I'm leaving Alice Springs, in fact leaving the Northern Territory today and heading in South Australia. I got on another Greyhound 20 minutes late and my driver Mick was my first ever driver all the way back in Darwin. He remembered me too as the girl going to Nauru and living near Glasgow. His family are from Edinburgh. He said you're gonna love our rest stop because he remembered I love all the quirky Aussie stuff. I did love it. Welcome to Kulgera Roadhouse, the first and last pub in the Northern Territory. As they always say here in this state....C U in the Northern Territory. Another quirky stop in South Australia. This place is the gateway to the Painted Desert. It's remote, in the middle of nowhere with a so called hotel motel attached to the Roadhouse. The blue skies against the red desert does look awesome though. I'm slowly but surely to complete the entire Mount Stuart Highway. Next stop is Coober Pedy and it's where I decided to get off for the night. I reached Coober Pedy in the bright daylight and not at night as expected because we're an hour forward in South Australia. As I got off the bus, the only one, I was met by a lot of law enforcement officers. I enquired joking if they're checking for bananas. I saw a sign just as we entered South Australia about no bananas allowed past their borders. The officer said yes to my joke about bananas. He said there are no fruit flies in this state . Wait. What? Do the fruit flies just not fly into the state? Do they sense there are no bananas in South Australia? Did it need 4 armed officers to check the bus? The British old guy who got off the bus to stretch his legs said he's got 2 bananas in his bag.. So that policy is working well. I'd definitely support something to get rid of the normal pesky flies but I'm fine with the fruit flies. I left them to it and went looking for my underground motel. On the way I met a tipsy Alfred who wanted to know where I was from and wanted me to take his photo. So I did. I found my motel easy enough and was greeted by a very hot guy. Meet Peter with the muscley arms. He never took off his hard hat either. So the sun was setting as he showed me around. He also upgraded me from budget room to one with all the frills like tv and fridge. To be honest it was pricey but I wanted to stay in an underground opal mine so this was the cheapest £54 per night. Worth it for the amazing experience and the view of Peter's arms. Plus the first place I'm staying in without air conditioning. The mines keep you cool.
If you come to a opal mining town you have to do an opal mining tour. This is the oldest opal mine in Coober Pedy and the tour was only $15. It was lovely and cool inside and I was grateful for the hard hat as I kept hitting my head like a numpty. The underground homes are great. What better way to keep cool out here in the desert. Hard work though digging it all out. The museum was pretty interesting too. Loads of movies were made here. Most famous are Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome. This place was Barter Town. The spaceship from Pitch Black is just left here near one of the mines and it’s falling apart but still looks cool. It looks like it belongs here. Amazing. I love the Northern Territory, but this is my favourite town in South Australia. After killing time in Coober Pedy I hopped on my late and last Greyhound until December, to Adelaide. As there are no routes they do to Western Australia I’m having to fly from Adelaide. Arriving at 6.30am does prove difficult when you can’t check in and have a bag. I took a chance and headed to my hostel hoping somebody might be around to let me in to at least leave my bag. Not a chance. The place was locked up both the hostel and their store front reception. I loitered for about 5 minutes and for some reason tried the front door of the office. To my surprise it was open so I went in. Nobody was manning the office but I didn’t care. I brought my bags in, changed and left a note stating I definitely didn’t break in and I would be back when they opened at 10am. So bagless I went exploring in search of street art. Adelaide looks big with huge wide roads. Some highways aren’t this wide. Jacaranda trees in full purple bloom lined the streets making it look beautiful. They had a botanical garden and a few other parks. Like all cities they have the posh end and the poor end. Typical city. I ventured back to my hostel expecting hassle but nothing. In fact I got upgraded from single economy room to double room studio. As this was the cheapest hostel in the city, I was glad I booked it even with all the bad review. Result.
I had an easy relaxing stay in Adelaide on the first and second days. I headed to the oldest German town in Australia. All the tours go there so I found a local bus hoping to only be charged the off peak $2.50 instead of $4.40 and spent the day in Hahndorf. It’s a picturesque village with all things German. The next day was a lot longer for my trip to Kangaroo Island. This was my main reason to visit South Australia and it didn’t disappoint. I saw koalas in the wild which was my bucket list. I’ve seen them in wildlife parks but seeing them in the wild was just amazing. It was first a male alone on the tree and then mother and baby. It looked they were clinging on for dear life because it was so windy. They looked so cute. Then we saw them on another stop. We also saw sea lions on Seal bay and fur seals near Admiral Arch. Although my favourite stop was at Remarkable Rocks. They looked awesome and out of this world. Nearly 16 hours later, 2 ferries and 3 coaches I got back to my hostel ready for bed.
The next day it was an easier tour with a bunch of old age pensioners. I can’t drive so this option was the next best thing. We stopped at Victor Harbour, Port Elliott. Goolwa, Strathalbyn and Seaford beach. It was a lovely trip south to see some of the lovely beaches. My favourite was the walk along the causeway to Granite Island. I didn’t see penguins but did see a shingleback lizard which was short, flat and stumpy. Then it was back to Adelaide for the flight to Perth, Western Australia.
Perth isn’t the nicest city but I’m here to start my tour to Exmouth. I was collected by my guide Darren and met 11 others on the tour. Our first stop was Lancelin sand dunes which should have been fun but it was an ordeal instead. It was so windy and sand got everywhere. I definitely wasn’t prepared for the sand. I tried sandboarding for the first time and it will probably be my last too. I think snow sledging will be a better experience. The sand was annoying. We had to be covered in it all day. Our next stop was the Pinnacles desert which I thought would be bigger. They were all tiny little mounds. 3 metres was the highest and they reminded me of termite mounds and also phallic symbols. We stopped for lunch at dynamite bay and then headed to Geraldton. If you can believe it, Geraldton is the largest city outside Perth with a population of only 40000. Western Australia's coast along these parts also has the largest number of shipwrecks. It is told that the earliest white settlers in the area were Dutch. Mainly survivors from the explorer ships that crashed and sank. The Aboriginies talked of them even before Cook, Flinders and Boudain even thought about Australia. Some tales were tragic especially the Batavia, which is depicted in the museum. Then we headed north. We had a lunch stop in Horrocks a beach town with million dollar homes. Unfortunately it was a rainy day and my second since the start of my trip all the way back in September. At least it wasn't as torrential as it was in Hatyai. It was still raining when we visited Lake Hutt also known as the Pink Lake and it was so pink It comes from the algae and they also harvest this algae to make blush and lipstick. Then it was onto Castle Cove to see the Natural Bridge which is just stunning even though it has one apostle. We reached our destination for today and checked into our not so nice hostel in Kalbarri. There's also all 12 of us in a dorm with one shower and toilet. I managed to bag a bottom bunk. Then we went to a local pub to play some pool, my doubles partner and I won both times. Then we pissed about in the park and beach. We had an early start to Kalbarri National Park. It's the size of Malta apparently. We walked to nature's window and the skybridge for some spectacular views. There were also many spiders and had to look out so we didn't walk into the webs. Then it was a 3 hour trek into the Z Bend gorge. It was a level 4 out 5 walk so lots of scrambling and tight narrow crevices. Lots of big rocks and boulders to climb over. Luckily it wasn't too hot and we were rewarded with amazing views. After a quick lunch stop at a Roadhouse, we headed to Shell Beach. This is part of the Shark Bay Unesco site. Shell beach is a beach full of shells. It was very crunchy to walk on. The factory nearby crushes is the shells into powder and it's used as chicken feed. Monkey Mia was our final destination for this day. This is where the dolphins come to get fed. The dolphin research centre is on site too. I'm still unsure on how the interaction with so many tourists helps with research. This evening though I saw 4 turtles. They were beautiful and just swam along the jetty so close to me. I was so happy.
The next morning after the dolphin experience didn’t happen we drove on one of the longest straight road for 108 kms. We stopped in Carnavon and then drove to our farm stay at Warroora station. It’s 250 thousand acres. It was bigger but the owner had to give half of it back mainly his Beach. We watched the sunset and then enjoyed the night sky later. The morning sunrise was just a pretty but with a lot more kangaroos popping up all over. It was one of the best sunrises ever. We drove to Coral bay for a day at the beach. This is part of the ningaloof Reef where there are manta rays and dolphins and other sealife. Our final destination was Exmouth with a population of 3000 only. It’s not much of a town at all with nothing interesting except the national park. Charles Knife Canyon was a spectacular spot at Cape Range national park. The Vlamingh Head lighthouse was disused but still had an interesting history with the Mildura wreck. Nearby was the US military base housing 13 towers, the highest being higher than the empire state building, all to spy on Chinese satellites. After a dire group meal which was spoiled by some insisting on tipping certain amount for a shit guide, it was the end of the tour. Now we have a day and a half to get back to Perth via an overnight stay in the lovely town of Geraldton with the best hostel in Australia, it’s certainly the cleanest.
It was an overnight back in Perth then a flight back to Adelaide and then an overnight at the airport before being picked up in the city for my 10 day tour of South and West Australia. My lovely guide Jackson Lomas a Kiwi welcomed me to our group of 5 other ladies and a trainee guide Eli. The first day was a bit wet and cold but after a stop in Clare, lunch at a cemetery we went for a hike in Alligator Gorge in Mount Remarkable national park. A lovely hike with huge expanding red gum trees and layered red rocks. Then we headed to our campsite in Mambray Creek for our first swag night. Jackson cooked from scratch an amazing pumpkin soup on a camp stove. We all pitched in cutting, preparing and cleaning. He then showed us how to use our swags. As it was a about to rain the guides put up a huge tent and we slept in our swags inside away from the rain.
The following morning we headed to Australia’s half way point which is near a town called Kimba. This town is famous for its silo art. This is when disused silos are commissioned by artists and the town becomes a tourist spot. Then we visited Venus Bay and Talia Cave which were both dramatic and stunningly beautiful. Our last visit of the day was to go sandboarding. You’d think I’d have learnt my lesson but off I went. It was windy but luckily also wet so sand wasn’t being blown around. Plus I covered my hair and ears and wore my jacket. Apart from getting knocked on my ankle by the boards, it was brilliant fun. It shows what a difference a fantastic guide and group can make. Then it was time to go to our campsite. This was Coodlie Eco Park. We had our own huts for our swag. We had rationed hot water of a bucket each for our showers and a drop toilet. Then for dinner Jackson went all Masterchef by making panko crusted fish, suvied octopus with a bbq of rump steak and kangaroo sausages. It was an absolute feast and all done on a camp stove and bbq grill. It was fucking amazing.
Today was the best day ever....I learned to surf. My first time surfing or even touching and carrying a surf board. I looked so cool. We had the whole of Surfers Beach to ourselves. Hayley was a brilliant surf instructor and her amazing dog Olly who also surfs. There was a 10 minute lesson on the beach about the 3 techniques used to stand up. I tried all three but the right foot up and twist was more comfortable for me. Then we were off into the big blue sea to try and surf. I loved it! It was so hard at first to even get on the fecking board let alone stand up but it finally happened. Hayley was great instructing me on what to do and boom I was up on my board surfing...and I kept going. I couldn’t believe I didn’t fall off. Then I did it again this time by myself. The lesson lasted 2 hours and I must have tried to stand up about a hundred times before I finally stood up. I was absolutely knackered but it was brilliant. Another bucket list done.
I didn’t join the group on their swim with sea lion tour as I’ve already done it. I spent the time on Baird Beach watching the pelicans, then went to Streaky Bay for some shopping and then it was to our campsite by Perlubie Beach. Jackson cooked a lovely chicken curry with naan and poppadoms too. Then we went to the beach to watch the sunset. Another amazing day.
Our first stop on day 4 is Penong. We’re here to see their windmills. We climbed Australia’s largest windmill which isn’t very large at all.Just before the border crossing we stopped at Nullarbor Roadhouse. It’s the oldest Roadhouse in Australia and the original building still stands unused. Super interesting place and I got another certificate...woo hoo! We've reached the Nullarbor Plain where we there are no trees. Then we saw the Dingo fence which is over 5000kms long and longest fence on the world. Then we drove to the part of Australia where Antarctica broke off from, all those years ago. Just before the border crossing we stopped at Nullarbor Roadhouse. It’s the oldest Roadhouse in Australia and the original building still stands unused. Super interesting place and I got another certificate...woo hoo!
We didn’t get any further than Mundrabilla after crossing the border because of a truck explosion. It happened 20kms away and one of the trucks carrying two gas containers exploded. One of the containers exploded possibly causing a bush fire spreading over 70000 acres. So us along with over 50+ road trains and other caravans and travellers are stuck in this Roadhouse until further notice. So Jackson whips up a spaghetti bolognaise with garlic bread for us. So we’re all in it together and hunkered down until the fires are cleared. The fires was cleared up by 10pm and some of the fire fighters came to the Roadhouse for drinks. We stayed the night and had a super early start to try and make up 8 hours. We were ready to go at 5am to try and make up lost time. We passed the exploded truck and it was a 3 trucks road train. Our first stop was Madura Roadhouse and then onto the longest straightest road in Australia for 146 kms. Next stop was in Balladonia Roadhouse now also a museum containing the found pieces of the Skylab satellite. This is the US satellite that crashed nearby in the 70s. There was a treasure hunt for locals to find pieces of it all over Western Australia. I love stuff like this.
Just before getting to Lucky Bay for 2 days we went on a beautiful coastal walk. Saw the Cape bird, a small lizard and a variety of flora. Lucky Bay has no electricity, no hot showers and no wifi but has the most beautiful beach in Australia. We got to our campsite and were welcomed by the locals. Jackson made burgers, chips and beer battered onion rings...I helped make the batter. Then we set up our swags for another night under the stars. Then it rained in the middle of the night and we all got wet. We woke up to a very cold and damp morning on Lucky Bay. After our soggy night we went for a super long coastal hike across Cape Le Grande. Even before we got out of our minibus we saw a pod of dolphins in the bay. It was a very pretty walk all the way back to our campsite. I loved this walk. It was still cold but the sun came out so we headed to Hellfire Beach. Jackson went spear fishing for our dinner and the rest of us went for a little walk to Little Hellfire. The day ended with a hike up Frenchmen’s Peak. It was a hike straight up at a ridiculous angle. Short but hard hike. Great views at the top. So bloody windy but fun. Sunset was fabulous. We had a few drinks and snacks while we waited. Then it was a very precarious hike back down...sometimes on my hands and knees and sometimes on my arse...shimmying all the way down. Woke up to a glorious sunrise on Lucky Beach. It didn’t rain but it was cold. No hot showers, no electricity and no wifi...I will miss this beach. The bus needed fixing so while that happened we chilled out on Twilight Cove which was a beautiful beach outside the national park. They do have sharks though hence the shark warning system. Then we stopped for a break in Ravenstone which was the weirdest town with the weirdest supermarket. It looked like the residents were in a rationing era. It was also dead quiet but funnily enough a place with WiFi.
We arrived at our campsite in Mount Trio. It had electricity and hot showers so this was luxurious. We saw the sunset while Jackson and Eli made a chicken stir fry. Then Jackson whipped up a Bailey’s set cheesecake. My not so subliminal messages worked the last couple of days when I told Jackson that my favourite dessert was cheesecake and how I love Bailey’s so much I use it in my coffee and cornflakes. This guy is an amazing cook and he spent his own money on the Bailey’s too. Now this is an amazing and passionate guide. I think I’m a little bit smitten by Jackson and his wonderful hair.
We had another night under the stars and I was woken up by kangaroos all around us. A beautiful way to wake up. We left Mount Trio and went straight up to Castle Rock. Huge granite boulders that we had to scramble up and through to get to the views. So much fun. Then we headed to Denmark for a quick chocolate stopover in and then it was a swim in the green pools and climb elephant rocks at the National Park. It looks hot but believe me it was freezing. So I climbed the rocks and only my feet went into the ocean. My guide the adrenaline junkie had to free climb the rock not once but twice. He fell off the third time. We also had a visit to see Australia's giant Tingle tree. We could all fit inside the trunk. These trees are hundreds of years old. We hugged a few of the little ones...it's meant to be good for you. We got to camp at the only caravan park in the Quininup area. It was owned by a family obsessed with gnomes. Frigging thousands of them and they all looked creepy. Luckily Jackson whipped up some chicken souvlaki for dinner and we forgot all about them. The next morning we had been volunteered by the company to do a couple of hours weeding at a bird raptor rehabilitation park. Don’t get me wrong volunteering is great but I do this at home and don’t particularly want to do it while on holiday. Plus it’s up to me how I volunteer my time and to whom. Not sure why I would even pick this place to do it. I’d rather volunteer in an Aboriginal centre where it’s more needed. After weeding and a bird show, we had lunch at the local brewery. I tried the fruity and sour beers but didn’t enjoy them at all. We also had a huge lunch of mainly meat and salads which seems to be the Australian staple diet. Then we headed to the beach but it was too cold so we just watched the wind surfers do their stunts. We tried to fit a lot of things today so our next visit is to the cave. It was our chance to meet Josh Koomal from the Wardandi people near Margaret River. He passed on his cultural knowledge and he was so engaging and it's amazing to contemplate how the Aboriginal people lived thousands of years ago. This cultural centre is trying to keep those traditions alive. I loved it when he played us two songs on the didgeridoo because it was just like drum and bass. The Aboriginies invented drum and bass. Obviously we had to fit in another beach. This was our last beach stop for our last sunset but possibly not the last shenanigans of the tour as we still have to get to Perth. It was cold so only the die hards went chasing waves while I walked the length of the beach and saw the weirdest statue of a woman breastfeeding a baby dolphin...weird. Our last campsite was in Margaret River. Our last swag night thank goodness. I won't miss the cold nights. At this campsite I cheated and took the swag into the bus and it was still cold. I think I could have died if I was outside. This campsite weirdly enough has guinea pigs roaming around freely. I was expecting kangaroos. It was our last day but we still have tons to do before reaching Perth. First stop Margaret River for a river walk. Surprised to see street art in this posh wine tasting region. Margaret River is the premier wine region in Western Australia, our next stop had to be a wine tasting session at the very first winery Vasse Felix. It was definitely a posh affair but very cheap. For $10 we got to taste all the wines on the menu which was a lot of wines. I'm not a wine person but I gave it a good go especially on the dessert wines. Let's say drinking wine at 10am isn't good for me. I was on the pish as they say in Scotland. If you can believe it we had a second wine tasting session of the day and it's not even 11am. I have no idea the name of this winery and didn't care. It was in a beautiful setting and more importantly free. You're supposed to taste up 8 wines only in 30 minutes and the best part was they left you to it to serve yourself. As we were all half cut already we didn't follow any of the rules. I went straight to the sweet section and tried them all even mixing my wines. We all had more than 8 wines, refilled our glasses many times of the same wines and stayed for nearly an hour. Jackson was told by one of the staff that we've had enough and we should leave. Nobody bought any wines this morning and we headed to Busselton. I was ready for a pie and slushy on the jetty. Then just like that it was all over...we arrive in Perth. I was really sad but that may have been all the wine. As we were suffering from separation anxiety we all met up one last time for drinks and some dinner. A couple of us including me were actually having hangovers so a lot of fried chicken helped. I’m sad to say goodbye to these guys. They were all genuinely lovely people. The tour was just fabulous and our guide Jackson just went above and beyond especially in the cooking department. I shall think fondly of this experience and our shenanigans especially all of Jackson’s adrenaline induced activities but my favourite was definitely of him making a Bailey’s cheesecake while camping. I will miss you Nullarbor Trip Group 2024.
Perth again but this time I explore it a bit more. Then I went to Fremantle and checked into my prison dorm. I arrived early and almost always get checked in or at least upgraded. That’s what happened and my basic dorm cell turned into an AC with TV and ensuite dorm. I didn’t even need to bribe anyone. Then it was time to explore the town. I enjoyed the market and got lots of bargains. The next day I went to Rottnest island and cycled my way around the island and saw my very first quokka. They’re so cute. Then it was time to leave and head to Victoria.
Goodbye Western Australia. Fremantle was great. The quokkas were amazing. The prison was fun especially quiz night. It’s time for Melbourne. It better be hot.
