Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We picked the van up from Perth and we definatley weren't prepared for what we got! It turned out to be a battered old van that seemed like it might fall apart at any second! The main sliding door didn't open from the outside, the front windows rattled and there were numerous dents on the outside! All those minor details aside, it did have loads of character and it was fun to drive. We got loads of people waving and laughing as we drove along, mainly because of the huge Pokemon characters down each side of the van! The bed turned out to be really comfy which was a nice surprise, we got a better night sleep than we did in the hostel.
First stop Cervantes, 2 nights at the Cervantes Pinnacles Caravan Park. We were right out in bush country now, we were driving through stark bushland, there is literally nothing for miles and miles apart. As we were driving into town we saw wild Kangaroos (5 of them) which was just brilliant, it was amazing seeing them in the wild. There isn't much to say about Cervantes itself, a really remote little town (or township as they call it!) on the coast. The caravan park was nice, right by the sea, the static caravans looked like they had been there since the 1930's! From Cervantes we went to the Pinnacles desert which is in the Nambung National Park. We had another encounter with wildlife as we were driving through the national park, we had to stop to let some Emus cross the road-very surreal! The Pinnacles Desert was good, we drove around it in Pokemon, we weren't sure it was going to make it but it did! The Pinnacles are limestone pillars sticking out of the ground, there are around 180,000 of them, its a pretty impressive sight. Also in the park we went to Hangover Bay and Kangaroo Point which were picnic spots along the coast. The coastline was beautiful but very windy.
After about a 5 hour journey we arrived at our next stop-Kalbarri. Kalbarri is a beautiful little town right on the edge of the Muchison River at the point where it meets the sea. Our caravan site was nice, we got a good spot with some shade under the tree (which is very much needed!) right next to the shower block! In Kalbarri we went on a sandboarding trip in the sand dunes. It was really good apart from that we were stuck with a group of French students! The sand boarding was great fun though, we enjoyed it, and the sand dunes were amazing. Phil was really good at it, he seemed to just go for miles, he'd get to the bottom of the slope and then just keep travelling along the sand, it was so funny! Also in Kalbarri we went to the National Park to a place called Nature's Window. This is basically a big hole which has been blown out of the rock by the wind and you can see into the gorge below, the view were amazing. It was quite amusing driving through the park, we had to drive for about 60k on what can only be described as a very bumpy dirt track! We seriously feared for Pokemon's life and we were driving so slow we were considering turning back because we didn't think we'd make it, then, all of a sudden, this other wicked van went flying past us about 70mph, we couldn't believe it! So Phil just put his foot down and we hurtled up the road after it!!! It seemed the faster you drove, the less the van actually touched the ground and so you didn't feel the bumps as bad, hee hee!! It was so funny, we were expecting to pick up stray bits of Pokemon on our way back but thankfully it actually made it in one piece.
That night was pretty cool too, because we were with the French kids on the sand boarding trip, the guides thought we didn't really get our moneys worth so they shouted us desserts at the town cafe! All good for the budget traveller!
Another 5 or so hour drive and we arrived at our next destination-Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort, Shark Bay. On the way in we stopped at Shell Beach which is basically a beach made up from tiny little shells, it was a stunning beach, not much to do other than look at it though!
Monkey Mia was brilliant, the resort was nice and the bay itself was just stunning, its part of a World Heritage area. And the dolphins were totally amazing, one of the most amazing things we've ever seen actually. There are wild dolphins that swim up to the jetty usually 3 times a day between 8am-1pm. Basically the rangers at the resort give them fish, but they only give them one fish each to make sure they stay wild and still hunt for their own food. The dolphins have been coming in here for about 50 years and they worked out that there has only been 4 days in the last 50 years that a dolphin hasn't swam in. Its just unbelievable, completely wild animals coming so close to the shore and taking the fish. They never come in at exactly the same time but always before 1pm for some reason so we didn't know when they would be coming. Our first morning there we got down to the beach for about 10.30am, at the time not realising that all 3 feeds had actually been done already. So we are sat on the beach waiting and you try to just sit and sun bathe and relax but you find yourself just scanning the horizon waiting and hoping for a dolphin to appear! We were so lucky this day because after about an hour and a half we saw two fins and then the dolphins swimming in! It was the most amazing thing ever, even better because as they got closer we could see that it was actually a mother with her calf. The calf was so cute, the mother just sat in the shallows checking out the people on the shore while the calf darted about all over the place, it was really funny. They stayed for about half an hour and then just swam back out to sea.
On our second morning we went down before breakfast so that we could see them being fed. This time 4 dolphins came in, 2 mothers and 2 calves, it was just unreal. There were also a couple of male dolphins that followed them but they stayed in the deeper water playing around, they apparently its only the females that come up to the shore.
We also went on a Catamaran trip to try and see the wildlife out at sea, that was just brilliant, we saw loads of things, a lot more than we expected. We saw loads of dolphins, most of them off in the distance but at one point some came right up to the boat and swam at the front for a while, that was cool!
We then saw some Dugongs, which neither of us had even heard of before going there! For those of you who also have no idea what a Dugong is there is a picture in the photo album! We again struck lucky because one of the Dugongs we saw also had a calf so that was pretty special. We also saw quite a few turtles, they are so cool, they just bob along and then every now and then their little head pops out of the water! It was a great trip, we saw so much wildlife and I didn't get sea sick which was an even bigger bonus!
Another thing we saw at Monkey Mia was Comet McNaught which was visible in Australia for about a week. We could see it so clearly, we were really lucky to see the whole thing as well as sometimes you are only able to see part of it.
About 8 hours driving this time and we arrived at our final destination, Exmouth. We stopped in at Coral Bay on the way to re-fuel and see if we wanted to stay but it was very small and we decided to keep going to Exmouth instead. Exmouth is known as the gateway to the Ningaloo Reef, it is an old Navy base with a population of only 2500! The first thing we saw when we arrived at Exmouth was the Emus! There was loads of them, just wondering around the town and the campsite, crazy! Apparently in the summer they come into town looking for food, they have a bit of a rummage around to see what they can find! It was quite funny, we saw some kids feeding them bread as if it was ducks at the park! We saw one that had 8 babies as well, pretty big family!
On our first day we drove into Cape Range National Park and saw quite a few Kangaroos. Within the park we went to a beach called Turquoise Bay, it was absolutley beautiful. We had a swim, the water was lovely and the warmest so far in Australia. We then went to another beach called Mangrove Bay. When we got here it was quite spooky, there wasn't a single other person around and the tide was right up so all the bushes were in the water, there was just a tiny bit of sand to stand on. We saw loads of turtles here, it was great. Phil also spotted a couple of fins and then we saw dark shadows moving about-SHARKS!! There were loads of them, they were really close to the shore as well, it was great to see them but only from the safety of the beach! We found out later that they will have been juvenile Reef Sharks as they are very common in that area.
On our second and final day in Exmouth we went on a scooter tour! It was absolutely brilliant, we had so much fun. It was just like a normal guided tour apart from that instead of being taken around on a bus we rode our own scooter! It was so funny when we first tried to ride them, we were shooting forward a bit but once we got used to it we were away, we were full throttle on the open roads!! First stop on the tour we went to Bundegi Beach and did some snorkelling on the Ningaloo Reef. The snorkelling was really good, we saw loads of fish. After snorkelling we went to see Mildura Wreck, that was amazing. Apparently it was a cargo ship and it sank there 100 years ago, it was crazy to think it had been sat there for so long. It is really close to the shore as well and there is quite a bit visible above the surface so you can see a lot without having to even go into the water. On this beach is also where the turtles come ashore to lay their eggs and it was laying season when we were there. We saw a few fresh tracks where the turtles had come ashore and dug their huge holes to bury the eggs, you can also see the crater where it has been dug out and not quite fully filled in. It was really cool. Last stop of the tour, we had a picnic at the lighthouse, it was lovely!
On our journey back down to Perth we stopped at Carnavon and Geraldton. We only stayed overnight in each place so didn't get to see much.
So, 3664km later Pokemon is returned home to Perth and in one piece-Phew!!!
Western Australia was really good, such a beautiful place, we are both really pleased we went. It is just so different to anywhere we've ever been and everything is so spread out. You can easily drive for over an hour and not see another car, and it takes hours to get from one place to the next. Some of the towns make you feel like you've travelled back in time, its so funny! One thing I would like to mention though is the amount of roadkill on the outback roads, its really disturbing. I would like to urge all drivers in WA to slow down and save the animals!!! We were both very relieved to return having not killed any animals ourselves, or for that matter even having to swerve for any-check out the sticker they put in the van in our photo album!!
So to sum up Western Australia:
The landscape - beautiful
The wildlife - amazing
The roads - endless
And the trip - WICKED!!!!!!
- comments