Up The West Coast (Perth To Exmouth And Back Again)

Some Of The Team

I had only spent a few days checking out Perth but I thought I would head straight up the West Coast as I didn't really have very long on this side of the country. The West Coast is described as being Outback Australia with a twist - it sounded interesting - and it was!!!

In Asia I had partaken in a few tours here and there, but nothing longer than a day or two. This was a 7 day adventure and I would be spending it with a group of 15 or so. They all quickly became good friends. The team included:

*Dane and Kat - two Canadians who were travelling with each other but didn't start out in that position.
*Aileen and Geraldine - sisters from Ireland. Aileen was working out in Oz and Geraldine was just travelling about.
*Jeroen - a cool dude from the Netherlands.
*Annette - from Nottingham.
*Andy - an interesting character from Bristol.
*Lisa and Jo - the two youngest on the team - also from Ireland.
*Frank - a quiet guy from the Chech Republic.
* The Japanese crew - a lovely bunch including Ai, Nami, Remy, and Mayumi.
*Aoife - who had been in Australia for two years and was leaving in a few weeks - oh also from Ireland.

And Dave - our fun Aussie tour guide, driver and general slave!!!

Day 1: The tour started off with a drive north to the famous Pinnacles Desert. Situated in Nambung National Park, the Pinnacles are a series of limestone formations (jutting rocks) which formed many a geological age ago from sediment binded together within the gaps between tree routes. The trees eventually disappeared as did the top soil, leaving thousands of pointed rocks from the desert floor. Interesting - especially for a geologist. We then continued north past the town of Geladton where we saw odd pink / orange lakes (they have the same substance in them that you find in carrots!!!) and along the Batavia Coast where many a Dutch ship (including the Batavia) became shipwrecked.

We then stopped at an area of large sand-dunes where we went sand-boarding. Similar to the popular sport on snow, you simply grab a flat board and sail down the dunes - hoping to stay up but rarely making it. Great fun though. Eventually we made it to the small town of Kalbarri for the night.

Day 2: We headed straight for the Kalbarri National Park where we trekked to the great views of the Murchison River and it's Z-Bend formation (which will soon become a Billabong - well soon in geological terms that is). There is also a cool rock formation which just happens to form a window shape and thus has been termed 'Natures Window' where many a photo was taken!!!

We continued onwards and upwards towards Shark Bay where we stopped at Shell Beach. It is, as the name suggests, a beach made entirely of white shells (no sand in sight). I thought of it as the world's largest graveyard and was told I had a morbid view of reality, but it is probably the world's longest shell beach - although I don't think that anyone has verified that fact!!! It was interesting though.

Before making it to Shark Bay at Monkey Mia we stopped at Denham - Australia's most westerly town where we all headed off to the bottle shop. Actually this was a ritual done most days. Most of that night was spent playing drinking games on the beach, some of the guys ending up in the hot-tub and then a few of us being invited to a local beach party. We didn't know anyone - but had fun anyway. It was a very hippy affair with the only songs that stuck in my mind - were people dancing like animals to the soundtrack of the Lion King!!!!

Day 3: We were up relatively early were we all strolled to the beach. Monkey Mia is a unique place, because each morning a handful of Bottlenose Dolphins come right up to the shore and trained specialists feed them to the amuzement of the tourists. It's a cool experience and definately worth seeing - plus the Pelicans can keep you occupied if you ever get bored with the Dolphins!!!

On the way to Coral Bay we stopped at Hamelin Pool, one of the few places where you can see stromatolites. I remember learning about these during my Geology degree at Southampton University. They look like boring black and red rocks but they are the oldest living things on Earth. They represent the first life forms, with millions of bacterial cells make up the rock-like structures. It is important not to destroy or damage them (no touching) because they are essentially your great, great, great, great, great, great.............grandparents, and I was always told to respect my elders!!!

We then stopped at Carnarvon for a Aussie BBQ (it's amazing - they have BBQ's set up in nearly every park in the country - we should have that!!!) before making it to Coral Bay. With more drinking games - this night ended up in chaos but the most memorable of the trip without a doubt. At first there were about 35 of us on the beach as we had joined some other groups but it ended up with just my team and a few others. We were all merry to say the least. Dave (the guide and the supposed to be responsible one) was the worst of all as he continued to lose in the games. Annette soon passed out on the beach and it ended up with 12 of us carrying her back to her bed. A good night - won't be forgotten in a while!!!

Day 4: After shaking off the hangover's we headed to Coral Bay to snorkel in the Ningaloo Reef. It is the best fringing coral reef in the world (you don't have to get a boat out there - you just swim a few meters) and it is said to rival the Great Barrier Reef for coral and marine-life diversity. Once you get out a short way the reef is full of coral and fishes of all different shapes and sizes. Perhaps better than that seen in Asia.

We then continued north and eventually made it to our destination - Exmouth.

Day 5: If you pay 150 pounds extra you can snorkel with Whale Sharks. They are the largest fish in the world (some reaching 18m in length) and Exmouth is one of the few places in the world where they can be seen. It also happens to be one of the only times in the year when they appear. Because I am a cheap backpacker I opted out as did most of the group. Only a few went and said it was amazing which made me instantly regret not going.

However, we still had a fun day - We headed out to Yardie Creek Gorge, which is one of the few places in Australia where you can see Black-Footed Rock Wallabies. They are rare and Dave had never seen one before so I didn't hold out much hope - Dave has seen everything before. But we must have had the luck on our side because Aileen spotted one sitting on a rock ledge. We watched in amazement as it did nothing of interest at all!!!

We then ventured to Cape Range National Park and Turquoise Bay. Here we went snorkeling again in the Ningaloo Reef and it was even better. I saw a heap of large sting-rays and one White Tipped Reef Shark. It was sleeping under a large coral when we spotted it but soon woke up and stayed nearby. I almost touched it's tail but was a finger-tip away before it swiftly swam off. In Turquoise Bay they have strong currents so when your snorkeling you start down the coast and end up drifting back down. The only requirement is that when you see the sand bar you have to head back in to shore or you will be swept out to sea where people have never made it back. All the team made it back safe.

Day 6: Some of the group were not making it back to Perth and so we lost a few soldiers here. We said goodbye to Aileen and Geraldine, Frank, Aoife, and Jeroen.

The rest of us spent most of the day on the bus heading back. That night we slept at a farm-stay. The farmer cooked us Kangaroo stew (nice) and we spent the night playing more drinking games which involved table-tennis.

Day 7: Our final day we headed back to Perth. We did stop at two locations though. The first was a bizarre place. It is called Hutt River Province. The stroy goes - a farmer was sick and tired of the government putting limits on the amount of crops he could grow. Fed up - he sent a request in to make his farm an independent state. According to laws at the time the government had to reply within 30 days which they failed to do and his land essentially became independent. The government took him to court but lost.

It is not officially recognised as a country but he doesn't pay taxes, he has his own laws and when you visit Hutt River - you even get your passport stamped. He is recognised by government and royal persons around the world and his name (now) is H.R.H Prince Leonard. We got to meet him - an eccentric bloke. He showed us his post office, his church and his pyramid. He believes in flowing energy and waved some crystals around which meant something!!! An interesting place and the most unique visa stamp in my passport so far.

We also stopped at the Greenough Wildlife Park where we feed Kangaroos, Camels and other animals besides the Crocodile. I also got head-butted by a Ram - when I put my head to close to the fence and he was interested in the food in my hand (painful). Finally the pythons came out which were placed all over us.

Eventually we made it to Perth and said our goodbye's to everyone else. It had been a great trip. We had seen and done so much and met some good people on the way - many of which i'm hoping to meet in other locations. We had seen some amazing wildlife too - Dave would stop the bus and point out wild Kangaroo's, Eagles, Skinks, Spiders and other outback creatures all the time. I enjoyed the lot and it was sad to be over so quickly.

I was off to more outback adventures soon, but first I was stopping to see more of Perth (and around).........