Roadtrip Australia: Van-Tastic Western Australia - PATRICK & ALEX

SO IN THE END...SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

alexandpatrick — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:45:00 GMT

So this is it. We just woke up on our final day of our six week journey. I can’t believe it’s been six weeks already. We started in Darwin, fresh and ready to go, and I think I can say that we still share that sense of wonder and excitement weeks later.

We saw some amazing things over our trip. From riding a camel, to snorkelling with the world’s largest fish, the whale shark, to swimming with wild bottle-nosed dolphins and jumping out of an airplane at 14,000 ft.

We’ve met a lot of great people along the way. They added to our experience and allowed us to be part of their journey as well.

And there’s Geoff. What can I say about him? He took us where we wanted to go, gave us shelter, let us cook our meals, hang and watch movies with him and was our home for the past six weeks. While I found him difficult to drive at first, we quickly learned to work together and it’s been great ride ever since. I’m going to miss him. So long buddy, and it’s been a blast.

We want to thank everyone with Tourism Western Australia, World Nomads and all the tour operators we’ve met along the way for making what is a once in a lifetime trip an even more special trip. Thanks to everyone who tuned into our videos, read our blogs and checked out our photos. I hope you shared a little bit of our journey as well.

See you again soon Western Australia...

Video - THE PHOTO MONTAGE

alexandpatrick — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:42:00 GMT

Roadtrip Australia: Van-Tastic Adventures Western Australia

On their roadtrip through the Western Australia with Van-Tastic Adventures, Patrick & Alex finish up their trip with a photo montage...but something goes horribly wrong.

Follow the adventures at http://www.vantastic.worldnomads.com, or on Twitter @Van_Tastic.

courtesy of worldnomads.com

Photos: Rottest Island, Yanchep National Park & Caversham Wilderness Park

alexandpatrick — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:12:00 GMT

Video - CAVE TROLLS

alexandpatrick — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:37:00 GMT

Roadtrip Australia: Van-Tastic Adventures Western Australia

On their roadtrip through the Western Australia with Van-Tastic Adventures, Patrick and Alex go adventure caving in Yanchep National Park.

Follow the adventures at http://www.vantastic.worldnomads.com, or on Twitter @Van_Tastic.

courtesy of worldnomads.com

ROTTNEST ISLAND

alexandpatrick — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:50:00 GMT

Last week we visited Rottnest Island, just off the coast of Perth. A short ferry ride (with Rottnest Express) over from the mainland, Rottnest has many things to see and do.

After we arrived on the island we rented bicycles and started out to explore the many beaches, inlets and lakes. The pristine beaches, with beautiful blue water and white sand, were strung around the coast, with the skyline of Perth in the background.

After checking out the beaches and a couple of the lakes in the island we biked up a steep incline to a place called Oliver Hill lookout. Oliver Hill was a post used during the Second World War, complete with a 9-inch gun that would’ve been used to defend mainland Australia during the war. While it is now only for demonstration purposes, the gun now stands as a testament to the hard work of Australian and British officers during the war, even though the gun was never fired to defend against enemy attack. Down below the gun is a network of underground tunnels and rooms, each one dug out by hand, where soldiers would stay to man the post and stand on guard against an attack.

Another interesting feature of the island was the Quokkas, a small rodent native to the island. These were mistaken for giant rats when the Dutch landed on the island, hence the name Rottnest (meaning literally “rat’s nest” in Dutch). These little burrowers come out and dawn and dusk and the island has an approximate population of 10,000 of them.

With something different to see and explore, Rottnest is definitely a worthwhile day trip while staying in Perth. You might even need a few days to explore everything there is to see...

ADVENTURE CAVING IN YANCHEP NATIONAL PARK

alexandpatrick — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:46:00 GMT

Below the earth there are places that seem to transport you to ages long ago. The caves are alive, constantly changing and evolving, offering us a magical underground environment that is world’s apart from the ground up above. Last week we were fortunate enough to go adventure caving in Yanchep National Park, just north of Perth. Our guide, Inga, led us on a guided tour through the Yanchep cave for the morning.

A vast underground labyrinth of tunnels and chambers, the cave was only a few metres deep ( the shallowest cave in the park) which was carved out by sand and water. As in most of the caves we’ve seen in Western Australia, the cave had a lot of stalactites and stalagmites. Stalactites, as Inga explained to us, are like rock and calcium icicles that hang from the ceiling of the cave. Stalagmites grow up from the floor of the cave and are the result of water dripping onto the ground that has a small amount of acid in the drops of water. The drops of rain water from the soil above the cave seep through the cave and slowly, over time, dissolve the limestone and create beautiful columns of rock on the cave floor.

We spent the morning shimmying through some tight spaces, crawling down rock formations and exploring the cave. Although one of the smaller caves we’ve done here in Western Australia (we went to Jewel, Lake and Mammoth Caves further south a couple weeks ago) it was still a fascinating experience to travel through such as extraordinary environment and having our own guide, Inga, to take us through and share her knowledge of them.

SWIMMING WITH THE DOLPHINS

alexandpatrick — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:57:00 GMT

A day after hurdling ourselves out of a plane, we were off to Rockingham, just half an hour south of Perth, for a day of swimming with wild bottle-nosed dolphins. We arrived and were greeted by the crew of Rockingham Wild Encounters and then onto the boat for a brief safety announcement before we were away.

So this might sound odd, but I have a list of things I have to do before I die. It just so happens that swimming with dolphins is #32 on the list, so getting the opportunity to be in the water with these amazing creatures was a dream come true for me. We had only be away from shore for a few minutes when the captain gave the signal that a group of dolphins had been spotted and prepare to get in the water. We suited up and within a few minutes we were sliding into the water off the back of the boat and into the water. All of us were split into two groups, each going with one leader who would move us through the water with a propellor as we hang onto the person's belt in front of you.

We instantly put our faces in the water and were surrounded by a group of dolphins swimming amongst us. They'd dive down below us and swim underneath and then back to the surface. After a few minutes of them swimming and playing with us in the water we headed back to the boat and jumped out of the water, exhilarated.

Then we got the signal from the captain again to get back in. More dolphins had been spotted. We jumped back in again and this time there were even more of them. Everywhere we turned there was another one, swimming beside or under us. We looked down and a few metres down there was another few, some of them with calves. We could hear them squeaking to each other as well!

After another two dives, each better than the last, we got out of the water. I couldn't believe what happened as the boat was pulling away! The dolphins swam beside the boat, riding in the wake, jumping out of the water! It was almost like it was their way of saying thank you for coming and playing with us. After a couple minutes of them jumping beside the boat they disappeared under the waves and were gone. After they were gone our guides told us that was probably the most dolphins they've seen all together all season!

After the huge adrenaline rush of skydiving the day before, the dolphin swim was a totally different thrill, but another amazing experience.

Video - THE DESCENT

alexandpatrick — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:52:00 GMT

Roadtrip Australia: Van-Tastic Adventures Western Australia

On their roadtrip through the Western Australia with Van-Tastic Adventures, Patrick and Alex face the ultimate skydive adventure.

Follow the adventures at http://www.vantastic.worldnomads.com, or on Twitter @Van_Tastic.

courtesy of worldnomads.com

LEAP INTO THE ABYSS

alexandpatrick — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:56:00 GMT

The door slides open and we're instantly hit with a blast of icy cold air, nothing out the windows of the plane but bright sunshine and a blanket of fluffy white clouds a few thousand feet below. The pilot has given the go ahead and it's time to go. First jumpers in position. They slide to the edge, the force of the wind in fierce and biting. Three-two-one GO! They're off, vanishing out the door and out into the endless blue sky. The next jumpers get in position. Go! They disappear in a flash as well. Just one more pair and then me. We shimmy to the door behind the next group and before I know it they've gone too. This is all going so fast. We're up. Moment of truth. My tandem instructor, Steve, signals us to get in position.

"Slide to the edge. Feet tucked underneath the plane" he yells from behind.

"Ready?"

I give a thumbs up. A pause.

Then…

We're out, skyrocketing to the ground like a meteor. We do a backwards roll as we exit the plane and I get a chance to look back up at the plane, by this time already 300 feet above us banking to the right to turn around. We tumble back around and we're now in free fall position. The adrenaline rush is incredible, freefalling to earth at 200 km/h. The force of the air is pretty intense and I find my goggles sliding up my face, but I can't get to them.

The blanket of clouds still seems like a long way down, but within a few seconds we're in the cloud lair. For a couple seconds all I can see is white and before I know it we're through and we look out over a never-ending landscape of farmland. It feels more real now that I can see the ground. Just then I feel a big tug as Steve deploys the parachute, It's kind of jarring when at first, kind of like slamming on the breaks on the highway. But within three seconds we've gone from free falling to soaring above the earth like an eagle. It's an incredible feeling, being up there with nothing below your feet. Steve loosens my harness slightly so I can slide the straps under my legs to use them more like a seat.

"If you look over your right shoulder you'll see a little rope that is slightly twisted around one of the main parachute lines" Steve yells down.

"Does that happen a lot?" I yell back.

"No, not really"

Hmm.

I didn't give it to much thought though as Steve has 25 years of skydiving experience so I trusted he'd bring us in safe. After about five minutes of floating majestically through the air we were set for our landing.

"See that little patch of gravel down there? We're going to aim for that" Steve says.

With that we're start our final descent, this time faster, almost at a 45 degree angle.

"Legs up, in your landing position" he yells again.

I lift my legs straight out in front of me as Steve pulls up on the controls, levels us off for a picture perfect landing.

I could go on and on all day about how amazing my skydiving experience was. After all of us had landed we wanted to go again (they offered a second same-day jump at a substantial discount) but we decided to let the experience settle in first and possibly come back again after our trip is over.

A huge thank you to my instructor, Steve, a consummate professional and all around nice guy for a great jump as well as everyone at Skydive Express in York, WA. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

Video - BOSHACK OUTBACK

alexandpatrick — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:50:00 GMT

Roadtrip Australia: Van-Tastic Adventures Western Australia

On their roadtrip through the Western Australia with Van-Tastic Adventures, Patrick and Alex visit Boshack farm in Bolgart, WA to play the didgeridoo, toss a boomerang & try the witchetty grub!

Follow the adventures at http://www.vantastic.worldnomads.com, or on Twitter @Van_Tastic.

courtesy of worldnomads.com

Video - I WANT TO BE UNDER THE SEA

alexandpatrick — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 10:48:00 GMT

Roadtrip Australia: Van-Tastic Adventures Western Australia

On their roadtrip through the Western Australia with Van-Tastic Adventures, Patrick and Alex hit the high seas to swim with wild dolphins, mantra rays & whale sharks.

Follow the adventures at http://www.vantastic.worldnomads.com, or on Twitter @Van_Tastic.

courtesy of worldnomads.com

FROM EXMOUTH TO PERTH

alexandpatrick — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 06:52:00 GMT

As usual I think the best way to do this is to give a run down of recent events in a top 5 list. So here we go…..

1. Boshack Farm. This was a very fun part of our trip as Patrick and I were introduced to authentic Australian culture by our guide and manager of the farm, Chrissy. She taught us how to play the digeridoo, which we failed at miserably, and provided us with some meals and a place to sleep. Lucky for us, a bunch of her friends cane up that night and we sat around the fire with them relaxed, drank some beer, and generally had a merry old time…okay, i got piss drunk. It was fun.

2. Swimming with the Whale Sharks. This was an amazing experience--swimming right next to the world's largest fish left me awestruck. They are truly amazing creatures, very slow and gentle and …BIG! One of the Whale Sharks was easily double the size of the tour boat. As a bonus we also got to see some Humpback Whales head up the coast. It's truly heartbreaking that after the Whale Shark Tour I read a story in the West Australian newspaper about how there is little to no regulation for whaling boats in Japan. The Prime Minister of Australia plans on taking Japan to an international court over this. I wish him luck.

3. Swimming with the Manta Rays. We were extremely lucky to be able to go on these wild 'swim with' eco tours. I was not aware of how truly gigantic Manta Rays can get. They were doing 'back flips' in the water and then disappearing into the ocean beneath us. It's at this time that one begins to wonder what else might be lurking in the deep recesses beneath us as we snorkel along without a care in the world…

4. Turquoise Bay. Turquoise Bay is situated within Cape Range National Park and it is an awesome spot to relax catch some rays, go for a swim, or snorkel right off the beach. We spent two days going back to this beach because it was so amazing! The water was warm and crystal clear and best of all-there was hardly anyone else there. I miss it now.

5. The Pinnacles Dessert. Is a desert with these totally otherworldly looking pinnacle shaped rock formations scattered throughout it. Although we didn't get a chance to spend much time there It would have been nice to have stayed longer, but unfortunately we underestimated the amount of time it would take to get there from Exmouth. We did get to see the sunrise though, and we shot some good looking footage of us walking along this very interesting looking landscape.

Looks like we're off to Walpole now, I'm looking forward to seeing the southern coast of WA.

A NEW TOP 5

alexandpatrick — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 06:48:00 GMT

We're now into week 4 of our journey across Western Australia, and I am starting to think it's time to start appealing to the good people at Travellers Auto Barn to just let us keep the van for say, umm, the next year or so, so we can see more of what this great country has to offer. I don't want our trip to end!

My top 5 list this week is case and point:

1.Skydiving. Yep. I did it. I was scared to death but I did. We jumped out of a plane at 14,000 feet in the sky. Totally terrifying, but totally amazing. I'll never forget hanging out of that small twin engine plane about to jump too what I thought would be my doom. It was an incredible feeling, now I understand what it is to be an adrenaline junkie. Did I mention that I was scared? I actually thought that one of the people who was lazing around the hangar was the grim reaper. Nobody else saw him but me, he disappeared in thin air! But I'm still alive, therefore he must not have been the angel of death, but perhaps my guardian angel…either that or I must be showing the first signs of acute schizophrenia…

2.Swimming with the Dolphins. And here I thought nothing could top swimming with the whale sharks….Swimming with the dolphins did…if only because of the shear number of them we saw that day. We were exceptionally lucky according to our guide, not only did they only have about half the usual amount of people aboard the boat (allotting us some extra snorkel time), but at one point we were swimming with about 20 dolphins. I think everyone should get a chance to do this at least once in their life time. Listening to them communicate with each other using sonar like noises, and watching them swim around with such grace, ease, and enjoyment is truly a sight to behold.

3. Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk. I am really thankful we decided to travel as far south as we could even though it is a few degrees colder out here than it is up in the northern parts of WA. It's really amazing how much the landscape has changed since we departed Exmouth, It's so much greener and much more lush on the southern coast of WA. I never thought that after travelling through miles and miles of dessert that we would arrive at a place with giant ancient green trees.

4. Fremantle. What can I say? I love this place. It's sort of a suburb of Perth, but it's fantastic little spot with a ton of art, culture, history, to learn about and appreciate. I think this might be where we stay as we work on our final documentary. It's nice, small and quiet but also really close to the city of Perth…should you crave to be in the hustle and bustle of a big city. They have a truly awesome micro brewery/ bar and restaurant called Little Creatures that has an excellent atmosphere and really, really delicious beer!

5. Perth. Perth reminds me very much about my favourite city back home in Canada--Vancouver. It's a very laid back city situated right on the ocean. I admire how quiet it is at night even in the heart of the city. Coming from Toronto, a place where you can perpetually hear a siren--this is a city where you can actually get a good night sleep.

Alright, that's this week's top 5 list.

Photos: Valley of the Giants, Margaret River & Fremantle

alexandpatrick — Wed, 9 Jun 2010 15:36:00 GMT

BOSHACK OUTBACK, VALLEY OF THE GIANTS & MARGARET RIVER

alexandpatrick — Sat, 5 Jun 2010 18:23:00 GMT

So where to begin…

We left Exmouth a couple weeks ago and hit the road for a quick stopover in a town called Geraldton (we originally hadn’t planned to stop there) but we were asked to do a TV interview for a segment on the evening news with a local station. So after talking briefly about our travels for the camera we left for a town called Bolgart, way out in the middle of farm land. So we had a little bit of trouble finding the place…well a lot of trouble. We passed by the side road we were supposed to turn onto because we thought it was after the town so we ended up driving an hour too far down the road. We eventually found where we were supposed to go and drove in but by that time we realized we were virtually out of gas so we decided to call Boshack and let them know we’d be there the next day instead.

So we arrived the next day bright eyed and bushy tailed and were greeted by Chrissy of Boshack Outback. She took us for a walk around for about an hour or so and, most importantly, we got to play a didgeridoo! Ok, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I thought I’d get some kind of sound out of it! Well I did, but it didn’t sound very good one. After that we got the chance to throw a boomerang, which wasn’t too difficult (and yes it did come back and we all had to duck out of the way!) We stayed that night and hung out with some friends of Chrissy and Derek (owners of Boshack Outback) and the next morning we hit the road for the long trip from Bolgart all the way down to the south coast and Albany. The next day we did the Valley of the Giants tree top walk in Walpole. It’s a forest with enormous trees (most are several hundred years old) and a catwalk that goes from tree to tree, around 40 meters off the ground! The walkway would sway with us walking on it (it’s designed to move in the wind).

Thankfully from now on all our drives are fairly short and we just had a short 2 hour drive up to Margaret River. A picturesque little town with a laid back atmosphere, Margaret River has an abundance of unique little shops, cafes, restaurants and surf shops. After a good night’s rest in the van, we drove down to Mammoth Cave, a huge underground cave that has a boardwalk and lookout points to explore along the way. From there we hit Lake Cave which has an underground lake. It was eerily peaceful down there, quiet and cool, but calming at the same time.

From Margaret River we drove up to a town called Bunbury where we were supposed to do the Dolphin Eco Cruise, but unfortunately it wasn’t running that day because they didn’t have the minimum number of passengers to go out (it is low season in southern WA right now). So we jumped in the van and headed up to Fremantle, just outside of Perth. Last night we went out for a few beers at a local gem called Little Creatures, a brewery and pub that serves some tasty beer! Tomorrow we go skydiving with Skydive Express here in Freo. I have to admit I am pretty pumped for that!

Check back soon!

Video - WEST OZ ACTIVE

alexandpatrick — Tue, 1 Jun 2010 14:53:00 GMT

On their roadtrip through the Western Australia with Van-Tastic Adventures, Patrick and Alex take on canyoning in the Karijini National Park - awesome!

Video - BROKEBACK OUTBACK

alexandpatrick — Sat, 29 May 2010 14:50:00 GMT

On their roadtrip through the Western Australia with Van-Tastic Adventures, Patrick & Alex venture down the Ord River in Kununurra for some good old fashioned male bonding

Video - THE DALES GORGE

alexandpatrick — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:36:00 GMT

Roadtrip Australia: Van-Tastic Adventures Western Australia

On their roadtrip through the Western Australia with Van-Tastic Adventures, Patrick and Alex explore the Dale's gorge.

Follow the adventures at http://www.vantastic.worldnomads.com, or on Twitter @Van_Tastic.

courtesy of worldnomads.com

Photos: On the road again

alexandpatrick — Sun, 23 May 2010 20:09:00 GMT

KARIJINI, WEST OZ ACTIVE & EXMOUTH

alexandpatrick — Sun, 23 May 2010 19:51:00 GMT

Hello All,

I can’t believe we’re already into our 2 week in Western Australia! I don’t want it to end! The trip has been super awesome so far. Our Van has been fantastic, the sun has been shining everday, and the beer has been cold. We’ve travelled more than 3000km and we still have another 3000km or so to go.

As usual I think the best way to write the blog is to do a top 5 list of our exploits over the last 2 weeks. So here it goes….

1. Karijini National Park. This was an incredible part of our trip, especially the West Oz Active Tour we did. Through our guide Dan we were allowed to visit some of the most remote parts of the park, we travelled through Knox and Hancock Gorges which are rated as class 6 sections of the gorges, and thus only accessible by hiring a trained guide. To get through the gorges we did a ton of swimming, abseiling, and sailing over a waterfall called knox falls--which was straight out of the Goonies and easily the highlight of our trip so far!

2. Dales Gorge. This is another gorge in Karijini National Park, and considering they are both at the top this week’s top 5 list I think it shows how much we enjoyed ourselves there. We spent the whole day hiking the Gorge and shooting our pseudo- Croc Hunter-like show for the video updates. Highlights of Dales Gorge are Fortesque Falls (where we did some cliff jumping) and Circular pool (which was super cold but an excellent place to swim after a hard days hiking).

3. Ships of the Desert. We were fortunate enough to experience the Ship’s of the Desert camel ride on Cable Beach at sunset in Broome, WA. This was quite an experience, having never rode a camel myself before. Broome is an awesome little town with a great beach that you can drive your car right onto! Like Daytona beach, but with way less people. The whole town seems to congregate on the beach at night to view the spectacular sunsets you see in this part of the world.

4. Almost hitting several Kangaroos. These crazy marsupials jump out of the bush from nowhere and luckily we haven’t hit one yet. The closest call yet has been when we swerved between two of them along the highway heading into Exmouth. It is the closest I have ever come to hitting an animal…Though we have accumulated a mass of dead insects across the hood of our van.

5. The Stars. Alright call me sentimental, but every night before we go to sleep we usually sit out in our folding chairs and gaze out onto the stars, which you can see here like nowhere else I have ever been before. And it’s a totally new sky for me, the first time I have ever seen the southern cross.

Well, that’s been my last two weeks—A great time! We ‘ve met some really interesting people from all over the world and learned a lot about other cultures and life in general on this side of the planet. I hope all is well in the northern parts of the world. I’ll write again soon.

Peace,

Alex