Kalbarri National Park

After a very long drive north on the first day of the tour we overnighted in Kalbarri, a small fishing/crabbing town along the coast. Surprisingly, the road that runs north up the west coast of Australia does not actually run on the coast. It runs well inland for most of the way, which is great for the continued protection of the hundreds and hundreds of miles of pristine coastal ecosystems, but is very bad for road trippers. There is a lot less to look at. The hostel we stayed in was packed with no fewer than three other tour buses full of backpackers doing the exact same thing that I was.

After an early morning departure from Kalbarri we arrived at Kalbarri National Park. The highlight of the park is the gorge cut by the Murchison River, which we spent several hours exploring. Like most gorges, present day river has eroded its way down through ancient layers of sand stone that were originally laid down hundreds of millions of year ago in tidal flats. The result is beautiful banding of red and white rocks.

In addition to exploring the bottom of a small section of the gorge we went to Nature's Window, one of those places that every tourist has to get a "trophy shot". Regardless, the location is beautiful and we were able to sit on the cliffs and watch kangaroos come down to the river for a drink.

Pinnacles

The first tourist stop on the journey north was the Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park. The pinnacles are located about 20 km from Cervantes, a small town in the middle of no where. The location is famous because of the pinnacles, huge limestone boulders that jut up out of the surrounding yellow sand. They vary in size and shape, but some of them are as much as 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) tall.

The pinnacles are ultimately formed from sea shells after a very long and complicated process that you can read about in the two links above if you are interested. Needless to say the geologic features make for great photography. I just wish that I had been there during sunset when the light had been better.

Easy Ridin'

After a much needed day off in Perth I set out north to explore the western coast of Australia. My eventual goal was Exmouth, a small outback town known for its outstanding scuba diving. The because I did not have my own car, the cheapest, easiaest, and best way to go north was on a backpacker tour bus. After getting several recommendations I signed up with Easy Riders.



I showed up at the Easy Riders shop just after 7:00 in the morning and slowly other people on the tour began to trickle in. Right around 7:30 a small tour bus showed up towing a trailer for all of the bags. This was going to be the transportation for the 1500+ km journey from Perth to Exmouth. Bags were thrown into the trailer, we piled aboard, and off we went. There were a total of 14 passengers on the bus, representing 7 nationalities: German(2), Irish(4), English(4), Swiss(1), Austrian(1), American(1), and Taiwanese(1). The vast majority of the people on the bus were in couples, which was a bit of a bummer, but hey, you get what you get.

The bus driver/tour director was a Perth native named Darren, who had been driving backpacker tour busses in Australia and Europe for years. Darren was a great driver and also a great informant of local history. He knew the names of all of the flora and fauna as well as many aboriginal legends associated with the places that we visited. He also provided details about the region from the time of its discovery up to the ongoing giant mining boom. In addition, and most importantly, he came out drinking with us in the evenings at the local pub. His girlfriend Emma, who was a riot of a good time, and did an outstanding job of keeping Darren awake during the long stretches of nothing was along as the copilot.

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The last stop on my tour of southwest Australia was the Busselton Jetty. The 140-year-old jetty, measured at 1841 meters (more than 6000 feet), is the longest wooden jetty (pier) in the southern hemisphere. It has had a long and interesting history and is truly a corner stone of the Busselton community. There are even plaques to old timers who have passed on that were regular fixtures on it.

While the jetty itself is not all that interesting, the underwater observatory at the end of it is amazing. At the end of the jetty there is a 12 meters (40 feet) in diameter and it extends to the sea floor 8 meters (26 feet) below the water. There are 11 acrylic windows that allow the fish too look in and see the humans in their natural environment.

The posts for the pier can be seen through the windows. They are completely covered in different types of corals and other creatures. There are also numerous fishes swimming around. They move from window to window to examine the humans inside the tank.

Lake Cave

The Margret River region is mostly built on top of granite, but there is a large mass of limestone that runs north-south. This has resulted in more than 390 caves in the region. At present, three of them are open to the public. Rebecca and I chose Lake Cave to visit.

Margaret River

Margaret River (Margs), located approximately 10 miles from the Indian Ocean is the heart of two not often associated industries. It is the home of wine and surfing. The mediterranean climate makes the region a fabulous wine producing location and the winter storms far out at sea bring world class giant waves for the surfers. It is a bit like if you combined Napa and and Santa Cruz California. The tourism industry is also fully geared to cater to both passions.

Our first day in Margs Rebecca and I went on a wine tasting tour with Bushtucker Tours. We went to four wineries (Howard Park/Mad Fish, Brookland Valley, Knotting Hill, and Howling Wolves), a cheese factory, a chocolate factory, and a brewery (Bootleg Brewery). The day long outing also included a gourmet lunch. We tasted 40 wines and I finished off the day with a pint of Raging Bull at the brewery that came in at a whopping 7.1% alcohol.

The day had everything you could ask for: sunshine, good company, good alcohol, good food, and a driver, which allowed us to drink as much as we liked knowing that we would be dropped off right back at our hostel. Perfect! I couldn't have asked for more.

I was keen to try a little surfing, but the waves did not cooperate, and the water is REALLY cold. At least for a boy from Hawaii, that is. Instead, we also explored a bit of the coastline.

Tall Trees

December 6th, Rebecca and I headed south from Perth to the southwestern most corner of Australia, general referred to as the Margaret River region. Our first stop was tall tree country, which extends from Pemberton to Walpole. The region is known for its towering karri trees, a type of eucalyptus that can grow to a height of more than 70 meters (230 feet).

We started with the Gloucester Tree, 61 m tall. Situated just outside of Pemberton, it is the world's tallest fire lookout tree. There is a spiral of rebar spikes driven into the tree that you can climb to the top. The catch is that they are about a thick as a nickel and there is nothing under them to catch you if you fall. Being a young guy still, I decided to skip climbing to the top.

From Permberton we drove several hours south to Walpole and the Valley of the Giants, which is the location of the Tree Top Walk. The Tree Top Walk is a 600 meter (2000 feet) walkway that reaches a height of 40 meters (130 feet) above the ground. Due to the way it is designed, the entire thing noticeably bounces and sways as you walk across it. The experience is made more unsettling by the swaying of the trees around you.

Perth, Western Australia

Knowing that Australia is about the size of the contiguous 48 states, I flew from Melbourne out to Perth, the capital of Western Australia. Perth is the home of Rebecca, my traveling companion for my trip to Brazil last spring.

Bec and I went out to lunch on the beach and then took a driving tour of some of the highlights of Perth. I got to take my first dip into the very cold Indian Ocean. The best stop was Kings Park, which offered beautiful views of downtown.

Perth, situated on the banks of the Swan River, has a small central business district and a very American-esque suburban sprawl: very large and expanding very very rapidly. House prices here have doubled in the last 24 months and the building and mining boom is so big that there is a serious shortage of labor.

Perth has a very laid back, casual outdoor lifestyle that is centered around the beach. When people are sunned out at the end of the weekend, they all head to the pub for a Sunday session. Sunday session is a massive social event where hundreds of young people hang out drinking from about 4 in the afternoon until well into the evening. They are a great tradition and I enjoyed going to one immensely.

Melbourne

Joanne and I parted ways in Melbourne. She had to go back to work. I am extremely thankful because she took time off of work and drove my butt all over southeastern Australia for more than a week. My trip would not have been anywhere near as nice if I didn't have her to show me around.

Thanks Jo!

I spent a couple of days hanging out in St. Kilda, a really cool neighborhood a little ways south of downtown Melbourne. Jo and I had been going full tilt for so long that it was nice to just hang out for a day doing nothing more than laundry and internet stuff. I stayed at a place called Base. It is a new breed of hostels that are springing up that are designed and built with backpackers in mind. Right now they are only in OZ and NZ, so if you make it down this way, be sure to check them out.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from Melbourne.

After a Sunday spent resting and catching up on chores I set out to explore the city on a Monday. This of course meant that half of the museums that I wanted to go to were closed. It also meant that Chunky Move, a dance group my parents saw when they were in Australia was not performing. Oh well, I guess I will just have to come back. I did make it to the Melbourne Museum, which was a modern state of the art building with great collections. It even had a full blown rain forest inside it.

On the whole I would have to say that I enjoyed Melbourne more than Sydney. I base this mainly on my feeling that I would be happier living in Melbourne than in Sydney. Sydney was just too big and urban for me.

Wilsons Promontory

The southern most portion of mainland Australia is comprised of Wilsons Promontory National Park. It is a large hook shaped peninsula extending towards Tasmania. The park can best be described as a series of granite headlands extending out into the water separated by broad sandy beaches.

There was great hiking within the park that ranges from open shrub grassland in the northern portions to temperate rain forests tucked in the valley bottoms. Due to time constraints I was only able to do a few of the day hikes, but there are other muti-day backpacking options as well.

The wildlife was very abundant in the park as well. An echidna made an appearance on the path I was on and then promptly rolled into a ball as soon as it noticed me.

All told, I would have to say that Wilsons Promontory has been one of my favorite places in Australia. If you make it down to Victoria, this should definitely be on your list of places to go.

Into Victoria

From New South Wales we headed south into Victoria, the state that makes up the southeastern most corner of Australia. Victoria is heavily based on agriculture, particularly cattle, and dairy production. For the most part it is green pastures and rolling hills. At least the part I saw anyway... We made our way south to Cann River and then turned west heading along the Princes Highway through the towns of Orbost, Lakes Entrance and Sale. We also crossed the Snowy River. Yes, the one in the famous Australian story. Our destination for the evening was Golden Beach, which is the western end of Ninety Mile Beach, aptly named for its length which stretched on beyond the limits of sight.

Oh, and as far as we could tell, there was not another soul on it. For an American this is a hard thing to imagine. 90 miles of beach that has not been disturbed? It is unheard of at home. I guess that it is a good thing to live in a relatively unpopulated country at times.

Kosciusko National Park

The next stop on the tour, part of which I got to drive... I found it to be not all that challenging to drive on the left hand side of the road. It just takes a bit more concentration. Staying in the lane and turns and things like that were no big deal. What I could not do was take care of other things wile driving like the stereo or the AC. I had to leave that to Jo.

The first stop in the park were the Yarrangabilly Caves. They are limestone and so there was the fabulous sound of dripping water. We got there late in the day so we got to enjoy one of them all by ourselves, which was great.

The next day we drove down to Charlotte's Pass and walked to the highest point in Australia, Mt. Kosciusko (2228 meters, or about 7300 feet). I say walk because we walked (9km on way)along a service road most of the way. The views from the top were amazing.

On our way down we passed a middle age couple running to the top. Just when you feel like you are not being lazy and are getting out and getting some exercise... Since we were already being slackers we decided to go all the way and we got a ride back down to the parking lot with one of the park rangers in his truck... Hey, it was getting late.

Canberra

I spent one night in Canberra with the associated preceding afternoon and following morning. Joanne's father, John, was nice enough to put us up for the night. We went out to dinner with him and he turned out to be a truly amazing man. He has worked in the federal government for decades and has been pretty much single handedy responsible for the enacting of Australia's pioneering environmental legislation. He is also personally responsible for seeing that DDT was banned in Australia as well. This was just the tip of what I am sure was a very big ice berg. The conversation with him was incredible. I wish I had a lot more time to talk to him.

I did make it to a couple of the museums in town, the Telstra Tower (the highest point in town), and took a tour of New Parliament House (an interesting mix of the British Parliament and the US Congress).

Overall, Canberra was a nice city and definitely worth a couple of days if you have the time.