For this post I've decided to cast off the Aussie talk and engage is some good old fashioned English weather chatter! ( I promise not for the whole post though :) ) Theres been a cyclone in the north of the state which has meant that for the last couple of days the city has been cloudy and a bit cooler but very humid. I have to say that I'm loving the slightly cooler weather and its proving brilliant for my new exercise routine - I cycle about 5miles to the beach, lock up my bike and swin for 20 mins before cycling home.
So enough of the weather. I've pretty much settled into the Blackburns house now. Its a really beautiful 'old' (i.e. more than 30 years old) house in an area called Mosman park which is between the river and the ocean. They've made me feel really at home and I'm earning my keep by cleaning the house and looking after the grandchildren (yesterday I took them to the zoo). the job front is not looking as promising though. As I've previously reported a lot of the mines in the state have closed down (supposidly due to demand from the Chinese diminishing). This has meant that alot of the miners (and assosciated workers) coming back from the country into the city. I feel a bit guilty searching for jobs in competition with these people who have families, mortguages and no hope of a job that they are used to... I'm still searching but I'm not that hopeful! In the mean time I'm doing some cleaning for a rental company and doing some baby sitting for the lady next door - to be honest this will probably tide me through for the month. I plan to fly to Melbourne at the beginning of March and spend a month exploring the eastern states.
Thanks to everyone whose left comments and I promise I will email everyone soon ;) - now I'm off to Fremantle for the Saturday markets before going to a friends for a BBQ.
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
The 26th if January is Australia day so in tribute I will write this post in Australian... A quick glossary of words is at the end of the post ;)
I got up in the morning of Australia day and headed to Ros's house for the day. Ros was the house mother for Phils sisters at boarding school so we have a sort of attachement (even though I've never met her before). Upon arrving we cracked open a 'stubbie' and left some others sat in the 'eskie' (sp?!?). I spent most of the day watching some of the neighbours playing cricket and having a bbq on the beach. As an aside it was intersting to note that the were more blokes in the group than 'Sheilas' - aparently Perth as a very high number of Sheilas to each bloke, as most of the boys have headed out to the mines (not for much longer me thinks!). For food we had a typical Aussie meal of BBQ followed by banana and passion fruit pavlova. I then headed into town to watch the sky works 'crackers'. All in all quite a nice day, I was however surprised by the lack of street entertainment during the day for those sat waiting for the crackers. The local police spent the news complaining about drunken behaviour - however if there is nothing else to do all day but sit holding your place for teh crackers and drink... It was also interesting to see that alot of cars had Australian flags hanging out the windows - Ros seems to think this is a demonstration of a new found Aussie pride, I however wonder whether it is another example of creeping Americanisation.
On another note the man names Australian of the year (Prof. Mick Dobson - Aborigional historian and activist) called for Australia day to be changed to another date. He believes that the its an insult to the Aborigional community to celebrate Australia day on what they call invasion day.
In other news I have moved into a gliding friends house, bought a bike and am looking for work!
Glossary:
Eskie - cool box
Stubbie - small bottle of beer
cracker - fireworks
I was also trying to get in Ute - pick up truck! :)
I got up in the morning of Australia day and headed to Ros's house for the day. Ros was the house mother for Phils sisters at boarding school so we have a sort of attachement (even though I've never met her before). Upon arrving we cracked open a 'stubbie' and left some others sat in the 'eskie' (sp?!?). I spent most of the day watching some of the neighbours playing cricket and having a bbq on the beach. As an aside it was intersting to note that the were more blokes in the group than 'Sheilas' - aparently Perth as a very high number of Sheilas to each bloke, as most of the boys have headed out to the mines (not for much longer me thinks!). For food we had a typical Aussie meal of BBQ followed by banana and passion fruit pavlova. I then headed into town to watch the sky works 'crackers'. All in all quite a nice day, I was however surprised by the lack of street entertainment during the day for those sat waiting for the crackers. The local police spent the news complaining about drunken behaviour - however if there is nothing else to do all day but sit holding your place for teh crackers and drink... It was also interesting to see that alot of cars had Australian flags hanging out the windows - Ros seems to think this is a demonstration of a new found Aussie pride, I however wonder whether it is another example of creeping Americanisation.
On another note the man names Australian of the year (Prof. Mick Dobson - Aborigional historian and activist) called for Australia day to be changed to another date. He believes that the its an insult to the Aborigional community to celebrate Australia day on what they call invasion day.
In other news I have moved into a gliding friends house, bought a bike and am looking for work!
Glossary:
Eskie - cool box
Stubbie - small bottle of beer
cracker - fireworks
I was also trying to get in Ute - pick up truck! :)
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Back in Perth
Well we left Narrogin this morning and I've put Phil on the plane back to England. Which leaves me all by myself in a YHA in Perth by a very noisey train station! All is not lost though... at Narrogin i met a very nice couple who have offered me their spare room on the condition of a bit of baby sitting for a couple of weeks. I move into a very nice area of Perth on Tuesday after the Australia day celebrations.
Not much more to report, Phil did quite well on the last two days of the WA state competition - he was the youngeest pilot there by a good 20 years. Its quite funny as each gliding club i've been to seems to have the same characters repeated. So even though i only met the other members for a few days, they appear very familiar to people I already know...
Oh well - I'm off for an evening stroll along the river.
Not much more to report, Phil did quite well on the last two days of the WA state competition - he was the youngeest pilot there by a good 20 years. Its quite funny as each gliding club i've been to seems to have the same characters repeated. So even though i only met the other members for a few days, they appear very familiar to people I already know...
Oh well - I'm off for an evening stroll along the river.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
p.s. - Creepy Crawlies
On a side note, I have now been bitten by 3 marsh flies (evil green things), lots of mosquitos and there was a snake in my shower this afternoon (non poisonous - but even so I decided to shower in a different block!)
Checks flighted out!
WARNING - this is gliding related post, non-gliding types may find it boring ;)
Today we woke up to the kind of weather scenes that would have English glider pilots quitting their jobs and running to the airfield. The Aussies however appeared confused by the strange weather system and scrubbed the day!! RASP had got the forecast drastically wrong and rather than looking out the window the task setter scrubbed the day - cloud base was about 6000ft and the average thermal strengths were 4-6 kts! (they were even nice large even thermals!). Phil managed to fly 270km without too much of a problem.
Today was also the day that I started the first of many check flights. Narrogin had an English pilot fly here two years ago who forgot about the wind gradient and caused $20000 worth of damage to one of their gliders. This means that the club have the most detailed vistiting pilot check list I have ever seen (the club self insure so it hurts all the members if one of the gliders gets damaged...) So before I am allowed to fly solo I have to demonstrate:
* normal low tow to 2000ft and normal circuit and landing (fairly easy, no problems here)
* a tow which includes boxing the slip stream, and a hook off (the proceedure if you can't release the rope).
* two spins, one in each direction with at least 2 turns for each spin.
*stalling exercises
*circuit modified due to sink
*circuit modified due to lift
*circuit with no altimeter/ASI
* simulated rope break on aerotow
and Demonstrate knowledge of local landmarks/ features
*demonstrate knowledge of local landmarks
Further to fly cross country I have to do a field landing and tow plane retrieve and fly a mini xc flight with an 'experienced instructor'.
So far understandable if a little on the overly cauctious side... however after completing all this I have to have a check flight every day that I want to fly until I have flown 8 days at the site.
I am half way through the above list - I can fly solo once I've had a simulated rope break but got alot more boxes to tick before gettting close to going cross country...
On a slightly different note we met a glider pilot from Sutton bank yesterday. He had some of his first flights with my Granddad as instructor. He was telling me all sorts of stories which is always nice. Incidently he flies regularly at another club over here and suggested I go visit them to fly cross country - its further north (i.e. better weather) and hasn't had any accidents with us dodgy English pilots!
Today we woke up to the kind of weather scenes that would have English glider pilots quitting their jobs and running to the airfield. The Aussies however appeared confused by the strange weather system and scrubbed the day!! RASP had got the forecast drastically wrong and rather than looking out the window the task setter scrubbed the day - cloud base was about 6000ft and the average thermal strengths were 4-6 kts! (they were even nice large even thermals!). Phil managed to fly 270km without too much of a problem.
Today was also the day that I started the first of many check flights. Narrogin had an English pilot fly here two years ago who forgot about the wind gradient and caused $20000 worth of damage to one of their gliders. This means that the club have the most detailed vistiting pilot check list I have ever seen (the club self insure so it hurts all the members if one of the gliders gets damaged...) So before I am allowed to fly solo I have to demonstrate:
* normal low tow to 2000ft and normal circuit and landing (fairly easy, no problems here)
* a tow which includes boxing the slip stream, and a hook off (the proceedure if you can't release the rope).
* two spins, one in each direction with at least 2 turns for each spin.
*stalling exercises
*circuit modified due to sink
*circuit modified due to lift
*circuit with no altimeter/ASI
* simulated rope break on aerotow
and Demonstrate knowledge of local landmarks/ features
*demonstrate knowledge of local landmarks
Further to fly cross country I have to do a field landing and tow plane retrieve and fly a mini xc flight with an 'experienced instructor'.
So far understandable if a little on the overly cauctious side... however after completing all this I have to have a check flight every day that I want to fly until I have flown 8 days at the site.
I am half way through the above list - I can fly solo once I've had a simulated rope break but got alot more boxes to tick before gettting close to going cross country...
On a slightly different note we met a glider pilot from Sutton bank yesterday. He had some of his first flights with my Granddad as instructor. He was telling me all sorts of stories which is always nice. Incidently he flies regularly at another club over here and suggested I go visit them to fly cross country - its further north (i.e. better weather) and hasn't had any accidents with us dodgy English pilots!
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Tall trees and attempting to glide.
Not much to say tonight for a number of reasons:
1) its late and I'm tired! and
2) things are trying to eat me...
We drove south from Margaret River on Saturday ( I'm loosing all track of days now). The journey was quite amazing through the wine producing areas into the lush green south of the state (called the great Southern). The fields opened up, the rivers had water in and there was lots of grass. It all felt quite like home, except for the long distances between settlements. Just to echo the home sentiments the sky went grey and the cloud refused to budge until we drove north again.
We stopped at Walpole - home of the tree top walk. In a lovely campsite, with the worlds most grumpy lady on the reception desk. Sunday was spent walking round the lovely Karri forests - think huge trees and walking on a tree top walk. The walk way is suspended from very dodgy looking steel cables around and is 40m above ground at its highest point.
Monday we had another day of driving. Through Albany ( the oldest town in the state) up to Narrogin gliding club. Not much to report from gliding yet as I'm still waiting for a check flight (nothing changes from gliding clubs the world over). We sat next to Australias oldest glider pilot at dinner last night who is still going strong at 90! (Incidently we were the youngest glider pilots in the club which is quite sad - the average age at the comp here must be around 60...)
Anyway getting quite tired now. More tomorrow.
1) its late and I'm tired! and
2) things are trying to eat me...
We drove south from Margaret River on Saturday ( I'm loosing all track of days now). The journey was quite amazing through the wine producing areas into the lush green south of the state (called the great Southern). The fields opened up, the rivers had water in and there was lots of grass. It all felt quite like home, except for the long distances between settlements. Just to echo the home sentiments the sky went grey and the cloud refused to budge until we drove north again.
We stopped at Walpole - home of the tree top walk. In a lovely campsite, with the worlds most grumpy lady on the reception desk. Sunday was spent walking round the lovely Karri forests - think huge trees and walking on a tree top walk. The walk way is suspended from very dodgy looking steel cables around and is 40m above ground at its highest point.
Monday we had another day of driving. Through Albany ( the oldest town in the state) up to Narrogin gliding club. Not much to report from gliding yet as I'm still waiting for a check flight (nothing changes from gliding clubs the world over). We sat next to Australias oldest glider pilot at dinner last night who is still going strong at 90! (Incidently we were the youngest glider pilots in the club which is quite sad - the average age at the comp here must be around 60...)
Anyway getting quite tired now. More tomorrow.
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Wine, Chocolate and Cheese - the foodies paradise
On Thursday we left Perth, for the South west corner, in our little camper van. Margaret River area is one of the most popular holiday spots for western australian - this should have alerted us that maybe booking ahead would have been wise (that and all the guide books saying booking ahead in school holidays is essential!). After much faffing and phoning up places we eventually managed to find somewhere to park our van just in time to watch the sun set over the bay and cook up a bbq on one of the communal bbq spots (most areas have bbqs just off the roads and in scenic locations that are free to use.)
The reason for Margaret rivers popularity is the good surfing (I've taken the guide books word at that, there are alot of surfing types around though and the waves look pretty big?!?) and the abundance of vineyards (or wineries). Back in the sixties an academic wrote a paper suggesting that the area has the perfect climate (no rain in the growing season, warm etc) and ideal soil for vitriculture. After that the people kept coming and coming to have a piece of paradise (and a slice of the huge amount of money flying around). We looked round 4 winneries (each offers free tasting and at most its possible just to pull up and look around).
The Leeuwin Estate is one of the largest and oldest in the region. It is also the first vineyard to open its doors to the public and regulary puts on music shows on its amazing outdoor stage. Unlike some of the more modern large winneries it was very obvious that this one had grown organically form quite small beginnings. The Voyager Estate is another large winnery but this has a completely different flavour. The guy who bought it has decided to completely copy the Dutch arcitecture style of the South African vineyards - think lots of white washed buildings and the most amazing rose gardens I've ever seen. Unusually for one of the larger vineyards he seemed to be pushing a more environmentally sensitive method of growing. At the end of each vine were sacrificially plants - to tempt the various flies that blight grape vines (rather than relying soley on pesticides). He was also running a trial organic area to test the quality of the grape... watch this space I suppose. More importantly in this area with decreasing rain fall, there seemed to be a real effort to control the amount of water used (none of the large show fountains and other water features of some of the other estates.)
On a slightly smaller scale we looked round the Brooklands estate and sampled some of their wine. I'm ont a wine expert so I'm not going to try and describe the taste other than to say the Chardonny was quite nice. The scenery around this yard was very beautiful, particularly impressive was the Kurri woodland.
Finally at the complete opposite end of the scale we visited the Swallows welcome vineyard. This is a tiny small holding set up by a retired couple from the wheatbelt. They have built their own house and cellar using handmade mud bricks and created an amazing wild flower garden. The wife Patricia is a wild flower artist so they have build a wild flower chapel (also out of mud bricks) to show case her work. They open the 'chapel' up for local people to have parties and weddings in etc. The whole area is really beautiful and makes use of the naturally growing trees to keep the place cool. He is an ex wheat farmer (the moved to Australia on a Royal Agriculture post after her trained in tropical agriculture in Trinidad (where my grandfather also trained!)) who has now turned his hand to vitriculture as a hobby (along with treble recorder playing). Their wine was really lovely - they only had red wine but it was really refreshing - so much so that I bought a bottle to enjoy with dinner.
This morning we visited the Lake Cakes - the area is also known for its limestone caves. I closed my eyes for a very steep and long descent into the cave (heights not being a strong point). The cave is quite young (in geological terms) at only 2-3 milllion years, this means that the formations are still undedeveloped so rather than one of two large stalagtites etc (as in previous caves i've visited) there were literally hundreds of tiny straws of limestone and only a few large features. The water in the cave is apparently decreasing at the rate of 1-2mm per week! They're not really sure why but its probably to do with the low rainfall that WA has experienced over the last 30 years...
On now to Walpole - home of the tall trees.
The reason for Margaret rivers popularity is the good surfing (I've taken the guide books word at that, there are alot of surfing types around though and the waves look pretty big?!?) and the abundance of vineyards (or wineries). Back in the sixties an academic wrote a paper suggesting that the area has the perfect climate (no rain in the growing season, warm etc) and ideal soil for vitriculture. After that the people kept coming and coming to have a piece of paradise (and a slice of the huge amount of money flying around). We looked round 4 winneries (each offers free tasting and at most its possible just to pull up and look around).
The Leeuwin Estate is one of the largest and oldest in the region. It is also the first vineyard to open its doors to the public and regulary puts on music shows on its amazing outdoor stage. Unlike some of the more modern large winneries it was very obvious that this one had grown organically form quite small beginnings. The Voyager Estate is another large winnery but this has a completely different flavour. The guy who bought it has decided to completely copy the Dutch arcitecture style of the South African vineyards - think lots of white washed buildings and the most amazing rose gardens I've ever seen. Unusually for one of the larger vineyards he seemed to be pushing a more environmentally sensitive method of growing. At the end of each vine were sacrificially plants - to tempt the various flies that blight grape vines (rather than relying soley on pesticides). He was also running a trial organic area to test the quality of the grape... watch this space I suppose. More importantly in this area with decreasing rain fall, there seemed to be a real effort to control the amount of water used (none of the large show fountains and other water features of some of the other estates.)
On a slightly smaller scale we looked round the Brooklands estate and sampled some of their wine. I'm ont a wine expert so I'm not going to try and describe the taste other than to say the Chardonny was quite nice. The scenery around this yard was very beautiful, particularly impressive was the Kurri woodland.
Finally at the complete opposite end of the scale we visited the Swallows welcome vineyard. This is a tiny small holding set up by a retired couple from the wheatbelt. They have built their own house and cellar using handmade mud bricks and created an amazing wild flower garden. The wife Patricia is a wild flower artist so they have build a wild flower chapel (also out of mud bricks) to show case her work. They open the 'chapel' up for local people to have parties and weddings in etc. The whole area is really beautiful and makes use of the naturally growing trees to keep the place cool. He is an ex wheat farmer (the moved to Australia on a Royal Agriculture post after her trained in tropical agriculture in Trinidad (where my grandfather also trained!)) who has now turned his hand to vitriculture as a hobby (along with treble recorder playing). Their wine was really lovely - they only had red wine but it was really refreshing - so much so that I bought a bottle to enjoy with dinner.
This morning we visited the Lake Cakes - the area is also known for its limestone caves. I closed my eyes for a very steep and long descent into the cave (heights not being a strong point). The cave is quite young (in geological terms) at only 2-3 milllion years, this means that the formations are still undedeveloped so rather than one of two large stalagtites etc (as in previous caves i've visited) there were literally hundreds of tiny straws of limestone and only a few large features. The water in the cave is apparently decreasing at the rate of 1-2mm per week! They're not really sure why but its probably to do with the low rainfall that WA has experienced over the last 30 years...
On now to Walpole - home of the tall trees.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Monkey Mia and a long drive back to Perth
We left Hoppys farm early in the morning to avoid the main heat of the day. We headed south down the main highway to Monkey Mia. Monkey Mia is on the Shark Bay penninsula which is a world heritage site, due to the high salinity waters, the incredible marine life and some strange limestone cyanobacteria formations (stromolites (sp?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromatolites). The route down was pretty uneventful until we reached the Overlander road house. A road house is a service station in the middle of nowhere for weary travellers to fill up and buy ice cream (they also offer accomodation and other sources of nourishment). When we arrived there hoping to have a picnic the ground was covered with hundreds (no exagerration) of dead budgies, cockaoos and other colourful bird life. I found out this morning on the news that as the temperatures had got so hot the previous day the birds descended on the road house to find shade and water, but even with the shade and water at the road house the heat was too much for most of the birds and they were falling out of the sky due to heat exhaustion (http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/gallery/0,21592,5036919-5013959,00.html warning these photos are pretty horrible). A really strange site and quit earie - needless to say we decided it was a bit wierd picnicing next to lots of dead birds and carried on.
We stopped for lunch at the Telegraph station which opened in 1884 as a booster station to service the west coast communities. This is a strange little community consisting of a caravan park some picnic benches, a shop and a 'museum'. The owner of the shop was a rather mad beardered long haired aging hippy who insisted that it was too hot for a walk to see the stromolites (more later) and that we should drive. Couldn't help thinking how isolated they must be there and wondering how people survived there in the 1880's! We walked the 700m through the shell quarry (all buildings were build out of the this strange shingle stone as there is no wood or other types of stone) to the stromolites. Stromolites are like coral - they are formed by cyanobacteria that trap bits of sand and mud and build up calcium deposites. They were some of the first life forms on the planet and hav only survived there due to the high salinity water - very odd.
Next we drove on to Monkey Mia arrving with enough time for a walk on the beach and a pizza. the next morning we went to the dolphin interaction area and watched the dolphins being fed. Quite a unique experience to stand in knee deep water and watch dolphins swim round your ankles. They are all wld dolphins who have learnt how to get an easy meal at the expense of tourists!
Then onwards on the 700km drive back to Perth - following the route we had taken up north. Today we've hired our camper van which is our home for the next 2 weeks. Tomorrow morning we head south to the (hopefully cooler) green wine regions and the tall forests.
We stopped for lunch at the Telegraph station which opened in 1884 as a booster station to service the west coast communities. This is a strange little community consisting of a caravan park some picnic benches, a shop and a 'museum'. The owner of the shop was a rather mad beardered long haired aging hippy who insisted that it was too hot for a walk to see the stromolites (more later) and that we should drive. Couldn't help thinking how isolated they must be there and wondering how people survived there in the 1880's! We walked the 700m through the shell quarry (all buildings were build out of the this strange shingle stone as there is no wood or other types of stone) to the stromolites. Stromolites are like coral - they are formed by cyanobacteria that trap bits of sand and mud and build up calcium deposites. They were some of the first life forms on the planet and hav only survived there due to the high salinity water - very odd.
Next we drove on to Monkey Mia arrving with enough time for a walk on the beach and a pizza. the next morning we went to the dolphin interaction area and watched the dolphins being fed. Quite a unique experience to stand in knee deep water and watch dolphins swim round your ankles. They are all wld dolphins who have learnt how to get an easy meal at the expense of tourists!
Then onwards on the 700km drive back to Perth - following the route we had taken up north. Today we've hired our camper van which is our home for the next 2 weeks. Tomorrow morning we head south to the (hopefully cooler) green wine regions and the tall forests.
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Coral Bay and life on a Station
I've realised that I don't think I explained the title of my last post (and I'm too lazy to go back and read it to check!) The company that hired us our Toyota only seem to have the same model of car and every travelling in WA seems to have hired one. Every site we're visted so far there have been at least 3 of the white cars lined up in a row.
So explanation over - we travelled up from Kalbarri through Carnarvon which is the fruit growing capital of WA (home of the sweetest banana!) The plantations were closed for the summer but as we drove along the edge you could see the mangoes ripening and the banana trees. As we got closer to the tropics the weather got steadily hotter and more humid - only the sea breeze kept me sane. Driving straight through Carnarvon (only stoppping for supplies and a fly net to cover our heads). we drove on up to Coral bay. This is a beautiful bay on the Ningaloo reef which is a mainly still water (i.e. no currents like the great barrier reef) on the north west coast.
We drove down into the settlement which is in the middle of nowehere to be greated by the sight of an amazing turquoise blue bay, a resort hotel and a very bad band playing Eric Clapton. It turns out we'd timed our stay with the monthly Wetern Farmers steering committee meeting, which meant that all the bush folk at come out of their stations to do committee stuff (which looked like getting drunk and arranging the marriages of their daughters - I fear only partly in jest!) Although it was already 7pm the temperature ws still 35 and the water really warm and crystal clear. We stopped for a quick swim (with the Snapper and the scissor fish). Our apartment contained 2 double beds and a top single bunk in one room with a kitchen and a small bathroom area. I was quite surprised to discover while showering that the non-drinking water obviously came straight from the sea! The cold tap produced quite warm water (easy bath temperature) and was definatly salty - my hair has crysallised solid into rather frizzy tight curls!
We spent the next day having a glass bottomed boat tour of the coral - which was amazing - I've never seen so many fish of different colours and such dense coral. As the water is very slow moving, the coral is mainly hard coral. I then tried my hand at snorkelling -bear in mind I'm ont a strong swimmer at the best of times. The snorkelling initially produceed the effect of me filling my mask full of water and breathing in salt water - unpleasant! I eventually got the hang of it but wasn't confident at my ability to swim over the main reef - i.e. anywhere where I couldn't put my feet on the sand. Phil however had a ice trip out over the coral and aparently saw a Stingray (thing that killed Steven Irwin) and a Turtle.
Phils friend 'Hoppy' joined us later on before driving up to his station (Hill Springs Homestead), which involved driving on some very dodgy sand roads - avoiding kangaroos and cattle - our poor rental car.
This morning we got up at 6am to avoid the heat and drove round 2/3s of the station looking at the cattle (photos of the bulls for Grandma!), the Emus and trying to fix a pump, which pulls up the water form one of the bore holes. Most of the days of the farmesrs out here appear to be a constant battle to get water to their stock... The countryside though is beautiful, so much open space and amazing colours (red sand, green plants and bright blue sky) not to mention incredible wildlife, we've seen Emus, Cockatoos, other birds, huge lizards and snakes. I'm now sheltering from the afternoon heat before going out again to finish helping to mend the pump (read watching Hoppy and his dad mend the pump and occasionally holding the piping and passing drinks of water!)
Tomorrow we go to Monkey Mia to look at Dolphins and then back to Perth.
p.s. a note for Grandma and David - some of the neighbours Angus bulls have obviously had their way and there are some beautiful jet black calves - not sure how they manage with a black coat in the sun.
So explanation over - we travelled up from Kalbarri through Carnarvon which is the fruit growing capital of WA (home of the sweetest banana!) The plantations were closed for the summer but as we drove along the edge you could see the mangoes ripening and the banana trees. As we got closer to the tropics the weather got steadily hotter and more humid - only the sea breeze kept me sane. Driving straight through Carnarvon (only stoppping for supplies and a fly net to cover our heads). we drove on up to Coral bay. This is a beautiful bay on the Ningaloo reef which is a mainly still water (i.e. no currents like the great barrier reef) on the north west coast.
We drove down into the settlement which is in the middle of nowehere to be greated by the sight of an amazing turquoise blue bay, a resort hotel and a very bad band playing Eric Clapton. It turns out we'd timed our stay with the monthly Wetern Farmers steering committee meeting, which meant that all the bush folk at come out of their stations to do committee stuff (which looked like getting drunk and arranging the marriages of their daughters - I fear only partly in jest!) Although it was already 7pm the temperature ws still 35 and the water really warm and crystal clear. We stopped for a quick swim (with the Snapper and the scissor fish). Our apartment contained 2 double beds and a top single bunk in one room with a kitchen and a small bathroom area. I was quite surprised to discover while showering that the non-drinking water obviously came straight from the sea! The cold tap produced quite warm water (easy bath temperature) and was definatly salty - my hair has crysallised solid into rather frizzy tight curls!
We spent the next day having a glass bottomed boat tour of the coral - which was amazing - I've never seen so many fish of different colours and such dense coral. As the water is very slow moving, the coral is mainly hard coral. I then tried my hand at snorkelling -bear in mind I'm ont a strong swimmer at the best of times. The snorkelling initially produceed the effect of me filling my mask full of water and breathing in salt water - unpleasant! I eventually got the hang of it but wasn't confident at my ability to swim over the main reef - i.e. anywhere where I couldn't put my feet on the sand. Phil however had a ice trip out over the coral and aparently saw a Stingray (thing that killed Steven Irwin) and a Turtle.
Phils friend 'Hoppy' joined us later on before driving up to his station (Hill Springs Homestead), which involved driving on some very dodgy sand roads - avoiding kangaroos and cattle - our poor rental car.
This morning we got up at 6am to avoid the heat and drove round 2/3s of the station looking at the cattle (photos of the bulls for Grandma!), the Emus and trying to fix a pump, which pulls up the water form one of the bore holes. Most of the days of the farmesrs out here appear to be a constant battle to get water to their stock... The countryside though is beautiful, so much open space and amazing colours (red sand, green plants and bright blue sky) not to mention incredible wildlife, we've seen Emus, Cockatoos, other birds, huge lizards and snakes. I'm now sheltering from the afternoon heat before going out again to finish helping to mend the pump (read watching Hoppy and his dad mend the pump and occasionally holding the piping and passing drinks of water!)
Tomorrow we go to Monkey Mia to look at Dolphins and then back to Perth.
p.s. a note for Grandma and David - some of the neighbours Angus bulls have obviously had their way and there are some beautiful jet black calves - not sure how they manage with a black coat in the sun.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
The White Toyota Corolla!
So its been a while since I last posted and we've been really busy... We hired a car (white toyota) and have driven up north to Kalberri (via the Pinnacles). I'm now sat in the reception of a youth hostel sheltering from the mid day heat of 44c!! (I started to melt at about 40c)
We spent Sundayon Rottnest Island- which is an Island about 10Miles off the coast of Perth,which used to be home to the Prison (I don't think convicts-more Australians i.e. Abororiginal prisons and Australians) until the turn of the centuary. We flew over with one of Phils gliding friends in a little Cessnar - the trip over was beautiful-the water was so clear and so many different colours of blue. There has been lots of shark sightings in the areaso I spent my time looking for Sharkswhile Phil flew. We were met by little quokkas (very small marsupialsonly foundon Rottnest and a small corner of the south west) - they were really inquisitive and friendly. After hiring some cycles we cycled thelength of the Island (~10Km) and looked at the beautiful sandy and deserted beaches. However both Phil and I managed to burn our feet, which is possibly the most painful thing I've ever done - the next day it tookten minutes to put my shoes and socks on- due to the soreness. Although you will be pleased to learn that aside from feet burning I've managedto stay very palewith my big hat and cotton wraps.
Monday was spent buying supplies for the trip north and visiting the wildlife park. Photos to follow of Philiy with Kangaroos, Koalabears and various colourful birds. I've taken photos of bush Turkeys for my step dad- they are even less friendly than his! And photos of the Emus for Grandma and David.
So Tuesday we drove north - about 500Km.Stopping at ther Pinnacles (strangerock formationunder the sand dunesnear Perth) and now in Kalbarri.. Kalbarriis a beautigul seasidetown-with some astonishing gorges in the national park just inland. We walked round some of the sightsthis morning whichwas amazing but so hot it hurt...
Oh well back out to the cliff tops and to look at the wild Pelicans and cockatoos (they not be cockatoos but they're very pretty and friendly). The town seems to close down at 9pm so we have to make the most of it while itsstill open. Tomorrowwe drive futher north to Coral bay.
p.s. sorry for the lack of spaces- the keyboard is very old and haphazard!!!
We spent Sundayon Rottnest Island- which is an Island about 10Miles off the coast of Perth,which used to be home to the Prison (I don't think convicts-more Australians i.e. Abororiginal prisons and Australians) until the turn of the centuary. We flew over with one of Phils gliding friends in a little Cessnar - the trip over was beautiful-the water was so clear and so many different colours of blue. There has been lots of shark sightings in the areaso I spent my time looking for Sharkswhile Phil flew. We were met by little quokkas (very small marsupialsonly foundon Rottnest and a small corner of the south west) - they were really inquisitive and friendly. After hiring some cycles we cycled thelength of the Island (~10Km) and looked at the beautiful sandy and deserted beaches. However both Phil and I managed to burn our feet, which is possibly the most painful thing I've ever done - the next day it tookten minutes to put my shoes and socks on- due to the soreness. Although you will be pleased to learn that aside from feet burning I've managedto stay very palewith my big hat and cotton wraps.
Monday was spent buying supplies for the trip north and visiting the wildlife park. Photos to follow of Philiy with Kangaroos, Koalabears and various colourful birds. I've taken photos of bush Turkeys for my step dad- they are even less friendly than his! And photos of the Emus for Grandma and David.
So Tuesday we drove north - about 500Km.Stopping at ther Pinnacles (strangerock formationunder the sand dunesnear Perth) and now in Kalbarri.. Kalbarriis a beautigul seasidetown-with some astonishing gorges in the national park just inland. We walked round some of the sightsthis morning whichwas amazing but so hot it hurt...
Oh well back out to the cliff tops and to look at the wild Pelicans and cockatoos (they not be cockatoos but they're very pretty and friendly). The town seems to close down at 9pm so we have to make the most of it while itsstill open. Tomorrowwe drive futher north to Coral bay.
p.s. sorry for the lack of spaces- the keyboard is very old and haphazard!!!
Saturday, 3 January 2009
1st day in Perth
Well I have 5 mins before my internet time runs out so Phil suggested I update my blog. We arrived into a very hot Perth yesterday evening (Phils and the Australians think its cold for this time of year but I'm melting!) We spent the evening having a BBQ with some of his school friends and then fishing on the beach. Never seen such a big BBQ before, or the southern star... (Or spending so long on a beach with a fishing rod and getting no fish.)
Today we've looked round a very clean and modern city (most of the old buildings have been knocked down - I wonder when they'll regret that?!?), saw Phils old school and walked round the parks. I've also just purchased an Australian pay as you go mobile. It was quite an effort finding one with coverage in the areas we're going and trying to understand the price plans... Its amazing how simple things like mobile phones differ so much from country to country - you'd think the arrangements would be similar wherever you go - but no ;) Oh well all bought now.
Oh well times up - we're off to the beach :) more soon...
Today we've looked round a very clean and modern city (most of the old buildings have been knocked down - I wonder when they'll regret that?!?), saw Phils old school and walked round the parks. I've also just purchased an Australian pay as you go mobile. It was quite an effort finding one with coverage in the areas we're going and trying to understand the price plans... Its amazing how simple things like mobile phones differ so much from country to country - you'd think the arrangements would be similar wherever you go - but no ;) Oh well all bought now.
Oh well times up - we're off to the beach :) more soon...
Thursday, 1 January 2009
Hello from KL
As I write this I am standing in the international terminal of KL airport, Malaysia! I have a three hour stop over here before going onto Perth. The flight here was very nice, although I don't give Malaysian airlines much time before going bust if every flight is as empty as mine (I had a row of 7 to myself!). The airport is also very nice and clean. I've found myself looking at all the typically gap year student items (sarongs, woodern jewelry, silk 'ethnic' tops!) - its a good job I have no Malaysian money (and I've banned myself from using the cash machine).
It was quite an interesting flight over, the route was quite nice (including over Afghanistan and straight over teh top of Kabul), even though it was dark it was possible to make out the cities (the only realy area of light in a whole mass of darkness!) and the captain informed us where we were at helpful points. Although according to a pilot friend the captain may have no idea where we were and just pointing things out to fill his time (my friend has no idea where he is most of the time and sometimes no idea even of the country he's supposidly flying to). Wish I'd flown over during the day as the views would have been incredible. I'm now hoping for a flight just as empty on the next leg of the journey (I stupidly asked for aisle again) as it will be light and coastal views might be quite good (Phil is permited a "told you so" at this point as to teh benefits of window seats.)
If all goes to plan Phil should be in Singapore now and we should meet up in Perth. We will be met by his friend Simon who is going to take us fishing and then hopefully a relaxing evening (I'm quite tired, for once in my life I was unable to sleep - which is unusual as most of you know I can normally 'nap' my way through most distractions!)
Oh well - off to look at the pretty jewels and clothes (as well as the typical travellers fair theres an amazing collection of 'posh' gold, silver, diamonds and fancy watches!)
It was quite an interesting flight over, the route was quite nice (including over Afghanistan and straight over teh top of Kabul), even though it was dark it was possible to make out the cities (the only realy area of light in a whole mass of darkness!) and the captain informed us where we were at helpful points. Although according to a pilot friend the captain may have no idea where we were and just pointing things out to fill his time (my friend has no idea where he is most of the time and sometimes no idea even of the country he's supposidly flying to). Wish I'd flown over during the day as the views would have been incredible. I'm now hoping for a flight just as empty on the next leg of the journey (I stupidly asked for aisle again) as it will be light and coastal views might be quite good (Phil is permited a "told you so" at this point as to teh benefits of window seats.)
If all goes to plan Phil should be in Singapore now and we should meet up in Perth. We will be met by his friend Simon who is going to take us fishing and then hopefully a relaxing evening (I'm quite tired, for once in my life I was unable to sleep - which is unusual as most of you know I can normally 'nap' my way through most distractions!)
Oh well - off to look at the pretty jewels and clothes (as well as the typical travellers fair theres an amazing collection of 'posh' gold, silver, diamonds and fancy watches!)
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