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| Author : sue_and_nathan | Diary name : yearaway | ||
| 5 Oct 2001 : Perth - Australia | |||
| Down Under | |||
| So, what are the Aussies like then? Do they all dress like Mick Dundee out in the bush, wearing hats with dangling corks and wrestling crocs without spilling a drop of grog? Or, is this just a fictional character and Neighbours is real life (but with better acting I hope!) Well, the Aussies are famous sporting fanatics - this is the country where the PM recently wouldn't announce the future election date on the footy (said 'foudy' here) grand final weekend as it would be sacreligious?. Actually, it was a really good match between the Brissy Lions and the Essendon Bombers. We happened to be driving to a monastic village called New Norcia on the big day listening to the radio commentary. After purchasing a heritage walk guide from the tourist bureau we made our way to the first point of interest - the New Norcia Hotel (a hotel is a pub here, unless it specifies accommodation and then it's a room over a pub?!) where we ended up spending the whole afternoon watching the match in the company of locals. Just like most people we've met they were amazingly friendly and chatty and even interrupted their viewing to fill us in on 'Aussie rules'. We entered the sweep stake and very nearly won - imagine that, a Pommie with no idea about the rules winning the pot! After a few days in Perth we were ready to stretch out and cover a few kilometres. We rented a car and headed north up the coast. Our destination was Monkey Mia which looked like a mere inch on the map, but was in fact two days away. Less than an hour out of Perth and you're in a completely different country - dead straight roads for hours and virtually no traffic, only the occasional road train (a lorry about 50-60 metres long) to knock you off your straight line a little. You get the feeling that if you were to break down you could be out here for two or three generations before someone happened to come past and ask directions. Directions would be quite simple - 'That way for two days and left at the lights - you can't miss it mate.' Instantly there are two things you notice about Australia. The first is that this country is big, real big, I mean really large. Distances don't tend to be measured in kilometres but days. The second is that the countryside is so colourful. It looks like a child has taken some crayons and coloured everything in. As soon as we arrived in Monkey Mia we stepped onto the Shotover catamaran (http://www.monkeymiawildlifesailing.com.au/tour3.htm) and headed out to sea. We were dugong spotting (and if you don't know what they are, have a look at the web-site above). We managed to see numerous of these enormous creatures feeding like hoovers in the sea meadows of the bay. Occasionally a couple of dolphins would swim alongside us as we sailed along, much to our delight! As the afternoon progressed the wind lifted and so we were able to feel the wind in our hair as we watched the amazing reds and oranges of the sunset here on what is known as Australia's sunset coast. The next morning we were waiting on the beach watching the sea closely. We were waiting for the fins of the bottle-nosed dolphins who are regulars here and usually appear two or three times a day for a fish or two. They swum right up to us, around our legs, having a good look at these strange human things. The ranger ushered us out of the water after a while and invited a few select members of the public to feed a dolphin. Sue, of course, pushed her way through the small kids to get to the front and so managed to be included in this select group! She placed the fish right in the dolphins mouth as it flipped onto its side to get a good look at her. On our way back down the coast we stopped off at Cervantes to see the amazing Pinnacles. The weather was quite bad, but the sky cleared to reveal the sun as we arrived. The Pinnacles is a desert-like place, right on the coast, with hundreds of rock formations standing up in the sand. It's like a huge version of Stonehenge, apart from the fact that these rocks are here by natural means. The place is pretty eerie. As always in Australia, we were here on our own, not a soul in sight and as the shadows cast from the rocks began to lengthen the place became increasingly ghostly. Further south we stayed in Pemberton. This area is so different from the north as it is covered in forests full of extremely large trees, like the mighty Karri and Tingle trees which can often grow 60 metres in height. Nathan climbed the Diamond Tree, a 54 metre fire tree. It was originally used as a fire lookout before aircraft took over the job and is still occasionally used for this purpose nowadays. The steps are metal rungs sticking out of the trunk which spiral up the tree to a platform at the top. Nathan admitted to feeling a little giddy on the way up, but the views from the top were well worth the effort, even though coming down was a little slow. On the way back to Perth we stopped at a B&B on a beef farm in the Margaret River wine region. After a long walk along a deserted country lane we arrived at the Vasse Felix vineyard. We sat on the balcony of the restaurant overlooking the vines enjoying lunch and a bottle of their wine (mmm fresh, lemony,zesty!) Later we stumbled into their tasting cellar to fully appreciate their whole range. The walk back seemed much longer, probably something to do with the full range we'd just consumed! Halfway back we began hearing the call of nature and thought that we may have to visit nature, but out of nowhere, just on the edge of a vineyard was a portaloo - what a stroke of luck and how typical of Australia! Our final stop on the west coast was a place called Dunsborough where we took a whale-spotting boat out into the bright turquoise ocean in the hope that we might come across one of these amazing creatures. We had been out for well over an hour and had just about given up hope when the driver spotted a humpback a good way off. He turned off the engine in the hope that this might stir up the whales curiosity and, it did! The whale actually turned out to be a pair of adolescent humpbacks who came right up alongside the boat and we experienced what is called a 'mugging'. They swum around the boat, under it and along the sides before finally loosing interest and swimming back out to sea, leaving us two open-mouthed and silent. We left Western Australia on the Indian Pacific train - one of the great train journeys of the world - 2659km across the Nullabor plain (also the straightest stretch of track in the world). We splashed out and travelled 'Gold Kangaroo Service'. This meant an ensuite sleeper cabin for two. What we didn't realise was that is also meant our companions for the next two days would all be over 75! Fortunately there were two other young people in Gold Service - Margaret and Dominic, a couple from Bussleton in WA, who were away from their five kids for a couple of days. We dined with them at all mealtimes. Everyone else were moved around so that they could 'mix', but fortunately for us the restaurant manager decided to keep us four 'youngsters' together. Dominic and Margaret also initiated us into the art of ordering a drink in an Aussie bar. We stopped for a couple of hours in a mining town called Kalgoorlie, but the sightseeing didn't sound very interesting at all as the highlight was apparently spotting Kalgoorlie's ladies of the night. So, we opted for trying the local amber nectar in the Ze Ze Bar. It's not easy ordering a beer here though - you've got your 'schooners', your 'midis', your 'stubbies' and this ain't the half of it . No one orders pints, only Pommes who like their beer warm! So confusing! But, the beer was good (although a little too cold for our tastebuds, as is always the case here) and the company was excellent so a good time was had by all. | |||