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….