A rather long drive
We've done some serious mileage since our last update.
A curious thing about travelling Australia is that distance largely becomes irrelevant. One of the things to see down in the south-west is Wave Rock, a pretty spectacularly shaped rock formation. We left Albany, had a look at the rock and said were suitably impressed, had a bit of lunch and then drove on to the last big town in WA: Esperance.
It was only towards the end of the day that we realised that, this time last year, the idea of a four hour drive to see a rock and have a sandwich, followed by a four hour drive to where we stayed that night would seem a little bit nuts. These days, it's just normal.
We stopped in Esperance for a day and gave ourselves a chance to relax. To be honest, we felt the beaches here were a little oversold in the brochures and they somehow failed to match the stunning places we'd seen elsewhere on the south-west coast. We toured the Great Ocean Drive on the west side of the town, and then visited the Cape Le Grand National Park on the east side, both of which are peppered with white, sandy beaches and turquoise waters.
By the time we got back into town a bloody cold wind was coming off the ocean. We don't know whether the wind came from the antarctic just a few thousand kilometres south of us, but it certainly brought the jackets out. Nevertheless, it was time for an ice cream and a walk down the jetty, where we were treated to a couple of Sea Lions swimming about in the water below, waiting for the fishermen to chuck the scraps over.
Esperance was the last major town in WA and we left there on Monday. Our next mission included crossing one of the most remote, longest and straightest stretches of road in Australia (and maybe the world?). Crossing the Nullarbor isn't difficult - the road is good all the way and the only real dangers are hitting some of the wildlife or falling asleep. There is enough traffic so you don't need to worry about finding help if you have car trouble, and it's one of those Aussie things that you must do. As a result, people do it in all sorts of ways from pushbikes to wheelie bins.
We started with an easy drive to Balladonia where we met up with Kev's uncle and had a couple of beers. At dawn the next morning we began the serious part of our long drive to Melbourne. Just to add a bit of interest to the day, the remnants of Cyclone George that had hit the north coast with deadly effect last week had arrived down our way. The wind and rain started and didn't stop for the next two days.
We kept each other amused but the only thing to do when you're driving is try to avoid the kangaroos that come to drink from the puddles on the road. Several hours later, we crossed the border into South Australia, then after about 10 hours of driving we stopped for the night at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere.
The next day was the same, a 10 hour drive featuring straight roads, kangaroos and even a dingo. We stopped that night just north of Adelaide. Then yesterday, after another 10 hours we arrived in Melbourne.
Last night, we slept extremely well. Since leaving Perth we'd covered well over 4,000km, and probably half that was in the last three days.
The biggest reward is that we can now say that we have driven all the way round Australia!
The Pinnacles:
We've seen 3 pink lakes but this one was amazingly pink:
Our trusty steed overlooking the Indian Ocean near Kalbarri:
The Valley of the Giants tree-top walk near Denmark:
The bottom left of Australia, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean (in case you can't read):
Inside Ngilgi Cave:
The lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste:
A sunny Sunday afternoon and everyone comes down to the river in Mandurah:
Taking our picnic down to Thistle Cove near Esperance:
Kev waves at Wave Rock:
A blue whale skeleton at Whale World (former whaling station and now museum) in Albany - and a small one, apparently:
The absolutely beautiful Greens Pool, in the William Bay National Park near Albany:
Conspicuous Cliffs, a stunning beach between the Valley of the Giants and Albany:
This fella gave us a bit of a shock as it ran out as we folded up the tent - it was about as big as Charlotte's hand (Adelaide):
The WA / SA border:
Somewhere on the Nullarbor:
The Sea Lion begging for food at Esperance:
At the Whistling Rock in the Cape Le Grand NP (very disappointing, it didn't whistle):
A curious thing about travelling Australia is that distance largely becomes irrelevant. One of the things to see down in the south-west is Wave Rock, a pretty spectacularly shaped rock formation. We left Albany, had a look at the rock and said were suitably impressed, had a bit of lunch and then drove on to the last big town in WA: Esperance.
It was only towards the end of the day that we realised that, this time last year, the idea of a four hour drive to see a rock and have a sandwich, followed by a four hour drive to where we stayed that night would seem a little bit nuts. These days, it's just normal.
We stopped in Esperance for a day and gave ourselves a chance to relax. To be honest, we felt the beaches here were a little oversold in the brochures and they somehow failed to match the stunning places we'd seen elsewhere on the south-west coast. We toured the Great Ocean Drive on the west side of the town, and then visited the Cape Le Grand National Park on the east side, both of which are peppered with white, sandy beaches and turquoise waters.
By the time we got back into town a bloody cold wind was coming off the ocean. We don't know whether the wind came from the antarctic just a few thousand kilometres south of us, but it certainly brought the jackets out. Nevertheless, it was time for an ice cream and a walk down the jetty, where we were treated to a couple of Sea Lions swimming about in the water below, waiting for the fishermen to chuck the scraps over.
Esperance was the last major town in WA and we left there on Monday. Our next mission included crossing one of the most remote, longest and straightest stretches of road in Australia (and maybe the world?). Crossing the Nullarbor isn't difficult - the road is good all the way and the only real dangers are hitting some of the wildlife or falling asleep. There is enough traffic so you don't need to worry about finding help if you have car trouble, and it's one of those Aussie things that you must do. As a result, people do it in all sorts of ways from pushbikes to wheelie bins.
We started with an easy drive to Balladonia where we met up with Kev's uncle and had a couple of beers. At dawn the next morning we began the serious part of our long drive to Melbourne. Just to add a bit of interest to the day, the remnants of Cyclone George that had hit the north coast with deadly effect last week had arrived down our way. The wind and rain started and didn't stop for the next two days.
We kept each other amused but the only thing to do when you're driving is try to avoid the kangaroos that come to drink from the puddles on the road. Several hours later, we crossed the border into South Australia, then after about 10 hours of driving we stopped for the night at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere.
The next day was the same, a 10 hour drive featuring straight roads, kangaroos and even a dingo. We stopped that night just north of Adelaide. Then yesterday, after another 10 hours we arrived in Melbourne.
Last night, we slept extremely well. Since leaving Perth we'd covered well over 4,000km, and probably half that was in the last three days.
The biggest reward is that we can now say that we have driven all the way round Australia!
The Pinnacles:
We've seen 3 pink lakes but this one was amazingly pink:
Our trusty steed overlooking the Indian Ocean near Kalbarri:
The Valley of the Giants tree-top walk near Denmark:
The bottom left of Australia, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean (in case you can't read):
Inside Ngilgi Cave:
The lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste:
A sunny Sunday afternoon and everyone comes down to the river in Mandurah:
Taking our picnic down to Thistle Cove near Esperance:
Kev waves at Wave Rock:
A blue whale skeleton at Whale World (former whaling station and now museum) in Albany - and a small one, apparently:
The absolutely beautiful Greens Pool, in the William Bay National Park near Albany:
Conspicuous Cliffs, a stunning beach between the Valley of the Giants and Albany:
This fella gave us a bit of a shock as it ran out as we folded up the tent - it was about as big as Charlotte's hand (Adelaide):
The WA / SA border:
Somewhere on the Nullarbor:
The Sea Lion begging for food at Esperance:
At the Whistling Rock in the Cape Le Grand NP (very disappointing, it didn't whistle):
posted by Kev & Charlotte at
5:52 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks parents :)
By
Kev & Charlotte, at 4:37 PM
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