Ok as my blog has been sadly neglected so far I have decided that maybe I should get off one of my better features and update it. So in the 8 minutes left to me of internet time (they can only sell it in 20 min times slots - don't ask why), I will attempt to relate everything I've done in our three weeks in Oz.
We picked up car, groceries etc. and left Perth City on the 8th of April. Car was ok, auto gearbox which was strange at first but didn't take too long to get used to. Fortunately as they were Ozzies they didn't care too much that I only had half a driving license, which suited me because the other part says about my speeding ticket. So, car and groceries picked up, off we went to Kalbarri!
First problem - following a map from 2000, we started up the not yet completed Mitchell freeway, and then had to cut across a long way to get to the '1', i.e. the road that goes north - there basically is only one. However we were in good spirits so no real problem. It takes quite a while to get out of the suberbs from Perth but then 1.5 million of WA's 2 million population live in Perth and surrounds so that wasn't really surprising. After the busy freeway (and driving in the UK), it was really nice driving on what was basically a deserted road - given that this is the ONLY main road north. We were seeing around one car per minute on average.
Out of Perth the landscape starts changing quite quickly. At first you have farmland with the occasional bit of bush, then more and more its just bush as far as you can see. About 200 km north, it starts to really look like stereotypical Oz; red dirt, scrubby little trees and grass as far as the eye can see. The change is reflected in the cars you see, where there are BMWs and your general hatchbacks like Toyota Corollas etc. in Perth, suddenly its Toyota pickups. With petrol and water strapped to the roof, and a snorkel for driving through floods. In our Toyota Corolla, I was still really enjoying myself, and even though it was a good 6 hour journey, it wasn't anywhere near as difficult as driving through France or UK.
We arrived in Kalbarri at about 8.30 pm to find that the holiday park we were staying at, Tudor Holiday Park, closed office at 8. This was a bit worrying but we drove around a bit and fortunately a guy appeared. He was a bit disgruntled about our turning up late but wasn't too bad about it - it turned out he was from Maidstone. Second problem - with our accomm nightmare in Perth we'd booked from the 9th, not the 8th when we'd turned up. This was a little embarassing so we blamed the travel agency - he did warn us that our 'Tudor Cabin' hadn't been cleaned but we were too grateful at this stage too worry about it. This is where we went wrong. The cabin was small, which we expected, but smelt strongly of mothballs, which we didn't. Next, we found a rather large cockroach running around and when I turned on the tap, ants came out (water did come out afterwards...). Still, as we basically had not alternative, we decided to sleep on it, under the mosquito net and after spraying round the room with raid. We also went out for fish and chips at the Jetty Seafood Shack, which if you ever happen to be in Kalbarri, I recommend you visit.
The 9th dawned with a plan of action, head out to see the town and see about getting a refund. We rang our travel agency who basically by way of sorting it out phoned the holiday park, made a complaint on our behalf without our permission and then rang back to say we would have to sort it all out ourselves with the guy (from Maidstone) that they had just upset. Fortunately, we blamed it on them again and rearranged to stay another 2 nights then head down to Lancelin YHA, which is about 2 hours North of Perth. Plan of action resolved, we set of to explore.
Kalbarri is a tiny little place which is surprising given that it's a genuine holiday destination from Perth. What is also strange is that, similar to Perth, there were no street lights so its all really dark. Basically there is the main frontage to the river, which runs out to the sea just the other side of Kalbarri proper, and the little town behind it - however its quite a nice place with plenty of restaurants etc. It was baking hot again, 30 deg C + and even with a hat and factor 40 suncream I was starting to go pink. Taking it easy we headed back to Jetty Seafood Shack for another load of fried seafood and headed for another night in our cabin.
Last day in Kalbarri we went out to the National Park to do some walking. It shows how devoid of feature most of the bush is as the two places we went to see, Hawks Head lookout and Ross Graham lookout, were fairly unremarkable by European standards; they are both overlooking a river gorge. We managed a brief walk down to the river but again it was so hot we were sweating the minute we left the car. After all this exercise it was time to hit Finlays Fish BBQ and back to camp for our final night.
Ok as I've so far waffled my way through 2 additional 20 minute slots I'll be brief from now on. From Kalbarri we set off for Lancelin back down the '1'. Lancelin is a tiny place at the end of the coast road - really nice just to relax and soak up a bit of sun. We also saw wild emus and kangeroos for the first time cutting across from the main road. Our first experience of a YHA was a treat as Lancelin has several recent awards, plus we were happy to be in a room not shared with insects. On the 12th we basically mooched about, slept and ate some pizza. Lovely.
On the 13th it was time to set off back towards Perth, now going to Mandurah which is an hour south of Perth City. Laura was feeling brave and as I was feeling pretty chilled she did all the driving. I think she was quite taken with the auto g'box - must be a Crouch thing. Arrived Mandurah around 4 pm to really nice holiday park run by 'Right O' Reg, who used that expression to complement every spare bit of conversation. That evening we ate ice creams overlooking Mandurah harbour and thought of everyone who was just about to start a days work, except Jix anyway.
After Mandurah, the next and highly anticipated leg of our WA tour, the wine region of Margaret River. We stopped in Busselton on the way which has the distinction of the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere - beaten only by the one at Southend in jolly old Essex. For some reason we decided it would be a good idea to walk the 4 km return trip to the end in the midday heat and so I went pink again. An hour and a half from Busselton and then we arrived at Margaret River.
For the time being this is were I will have to leave things as only 50 secs left. Will update soon! Hope veryone is keeping well, R & L
