Today's the day. It's over after a long drive.
We left Ouyen to make the long drive back to Jindabyne. It's been raining all day and is actually pretty fitting and making the drive easier because it's not making us want to stay anywhere along the way. We did make a stop at another winery so that we could get some presents for people, but it didn't last long.
The drive was both boring and incredible. Once we got to the final stretch, I was breath-taken by the beauty of the mountains that I've spent the whole winter surrounded by. I had no idea that the backside of the mountain range was so beautiful. It was really foggy just above the valleys, so when we were going through the pass, it seemed we were on top of the world. The rain was falling and the eucalyptus trees were so green, it was like a magical rain forest. And the smell....the eucalyptus in the rain made the car smell like a massage room.
The drive seemed to take forever because we were so close to Jindy, but the switch-backs made it take 3 times as long. We finally made it back to Matt's house and now I am exhausted. It's good to stand up and move around in a house, but I am already missing the van....
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
November 18th….A random stop at the zoo….
Today we loved waking up in the hotel! My usual 3am intermission was spent watching TV instead of listening for mice and freaking out about every noise I hear. I took my time getting ready, as you do when you haven’t had many proper showers for over a month. We pre-made lunch and packed it away, with the intentions of not stopping until we couldn’t stand it anymore.
We got on the road and out of Adelaide via Hahndorf, a small German town with lots of shopping and chocolate. We didn’t spend much time there since we are out of money, but the drive this morning and last night have sure done a lot to renew our idea of what kind of city Adelaide is. I actually very much enjoy the place and think it’s a really cool city where I wish I could spend more time (as opposed to the boring city we discovered the first time around). I’m pretty glad we went out of our way to see it again.
Now we’re on a new track. Instead of going back to Jindabyne via Canberra and coming in from the north, we are following the Murray River and coming through the mountain pass and in from the south. It’ll actually be a more scenic drive and a route I’ve never been.
So, after Hahndorf we got on the Princess Highway and went through a town called Monarto and saw a sign for the Monarto zoo. This sparked my curiosity so we exited and went to check out the place. Good thing because today was amazing. The zoo is on 2500 acres of land and is an open-plains zoo with animals from all over the world roaming freely (basically). We went on a sort of safari through the African section and got to pet the rhinos and feed the giraffes. It was a good detour from what was supposed to be a very long and boring day, but it has set us back a day from our estimated arrival back to Jindy. No worries.
We have made plans this weekend to camp on the lake and have a massive lake weekend, bringing out all the toys. It should be so freaking fun. I can’t wait. You’d think we’d have enough of camping by now!
Animal death count….
Birds: 7+
Snakes: 2
Lizards: hard to tell
Kangaroos: 1
Mice: 2
Kilometers: 258,888 woah.
We got on the road and out of Adelaide via Hahndorf, a small German town with lots of shopping and chocolate. We didn’t spend much time there since we are out of money, but the drive this morning and last night have sure done a lot to renew our idea of what kind of city Adelaide is. I actually very much enjoy the place and think it’s a really cool city where I wish I could spend more time (as opposed to the boring city we discovered the first time around). I’m pretty glad we went out of our way to see it again.
Now we’re on a new track. Instead of going back to Jindabyne via Canberra and coming in from the north, we are following the Murray River and coming through the mountain pass and in from the south. It’ll actually be a more scenic drive and a route I’ve never been.
So, after Hahndorf we got on the Princess Highway and went through a town called Monarto and saw a sign for the Monarto zoo. This sparked my curiosity so we exited and went to check out the place. Good thing because today was amazing. The zoo is on 2500 acres of land and is an open-plains zoo with animals from all over the world roaming freely (basically). We went on a sort of safari through the African section and got to pet the rhinos and feed the giraffes. It was a good detour from what was supposed to be a very long and boring day, but it has set us back a day from our estimated arrival back to Jindy. No worries.
We have made plans this weekend to camp on the lake and have a massive lake weekend, bringing out all the toys. It should be so freaking fun. I can’t wait. You’d think we’d have enough of camping by now!
Animal death count….
Birds: 7+
Snakes: 2
Lizards: hard to tell
Kangaroos: 1
Mice: 2
Kilometers: 258,888 woah.
November 17th…..Driving. What’s new?
We drove from Steaky Bay to Adelaide. Not much to report on other than a lot of crossword puzzles, some pretty boring scenery and a night in a hotel! I had a bout of van-loathing and wanted to sleep on a mattress and take a good shower. I also needed a bit of world news in my system, so I bought us a CHEAP hotel room. We got what we paid for, but it was nice to stand up in the same space we laid our heads.
November 16th….Finished the Nullarbor for the 2nd time!!!!
Madura to Streaky Bay. Back to the same place we stayed before where we saw the rays and the tide was so low we could walk out to the middle. We were hoping for a nice day to get in some swimming after the LOOOONG drive across that stinking plain, but it was freezing. It was the next best thing though.
The second drive across the Nullarbor Plain wasn’t too hard either. It really gets incredibly repetitive and you start to lose your mind just a bit, but it’s not as burly as some may think. It probably helped a bit that we broke it up into 2 days, but there was a lot more traffic this time…and fewer animals! I also got to sleep a lot more than I did the first time, since Matt made me get up at 6am to start driving. So early….
As I was saying, Streaky Bay was really cold this time. It was a bit weird to spend the day sweating and then step out of the car and immediately put on a hoodie and pants. Not what I expected.
We went to the grocery store to finally restock our fruit and veggies. We went nuts and spent more money than we should have. Shortly after we left, we were looking at the map and realized there was another quarantine check point just inside New South Wales and we’ll probably end up having to eat more than we can handle or throw most of it away. Bummer. I guess if that’s my biggest concern right now, then I’m not doing too bad.
The second drive across the Nullarbor Plain wasn’t too hard either. It really gets incredibly repetitive and you start to lose your mind just a bit, but it’s not as burly as some may think. It probably helped a bit that we broke it up into 2 days, but there was a lot more traffic this time…and fewer animals! I also got to sleep a lot more than I did the first time, since Matt made me get up at 6am to start driving. So early….
As I was saying, Streaky Bay was really cold this time. It was a bit weird to spend the day sweating and then step out of the car and immediately put on a hoodie and pants. Not what I expected.
We went to the grocery store to finally restock our fruit and veggies. We went nuts and spent more money than we should have. Shortly after we left, we were looking at the map and realized there was another quarantine check point just inside New South Wales and we’ll probably end up having to eat more than we can handle or throw most of it away. Bummer. I guess if that’s my biggest concern right now, then I’m not doing too bad.
November 15th…..Rain, rain go away…..
No swimming at Lucky Bay today. It was raining and windy and cold. Back to the drive. We took the scenic route out of Esperance up to Norseman and had lunch at a park then it was back at the ever-dreadful Nullarbor. We wanted to try to do just the first hour or so tonight and finish tomorrow, but we have a tendency to just keep driving and driving. We ended up doing about twice as much as we thought and crashed out at a caravan park in a town called Madura, just one of the small towns on the Eyre Highway. Nothing too impressive, except I made Mexican food for dinner. Ha. Early to bed and hopefully early to rise!
November 14th…..From the Shire of York to the beautiful town of Esperance….
We left the lovely people of York and made our way to a town called Hyden.
In Hyden there is a really big rock wall and it looks like a wave. It’s called Wave Rock. Hmmm…. They wanted $10 to get in to see it, but you were meant to stop at the shop and pay it. So we didn’t stay long because we didn’t want to pay nor did we want to get caught. We only got out to take a couple pictures and then took off again.
We wanted to head back to Lucky Bay to do some swimming since it was too nasty last time we were there. Our drive to Esperance was pretty normal, but this time we were going through dense forest, which is a change of pace from the ocean scene we’ve been following across. Esperance was cold and expensive, so we took the scenic drive around the town and found ourselves in a whole new place, way different from last time we were here. The beaches were so beautiful and there were tons of islands just off the shore. We climbed this hill and sat up on the top to watch the crazy sunset over the rocky shores. It was picture-perfect and was another one of those moments in my life where I take a deep breath, ground myself and remember how lucky I am. I tried to spend some time talking to my grandpa, but the tears started flowing and I was brought back to earth.
We discussed getting a hotel room for a good night’s sleep, but didn’t want to spend the amount they were all asking, so we ended up at a caravan park several hours after it was closed. We parked the van in the parking lot and stayed there. Yay, free accommodation!!!
In Hyden there is a really big rock wall and it looks like a wave. It’s called Wave Rock. Hmmm…. They wanted $10 to get in to see it, but you were meant to stop at the shop and pay it. So we didn’t stay long because we didn’t want to pay nor did we want to get caught. We only got out to take a couple pictures and then took off again.
We wanted to head back to Lucky Bay to do some swimming since it was too nasty last time we were there. Our drive to Esperance was pretty normal, but this time we were going through dense forest, which is a change of pace from the ocean scene we’ve been following across. Esperance was cold and expensive, so we took the scenic drive around the town and found ourselves in a whole new place, way different from last time we were here. The beaches were so beautiful and there were tons of islands just off the shore. We climbed this hill and sat up on the top to watch the crazy sunset over the rocky shores. It was picture-perfect and was another one of those moments in my life where I take a deep breath, ground myself and remember how lucky I am. I tried to spend some time talking to my grandpa, but the tears started flowing and I was brought back to earth.
We discussed getting a hotel room for a good night’s sleep, but didn’t want to spend the amount they were all asking, so we ended up at a caravan park several hours after it was closed. We parked the van in the parking lot and stayed there. Yay, free accommodation!!!
November 13th…..Rottnest Island. Quokka spot.....
We took a ferry out to a small island just off Perth, called Rottnest Island. The island is only 11 kilometers by 5 kilometers and is an easy day of bike exploring. We rented some bikes and snorkel gear and went for a ride to find a nice place to post ourselves for the day. We picked a cool name on the map and it could not have been any better! We had the entire beach to ourselves!!!! It was so serene and the water was see-through turquoise as far as the eye could see. For some reason all the other beaches were packed and there was no one on this one! It was a bit of a hike on sand dunes to get to, but so, so, so worth the extra effort. We spent the day snorkeling, swimming and lying in the sun. We saw a stingray and a bunch of fish. It was cool to see a completely different type of reef. The Great Barrier was all hard coral and was pretty much a big rock in the ocean, but here it was all soft coral and seaweed.
Once, while Matt was out swimming around the bend and I had the beach to myself, I burnt my cheeks and am now regretting it. It hurts to sit down. Ouch!
Rottnest is the home to a rare marsupial called the quokka. They are little animals that almost look like a cross between a rat and a kangaroo. They are everywhere on the island and some even climb on you…obviously the ones near the restaurants. They are cute until they get on you and then they are a bit creepy, but it was neat to see such a rare species of animal.
The bike ride took us around the island and around every corner was something new and spectacular. There were about 10 shipwrecks around the island and we took a glass bottom boat to see 2 of them. There were also a couple sticking out of the water that you could see from the shore. Unfortunately all the ones you were allowed to snorkel on were packed with people or on the east side of the island where the waves were too big to brave. I guess it’s OK since we had a beach to ourselves….
After Rottnest we drove to a town called York and stayed the night at a caravan park. The people who ran the caravan park were the nicest people we have come across so far and even said it was a pleasure having us stay there. Ha. Pretty funny since we came in two hours after they closed and took them away from whatever they were doing. We’re exhausted and should sleep well tonight.
Once, while Matt was out swimming around the bend and I had the beach to myself, I burnt my cheeks and am now regretting it. It hurts to sit down. Ouch!
Rottnest is the home to a rare marsupial called the quokka. They are little animals that almost look like a cross between a rat and a kangaroo. They are everywhere on the island and some even climb on you…obviously the ones near the restaurants. They are cute until they get on you and then they are a bit creepy, but it was neat to see such a rare species of animal.
The bike ride took us around the island and around every corner was something new and spectacular. There were about 10 shipwrecks around the island and we took a glass bottom boat to see 2 of them. There were also a couple sticking out of the water that you could see from the shore. Unfortunately all the ones you were allowed to snorkel on were packed with people or on the east side of the island where the waves were too big to brave. I guess it’s OK since we had a beach to ourselves….
After Rottnest we drove to a town called York and stayed the night at a caravan park. The people who ran the caravan park were the nicest people we have come across so far and even said it was a pleasure having us stay there. Ha. Pretty funny since we came in two hours after they closed and took them away from whatever they were doing. We’re exhausted and should sleep well tonight.
November 12th....Spent the day in prison....
We made a list on our travels of all the things that we wanted to make sure we did on the way back through. This list included things like taking pictures of various signs, giving Adelaide a second chance, seeing tourist attractions, watching a sunset from the west coast and visiting Fremantle Prison. Today we not only got to erase one of these, we destroyed it. We spent an entire day there!
We found out that there were 4 different types of tours and each cost $25-50 a piece. We really wanted to do them all, so we called them up and asked if there was a special price for all four. Lucky for us, it was only $100 to do them all. They laughed at us for asking if we could do them all in one day, but we insisted and they scheduled us in for an entire day of tours.
The first tour was the history tour. Here we learned that Fremantle prison was a convict prison from the early 1800s and became a maximum-security prison until 1991 when they had to shut down for sanitary reasons. I feel like I could go on all day about the history of this place, but I won’t bore you too much. I will tell you, though, that in Australia convicts are the first settlers…the ones who were sent over from England to Australia for committing various crimes…usually stealing things like bread and butter from their neighbors, etc. And the sanitary reasons are because there was never any running water or plumbing in the building. Until 1991!!!!! They were using the bathroom in a bucket that they shared with their cellmate!!!! Gross!?!?!?! So we learned about the place, from top to bottom and left to right. We heard all the stories and the typical prison scenarios. (Another Internet research if you’re that interested.)
The second tour was called Great Escapes and we learned about all the successful and unsuccessful attempts to escape. There was a guy who took off all of his clothes and tied them around the barbed wire fence to protect his body from cuts, but he was busted and his clothes are still there from 60 years ago. There was another guy who got over the walls and into his escape car. When he got to his friend’s house, he decided that he wanted to go to the pub since it had been four years since he’d had a drink. As you can imagine, he got wasted and ended up getting pulled over for public intoxication. The town police fingerprinted him since he had no ID and his address was Fremantle Prison. They called up the prison who searched and found what looked like a body in his bed (actually his clothes and shoes under the blankets) and said that it wasn’t him. The city police decided to keep him overnight since he was so drunk and would let him go in the morning. However, the next morning the prison realized that the guy hadn’t shown up for his duties and called them back. He was nearly free!
This tour also told us about the Catalpa, a ship that brought some Fenians to freedom in America. The successful escapee who rescued them was named O’Reilly. I really did hear the story, but will butcher any facts, so look it up if you want. Basically O’Reilly escaped from Fremantle and started a life in Boston. A few years later he came up with a big plan to rescue some of his friends. It’s pretty interesting stuff if you have a minute.
The third tour was of an underground tunnel system that was built by the prisoners when Fremantle was first inhabited. After about three years the people of Fremantle had wiped themselves out of fresh water. They found a table of rainwater just under the prison, so they forced the prisoners to dig 75-feet below ground and build a tunnel system to provide water for the entire town. The tunnels still exist today. We climbed a well 75 feet into the ground and, armed with headlamps and hard hats, made our way through the 1 kilometer tunnel grid all but crawling on all fours. A lot of the tunnel is still waist-deep water, so we got into 2-man boats and paddled our way through the rest of the place. It was so cool to think that we were that far underground in boats! It was pitch-black, too. At one point we were told to turn off our headlamps and enjoy the complete darkness. You couldn’t even see your hand directly in front of your face and for the most part, this is how the tunnels were built. It was such a cool thing to do and something you’d never think to do at all.
The fourth tour was at night and was the ghost tour. Apparently the prison is the third most haunted building in Australia. There are a million ghost stories coming out of the place and they have a whole tour geared towards it. Unfortunately we didn’t encounter any ghosts, but they do a good job of scaring you anyway. They even took us to the gallows where over 100 people were hanged. It was such a dingy smell and they guy said it was the smell of death. Creepy, huh? He had 100 other stories along the way, too. And I promise you there are orbs in our pictures. Not sure what to think about that….
In between the tours we had lunch and dinner and did some shopping for a few things we needed. We didn’t really spend 24 hours there, but close.
We rode our bikes back to the caravan park and are ready to crash out. Tomorrow is an early morning to Rottnest Island!
We found out that there were 4 different types of tours and each cost $25-50 a piece. We really wanted to do them all, so we called them up and asked if there was a special price for all four. Lucky for us, it was only $100 to do them all. They laughed at us for asking if we could do them all in one day, but we insisted and they scheduled us in for an entire day of tours.
The first tour was the history tour. Here we learned that Fremantle prison was a convict prison from the early 1800s and became a maximum-security prison until 1991 when they had to shut down for sanitary reasons. I feel like I could go on all day about the history of this place, but I won’t bore you too much. I will tell you, though, that in Australia convicts are the first settlers…the ones who were sent over from England to Australia for committing various crimes…usually stealing things like bread and butter from their neighbors, etc. And the sanitary reasons are because there was never any running water or plumbing in the building. Until 1991!!!!! They were using the bathroom in a bucket that they shared with their cellmate!!!! Gross!?!?!?! So we learned about the place, from top to bottom and left to right. We heard all the stories and the typical prison scenarios. (Another Internet research if you’re that interested.)
The second tour was called Great Escapes and we learned about all the successful and unsuccessful attempts to escape. There was a guy who took off all of his clothes and tied them around the barbed wire fence to protect his body from cuts, but he was busted and his clothes are still there from 60 years ago. There was another guy who got over the walls and into his escape car. When he got to his friend’s house, he decided that he wanted to go to the pub since it had been four years since he’d had a drink. As you can imagine, he got wasted and ended up getting pulled over for public intoxication. The town police fingerprinted him since he had no ID and his address was Fremantle Prison. They called up the prison who searched and found what looked like a body in his bed (actually his clothes and shoes under the blankets) and said that it wasn’t him. The city police decided to keep him overnight since he was so drunk and would let him go in the morning. However, the next morning the prison realized that the guy hadn’t shown up for his duties and called them back. He was nearly free!
This tour also told us about the Catalpa, a ship that brought some Fenians to freedom in America. The successful escapee who rescued them was named O’Reilly. I really did hear the story, but will butcher any facts, so look it up if you want. Basically O’Reilly escaped from Fremantle and started a life in Boston. A few years later he came up with a big plan to rescue some of his friends. It’s pretty interesting stuff if you have a minute.
The third tour was of an underground tunnel system that was built by the prisoners when Fremantle was first inhabited. After about three years the people of Fremantle had wiped themselves out of fresh water. They found a table of rainwater just under the prison, so they forced the prisoners to dig 75-feet below ground and build a tunnel system to provide water for the entire town. The tunnels still exist today. We climbed a well 75 feet into the ground and, armed with headlamps and hard hats, made our way through the 1 kilometer tunnel grid all but crawling on all fours. A lot of the tunnel is still waist-deep water, so we got into 2-man boats and paddled our way through the rest of the place. It was so cool to think that we were that far underground in boats! It was pitch-black, too. At one point we were told to turn off our headlamps and enjoy the complete darkness. You couldn’t even see your hand directly in front of your face and for the most part, this is how the tunnels were built. It was such a cool thing to do and something you’d never think to do at all.
The fourth tour was at night and was the ghost tour. Apparently the prison is the third most haunted building in Australia. There are a million ghost stories coming out of the place and they have a whole tour geared towards it. Unfortunately we didn’t encounter any ghosts, but they do a good job of scaring you anyway. They even took us to the gallows where over 100 people were hanged. It was such a dingy smell and they guy said it was the smell of death. Creepy, huh? He had 100 other stories along the way, too. And I promise you there are orbs in our pictures. Not sure what to think about that….
In between the tours we had lunch and dinner and did some shopping for a few things we needed. We didn’t really spend 24 hours there, but close.
We rode our bikes back to the caravan park and are ready to crash out. Tomorrow is an early morning to Rottnest Island!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Here are the links to my photo albums. I will keep putting them up. You might have to copy and paste.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2237398&l=b48e8&id=20709191
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2231780&l=4d436&id=20709191
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2231780&l=4d436&id=20709191
November 11th….Remembrance Day and the Pinnacles….
Today we kept driving. Surprise! We wanted to make it to Perth/Fremantle by tonight, with a short stop at the Pinnacles. And that’s what we did.
The Pinnacles are these weird rock pillars, a desert full of them, that were formed by limestone deposits in the sand. When the sand eroded or blew away, there were these eerie-looking formations left behind. I can’t explain them any further than that, but you can see pictures. It was a bit creepy, but really cool to see.
Not much more exciting than that today. We bought crosswords to do in the car and have become addicted. I’m surprised I even took the time to write this today!
Oh, and it’s Remembrance Day in Australia. And it’s Veteran’s Day in America. Happy Veteran’s Day America! And I know a few people with birthdays today. Happy Birthday!
Kilometer count: 255,487
The Pinnacles are these weird rock pillars, a desert full of them, that were formed by limestone deposits in the sand. When the sand eroded or blew away, there were these eerie-looking formations left behind. I can’t explain them any further than that, but you can see pictures. It was a bit creepy, but really cool to see.
Not much more exciting than that today. We bought crosswords to do in the car and have become addicted. I’m surprised I even took the time to write this today!
Oh, and it’s Remembrance Day in Australia. And it’s Veteran’s Day in America. Happy Veteran’s Day America! And I know a few people with birthdays today. Happy Birthday!
Kilometer count: 255,487
November 10th…..Another country????.....
YAY!!!! We woke up and went swimming for hours! We swam 35 laps for some exercise and then had a little fun. I love pools! And I love that it was warm enough for us to do that! After we had enough swimming, well enough sun really, we started driving again.
Our purpose of coming back to Kalbarri was to go to a place called Hutt River Province which is technically another country within Australia…a principality. They pride themselves on being the second biggest country on this continent. The prince was sick, but we got the official country tour from Princess Shirley. We exchanged some money since they have their own currency, sent come postcards from their post office and even got our passports stamped. Somehow this family who owned this province found some loopholes in the laws and were able to become their own entity. They even went to war with Australia and won! I can’t even begin to explain how all this happened, but I am pretty sure you can look it up if you are that interested. I don’t want to bore anyone with the technical details. Just know that I have been to a new country! 3 since I left America. Well, 4 really. Woah.
We kept driving down the long, dirt roads and went back to Geraldton because I wanted Subway for dinner. As always. We also wanted to see a movie in the theater since it’s been so long. We got to the small theater and realized just how far out of touch we’ve been because we hadn’t even heard of any of them. We had to have the guy tell us what they were about and decided to just see the comedy. We saw ‘How to Lose Friends and Alienate People’. Please, please, please don’t waste your money. It was so stupid. However, it was pretty good to just hang out in the air conditioning.
Then we got back on the road just to get a bit further. We ended up in Port Denison pretty late and just went to bed. No mice tonight!!!!
Our purpose of coming back to Kalbarri was to go to a place called Hutt River Province which is technically another country within Australia…a principality. They pride themselves on being the second biggest country on this continent. The prince was sick, but we got the official country tour from Princess Shirley. We exchanged some money since they have their own currency, sent come postcards from their post office and even got our passports stamped. Somehow this family who owned this province found some loopholes in the laws and were able to become their own entity. They even went to war with Australia and won! I can’t even begin to explain how all this happened, but I am pretty sure you can look it up if you are that interested. I don’t want to bore anyone with the technical details. Just know that I have been to a new country! 3 since I left America. Well, 4 really. Woah.
We kept driving down the long, dirt roads and went back to Geraldton because I wanted Subway for dinner. As always. We also wanted to see a movie in the theater since it’s been so long. We got to the small theater and realized just how far out of touch we’ve been because we hadn’t even heard of any of them. We had to have the guy tell us what they were about and decided to just see the comedy. We saw ‘How to Lose Friends and Alienate People’. Please, please, please don’t waste your money. It was so stupid. However, it was pretty good to just hang out in the air conditioning.
Then we got back on the road just to get a bit further. We ended up in Port Denison pretty late and just went to bed. No mice tonight!!!!
November 9th……Officially headed back….
All good things must come to an end. We tossed around the idea of traveling a bit further north, but really didn’t like the idea of more money and more hours of driving. You can only handle so much of life stuck in a small van, ya know? Plus, heading north would just mean more snorkeling, and we have a great place in mind for that a bit south of here…Rottnest Island. So, we took off. We spent the day following the World Heritage Trail back to the West Coastal Highway. The whole area of Shark Bay is a World Heritage area that they compare to the likes of the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and the Great Barrier Reef. There is a lot of crazy wildlife everywhere and plenty of beautiful country to surround. There are even stromatolites which are supposedly the most ancient form of oxygen on the planet. It was pretty incredible to see. We also went to a beach called Shell Beach where the shells are so deep, they cut into the earth and make bricks of them. I can’t explain, but I will put up pictures. The beach was awesome and we saw a lot of sharks and rays. We went to a place called Ocean Park, which is a zoo of sorts, with all the living marine animals from the area. There was a wide variety of species, including marine turtles, sea snakes and sharks. We went to a place called Eagle Buff, which was a lookout over a place with heaps of sharks and dugongs and rays. It was a bit high up, but we saw a lot of life down in the water. Again, pictures are the only explanation I really have.
We drove back into Kalbarri, where we were originally, to stay a night and get some cell phone service since we haven’t had any for days! We wanted to have wine and cheese and olives and crackers on the beach to watch the sunset, so we hopped on our bikes and rode to a lookout. We quickly realized that the clouds were too thick to see the sun, so we headed back to the caravan park and made dinner and hung out in the cool weather for a bit. It’s nice to be cold again, but it also brings back the bugs, so it’s a toss up.
Anyway, the phone calls are coming! Hope you’re all awake by now!!!!!!!!!
Animals killed: Bird count up to 5+, 1 snake, 1 kangaroo, 2 mice
Uncle Eric, if you’re reading this, you have to attest to the difficulties of driving in this country without killing animals. I swear, I am not doing any of this on purpose, but when these animals only see one car an hour, they’re not really adjusted to dodging them….rather, they fly/hop/run right into them. I mean it! Don’t think for a second that I don’t bawl my eyes out every time it happens….
We drove back into Kalbarri, where we were originally, to stay a night and get some cell phone service since we haven’t had any for days! We wanted to have wine and cheese and olives and crackers on the beach to watch the sunset, so we hopped on our bikes and rode to a lookout. We quickly realized that the clouds were too thick to see the sun, so we headed back to the caravan park and made dinner and hung out in the cool weather for a bit. It’s nice to be cold again, but it also brings back the bugs, so it’s a toss up.
Anyway, the phone calls are coming! Hope you’re all awake by now!!!!!!!!!
Animals killed: Bird count up to 5+, 1 snake, 1 kangaroo, 2 mice
Uncle Eric, if you’re reading this, you have to attest to the difficulties of driving in this country without killing animals. I swear, I am not doing any of this on purpose, but when these animals only see one car an hour, they’re not really adjusted to dodging them….rather, they fly/hop/run right into them. I mean it! Don’t think for a second that I don’t bawl my eyes out every time it happens….
November 8th…..Exploring Monkey Mia….
We’re still in Monkey Mia for one more day. Today, being our last, we went on a long hike through the bush around the peninsula. We didn’t see much wildlife other than a plethora of birds, but saw a lot of crazy tracks, including a ton of snakes. I was pretty nervous to say the least. All I know about Australian snakes is that the country is home to the ten deadliest snakes in the world. One snake can kill a person in 15 seconds. Not my idea of a fun way to die.
Needless to say, the trip ended quickly back at the beach, but we were really far from the resort, so it was a long, deserted beach walk back. We chose the ankle-deep water route and ended up just a few feet away from about 30 sharks (all small enough to be in the shallows, don’t worry) and almost every different kind of ray there is. There was a small sand island just off where we were and there was about 300 birds chilling on it. Our noise scared them and we found ourselves in another National Geographic type moment as the swarm of birds flew just above our heads. The noise was incredible. It was so loud and windy. I got some awesome pictures…again.
The reason why there is so much wildlife is because of the concentration of all different species of sea grasses. They claim to have the most sea grass per area and the most variety in the world. It’s done a lot to the formation of the beaches and the snorkeling!
We were hot, and sunburned, when we finally made it back to the resort so we went for a swim in the pool. Then, to warm up since the pool was freezing, we went in the hot tub. Then got back in the pool and then back in the hot tub.
After that game, it was time for a shower and dinner. We had made reservations at the resort’s restaurant, so we got a bit dressed up for once and went all out for the evening. We had the seafood platter and a nice glass of red. We were nearly too full to move and vowed to never eat seafood again. We’ll see how long that lasts. I think I said that last time I ate seafood too. Ha.
Needless to say, the trip ended quickly back at the beach, but we were really far from the resort, so it was a long, deserted beach walk back. We chose the ankle-deep water route and ended up just a few feet away from about 30 sharks (all small enough to be in the shallows, don’t worry) and almost every different kind of ray there is. There was a small sand island just off where we were and there was about 300 birds chilling on it. Our noise scared them and we found ourselves in another National Geographic type moment as the swarm of birds flew just above our heads. The noise was incredible. It was so loud and windy. I got some awesome pictures…again.
The reason why there is so much wildlife is because of the concentration of all different species of sea grasses. They claim to have the most sea grass per area and the most variety in the world. It’s done a lot to the formation of the beaches and the snorkeling!
We were hot, and sunburned, when we finally made it back to the resort so we went for a swim in the pool. Then, to warm up since the pool was freezing, we went in the hot tub. Then got back in the pool and then back in the hot tub.
After that game, it was time for a shower and dinner. We had made reservations at the resort’s restaurant, so we got a bit dressed up for once and went all out for the evening. We had the seafood platter and a nice glass of red. We were nearly too full to move and vowed to never eat seafood again. We’ll see how long that lasts. I think I said that last time I ate seafood too. Ha.
November 7th…..Sundown Cruising…..
Today we woke up and were a bit late for the early morning dolphin feeding, so we caught the second one a bit later. We sat on the wharf and there were a couple of lively dolphins just off the end, so we got a good view of the action and got some really good pictures.
The reason for waking up late, which I nearly forgot to tell you, was because we had ANOTHER MOUSE!!!!!!!! I woke up to our pots and pans banging. I freaked out and laid there for a few minutes before I heard some mouse noises, screamed, woke Matt up and made him listen. It wasn’t 30 seconds later and we heard something run across the bed. Luckily it was dark or I might have jumped out the window. I made Matt get up and set the traps. About 5 minutes later we heard a snap and the thing was caught by the neck. I hate having them around, but I always feel guilty when I see them in the trap. Good thing this one went quickly and didn’t scream like the last one. MEE, MEE, MEE, MEE!!!! Hey, does anyone know if mice can tell that there has been another mouse in the same place before? It seems strange that we have had two and there are caravans everywhere around us all the time! We make a point not to leave any food out, so it can’t be that…
After that we went for a run. Matt has to do this beep test to train for the fire brigade, so I tried to do it with him…unsuccessfully. It’s a test that beeps at different intervals and you have to keep up with it in between this 20-meter span. It’s hard to explain and even harder to do. Then we played tennis and did some serious stretching before lounging on the beach for an hour or so.
At about 6, we went on a sunset cruise on the same boat we went on yesterday. It was free with the purchase of yesterday’s cruise. It was quite pleasant really, and we saw some more wildlife.
When we got back, we had an hour to have dinner before we had to meet up to do an astronomy tour. The main skipper of the boat we went on has been sailing for nearly 40 years and is a self-taught cosmologist. It’s pretty cool to learn about the stars and the universe from someone who only knows it because of the need for direction on the high seas. It beats someone learning it in school, I’d say. He was full of information, but made it understandable for all of us. We were provided with binoculars and could see all the craters on the moon and all of Jupiter’s moons. It was a pretty nerdy night, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
That finished at about ten and now we’re going to bed!!!! It’s way past my bedtime!
The reason for waking up late, which I nearly forgot to tell you, was because we had ANOTHER MOUSE!!!!!!!! I woke up to our pots and pans banging. I freaked out and laid there for a few minutes before I heard some mouse noises, screamed, woke Matt up and made him listen. It wasn’t 30 seconds later and we heard something run across the bed. Luckily it was dark or I might have jumped out the window. I made Matt get up and set the traps. About 5 minutes later we heard a snap and the thing was caught by the neck. I hate having them around, but I always feel guilty when I see them in the trap. Good thing this one went quickly and didn’t scream like the last one. MEE, MEE, MEE, MEE!!!! Hey, does anyone know if mice can tell that there has been another mouse in the same place before? It seems strange that we have had two and there are caravans everywhere around us all the time! We make a point not to leave any food out, so it can’t be that…
After that we went for a run. Matt has to do this beep test to train for the fire brigade, so I tried to do it with him…unsuccessfully. It’s a test that beeps at different intervals and you have to keep up with it in between this 20-meter span. It’s hard to explain and even harder to do. Then we played tennis and did some serious stretching before lounging on the beach for an hour or so.
At about 6, we went on a sunset cruise on the same boat we went on yesterday. It was free with the purchase of yesterday’s cruise. It was quite pleasant really, and we saw some more wildlife.
When we got back, we had an hour to have dinner before we had to meet up to do an astronomy tour. The main skipper of the boat we went on has been sailing for nearly 40 years and is a self-taught cosmologist. It’s pretty cool to learn about the stars and the universe from someone who only knows it because of the need for direction on the high seas. It beats someone learning it in school, I’d say. He was full of information, but made it understandable for all of us. We were provided with binoculars and could see all the craters on the moon and all of Jupiter’s moons. It was a pretty nerdy night, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
That finished at about ten and now we’re going to bed!!!! It’s way past my bedtime!
November 6th…..Dolphins and Dugongs….
Today WAS a good day. We started the morning playing with dolphins. Who really gets to do that?!?!?! I feel so lucky. The dolphins are wild animals, but they come right up to the knee deep water and rub up against legs, do tricks (tricks to us, a way to feed and breathe and play to them). I never thought I’d get the opportunity to be that close to the beautiful creatures. You aren’t allowed to touch them or reach out to them because they want to keep them wild, but they really do come right up to you and it seems they know just when to pose for the best pictures. They are so entertaining.
We then went to the booking counter and booked in for a catamaran ride (two for the price of one) and for a thing called Awestronomy which is a chance to learn how the stars help sailors navigate.
Since we had the afternoon to explore before we went on the boat, we headed in to the main town in the area, called Denham. We did a bit of shopping there because Matt needed some boardies and I wanted to get a sun hat. On our way back we went to a place called Little Lagoon which is an ocean-made lake that is real shallow and full of life. You could nearly drive all the way around it on the beach…luckily I was driving!!!!
Shortly after we got back, we hopped on the boat and braved the nasty weather to see some of the area’s wildlife. The skipper said that it was the worst weather he’d seen in a long time and we were all freezing and the sails were going everywhere! It was exciting. We ended up seeing dugongs, turtles, dolphins and sea snakes. I found out that dugongs and manatees are actually two different creatures, but are cousins. They look nearly identical, but dugongs are a bit smaller and brown instead of gray. Oh, and they live only in salt water, where manatees enjoy the inlets that are a mixture of salt and fresh waters.
On the boat, I was chosen to crank up the sail with another girl named Julie, from Canada. We hit it off and became pretty good friends for the next couple of days before she left. Her travels put mine to shame so we had a lot to talk about.
I enjoyed most of the ride on the net that hung over the water, looking below the boat at the wildlife just underneath. It was a cool view, but I ended up pretty wet.
When the boat ride was over, we were freezing, so the hot tub was priority. It was good to warm up our bones before dinner and relaxation started.
We’ve been on a Seinfeld kick, mostly because that’s really all we brought on DVD, so we spend most of our nights away from the mosquitoes in our warm bed watching Seinfeld episodes. It’s a nice little piece of comfort that makes it feel like we really do have a bit of civilization in our bodies.
We then went to the booking counter and booked in for a catamaran ride (two for the price of one) and for a thing called Awestronomy which is a chance to learn how the stars help sailors navigate.
Since we had the afternoon to explore before we went on the boat, we headed in to the main town in the area, called Denham. We did a bit of shopping there because Matt needed some boardies and I wanted to get a sun hat. On our way back we went to a place called Little Lagoon which is an ocean-made lake that is real shallow and full of life. You could nearly drive all the way around it on the beach…luckily I was driving!!!!
Shortly after we got back, we hopped on the boat and braved the nasty weather to see some of the area’s wildlife. The skipper said that it was the worst weather he’d seen in a long time and we were all freezing and the sails were going everywhere! It was exciting. We ended up seeing dugongs, turtles, dolphins and sea snakes. I found out that dugongs and manatees are actually two different creatures, but are cousins. They look nearly identical, but dugongs are a bit smaller and brown instead of gray. Oh, and they live only in salt water, where manatees enjoy the inlets that are a mixture of salt and fresh waters.
On the boat, I was chosen to crank up the sail with another girl named Julie, from Canada. We hit it off and became pretty good friends for the next couple of days before she left. Her travels put mine to shame so we had a lot to talk about.
I enjoyed most of the ride on the net that hung over the water, looking below the boat at the wildlife just underneath. It was a cool view, but I ended up pretty wet.
When the boat ride was over, we were freezing, so the hot tub was priority. It was good to warm up our bones before dinner and relaxation started.
We’ve been on a Seinfeld kick, mostly because that’s really all we brought on DVD, so we spend most of our nights away from the mosquitoes in our warm bed watching Seinfeld episodes. It’s a nice little piece of comfort that makes it feel like we really do have a bit of civilization in our bodies.
November 5th….America Votes while I submerse myself deep in rural Australia….
First thought upon waking up today: “TV, TV, TV, TV….gotta watch the elections!” Nope. Not a chance. We woke up and I tried calling every single person whose number I knew in America, but no one answered. I FINALLY talked to my mom about an hour later and she barely had any news, so we went to the beach to watch a pelican feeding. It was pretty funny to see such large birds interact with humans.
Since we didn’t want to go the pub at 9 in the morning (it was the only place in town with a public TV), we got on the road to see if we couldn’t make it to the next destination before the decision was made. We are only traveling this way once, so of course we had some stops to make along the way.
Through the procrastination and since the new destination, Monkey Mia, was so far away, we missed every bit of it. I caught about the last 2 minutes of Obama’s acceptance speech on a very static-filled radio station just as we were pulling into town. I lost all cell phone reception and radio for over 4 hours. Not the best of my days, I must say….
We got to Shark Bay though, and by far this is the best place we’ve been. It’s heaven, really. The water is aquamarine just like the crayon! There are dolphins all over the place and whales and sharks and turtles and manatees (which they call dugongs…HA!). We drove through some cool towns and made it to Monkey Mia where the dolphins come to shore and play with the humans every morning. Should be a good morning tomorrow!
We spent the afternoon relaxing and exploring the resort, had some dinner and watched the sunset on the beach. We watched the dolphins playing just out from where we were sitting and there must’ve been 20 of them. I swear I cannot explain how cool this place is. I guess I will have to put up a bunch of pictures….are you guys even looking at them? Does anyone even read this?!?!?!
Going to bed now….tomorrow will be good.
Oh, and Obama wins! Way to go America!!!! I believe today was the biggest day of my life. I am anxious to see what the next 4 years bring!!!! I am pretty impressed with both speeches made…at least the last 2 minutes of Obama’s and all of McCain’s. And Indiana?!?!?! WOAH! Ok, this isn’t a political platform….good night.
Since we didn’t want to go the pub at 9 in the morning (it was the only place in town with a public TV), we got on the road to see if we couldn’t make it to the next destination before the decision was made. We are only traveling this way once, so of course we had some stops to make along the way.
Through the procrastination and since the new destination, Monkey Mia, was so far away, we missed every bit of it. I caught about the last 2 minutes of Obama’s acceptance speech on a very static-filled radio station just as we were pulling into town. I lost all cell phone reception and radio for over 4 hours. Not the best of my days, I must say….
We got to Shark Bay though, and by far this is the best place we’ve been. It’s heaven, really. The water is aquamarine just like the crayon! There are dolphins all over the place and whales and sharks and turtles and manatees (which they call dugongs…HA!). We drove through some cool towns and made it to Monkey Mia where the dolphins come to shore and play with the humans every morning. Should be a good morning tomorrow!
We spent the afternoon relaxing and exploring the resort, had some dinner and watched the sunset on the beach. We watched the dolphins playing just out from where we were sitting and there must’ve been 20 of them. I swear I cannot explain how cool this place is. I guess I will have to put up a bunch of pictures….are you guys even looking at them? Does anyone even read this?!?!?!
Going to bed now….tomorrow will be good.
Oh, and Obama wins! Way to go America!!!! I believe today was the biggest day of my life. I am anxious to see what the next 4 years bring!!!! I am pretty impressed with both speeches made…at least the last 2 minutes of Obama’s and all of McCain’s. And Indiana?!?!?! WOAH! Ok, this isn’t a political platform….good night.
November 4th…The race that stops the nation….
Today is the Melbourne Cup. I guess it’s a pretty big horse race and the entire nation gets in to it. There are dress-up parties where the women wear the fancy dresses with the big hats. Everyone goes to the pub for the day decked out in their best clothes. The race only lasts a minute or so, but it truly is called ‘the race that stops the nation.’
We were driving for it. All day, in fact. It was raining and cold and, well, we live in a van and don’t own anything that fancy, so we just kept driving. We left Fremantle, went up through Perth, had lunch in Geraldton and ended up in Kalbarri, a small beach town (aren’t they all?) that has a whole bunch of stuff to do. We explored for a while, drove by the pub to see all the fancy ladies and then went back to our van and had dinner at the caravan park. The race didn’t stop us!
So, I have officially declared this summer the summer of bare feet. Pretty much nowhere in Australia requires shoes…grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, malls, aquariums, etc., etc., etc. I decided that since it’ll probably be the only time in my life that I will have this luxury, I am going to live it up! It’s quite liberating, but also a bit painful so far….I will keep you updated.
We were driving for it. All day, in fact. It was raining and cold and, well, we live in a van and don’t own anything that fancy, so we just kept driving. We left Fremantle, went up through Perth, had lunch in Geraldton and ended up in Kalbarri, a small beach town (aren’t they all?) that has a whole bunch of stuff to do. We explored for a while, drove by the pub to see all the fancy ladies and then went back to our van and had dinner at the caravan park. The race didn’t stop us!
So, I have officially declared this summer the summer of bare feet. Pretty much nowhere in Australia requires shoes…grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, malls, aquariums, etc., etc., etc. I decided that since it’ll probably be the only time in my life that I will have this luxury, I am going to live it up! It’s quite liberating, but also a bit painful so far….I will keep you updated.
November 3rd…..Exploring Fremantle….
We had to soak up a bit of the hotel, right? So we spent a few hours lounging around, catching up on the news, sleeping in and taking nice, long showers. We decided that since it wasn’t a very nice day, that we’d head to the AQWA…the Aquarium of Western Australia. It’s pretty good that we did, because it was really educational and had some pretty good displays, including an underwater moving tunnel with a tank full of sharks and massive rays. There was also a seal tank and a few touch tanks around. It was a good way to spend the day.
When we left the aquarium, the sun was finally coming out so we went to the most popular beach in Perth, Cottelsoe. It wasn’t warm enough for us to do any swimming or lying in the sun, so we didn’t stay long…just long enough to notice that the café and visitors center right on the water was called Indiana. I about lost it.
From there, we went to Fremantle, which I think is a lot better than Perth, with more culture and a more relaxed vibe. We went to the Little Creatures brewery and had a couple of beers and some really good food. Little Creatures is about the most American beer I can find, with a really tasty IPA.
The only problem with Fremantle is that it smells a bit like pee. We were so grossed out by it for hours, until we went down to the wharf and realized it was because a HUGE ship had pulled into port and it was full of livestock. The smell of the ship affected the entire city it was that big.
We did a bit more exploring and then ended up at the caravan park for the night. It’s cold!!!!
When we left the aquarium, the sun was finally coming out so we went to the most popular beach in Perth, Cottelsoe. It wasn’t warm enough for us to do any swimming or lying in the sun, so we didn’t stay long…just long enough to notice that the café and visitors center right on the water was called Indiana. I about lost it.
From there, we went to Fremantle, which I think is a lot better than Perth, with more culture and a more relaxed vibe. We went to the Little Creatures brewery and had a couple of beers and some really good food. Little Creatures is about the most American beer I can find, with a really tasty IPA.
The only problem with Fremantle is that it smells a bit like pee. We were so grossed out by it for hours, until we went down to the wharf and realized it was because a HUGE ship had pulled into port and it was full of livestock. The smell of the ship affected the entire city it was that big.
We did a bit more exploring and then ended up at the caravan park for the night. It’s cold!!!!
November 2nd…..Red Bull Air Race
It’s race day! We woke up and headed straight to the bus station to get to the other side of the river where the spectators are actually supposed to sit. We found a nice spot right on the beach, front row and center. The air show started and there were more incredible stunts and crazy things I’d never seen before, including a Qantas 737 fly-by. It was crazy to see such a massive plane flying so low that close to the city.
Right before the race started, some people sat right in front of us and made our great seats a bit worse, so we didn’t stick around too long after the initial race was over. It was way better to see the action from this side of the river, though; the planes were right in front of our faces! One guy, from Austria, became world champion just by qualifying the day before, so everyone had their hopes set on him, but he didn’t win.
Right before the final races, we HAD to get out of the sun because we forgot sunscreen and our skin was frying, so we headed back on the bus and back over to the hotel side to grab some lunch and finish watching the race in the shade.
Once we got back to the hotel room, I realized that I had the worst sunburn shorts I have ever seen! It was hilarious.
We explored the area a bit more, then spent some time in the hotel gym, followed by dinner and some TV (!!!!!). It’s been ages since I’ve seen cable…
Right before the race started, some people sat right in front of us and made our great seats a bit worse, so we didn’t stick around too long after the initial race was over. It was way better to see the action from this side of the river, though; the planes were right in front of our faces! One guy, from Austria, became world champion just by qualifying the day before, so everyone had their hopes set on him, but he didn’t win.
Right before the final races, we HAD to get out of the sun because we forgot sunscreen and our skin was frying, so we headed back on the bus and back over to the hotel side to grab some lunch and finish watching the race in the shade.
Once we got back to the hotel room, I realized that I had the worst sunburn shorts I have ever seen! It was hilarious.
We explored the area a bit more, then spent some time in the hotel gym, followed by dinner and some TV (!!!!!). It’s been ages since I’ve seen cable…
November 1st…..We made it to PERTH!!!
So, we got up pretty early and made it to Perth!!! Destination accomplished! I really never thought I’d see the day, and though it seems it hasn’t taken very long, it seems like forever ago if I think about all the things we’ve done. I am feeling very lucky today, to say the least.
I got to spend the drive up talking to two of my best friends back home, which was so, so, so good. It really helps me to keep going, ya know? Well, maybe you don’t, but to put it lightly, it’s a real boost of my mood to talk to my good friends and feel like we haven’t missed a beat. I always leave on these trips thinking that I will get back and things will be so different and everyone will have forgotten about me or moved on, which is obviously inevitable, but then I talk to people or get home and it seems nothing has really changed much. We are all different people doing different things, but we can still be best friends and still laugh and get real with each other again. Maybe I’m getting too deep here….enough. Just know that I am happy.
We made it to Perth. What a beautiful city! We checked in to our 5-star hotel (yeah, we get to live it up for one weekend!) and enjoyed a couple quick showers in real bathrooms then headed down to the river to watch a bit of the qualifications. Our hotel is right on the river and we can see the course from our room, but we decided to be outside and enjoy the beautiful day. There is only a park between the two and they turned that into the airstrip, so we have an incredible view of the planes.
The Air Race isn’t really very long. It’s a full weekend of events, but the actual racing takes an hour total probably. In the meantime there is an awesome air show and we got to see a bunch of planes do some really cool tricks. It’s been years since I’ve been to an air show…I forgot how exciting they were! The Air Race qualifications were way cool too. It’s so much better to see in person than on TV. They fly so stinking low to the ground and everyone is gasping and cheering the whole time. It was pretty entertaining.
After the race we decided to do some civilized things and go explore the city a bit. We kept reading about this part of the city called Subiaco. It’s meant to be the trendy part of the city with all the shopping, cafes and pubs. We had a pretty bogus map that we must’ve read wrong, so it took us about 10 times longer to get there than it should have. Luckily there were a lot of places to see along the way and we didn’t realize we walked nearly 3 miles! HA! It only should’ve been about one. Pretty good navigators, we are. We walked through a place called King’s Park and I swear it was the town of limos. We must’ve counted about 25 just in this park. There were all types too….Jeeps and old-fashioned ones, an MG one and a Cadillac one, a Mercedes one and a few regular ones. We felt like we were in a movie! Oh, and there were weddings everywhere!!!! I think it must be the day to get married and drive a limo. For real.
Once we got to Subiaco we were shocked at the ghost town in which we found ourselves. There was no one around at all!!!!! We must’ve passed a total of 4 people on the whole street, until we got to the very end and found one open pub that was full of really uppity people too rich for our blood. We walked in, sweaty and exhausted, with backpacks on our backs and flip-flops on our feet. The place was full of girls who looked like they were about to go to prom, with their hair done so perfectly and their high heels to the ceiling and guys who matched the scene. So we grabbed a beer and headed outside on the patio where no one was sitting, except these two older guys who were more our style than this pub’s and we started chatting with them. They were full of questions about America and we had a pretty entertaining conversation with them. We all hit it off really well making fun of the scene we found ourselves in, so they took us down the street a bit to this Irish pub and bought us Black and Tans. We ended up playing pool for about an hour with them and then they had to leave. We finished our beer and followed suit. On our way out, we realized the pub was right next to a Mexican restaurant so, of course, we had dinner.
Then we caught a taxi back to the hotel. On the way, we asked the driver where everyone was and where the nightlife was in Perth. He told us about a festival on this weekend in Northbridge, so we had him turn around and take us there. It was pretty full, but still not what we thought, though we had fun watching the characters and the random funny things going on in the streets. It was a bit like Bourbon St. in New Orleans, if you’ve been there. There was even a silent disco in the streets, which is brilliant and something we need more of in America. It’s basically a nightclub in silence, with everyone wearing headphones and the DJ’s music only going into the ears of the people who purchase them. So, on the outside, it’s just a bunch of people dancing to nothing, all to the same beat. We got a good laugh.
Then it was back to the hotel and straight to bed. What a long day!
I got to spend the drive up talking to two of my best friends back home, which was so, so, so good. It really helps me to keep going, ya know? Well, maybe you don’t, but to put it lightly, it’s a real boost of my mood to talk to my good friends and feel like we haven’t missed a beat. I always leave on these trips thinking that I will get back and things will be so different and everyone will have forgotten about me or moved on, which is obviously inevitable, but then I talk to people or get home and it seems nothing has really changed much. We are all different people doing different things, but we can still be best friends and still laugh and get real with each other again. Maybe I’m getting too deep here….enough. Just know that I am happy.
We made it to Perth. What a beautiful city! We checked in to our 5-star hotel (yeah, we get to live it up for one weekend!) and enjoyed a couple quick showers in real bathrooms then headed down to the river to watch a bit of the qualifications. Our hotel is right on the river and we can see the course from our room, but we decided to be outside and enjoy the beautiful day. There is only a park between the two and they turned that into the airstrip, so we have an incredible view of the planes.
The Air Race isn’t really very long. It’s a full weekend of events, but the actual racing takes an hour total probably. In the meantime there is an awesome air show and we got to see a bunch of planes do some really cool tricks. It’s been years since I’ve been to an air show…I forgot how exciting they were! The Air Race qualifications were way cool too. It’s so much better to see in person than on TV. They fly so stinking low to the ground and everyone is gasping and cheering the whole time. It was pretty entertaining.
After the race we decided to do some civilized things and go explore the city a bit. We kept reading about this part of the city called Subiaco. It’s meant to be the trendy part of the city with all the shopping, cafes and pubs. We had a pretty bogus map that we must’ve read wrong, so it took us about 10 times longer to get there than it should have. Luckily there were a lot of places to see along the way and we didn’t realize we walked nearly 3 miles! HA! It only should’ve been about one. Pretty good navigators, we are. We walked through a place called King’s Park and I swear it was the town of limos. We must’ve counted about 25 just in this park. There were all types too….Jeeps and old-fashioned ones, an MG one and a Cadillac one, a Mercedes one and a few regular ones. We felt like we were in a movie! Oh, and there were weddings everywhere!!!! I think it must be the day to get married and drive a limo. For real.
Once we got to Subiaco we were shocked at the ghost town in which we found ourselves. There was no one around at all!!!!! We must’ve passed a total of 4 people on the whole street, until we got to the very end and found one open pub that was full of really uppity people too rich for our blood. We walked in, sweaty and exhausted, with backpacks on our backs and flip-flops on our feet. The place was full of girls who looked like they were about to go to prom, with their hair done so perfectly and their high heels to the ceiling and guys who matched the scene. So we grabbed a beer and headed outside on the patio where no one was sitting, except these two older guys who were more our style than this pub’s and we started chatting with them. They were full of questions about America and we had a pretty entertaining conversation with them. We all hit it off really well making fun of the scene we found ourselves in, so they took us down the street a bit to this Irish pub and bought us Black and Tans. We ended up playing pool for about an hour with them and then they had to leave. We finished our beer and followed suit. On our way out, we realized the pub was right next to a Mexican restaurant so, of course, we had dinner.
Then we caught a taxi back to the hotel. On the way, we asked the driver where everyone was and where the nightlife was in Perth. He told us about a festival on this weekend in Northbridge, so we had him turn around and take us there. It was pretty full, but still not what we thought, though we had fun watching the characters and the random funny things going on in the streets. It was a bit like Bourbon St. in New Orleans, if you’ve been there. There was even a silent disco in the streets, which is brilliant and something we need more of in America. It’s basically a nightclub in silence, with everyone wearing headphones and the DJ’s music only going into the ears of the people who purchase them. So, on the outside, it’s just a bunch of people dancing to nothing, all to the same beat. We got a good laugh.
Then it was back to the hotel and straight to bed. What a long day!
October 31st! Happy Halloween!!!!
Australia doesn’t celebrate Halloween, which I think is pretty boring. There are the random parties and the few trick-or-treaters, but nothing close to what America does. Plus, it’s getting really warm and summer-like, so it doesn’t seem like Halloween anyway. So, to celebrate, I hung a Frankenstein in the window of the car. Pretty classy….
We woke up in Margaret River and decided to head a bit closer to Perth so we could get up early tomorrow and check in to the hotel and watch the Air Race as soon as we get there. On the way up from Margaret River, we did a bit of a brewery tour and visited 3 breweries to taste their selections. We found some pretty tasty ones and felt a bit more knowledgeable than we do at the wineries, so it was a fun time.
Oh, and we caught the MOUSE!!!!! I went to the bathroom to get ready for the day and while I was gone Matt set the trap. As soon as I got back, which apparently was only about a minute after the trap was set, I heard this bang in the front of the van and then the most horrid noise (out of such a small animal) like ‘mee, mee, mee, mee, mee, mee, mee, mee, mee.’ He was screaming for help, but the poor little guy’s back was broken, so Matt had to flick it in the head (he loves killing animals…ha) and then threw it in the rubbish bin. So sad, but such a relief too. Now we won’t wake up with mouse poo all over our bodies!
We ended up at a campsite about an hour and a half outside of Perth in some National Park that I forget the name of... It’s about 2 miles off the main road down dirt roads, which I have become accustomed to in this country. As usual, there are kangaroos everywhere and so many flies you can hardly breath. It’s funny the things you get used to….
We woke up in Margaret River and decided to head a bit closer to Perth so we could get up early tomorrow and check in to the hotel and watch the Air Race as soon as we get there. On the way up from Margaret River, we did a bit of a brewery tour and visited 3 breweries to taste their selections. We found some pretty tasty ones and felt a bit more knowledgeable than we do at the wineries, so it was a fun time.
Oh, and we caught the MOUSE!!!!! I went to the bathroom to get ready for the day and while I was gone Matt set the trap. As soon as I got back, which apparently was only about a minute after the trap was set, I heard this bang in the front of the van and then the most horrid noise (out of such a small animal) like ‘mee, mee, mee, mee, mee, mee, mee, mee, mee.’ He was screaming for help, but the poor little guy’s back was broken, so Matt had to flick it in the head (he loves killing animals…ha) and then threw it in the rubbish bin. So sad, but such a relief too. Now we won’t wake up with mouse poo all over our bodies!
We ended up at a campsite about an hour and a half outside of Perth in some National Park that I forget the name of... It’s about 2 miles off the main road down dirt roads, which I have become accustomed to in this country. As usual, there are kangaroos everywhere and so many flies you can hardly breath. It’s funny the things you get used to….
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