This blog entry is dedicated to my trip
over to Western Australia with the lovely Jess – long-time
travelling pal from way back when in my gap year in East Africa! Jess
now lives in Auckland, and was over in Perth for a conference. I
turned up at the end of the conference and we took some annual leave
together – me from my very tough life of sunshine and circus ;)
Although I did finally find a job to come back to: working at a cafe
dedicated to cake!
After a day wandering around Perth myself - which doesn't seem to have a great deal going on other than a CBD, searing temperatures and some nice botanical gardens - Jess and I started our trip together with a trip to beautiful
Rottnest Island. Not even the knowledge that 'there are more sharks
on the western side of Oz' could stop us diving in to the shallow
crystal blue waters around the island, to cool off from our bike
riding and snorkel with the fishes!
We took the ferry back to Fremantle, a
lovely town which is obviously an older, predecessor to Perth's
industrial port on Swan River. We escaped our youth hostel (which
made us feel very old!) and visited the Little Creatures
brewery/bar/restaurant in the evening, where a balloon man made us a
giant balloon caterpillar, which became our road trip travelling
companion!
Next day we rented a car to drive on
down to Margaret River. I even got back behind the wheel – thank
you Jess for your teaching tips, patience and trust! Was also very
helpful having massive open roads with absolutely no other traffic!
We stopped in a couple of sleepy coastal towns on the way down:
Mandurah, Bunbury (which advertised dolphins though we saw none!) and
Busselton which boasts the longest pier (2k) in the southern
hemisphere....
In Margaret River we stayed at
Wharncliff Mill eco-lodge, which was absolutely fabulous and I have
to admit feeling slightly smug every time I walked past the dorms,
tents and campervan spots that they also offered. We decided to hire
bikes as a means to explore the trails around Margaret River...after
getting totally lost one morning we did eventually end up seeing some
beautiful scenery!
We also went down to the river mouth,
hired some kayaks and had a gorgeous 3 hr trip paddling up and down
on the river all to ourselves. Taking a 'selfie' on a kayak is a
tricky business...
And of course we had to sample the
vineyards and chocolatiers for which the region is famous :)
On the drive back up to Perth we
stopped at Meelup beach, a beautiful spot on the coast with white
sand and clear blue water. The best beach I've seen in Oz so far and
a perfect way to round off the trip with a cooling dip before our
flights home!
