largest aluvial garnet mining facility in the southern hemisphere .
Large reef parallel to shore. Lots of shipwreck history. It was once a major port for wool, lead, copper.
Back to shop. Ice creams for pudding.
Quick visit to an old prisoner camp and colonial homestead.
Not much info and too many flies.
Off inland to Northampton, intending to stay there tonight. Arrived around 130pm. Very quiet and hot. Bought infosheet on Port Gregory pink water and sand for 20 cents ('to cover photocopying costs'). Carried on South, now aiming for Dongara/Port Denison.
Found seafront 'Seaspray' campsite, ummed and aahed and chose
Kalbarri Bluff
As well as really being this clolour the rocks sparkled too. a cabin (62AUD !) for the night. Back to fig tree lined Dongara main street to SupaValu supermarket for spag bol and other supplies.
Took ages to cook on strange electric stove. Kids did not mind, they were happy watching the '50 best oz TV prog' countdown. I did not stay awake long enough to see what won.
Saturday 15th October To Lancelin
Up early. Down to beach where there were several fishermen with rods swishing. Back to cabin for several cups of tea on verandah, reading ('Roots', I've put 'Emma' to one side) while the others slept on.
Deb cooked pancakes by solidifying them in the frypan and then finishing them in the toaster.
Checkout around 10:00 . Carry on South aiming for Lancelin but hoping to visit the Pinnacles area en-route. Tuned in to Oz v RestOfWorld. Lots of seemingly inane debate on wheteher or not Flintoff should have kept his head and bat down once he'd grabbed two sixes, rather than smashing another and being caught. 'In the old days' etc, but I suppose commentators have to fill in the gaps with something.
Turned off the highway too early (following 'Pinnacles')
Water Power
The waves were tremendous and you could see how Harold from Neighbours could have been swept out to sea....Dont worry he was later found alive and well. and found ourselves in Jurien Bay. Would have stopped for a picnic but too many flies !
Pinnacles is between Jurien and Lancelin but there is no through road, at least not in a 2WD.
Back to the Brand Highway and follow the signs to Lancelin. Lots of dunes, houses with lots of space, no crowds, empty car parks. Sea/beaches beautiful but cold despite the sunshine. Surfers in wetsuits. Deb/Owen/Rory not happy to surf in such chilly surroundings. We will stay the night. Two campsites, one looked very crowded so plumped for the site at the southern end of town. Pitched near seafront with some shelter but still very windy.
Walked along beach into town, watching windsurfers zipping along. Hoped to use internet in town but only available Mon/Wed/Fri 2-4pm !!
Sunday 16th back to Perth
Up early. No camp kitchen. Packed tent. Cereal breakfast in car after buying fresh milk
in town.
Where now ? Followed Wanneroo road back to Perth . Camp on coast ? Wanted to stay a couple of nights in one place , maybe in a cabin. Tried a 'Big4' site at Coogee Beach south of Freo but
Kalbarri....Cornwall
Coastline brought Cornish cliffs to mind. they wanted 92 AUD a night.
Ended up at the Comfort Hostel on the Great Eastern Highway near Perth airport. We had a 6-bed dorm to ourselves. Lovely big kitchen, large and comfortable TV/games room, laundry, etc 80AUD a night. Internet 3AUD/hour.
Monday 17th Hostel Chores
Did some cooking, washing, car hiring, emailing etc
Deb re-packed and managed to fit the tent in my rucksack. Abandoned glasses, books and sundry other items, a little like being in a sinking hot-air balloon. Even left two bottles of beer on the 'Free Food' shelf in the fridge. Will anyone trust it ?
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Ainsley
non-member comment
Hey guys!
Hey everyone! Just typin in to say Ur website's awesome, and U guys are so lucky to get to go everywhere U've been. ok, well ttyl! P.S. Happy B-day Owen!