Blogs from Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

Day 8 (9/3/2019) Up early to get some washing done. Around lunch time headed out to Hollywood Plaza in Salisbury to pick up the last of what we need for the next 4 days. Was about to reverse into a car park when a woman reversed out into us without looking. Exchanged details as while our damage is a scratch & a dent in the aluminium bull bar, it hit around the sensors & indicators. Returned to get the van ready for the journey ahead over the next few days & re-prep everything. Headed out for dinner with our lovely nieces Danielle & Rebekah at the Avoca Hotel before getting as much sleep as possible. Day 9 (10/3/2019) Departed Adelaide at 5:25AM. Stopped for breakfast & a cuppa at Pt Wakefield at 6:30AM, before continuing on ... read more

Australia Landed in Perth & then straight up to Learmonth, Western Australia, top left! Flying along the coastline was spectacular, clear skies & miles from any where. We stayed at Ningaloo Lodge a cross between a hostel & a hotel, which turned out to be a good base. First full day we went along to Turquoise Bay where we entered the clear blue water off to the left of the beach then spent the next hour drifting along the current above the coral, mesmerised by the multi coloured coral & fish beneath us. We even swam with a turtle for about 5 minutes - fantastic. We just had to keep an eye out for where to get out & not drift too far into a dangerous current. As we drove along the coast we saw a ... read more

6 Wochen Australien über 10.000 km Fahrstrecke und jeden Tag ein neuer Strand… Ein Spruch besagt: „Jeden Tag an einen neuen Strand, das würde in Australien 27 Jahre dauern…“ Ich weiß nicht genau, ob das stimmt, aber ich könnte es mir gut vorstellen. Wir hatten „nur“ 6 Wochen Zeit und haben somit häufig nach einem besonders schönen Frühstücks-, Mittags- und Abendessensstrand gesucht. Ja, man stellt Ansprüche mit der Zeit und wird verwöhnt, nicht jeder Strand ist schließlich geeignet, denn das Wasser muss schon türkis und der Sand puderweich und weiß sein… ;-) Auch wenn ich Australien von meiner ersten Reise schon etwas kannte, waren diese neuen Strecken von Sydney nach Melbourne sowie die Rundreise in Western Australia nochmal so verschieden und beeindruckend, wie ich es mir nicht vorgestellt hätte. Fast jeden Tag gab es ein neues ... read more

With almost 2 weeks of leave over my least favourite season (summer) for the Xmas and New Year break I was going a bit stir crazy. What to do? Where to go? Where could I go that wasn't going to cost much and wasn't going to kill me with heat stress? Well... with lowish summer temperatures down south for the following week, a very impromptu 7 day solo 135 km trek from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin seemed to fit the bill. ... Impromptu, as in... decide on Wednesday night, prepare on Thursday and leave on Friday. I'm completely kitted out for this style of trip now and usually have a few homemade dehydrated meals kicking around for last minute trips like this so it just took a small amount of preparation to be ready. On ... read more

Today we were heading to Bunbury expecting our journey of just over 200 miles to take about 4 hours depending on how often we stopped, which was about right for a pleasant drive without tasking our bladders too much if we passed nowhere ‘convenient’ en route. Once again, we had a choice of routes we could take (three this time!) and we opted for the one that would take us through various national parks and forests. We left Albany on Route 1, then turned onto Highway 102 (the Muir Highway) at Mount Barker and had a really pleasant journey, initially through wine country, then through various forests, before rejoining Route 1 at Manjimup. The roads were much quieter (the road trains took the more direct route I guess, not wanting to negotiate all the twists and ... read more