The West Coast of Oz

We then began a 10 day tour of the west coast of Australia with Planet Perth. We met our tour group at 7am and boarded our bus that would take us the 2200 or so kilometres from Perth to Broome (so glad I'm not driving - that's Simon's job!) We have a group of 19 people including Kate & I - Kat, Row, Tom, Cathal, Magdelana, Merel, Hayley, Michelle, Makiko, Brandan, Zara, Linda, Scott, Martin, Johanna, Neven and Julia.

Our first stop was in the Nambing National Park to view the Pinnacles Desert. Simon gave us a brief geology lesson on how they were formed then we wandered around them for a while.

We then went to Hangover Bay to have lunch and found out how the place got its name - a ship had run aground here and everyone swam to shore. The only thing that survived from the boat was the rum so they decided to have a drink and woke up with bad hangovers! We then went to a near by beach and did some sand boarding, although this was a lot harder than when I did it in Peru - we had to climb up the hill (which took an effort!!). At the top, Simon sat us on the board and then pushed us down the hill. It was great fun, especially when the boys tried to 'snow board' down the hill - only to get shown up by Linda!

We then went into the Kalbarri National Park and did a couple of walks and some hanging around on rocks!!

The next day was spent mostly in the national park - we did a couple of walks - along the river and down into the canyon where we got to see some rock climbers practising emergency rescues (but I think that 20 people watching and laughing put them off a bit!)

The end of the day was spent visiting Shell Beach - its 110km long and made up purely of small shells. Its really beautiful and the sea was clear blue water which was very tempting for a swim, until we saw a jellyfish!!!

We stayed the night in Monkey Mia - and arrived just in time to see the sunset - which was pretty amazing especially when the pelicans swam by. There were also dolphins swimming in the shallow water.

After dinner, Kate, Simon and I went on an Aboriginal cultural tour where were we told some of the creation stories, listened to the didgeridoo and ate fish that had been cooked on an open fire. It was a really interesting tour.
The next morning we were up early and down on the beach to watch the feeding of the dolphins. Its a scheme that they've set up to help with the conservation of the dolphins and to prevent visitors from overfeeding them and making them rely on humans for food rather than catch it themselves. The group of dolphin mothers and babies came right up to the shallow water and members of the crowd were picked to feed them - Kate and I weren't chosen but lots of our group were. Couldn't' believe how close they came to the shore!

We carried on our trek north (with Kate & I being the DJ's for the day) and stopped off in Hamelin Bay to view the Stromatolites - breathing rocks! Kate & I were really interested in seeing these as we'd read about them in Bill Brysons' book "Down Under". Tom was also excited about seeing them as he was a geologist!! They're not much to look at but are pretty much responsible for helping oxygenate the earth millions of years ago!

We then went to make lunch - which is a bit of a task cooking for 20 people but today's' lunch was bacon and egg sandwiches with potato wedges! It was my job to crack the eggs onto the 'frying pan'!

Just as it became night time, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. Everyone got out and decided to lie on the road (as you do!) where they had painted a white line to represent where the Tropic of Capricorn was.

We then arrived in Coral Bay, our stop for the next couple of days. After dinner, we decided to take over the pool tables and play doubles - Scott and I teemed up - which was a great plan as he is good at pool! We ended the party down at the beach!

The next day most of the group went off to swim with Mantra Rays. The boat took us out to the reef and then, by help of a plane, we were able to spot a couple. We were split into groups and each group took its turn in the water. By the time we got in, the rays were swimming really fast and we struggled to keep up! So we went back onto the boat and went to find some more. This time we were more lucky - we got into the water and a ray was just below us, swimming round and round catching food! It was an amazing sight!!! After lunch, we were back in the water to snorkel around the reef and in amongst the very big fish! We had to say our first set of goodbyes - Brandan and Zara are staying here another day. It was a shame because we got on with them so well!

We headed off to Exmouth and stopped on the way at some beautiful beaches - Sandy Bay and Turquoise Bay - where we were able to swim in amazingly blue and clear waters. The we headed over and snorkelled on the Ningaloo Reef, which was only 100 meters off the beach. We used the current to take us along the reef so we didn't have to do any work! We saw a great variety of fish and a massive turtle! Some of the group even saw a reef shark but I wasn't that lucky!

That afternoon, Simon took us out on a walk in Cape Range National Park out along a ridge with steep drops either side. It was a fun walk and the sun was setting as we headed back. We had to say goodbye to Makiko but picked up Ian, Andreas, Markus, Gemma and Julia.

The next day we spent most of the time driving before arriving at Karijini National Park where we will be camping for the next couple of nights. We began by putting up our tents before beginning dinner and checking out the facilities - a toilet which had two friendly occupants - Redback Spiders! It made us all wary each time we went there!

The next day was spent exploring the park and did lots of treks and swimming in waterholes beginning with a trek to Kermit's Pool. We walked along the Spider's Walk which was a narrow gap in the rock which was very slippery due to the rushing water at the bottom. Just before the end, Kate slipped on a rock and plunged into the pool, fully clothed, camera in hand! She was alright but it made all of us wary! We ended up going for a dip in the pool which was very refreshing.

We then went to Handrail Pool - the route to it was similar to the Spider's Walk and we had to climb down a rock using a rope for assistance before we were able to get to the pool. Our final pool of the day was the Circular Pool - which had warmer waterfalls flowing into it. By the end of that, we were quite exhausted & went back to camp.

The next day, Simon decides to amuse himself by waking us up by playing Rolf Harris! It gets us all laughing as well!! Most of this day was also spent driving and we ended up at the 80 Mile Beach. We grabbed our beers and headed to the beach for sunset before setting up camp. Kate & I had the fun task of trying to find punctures in the inflatable mattresses. We ended up getting soaked through but we found all the holes!

We then drove up to Broome and headed to Cable beach to see the sunset before going out to the Oasis Club to celebrate the end of our tour together - it was an open air club and we had such a laugh.

The last day was a free day and we headed out to see the Japanese cemetery before heading to Loggers for a music festival of local artists, mainly women. We were only able to stay for a short time before we went to see our final sunset at Gantheaume Point before going to have a delicious roast dinner.

We then had to say goodbye to the group - it was pretty sad as we'd had such a great time and it was pretty impressive that a group of this size all got on! Thanks for the great memories guys!!