Nov 2007

Green. I think that is the best way to describe how we felt getting up at 5.30am on Saturday 3rd to head off to the airport. As I've mentioned in our last entry, one or two Sambucas had been consumed the previous evening (along with one or two other drinks). Gavin spent the taxi journey to the airport telling me about everything I had been up to the night before - dancing on my knees (?), Michael Jackson impressions, the running man (an old favourite)....and all with a broken shoe (long story). Brekkie at the airport soon sorted out our thick heads and after a 3 1/2 hour flight we arrived at Connellan Airport. We picked up our little hire car and drove the short distance from the airport to the Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara.

The Ayers Rock Resort is pretty overpriced for the standard of accommodation available so rather then pay top whack for the higher end hotel rooms we opted to rough it a little and stayed in a cabin on the camp site (still $150 a night though!). We had no loo in the cabin and so shared the bathroom facilities with the campers but did have our own little kitchenette (handy as food in the resort restaurants was as overpriced as the accommodation).

Our cabin at the Ayers Rock Resort

Warning signs in the campsite and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

The best decision we made was to hire a car and see the sights independently rather than booking ourselves onto any organised tours. We therefore had as much time as we needed to see and do everything that we wanted to.

Sunset from a view point in the Ayers Rock Resort on our first evening

We dragged ourselves out of bed at 4.45am the following morning to watch sunrise at Uluru (Ayers Rock) which was, well, a little grey. After sunrise we walked the Liru and Uluru Base walks which took us from the visitor centre and around the base of Uluru, around 13.5km in total. Fortunately it was a cool day so great for walking and the low temperature kept the flies away (more on the flies later).

After nipping back to our cabin for a little rest and sustenance we headed back to Uluru for sunset that evening.

Monday 5th, day three at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park we visited Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). I have to say that we both thought it was more impressive than Uluru. We completed both the Valley of the Winds walk and the Walpa Gorge Walk, around 10km in total.

It was a much warmer day than the previous day and so the dreaded flies decided to make an appearance. We had been warned about the flies at Uluru but this was our first real taste of things come (although little did we know how bad it would get during the next few weeks).

Another downside to the much warmer weather was that I managed to get sun burnt! Quote annoying as I then had ridiculous tan/burn marks so it actually looked like I was still wearing my vest top even when I wasn't.

Uluru, Day Four

It was a terrible shame that we were unable to visit Kings Canyon during our stay in the red centre. Heavy rainfall in the previous few days had resulted in the only road from the Ayers Rock Resort to Kings Canyon park to be closed due to flooding. It was very frustrating to be so close (well, around a 4 hour drive away) and to be unable to get there. There was the option of getting a helicopter but we may have had to re-mortgage our house to be able to afford that method of transport so we decided against it.

Mount Conner, 2 hours drive from the resort

On Wednesday 7th we departed Uluru for our 3 1/2 hour journey to Perth in Western Australia. Our accommodation in Perth was a double room at a hostel called One World Backpackers, in the Northbridge district of Perth. We arrived feeling totally refreshed and relaxed (and a little sun burnt) after our four days at Uluru. Our refreshed feeling was short lived however as the double room we had booked was adjacent to the communal kitchen and the main reception area and so was very noisy until well into the evening and from around 6am the following morning. Not much sleep was had that evening - welcome back to hostel life Mr & Mrs Curley!

The following day we took ourselves on a walking tour of the city ending up in Kings Park, a 1000 acre park in the city which incorporates the Botanical Gardens.

Percy Button and Kangaroo statues

Barrack Street Jetty, Swan Bell Tower and Swan River

Views of Perth from Kings Park

On Friday 9th we headed out to Cottesloe Beach which is short a bus ride away from the city. It was a lovely day but pretty windy which meant we were sandblasted the whole time we were on the beach and having my freshly sun burnt skin sandblasted was a fairly unpleasant experience. We ended the day with a few drinks at the Cottesloe Hotel and the Ocean Beach Hotel which has great views of the beach.

Cottesloe Beach

Lizard at Cottesloe Beach

The 2007 Northbridge Festival was held on Saturday 10th and was just a short stroll from our hostel. After an hour or so wondering around on our own we met up with Roger and Tracey for drinks and dinner. Roger and Tracey have emigrated to Australia and arrived in Perth the day before we did and it was great to catch up with them both.

DJ Kentaro at the Northbridge Festival

We had moved from the double room into a dorm room and thankfully were able to get some kip that evening as on Sunday 11th we were up at 5.45am for a day swimming with dolphins in an area called Rockingham. Neither of us knew exactly what to expect but the day far surpassed anything we had imagined. We basically get set up with wetsuits and snorkels and then spend a while searching around the bay for the dolphins. Once the skipper spotted dolphins, we took it in turns to get into the sea, one small group at a time. A staff member lead the group, pulling us along with an underwater scooter and unbelievably we were able to get within touching distance of wild Bottlenose dolphins. At one point we had 6 dolphins swimming and playing around us, all around 7ft in length. We had 6 drops into the water and each time the dolphins were more than happy to come and play. It was amazing. We were both in agreement that it was once of the best experiences we have ever had.

On Monday 12th we were packed up again and were picked up at 7am for our Western Exposure tour to Exmouth and back to Perth. The tour itself was 7 days although we had decided to spend a little longer in Exmouth in order to do a couple of Scuba dives and planned to travel back to Perth with another group.

We were both a little apprehensive about being on an organised tour for so long but the company had been recommended to us and we decided it was too far to drive independently with the amount of time we had available. We need not have worried. It was brilliant. We were fortunate enough to have a great group of people who all got on like a house on fire. There was 9 nationalities, with ages ranging from 22 to grandparents (we were too polite to ask but I'd imagine mid 60's). I have to say the way the group gelled was a lot to do with a Scouser called Casper who was one of the funniest guys I've met. He got us all talking by setting up quizzes and things to pass the time on the bus and generally entertained us all non-stop. Another factor of course was alcohol!

It was pretty early on in the tour, ie day 1, that we realised how bad the flies were going to be. We stepped out of the minibus at the Pinnacles Desert and were absolutely swarmed by flies. Jeez, I had complained about the few in Sydney and Uluru, they were small fry compared to these bad boys! Our tour guide, Nathan, said it was the shortest visit to the Pinnacles he had ever conducted as we all piled back into the bus after just 10 minutes. We depleted the entire stock of fly nets at the next service station.

The Pinnacles Desert

Sandboarding at Kalbarri

Us abseiling and 'Natures Window' in Kalbarri National Park

Gorge Walk, Kalbarri National Park

Flynets 'R' Us

Stromatolites and Shell Beach in Shark Bay

Joey at our Denham Hostel, daybreak and Dolphins at Monkey Mia

Gorge and Torquoise Bay in Cape Range National Park

The 'Western Exposure' Group

During the tour we had the option on booking an additional one day 'Swim with Manta Rays' tour in Coral Bay. Gavin and I were hesitant to book as we had already spent a fair amount on the Rockingham Dolphins day and also knew that we wanted to go scuba diving during our stay in Exmouth which is another fairly pricey activity. However, the rest of the group persuaded us to go along. It was quite different to the swimming with dolphins experience as we were not pulled along with a scooter and so it was pretty tough going to keep up with the 4 1/2 meter Manta ray that we spotted - they are pretty damned fast. I was fortunate enough on the second drop to have got myself into a great position and was able to swim directly above the ray, having the most amazing view for what felt like ages before it decided it had had enough and swam away from us. To make the day even better we were also taken to a shark 'cleaning station' where the sharks hang around to get a good old clean by all the little fish. We snorkelled 5 metres above around 7 Whitetip reef sharks. We had to leave however when some of the staff noticed a shark that they were unable to identify arrived. The fact that the new shark made the reef sharks skittish and nervous was enough for them to get us out of the water pretty sharpish. There were no complaints from us! (Pictures to follow once we've had the underwater camera developed)

Coral Bay

It actually felt a little sad when we were all saying our goodbyes on the last evening together. One of the American girls said it was a bit like the end of summer camp when you are saying good-bye to all your new friends. Luckily two of the girls in the group had done the same as us and decided to stay on in Exmouth to dive so we were able to book together to dive at the Murion islands.

I have now completed 6 dives but have a long way to go before I'm any good at it I think. I managed to shake myself up a little bit when I started having a coughing fit 15 feet underwater. Not a great feeling but I did mange not to panic too much and complete the dive. Gav had a few issues with his buoyancy and seem to keep floating up towards the surface. I wouldn't say we are naturals in the water!

South Murion Island

The best part of the day was when we had finished our dives and were given the opportunity to snorkel for a while. The crew kept it quiet until the last minute that we were going to be able to snorkel with turtles. It was turtle mating season and the area that we were dropped off, South Murion Island, was just swarming with them (some of them were, ahem, a little busy though). Visibility was not brilliant so once our faces were in the water we were not aware how close we were to a turtle until we were literally face to face with one. They are huge! I'd guess they were around 1 1/2 meters long and around a meter across. They are so chilled out (just like there are in Finding Nemo) that they just let us swim alongside them for ages. The ones that were 'getting jiggy with it' were understandably a little less patient with us and would swim off is we got too close. We could see all the tracks on the beach were the females had climbed up to lay their eggs. To be that close to so many turtles in the wild is pretty special. Another absolutely amazing experience. (Again, pictures to follow once we have developed the underwater cameras)

On Monday 19th we started our 2 day bus journey back to Perth. Lots of road and lots of sleeping were involved. We did have a stop off at the Hutt River Province which was quite interesting.

Basically a wheat farmer in Western Australia decided that he wasn't happy paying taxes to the government and, after much debate, he used a loophole in the law (which has now been closed) and declared his land a sovereign state. He and his wife are know Prince Leonard and Princess Shirley of Hutt. He has his own currency and stamps and you can have you passport stamped upon arrival as you are effectively entering another country that is within Australia (yep, we had our passports stamped).

Hutt River Province - Us with His Royal Highness Prince Leonard I

After one night back at One World Backpackers in Perth we collected our hire car for a 3 day trip to the Margaret River area, stopping off at Bunbury and Bussleton en-route. We had to juggle our itinerary a little to fit it in but are both very glad that we did. The wine tasting tour that we had booked ended up only having one other couple on which meant it was a pretty subdued tour although it didn't stop Gav and I getting sloshed on all of the wine we tried. We ended up coming away with 3 bottles of wine and bottle of white port (surprisingly good), all of which have now been consumed!

Our hire car

Bussleton

Wine Tasting Tour, Margaret River

Prevelly Beach, Margaret River

Freemantle, 15km from Perth

We decided not to head back to Perth City and instead booked into Ocean Beach Backpackers in Cottesloe Beach. The room we had was pretty disgusting, I mean really messy and dirty, and don't start me on the bathroom! I was the only girl in a room with 7 guys. We had to sleep with the windows open all night as the smell in the room was too bad if you closed them. All of that aside, we had the best time there. It was such a laugh and we met some great people. It was a shame to have to move on as we had had such fun staying there although I was glad to see the back of the dirtiest kitchen I have seen in ages.

Sunset at Cottesloe Beach

On Saturday 24th we jumped on a ferry from Barrick Street Jetty to Rottnest Island where we hired bikes for a 3 hour ride around the island. It's pretty hilly and I did have to stop once or twice and push my bike up the hill. It didn't help that we had arrived too late to get a bike with any gears which made navigating the hills a little more difficult, downhill was great though. It was also great to be able to stop and jump into the sea in one of the lovely bays to cool down when it all got a bit too hot and sweaty. We even managed to spot a Quokka and her Joey.

Rottnest Island

On Sunday 25th we met up with Roger and Tracey again and were joined by a couple of girls from the hostel, Amy and Rachel, for the Cottesloe 'Sunday Session'. We ended the evening with more drinks at the hostel. Another big session the evening before a flight!

Cottesloe Sunday Sesh

Drinking games at Ocean Beach Backpackers

This entry doesn't take you right up to the end of November but I'm afraid I have blog fatigue, as I fear you have too after reading this lengthy entry. In addition to my blog fatigue the internet cafe that we are in keeps playing heavy rock which I'm sure could cause ones head to explode. I therefore have to leave as a head explosion may be difficult to explain at the local A&E and claiming on my travel insurance would be a nightmare.

Melbourne here we come!