Australia 1 - Western Australia
Day 110: Tuesday July 6th 2004. I arrived at Perth airport to find my luggage was still in Singapore! I called up a mate of Craig's called Reto who had offered to put me up for a while. Reto and Karen made me feel more than welcome, giving me my own room and the run of the place - thanks again guys, really appreciated!
Day 111: Wednesday July 7th 2004. The airline delivered my pack first thing this morning, and I spent the day on the internet and generally lazing about - it's so good to have some home comforts after a few months backpacking! We went out for breakfast and to see a bit of Perth with a mate of Reto's called Kim who is heading south tomorrow on business and has invited me to go along...
Day 112: Thursday July 8th 2004. Reto dropped me off at Kim's and we drove to Dunsborough via Freemantle. I spent the afternoon beating the locals at pool. Afterwards Kim and I went out drinking for the evening.
|
|
| The beach at Dunsborough |
Day 113: Friday July 9th 2004. Kim dropped me off at Margaret river whilst he went and sorted out some business. Afterwards we toured round some of the local vineyards, sampling the wines as we went. These Aussies know how to make wine! We then went back to the vineyard Kim was doing some work for, and I had a walk around the vineyards and the surrounding woodlands.
 |
 |
 |
| Margaret river | Wild parrots everywhere | Aussie woodland |
After we got back to Perth, Karen and I went out to meet Kim and two of Karen's mates in the evening at an excellent Thai restaurant. Reto was still feeling a bit ill, and so didn't come.
Day 114: Saturday July 10th 2004. On Reto's suggestion, I thought I'd take in a bit of Aussie culture and went to an Aussie rules football match. The teams were the Dockers (Fremantle) and the Roos. It was cool to finally get to a live sports match and experience the atmosphere first hand.
 |
| footie |
Day 115: Sunday July 11th 2004. Reto, Karen, Bonnie and I went out for a drive to the coast around Perth. Later on I booked a bus up to Kalbarri for Wednesday.
 |
 |
 |
| Reto, Karen and Bonnie | Long way | Sunset at Scarborough |
Day 116: Monday July 12th 2004. Reto, Bonnie and I went out for lunch and to see some roos at a graveyard of all places!
 |
 |
 |
| Roo | Roo face | Roo kiss |
Day 117: Tuesday July 13th 2004. In the evening, I cooked a full English roast as a thank you for letting me stay.
Day 118: Wednesday July 14th 2004. After a hectic start trying to find the right bus station, I got on the bus for the long trip up the coast. When I eventually got to the Kalbarri turn off, the driver pointed out that my ticket effectively left me stranded in the bush overnight, with a connecting shuttle at 10am the next morning! Thanking him, I got back on the bus, and stayed on until Coral Bay. I couldn't get through to the hostel there to book, and so turned up at 1am in hope of a spare bed. After a little negotiation, there was. Luckily!
Day 119: Thursday July 15th 2004. I booked up for a quad biking / snorkling trip for tomorrow and some diving for the day after. I then spent the rest of the day chilling at the the hostel, reading and playing pool. I later went to watch the feeding of the Emporer Snapper fish on the beach.
 |
| Emporer Snapper |
Day 120: Friday July 16th 2004. Quad biking Aussie style. Sorry guys, but you don't appear to have quite got the idea! The point is to go fast, skid around every corner you find and maybe pull a few airs. Pootling along the beach at 25kmph on a heavily restricted machine is not my idea of quad biking! That said, the snorkling at the end of the beach was pretty stunning, and I did manage to get some real quadding in on the way back, although I had to take a telling off for my antics at the end. Softcore!
 |
| Snorkle stop |
Day 121: Saturday July 17th 2004. Last day in Coral bay. I went for a couple of dives off the coast and was duly impressed by the Aussie reefs here - the highlights had to be the Wobblegongs (weird brown speckled, flat sharks) and the incredible variety of coral - 135 different species just on one dive - awesome. Once again, I had timed it wrong for whale sharks, as they had disappeared to the depths only two weeks ago, but I'm sure my time will come! In the evening I got really hammered in anticipation of the long bus ride to Darwin. Had a pleasant evening in the bar and on the beach.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Moray eel | Fan coral | big eyes | Crown of Thorns (I think!) |
 |
| We wondered why we had so much space in the bar! |
Day 122: Sunday July 18th 2004. Caught the 1am (actually 2am) bus and arrived in Broome at around 7pm that evening. Stayed at a pretty cool backpackers where I came in the top five out of around thirty in a pool competition. Broome has a good atmosphere - I'll have to come back at some point.
Day 123: Monday July 19th 2004. Arrived in Darwin for my flight to Alice Springs tomorrow.
 |
| Ibis at Darwin airport |