We’ve been a little slack on the blogging since New Years, mostly because finding internet has proven more difficult and more expensive than when in Asia! It’s been a jam packed 2 weeks since Lola was fixed in Lancelin, so I’ll do my best to summarise and not babble too much!
We began our journey to Perth with a stop in Yanchep to see the sleepy Koalas. They were lovely, they looked like chunky balls of fur up in the trees, their wispy ears and narrowed eyes giving them a look of Yoda! Perth was a nice city, although very quiet, their rush hour was lovely free flowing traffic, very laid back. We enjoyed the botanical gardens and views of the city then moved onto Rockingham the next day. Penguin Island just off Rockingham has been one of the best days of our trip so far. We got the boat over and were almost instantly greeted by little fluffy penguins under the boardwalks. We were really lucky to see the wild penguins as normally they’d be out fishing during the day, but it was moulting season so they stay on land for 3 weeks whilst they get their new coats, we saw lots of them around the island and enjoyed being entertained by the noisy rescued penguins who we watched get fed. There were also pelicans and loads of other birds flying around the island, and we were lucky enough to see a sea lion who decided to rest up on the beach – just amazing!
We spent an afternoon in Freemantle. Lovely old colonial buildings, harbour side with coffee shops and microbreweries – kind of reminded me of being in Bristol! Had two huge slabs of cake too – first in months and they were goooood! From here we had a quaint day viewing a giant orange and a woodland full of gnomes! We then stopped into Bunbury to the dolphin centre, we saw them frolicking in the bay, but they didn’t come into shore which was a shame, but we did see baby turtles and octopuses being fed! After hoping down the scenic coastal towns we arrived in Margaret River, another coffee & cake, a steam engine named Kate, kangaroos around the campsite and we got to hold a Kite (Bird of Prey) at the Eagle Heritage Centre – another fab day.
We headed onto Augusta and got our first glimpse of the Karri Forests. The Forests in the South are SO tall and really beautiful, a lovely change from beaches. We climbed a Karri tree, 52metres tall, it used to be a bush fire lookout and you climb up the outside of the tree on metal pegs which wind around it; tiring but a great experience and lovely view at the top. We did a drive through the forests, got all arty doing the sculpture forest walk, visited a Tingle tree 24metres wide and then did the treetop walk in the Valley of the Giants – a 40metre high walkway through the Tingle trees.
Back to the coast we headed to the beautiful almost deserted Windy Harbour, stopping at Mount Chudalup for a look, then ended up climbing it! As ever the views were worth it. William Bay National Park had some of the clearest turquoise waters I’ve ever seen, and the big elephant rocks were great to see. Albany had lovely old buildings to look at and a pretty coastal drive then we headed inland to the National Parks. We stopped in Porongroup National Park and did a brilliant walk up to Castle Rock, the last 30 metres being a rock scramble then a 7metre ladder up to a viewing platform. It was a stunning view and one of the best walks we’ve done recently – and so poorly advertised that we were the only ones there! We headed through Stirling Range National Park and saw some very small, very fluffy baby emus – very cute!
The long drive to Esperence was well worth it. We stayed in Cape Le Grand National Park which has the whitest of white sand and the bluest ocean, just beautiful. The kangaroos are super tame and we got very close to a baby roo who was scavenging for food near the beach. Another uphill climb up Frenchman’s Peak and another amazing view. Then we met the resident wild Sealion – Sammy – at the tanker jetty and his mate who was swimming about hoping to be fed by their adoring public! Then we did Western Australia’s Great Ocean Drive, for more stunning scenery.
We are currently diverting slightly and are heading north to Kalgoorie-Boulder for a bit of the Outback / mining scene. Then it is back to the coast to head across to Southern Australia, where maybe we’ll get around to finding some work!
Lots of love,
Kat & Chris xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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