Eighty Miles of Beach

Lots of beautiful beaches... 80 miles of beach...slept in a swag under the stars again...just perfect ! 80 miles of beach...says it all really ! wine, sunsets and parties...

Arrived in Broome finally to a party town with art galleries a perfect balence. Staying at cable beach backpackers and experience in itself i ask myself again "am i to old for this?" deciding "yes" after a few beers I check into accomodation with some air conditioning and clean sheets ! hurrah !!!!

Broome is a great town with a party atmosphere and a really lively arts sceene I loved it. However with 42 degree heat and no breeze it was time to move on.

spectacular gorge stunt !

We arrived at Karajini national park and took three challenging hikes through the mountain gorges. Up to 12 ft high with no ropes I should have known it was a Heather no go area but fearless i ploughed on....after day 2 and on the last hike... disaster struck ! I fell at least 12 ft from a gorge into the river below landing on my back in bikini ! no ! there is thankfully no photographic evidence ! I stumbled up from the fall laughing manically in shock, I had in fact incurred no injury at all....quite an achievement given my track record !I loved the challenge of the adventurous walks and climbs scrapes bruises and all ! Stopping for a few hours rest i made a piece of installation art on site ...could not help myself... found the natural rock colurs by smashing up rocks and adding water ! can you see what it is yet !?

Nigaloo Reef

Staying in Coral beach an ideal location like summer bay caravan park(home and away !)I explored nigaloo reef heritage site which makes claim as the best coral reef in the world. I enjoyed snorkeling from boats and the beach collecting shells and 'sun baking' could stay here for at least a week !

I saw blue spotted reef rays...turtles...little reef sharks and other pretty fish including nemos cousins.

Pics show bus life. Shona and I enjoy a VB for breakfast...the eske gets filled with ice...Heather on the boat. Yes ! they really do sell roadkill at the shops !

The oldest living thing on the planet !

The 'rocks' in the picture you see are in fact The Stromatolites community in Hamelin Pool, Shark Bay which is the most abundant and diverse microbial ecosystem in the world. The Stromatolites are microscopic organisms or 'cyanobacteria' that concentrate and recycle nutrients which combine with sedimentary grains to form towers of rock-like materials. These 'living fossils' are 2000- 3000 million years old. Wow that's old...although they are not hugely interesting unless you are a geologist I appreciate the significance and memorised the above from the info panel...the best thing was the quirky story boards that interpreted the stromatolites as a real family think someone had a few drinks before coming up with that one, I like it !

One of the highlights of the trip for me was meeting the dolphins of Monkey Mia in Shark Bay (now a listed natural world heritage site) the place name has nothing to do with monkeys. The wild dolphins have been hanging around this area for years and come each morning where there is a managed feeding programme for the mother dolphins only. 5 people are picked at random to feed the dolphins I was lucky to be one of these random people it was wonderful to be so close to the dolphins and on their terms.

Other pic shows fly net fashion show.

The most westerly point

Making our way further north up the western coast we stopped at the most westerly town in OZ Denham to admire the coastal views and spot marine life...but non appeared
A quick paddle at shell beach (called so as it is 100% made from small intact shells was nice once in the water although the beach its self was painful on the feet and full of flies (the time of year) I decided that it was time to invest in a fly net...up until this point the flies were bad but I decided the people who i had seen wearing them looked really stupid and deemed them unnecessary fashion went out of the window for us all !

A bush walk in kalbarri national park was good fun and blew the back aches from travel on the bus out of the window. the national park contains amazing gorges and rivers sculpted in a range of sandy red and yellow tones the most iconic feature is the "natures window formed by the wind through the sandstone...I precariously sat in the high up hole for a pose !

Sandy pants

On day one we visited "The Pinnacles Desert" it is in the middle of the Nambung National Park, one of one of WAs most renowned icons. The Pinnacles Desert is a collection of thousands of huge limestone pillars rising from yellow sands, resembling a landscape from space. In places they reach up to three and a half metres tall figuring i could do little harm to my self at this hight I decided to mount one...

next stop some sandboarding not to sure about this...plus the hardest part seem to be climbing up the huge sand dune !!!

Big Brother is watching you !

Heather goes to the diary room (front bus seat)... Hello Big brother...I am really enjoying my first day of the 10 day road trip the others seem nice although apart from Shona I am not sure I have much in common with them at all...as the days go on and the following I became quite attached to my fellow road trip mates and now miss their company...for most this will be a boring blog but reflecting on my journal I want to say a few things about each person on the trip and some of my favourite memories of my time with them, I hope they read this post and it raises a smile.

In order from left to right on the photo...
Mike from Blackpool...Fu**ing Flies...although Mike loves his sleep he had an irritating ability to wake the group with fly comments and his alarm clock in the early hours of the morning Nooooo Neeeeeeeeed !
Nina from Germany soon to be in Birmingham I hope we can catch up. Always looking immaculate (even when camping) and with a wonderful selection of bikinis Nina was also very quiet with the sweetest smile and always the first to help in the kitchen.
Heiki from Germany Loveeeely whatever Trevor and various ape impressions later...a 2 beer wonder wish I was so cheap to get drunk ! a very funny drunk indeed but perhaps a little dangerous as well.
Yvonne from Holland I think Yvonne was rather suspicious of me to begin with perhaps i was to but as the days went by she lowered her guard and we shared some good times... on the beach
Shona - love everything about this great Scottish bird...she is class I am sure will will share many an adventure in future, key moments; music, gallons of wine and goon, BBRT journals, not sleeping for 4 days straight and jointly trying to cheer people up when sad.
Fletch - from South Korea although initially we face a huge language barrier a smile broke this down. Some people just make the world a better place by being in it. We love Fletch and his portable multi media player !!! he is great at setting the table and always first to spot a photo opportunity although he really scares lizards just by looking at them...a real talent.
Monica from Italy "Bella" "Mama Mia" !!! where to start, "oh Jesus" hates early mornings loves group pees in the bush or on the beach as long as they are followed by a cigarette, even if it is 3 am and she has just been accidentally sat on in her bed by Shona ! You can always make her smile.
Petra from Germany my accident prone companion getting stranded on a coral reef, falling off cliffs and then doing a sky dive with the most confidence I have ever seen in anyone ever ! well done I think we faced a lot of things on the trip and survived !

Locky the "guide" he never did a head count once, I fell off a cliff into a river and he was non the wiser and most of the time he was drunk or stoned (not when driving though !) for all these reasons he was the best guide you could wish for...memories are too many ...camping it upto to Yazz "the only way is up...Baby !" at 8 am whilst the majority of people were sleeping. Locky did know everything about Australia a proper OZ bloke...Thank You for putting up with us ! I think the pic below says it all after 10 days, 7 woman and some serious drinking.

To old for this ?

Arriving in a chilly Perth (compared to the heat of Asia) I make my way to the city backpacker YHA the culture shock over the next three days was immense ! Getting used to the cost of everything and accepting that i could no longer take advantage of the cheap massages, food and manicures as part of my daily budget really hurt... I also had to buy a hooded top to keep me warm in the evenings !

So i bed down in a 4 bed female dorm...the nights are busy, doors slam, people party into the morning, snoring, loud voices...arrrrrgggghhh ! a bout of home sickness sets in and I find myself struck dumb and slightly unenthusiastic about my month in OZ...

Youth hostels and Backpacker places for those who have not had the experience is like being on a school camp...fully equipped kitchens are provided to do your own cooking (when not full or so messy its impossible) everyone has a little section in the fridge with labels all over food items (many of which are far beyond the sell by dates and stink)and you generally sleep in bunk beds with 4-10 other people and have a locker for your gear. After night 1 i have almost decided that i am now too old for this hotel lark that is until i jump down from my bunk to find a little 80 year old woman (also on a round the world trip) snoring loudly below me...reiterating the real diversity of people you find in "youth hostels"

The first night came and went the second came and went...Met Shona a great Scottish girl in the hostel...she had just arrived and feeling in the same boat. We wandered the city of Perth...did not like it really apart from the art gallery and museum which was excellent...went to the suburb beach communities nearby and enjoyed them but still felt lacking.

By day three drastic action was required...I decided to book a road trip with a small local company with 9 other people...thinking the companions would pick me up, less effort required to drive and plan and it was only a bit more than the basic bus ticket between Perth and Broome or car hire it would be a new experience having never done a company organised tour for more than a day or two before...Shona decided to join me the big brother road trip begins...

Pics shows (road trip mates Nina and Heiki) hostel room example...we were rather proud of our mess...random big blue Perth sky, kangaroos (not alive ones !) the museum and sign that made me giggle (very immature !)

The return to OZ - The Plan

Now been in Australia for 2 weeks...have been on many adventures I have been to busy to update Blog but have been keeping up with the diary... so here goes...

Leaving the Bangkok runway I update my journal...on this my fourth journey to the land down under I have decided to embark on a bit of a road trip between Perth and Darwin so far uncharted territory for me. In my head I plan the trip up the west coast by car and onto Darwin visiting the national parks both reef and outback along the way... a little road trip of some 4349 miles (7,000kms) considering from Land's End at the Westerly most point of GB to John O'Groats is is 874 miles that's some bloody mileage... but as usual my head did not think of the driving required but the exciting things to do along the way and "it did not look far on the map"! This seems to happen on every OZ visit I do forget how bloody vast the place is. After the massive road trip I will catch up with the Faircloughs, family friends in Brisbane.

Dengue ?

For all those who keep asking what Dengue is and dont know who to use Google...

You catch Dengue Fever from Mosquitoes it is an emerging international epedemic especially in parts of Asia and in some parts of Queensland Australia.

Dengue fever usually starts suddenly with a high fever, rash, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and muscle and joint pain. The severity of the joint pain has given dengue the name "breakbone fever." Nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite are common. A rash usually appears 3 to 4 days after the start of the fever. The illness can last up to 10 days, but complete recovery can take as long as a month. Older children and adults are usually sicker than young children. The fever effects the immune system so if your body is fighting off a small infection the Dengue fever can be triggered again.

Most dengue infections result in relatively mild illness, but some can progress to dengue hemorrhagic fever. With dengue hemorrhagic fever, the blood vessels start to leak and cause bleeding from the nose, mouth, and gums. Bruising can be a sign of bleeding inside the body. Without prompt treatment, the blood vessels can collapse, causing shock (dengue shock syndrome). Dengue hemorrhagic fever is fatal in about 5 percent of cases, mostly among children and young adults....

Heather is being monitired and now has access to lots of Australian clinics for tropical diseases so please do not fret...I will not die from the serious Dengue hemorrhagic fever !