Category: Simon

Western Australia is big – a third of Australia, and many times the size of the UK. There’s hardly anyone living there either, and nearly all of them are in Perth. So as we drove north, we were quickly in farming country with huge fields, then that disappeared and there’s just the road, red soil and bushes stretching off forever into the flat distance. Given all that, it’s surprising to see quite a few caravans and the huge road trains (think articulated lorry plus an extra couple of trailers) plowing up the road, it’s a good job the roads are long and straight so that we can actually overtake.
500km later we reached Kalbarri, the first interesting place since Perth and the only place for the last 200km that was more than a petrol station. The huge waves of the Indian Ocean crashed onto the rocks whilst they dwarfed the surfers stupid/brave enough to be towed out by jetski to tackle them. Feeling bored of the car, we took a walk to look at the coastal cliffs, where the flat land abruptly stops and falls into the sea. The clouds stretched off into the interior of Australia until they met the horizon, just another sign of how big this place is.

Not a particularily interesting day today, but an eventful one nonetheless. Realising that we were booked on an exceptionally early flight out of Perth, we tried to change to a later, more civilised time. However, it turned out we weren’t booked on any flight out of Perth, or technically we were but 2 months ago and were no shows on that flight as I was carrying a couple of mountain bikes up a hill in New Zealand. A few phone calls later and it turns out that the airline who had rescheduled our flights thought we were on the right flight, but the airline actually flying us didn’t. You’d think they have some sort of computer system to do these sort of things without hassle ;-). At least we managed to have our tickets reinstated without much fuss, good job we tried to move the flight, although in the end we were just glad to be able to fly at all.
The only job left to do was pick up the hire car in preparation for our big drive north. It was almost tempting to get another campervan, but those days are over, and the lure of a car with cruise control was too much!
Unsurprisingly I didn’t take any photos today, so instead here’s one of the manta ray from Rottnest Island, the thing was huge (that’s my shadow next to it!) and effortlessly swam around the shallows, it was definitely worth risking attack by pelican to see it.

Either Perth is a very laid back, quiet and chilled out city, or Saturday is a good day to explore a new place. Or could it be the nice sunny day? Starting off with Kings Park we walked through the grounds, passing people enjoying the sun and climbed the double helix staircase of the DNA Tower for views of, well, some trees! Around the corner we did get a good look at the city centre, a smattering of high rises with the Swan river meandering past. Come to think of it most Australian city centres are clean and tidy with big modern glass skyscrapers – something mostly missing from UK cities (ok – London has a couple, but Perth has loads and is tiny in comparison). With our feet tired out with a day of walking, we retreated to that other trademark of Aussie cities – the beaches!

Ah, the Aussies, such a great race – why say the full name when you can shorten it and stick an “o” at the end? So, catching the ferry from Freo (Fremantle), we crossed a bit of the Indian Ocean (probably “Indo Oo”) to Rotto (Rottnest Island). The name Rottnest originates from early settlers who came, saw the native Quokka and presumed the place was infested with rats. Now I’ve seen a fair few rats, and I’m not too sure how you could mistake what looks like a small wallaby the size of a cat for a rat. In case you wondered, the one in the photo is crossing a bike lane, and isn’t half the size of a car… Wildlife abounded, with a rather ferocious pelican guarding the jetty, almost stopping me from taking a closer look at the huge manta ray swimming along the beach.
The sun shone, the roads were blissfully quiet for a leisurely bike ride and the sun set over the ocean with a deep orange glow. All in all a great summers day, albeit in the middle of the Perth winter.

There have been quite a few demonstrations of how big Australia is, and a four hour flight across two time zones where you land in the same country has to be one of the best. Yes, we’ve left Sydney for most probably the last time on this trip and headed across the continent/country to Perth. At least the weather was fine as we landed and were met by Caroline’s uncle to spend a few days exploring Perth. Caroline’s aunt and uncle live on a golf resort where the kangaroos regularly get in the way of the games – how Australian can you get?

Our chances of seeing the blue mountains were dashed as we awoke to heavier rain than yesterday. Polishing off an Eggs Benedict breakfast (a tradition when visiting Katoomba, and something everyone should try), we managed to find the station in the mist and boarded the train for Sydney.
Sydney wasn’t much better though, but the hotel was in the shadow of the harbour bridge, and as we had free passes to go up the turret we idled away the afternoon in there. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t take too many interesting photos (but I did take some Cat!), so here’s a photo of Sydney sans Opera House. There was public outcry at the time, as the disused tram depot would be knocked down to make way for the Opera House, go figure!

The weather forecast warned us of rain in the Blue mountains, but we paid little heed (and the hotel was booked anyway). What we hadn’t banked on was actually being in the rain cloud so that there was literally nothing to see. The viewpoint for the three sisters looked out to a white nothingness, and even a walk to the base of the first sister didn’t reveal any more. So it was a good job the hotel was nice (Lilianfels, the Orient Express hotel from Caroline’s birthday) and had a roaring fire going. Of course we’re on more of a budget than Caroline’s parents so we were in the local YHA, but still got to use the pool, stay warm and eat the good food, well that’s the best bit isn’t it?

As you know, we’ve been in and around Sydney for a good few months, and in the nick of time (our last full day) we’ve squeezed in one of the top Sydney attractions: a walk up to the top of the harbour bridge. All four of us slipped into the attractive grey suits, attached belts and clipped on all manner of bits before walking out underneath the roadway to the famous arch of the coathanger. The walk was nice and easy, and soon we were on top of the arch peering down at the harbour below and off into the misty distance. At the peak we were 130 metres high, which somehow felt higher than the Auckland Skytower (192m), and way taller than the canyon swing (113m). Must make a mental note not to compare all heights to things I’ve jumped off, you know, just to keep the temptation at bay (as the guide said, if the bridge was in New Zealand there would be 3 bungies and a flying fox from the top).
The climb finished and left us with half a day to fill, so braving the rain we caught the ferry across the harbour to Manly to promenade and eat fish and chips, well it’s what you do!

Our tour guide role carries on for another day, showing Caroline’s parents the glitzy Sydney sights such as the Rocks market, the IBM Darling Harbour office where I used to work, and Paddy’s market – home of cheap Chinese Australian souveniers. We even managed to take a look at the Fruit Bats at the Botanical Gardens, or more accurately let them look at us from their tree top hanging positions, before the rain set in. Our excellent idea of going to a photo exhibition was a tad too popular with everyone else in Sydney, so we retreated to the hotel for room service and an in-room movie, I think we’ve taken to hotels a little too well…

Ah, New Zealand, we’re sorry to leave, every day has been an adventure with something around the corner to explore, amaze, wonder at the glory of, excite, or simply scare the pants off you. There really is something for everyone here, beautiful vistas, unique wildlife and adventures to be had, and I’m sure we’ll be back again.
But all good things must come to an end, and today we flew back to Sydney to meet Caroline’s parents. Now you’d think with all this flying around the world that nothing would impress, but the Emirates airplane has the pinnacle of in-flight entertainment. Not only could you choose movies, music and games, the whole thing worked on a touch screen (jealous, Cat?) and also had live camera feeds from the front and bottom of the plane so you got a pilots view for take off and landing, who needs movies when you’ve got that!?
Arriving in Sydney was like coming home, it was easy to navigate the airport, we knew where the bus was going and recognised streets and buildings on the way to the hotel. Then there were the familiar faces of Caroline’s parents to greet us to our home for the next few days – that’s pretty permanent for us!