A taxi ride to the Parklands Rail terminal in Adelaide to begin our Ghan experience. This begins as soon as the taxi door opens and there are two Ghan people there to help you with your baggage.

The Ghan, all 39 carriages long is our transport to Alice Springs and luxury transport it certainly is. Powered by two locomotives the train is an awesome sight. Our cabin consists of a sofa that converts to bunk beds and en suite. Each section of train has its own lounge and dining car.

The true spirit of the Ghan though is the people on board. With an all inclusive ticket for food and drink, people relax and start chatting quite quickly. Australian Veterans get a subsidy on the Ghan, a concession that ends in June, so  understandably people are taking up the offer whilst they still can. 

We end up talking to a couple of Vietnam Vets who explain the woes of their country at present. During the course of the journey we meet many people from many countries and walks of life. Very interesting indeed. 

The overwhelming message that comes through from the Australians is that, you need to get out into the great outdoors for as long as you possibly can. That is definitely the ethos here. Grey Nomads make up a high proportion of passengers on this train. Apparently in OZ the sale of second hand caravans almost matches that of second hand cars.

Food and wine on the Ghan is first class as is the service. So it’s bar, lunch, rest, bar (Pete spots his first pair of Kangaroos out of the window!), dinner, bar ….. bedtime. Not a rocking motion on the train to send you to sleep more a push, pull motion that does send us into the land on nod-off eventually.

Up at 5.30am to watch drawn break, the train comes to a halt in the middle of the bush at Marla. Guided by lanterns we step off the train onto the red dust of the desert. A warm morning and the star filled sky is amazing. Coffee & bacon & egg rolls are served as we watch the sun rise.

Back on the train and we continue across the bush into the Northern Territory  to Alice Springs where, our magnificent journey on the Ghan comes to an end. Unforgettable!

Alice marks the start of the second month of our trip, it’s off to Uluru (Ayers Rock) tomorrow.
 

Pete & Jules

  
Dawn on The Ghan

24 Feb: Today we woke up to pouring rain in Mount Gambier. We headed off for Meningie via Robe. 5 hours on the road with a stop for breakfast at the seaside town and fishing port of Robe which, for a wet Wednesday was quite bustling. 

Extreme scenery throughout the drive, open plains, dense forestry and by the time we get to the Coorong National Park, miles and miles of salt lakes. We stopped off at the Salt Lake Creek Roadhouse for a coffee but, Pete was denied a stubbie or sticker.

Arriving in Meningie the first impression was like a ‘one horse town’ but this place is on the lake, in the the heart of the Coorong Wetlands and is teaming with bird life. Lovely locals and a chance to chill.

An industrious afternoon in the laundrette & supermarket and we are ready for pasta and red wine. After dinner it was time for a rather spectacular sunset viewed across the lake from where the Pelicans were settling down for the evening. An unexpected plus!

25 Feb: We have pretty much completed the road trip now, being within easy reach of Adelaide, but still with 3 days on the car hire, we headed for Hahndorf, the earliest German settlement in Australia via Strathalbyn the earliest Scottish settlement in SA.

Strathalbyn is a beautiful town and we did venture another 30km down to the coast to Goolwa which had a superb surfing beach. Locals just seemed to turn up in their 4×4’s, drive along the beach, park up and hit the waves. What a life eh?

Hahndorf looks just how a German village would look like back in Germany itself so, it’s a bit weird being in the Adelaide Hills at the same time! Lots of history and expensive shops. The main local beerkeller stocks German beer, which I guess being imported makes 2 beers more expensive than lunch! We settle for ( very nice) fish & chips for tea.

26 Feb: We decide to take the car back a day early and spend the extra day day in Adelaide. We call in to Stirling, another nice town in the Adelaide Hills for coffee on the way to Mount Lofty which gives incredible views of the city from it’s peak. A hazy day but still a great view and you can also go on walks in the bush from the top to the bottom or vice versa. Many locals jog up or bike up daily.

We are settled into our apartment in Adelaide just after lunch and head out to explore the City which we were under the impression was a quiet place. Strolling down Rundle Street and that elusion is quickly shattered. We have arrived in the middle of the Adelaide Arts Festival and the Fringe has taken over the City with comedy, dance, music and general good vibes. 

After a bit of shopping and tea we head out to Kent Town for a gig by John McCarthy, a £10 pom and longtime Canberra resident. I think it’s a bit too far out of town for most people as in the end the audience only totals 10. So we get an intimate gig. The guy has a 10 year back  catalogue, so it’s close to a 2 hour show. 

We called in at one of the parks where the fringe is being held on the way back to the apartment to see what is going on and the place was buzzing.

Saturday: First time we are staying in the same place for more than one night for a while, so no rush this morning. We head out around 10am and just walk around the city till early afternoon taking in the city landscape, Central Market (where everyone seems to go for breakfast on a Saturday) various churches and the very impressive Oval Stadium (can’t persuade Julie to take a tour) and we end up at Adelaide Writer’s Festival.

This is a very walkable city with everywhere signposted and times it take to get to places when walking. It’s a beautiful day and a cloudless blue sky as we head back through the main City Centre to Rundle Park where the Fringe is progressing. There is great music on the Bandstand from Glenn Skuthope. His Australian brand of Americana is perfect for a sunny afternoon and a cold beer.

All the shops shut at 5pm on a Saturday and Saturday night seems to be the night for going out, crowds were the equivalent of 6th St in Austin at SXSW with the fringe on so, we left this Saturday night to the kids 🙂 

It’s the Ghan train to Alice Springs tomorrow.

Pete & Julie 

  

21 Feb: Farewells  to our Australian family in Melbourne, we pick up our (upgraded) hire car from Avis (a sporty Ford) but, only after having to evacuate their office after a fire alarm and the arrival of 3 fire engines.

Good map reading from Julie and it was a trouble free exit from the City and we were on The Great Ocean Road within a couple of hours. Lovely coastline straight away. We drove to Lorne after quite a few stops for photos on the way.

Lorne is a lovely seaside town, nice beach, boutique shops and great ice cream! We are staying on our first campsite of the trip. All very chilled and laid back with Harley riders, tourists and locals. Self cooked Tuna Pasta for tea is not only heathy for us but also for the budget 🙂

22 Feb: What a spectacular day of driving! Right from the very off the scenery took sharp contrasts, from coastal views, to lush hillsides, to dense bush, to burnt out bush, to grasslands full of sheep, to tall cliff faces. Add to that the weather; light rain to start, overcast, humid, then sunny and very warm, then the last two hours of the day on the twisty sections to our eventual stop at Port Campbell, heavy rain!  Just amazing and a driving dream ….. If you ever get the chance to drive this road, it’s a must do.

Firstly today it was scenery on the outskirts of Lorne. ‘Teddy’s Lookout’ gave plunging views down onto the Great Ocean Road, that made it look like a Scalextric track. Then on to Erskine Falls, one of the few waterfalls with water in the area, due to a drought.

Next it was the drive to Kennett River which passed the scene of the recent fires and the road had a couple of roadwork sections where repairs were being undertaken. Koalas in the tree at Kennett made for many camera lenses being pointed skywards. Brilliant to see these animals in their Gum Tree homes.

Lunch stop at Apollo Bay was followed by a walk through the Rain Forrest at Maits Rest, another amazing experience. Then it was off to the Southernmost tip of Australia at Cape Otway and a visit to the famous lighthouse there.  Yet another  history lesson. 

4.30pm ish and for the first time this trip we have not booked our lodgings for the night and our inti enquiries found all the campsites full. The rain came down, the roads became challenging as we headed for our eventual overnight stop at Port Campbell. 

23 Feb: Our last day in Victoria and it’s a spectacular send off on the coastline containing the 12 Apostles and other cliff formations that have formed since breaking away from the mainland. The coastline is just breathtaking. All these rocks will be reclaimed by the sea at some point but for now visiting Gibson Steps, The Twelve Apostles,  The Arch, London Bridge, The Grotto, Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands is an awesome experience.

We complete the Great Ocean Road just before Warrnambool and the it’s the Princes Highway next. Warrnambool itself is a big town, quite a shock to hit roundabouts and traffic lights again!

Lunch at Port Fairy is excellent, we have discovered all the smaller towns have a bakery and coffee shop with excellent rolls for lunch (and custard tarts). Port Fairy is tiny and has a lot of old time charm. The 40th Port Fairy Folk festival is in March.

Last stop in Victoria is Nelson, where we ended up chatting to John and Linda who were on their first road trip after  John had collapsed and ended up with a triple heart by-pass operation in 2014. Good luck to them! 
We crossed the border into South Australia, turned our watches back 30 minutes and powered on across wide open farmland and some immense forests. A road shared with a whole host of logging trucks, with their foot to the metal (fortunately all going the other way!).

Mount Gambier is famous for its Blue Lake (in the summer) and Sink Hole. The former is totally blue, quite naturally and the latter is an amazing horticultural and animal paradise. We went in the evening and by chance Julie got to feed a possum! …. Dolphins, Possums, what’s the third one?

Onwards to Adelaide!

Pete & Jules 
  

Last day in Fremantle and a chilled day it is. A visit to the local coffee shop for breakfast, some shopping and then an early afternoon run to the airport for our afternoon Virgin flight to Melbourne. I watched the excellent ‘Slow West’ a western directed by Beta Band man John Maclean.

Arriving in Melbourne at midnight local time we were met at the end of the walkway off the plane by Cheryl and Kerry, a lovely surprise. 3 hours in front and a cooler temperature it’s an hours drive to Croydon. 

Overnight rain and it’s a cloudy and grey day for the most of our first day in the City. With Cheryl & Kerry as our tour guides we stroll around taking in the river, Flinders Street Station which is a cool building, ending up at the Block Arcade where we had arranged to meet Joe and Carolyn two friends of Pete’s Mum & Dad, who had met on a plane journey from Singapore to London back in the 80’s and had remained friends.

A lovely lunch for us all at the Hopetoun Tea Rooms which is a restaurant with a perennial queue outside and tremendous cakes. The Block Arcade is actually quite special with priceless ceramic flooring and architecture.

A lift ride up to the 88th floor of the Eureka Building gave spectacular views over the city. Melbourne city itself felt like a smaller version of London. Plenty of galleries, museums, coffee shops, nooks and crannies.

We are based in the suburbs close to the fabulous Yarra Valley and that’s where we headed for dinner, in a fabulous restaurant with great company and a fine steak. We had a tremendous first day and feel well at home in Melbourne.

17 Feb: Second full day and we really do feel at home as it’s chilly and pouring with rain! Our intrepid hosts however were unperturbed and we headed off up the hills to the Dandenong Ranges. Great cycling and coffee country, we stopped at Sassafrass for cakes and coffee. 

After lunch we headed for Phillip Island and the penguin parade. A lovely seaside town which hosts the Australian Moto GP and a great spot. Our friend Jodie works in town so it’s the ideal time for a reunion. The Penguin Parade is a massive enterprise now with coach loads of people turning up to watch the Fairy penguins leave the sea and head for their burrows each evening.

The set up is excellent and copes easily with the crowds. No photography allowed (understandably) we had tickets for the underground viewing bunker so, after a Park Ranger gives us the background to the activity we are about to see, the first penguins start to waddle ashore around 20.35 and pass our eye level viewing position.

After 45 mins it’s back up to the boardwalk to watch these animals find their way to their burrows. There are hundreds of them. Another fascinating experience for us.

18 Feb. Today we are heading out to the Mornington Peninsula for an overnight stay at our friends beach house in Rye. Heading up the mountain (passing various cyclists) to Arthur’s Seat which, provides spectacular views of the coastline and Pacific Ocean below. After lunch ( a blueberry bun, keeps us on our 5 a day schedule) Point Nepean National Park is out next destination and yet again more fantastic scenery.  

Point Nepean played an important role in shaping Victoria’s early settlement quarantine procedures where early settler’s and their belongings were examined on arrival in the state. Many buildings still exist including the hospital. 

The look out at the Point onto the sea and, the entrance to Melbourne harbour was also a wartime strategic vantage point and gun emplacements and army buildings and tunnels are still in place for everyone to see. The first shot from the British Empire was fired from this point in WW1.

A drive further along the coast to Portsea & Sorrento and the views on this peninsula are nothing short of amazing.

In the evening we had our first Aussie BBQ cooked by Trev and washed down with some Fremantle beer.

19 Feb; today it was outdoor hot tubs at the Peninsula Hot Springs which was very nice for a Friday morning followed by Fish & Chips in Rye. This evening it’s party time again with Jodie arriving from Phillip Island for the weekend! 

20 Feb; if the views have been magnificent so far, our day Road Trip through the Yarra Vally, up through the Black Spur, to Eildon then onto the Eildon Dam were mind blowing. A lot of the areas ravaged by bush fires back in 2009 are now regenerated. The trees on the Black Spur look like they reach the sky in the densely backed forest as we drive through. 

Lunch overlooking the reservoir before heading across the dam with it’s spectacular sencery up to Mt. Pillinger Outlook where the views were breathtaking. We stopped at Marysville on the way back. This small town is the centre for a ski resort in winter but back in 2009 it was almost destroyed by the fires. The town itself looks to be back on its feet but the scars of those fires, where the town was surrounded by flames must still run deep. 

Thanks to Trevor for the driving and Happy Birthday Cheryl!

A family BBQ tonight before we say farewell to our friends in Melbourne was awesome. Ending with sitting around the fire under a star filled sky, listening yo Ryan Abams & the Cardinals & some cowboy hat country. 

As with everyone on this trip so far, we have to say thanks from the bottom of our hearts for allowing us to share their family life as we pass through their towns.

  

  

Pete & Jules
  

A unique way to spend Valentines Day at our very first Australian festival. The Laneway Festival series kicked off in Singapore two weeks ago and has travelled around the major cities of Australia before, it’s final stop of the year in Freemantle.

It’s a scorching day in Freero. Four stages (the main stage doubles up with two stages) and everything is well within walking distance. Early arrivals get the benefit of a spacious site to wander around as well as seeing first band on, the very talented Fait. Post Rock in the sunshine with big electric soundscapes. 

Next band on the next door main stage are High Tension, a metal band who came on to a Stars Wars soundtrack. A big thing to live up to and not quite up to that level yet but, a competent band nevertheless. 

The crowd starts to grow and everyone heads to the shade of the trees from where you can still see the main stages. Next up some indie pop from End of the Road festival bound, Methyl Ethel then it’s a short walk to the Mistletone stage for Toronto’s mighty Metz. Just out of bed, into the heat, rocking at full pelt, sweet drenched shirts and body shaking songs. A great set.

East India Youth was on the ‘Red Bull Future Classic stage’ (both Metz and East India Youth would have been much higher up the bill back home) and again a great set. For a one man show, Will Doyle just gets better and better with each show. It should not take long for Australia to catch on.

DllV prove to be the perfect band for a hot afternoon. Bouncy and lively, bright songs tinged with a surf rock feel. Now the site is getting really packed, the heat remains. Getting close to to maim stage starts to become difficult. Best to adjourn to the craft ale bar and watch form afar.

The DMA’s, a bit like Oasis meets the Pouges, are a grower in the afternoon sun and a band needing more investigation. Fidlar from L.A. blast away in blazing sunshine with their Garage Rock blend of high octane Rock n’ Roll. A very solid set indeed.

Big Scary are on the opposite stage next and are a very soulful 5 piece. One of the most mellow bands of the day. Royal Headache on the Mistletone stage get the Bon Scott award of the day. Lead vocalist, Shogun is in inspired form, on the last gig of the tour. Shirtless and rocking, the crowd lap it up.

Late afternoon brings ‘The Freemantle Doctor’ in (daily afternoon wind) and a lovely breeze drives across the site. The Smith St Band draw a massive crowd for their anthems but the band that takes us from daylight into night, is New York’s Battles. Still one of the most original bands around, the crowds latch onto the rock, jazz, electronic soundscapes and are bouncing from the off. All the bands seem in party mode being the last night of the tour.

We stay at the Mistletone stage into the night which is more comfortable than the main stages and the reward is the dreamy Beach House who play an awesome set.

We catch the last half hour of Chvrches set, the band seem to have had a triumphant Laneway. They certainly seem to be the most talked about band of the festival. Last band of the evening are Purity Ring. A 2 piece, synths and vocals with a great light show and big songs.

A great day festival which if we looked for a comparison closer to home would be Field Day I reckon, with its mix of indie and electronic bands. Oh and the sunshine!
Pete

  

On the road for 08.30 and heading south. A 4 1/2 hour drive brings us back to Geraldton, where we stopped for fuel on the way up.
Far from being the new town I thought, Geraldton is rich in history. Land removed from the Aboriginal inhabitants and built by settlers and up to 10,000 male convicts. There are legends of shipwrecks and much more. So we will spend a couple of days here discovering. 

Late afternoon we discovered what must be the perfect surfers beach. People seemed to turn up after school and work for a surf or swim in the sea. Now that must be special! 

A morning of history lessons on this fascinating town which was formed in 1862. Our guide around the HMAS Sydney II memorial ( the ship sank in 1941 with the loss of all her 600+ crew) was a Liverpudlian who came across to Australia as a £10 Pom back in the late sixties and had stayed ever since!

Shipwrecks was the talk in the WA Museum mutinies, treasure and discovery abound. The old gaol built by convicts still stands and is now an Arts &crafts centre. You still get the feel of the original place though.

Most activity for the youngest members of town is the sea (a continual stream of school trips to the beach all day) and an amazing free adventure / games area built along the sea front. Lunch on the veranda at coffee shop was very pleasant indeed 🙂

One thing really noticeable is that where we have been so far, with Freeo as an exception, Australians seem to go home early. Trying to eat after 8pm is a real challenge to find somewhere open. Turning up at a petrol station at 8.05pm and it’s the night window for payment already operating. Must be all this open air and fine weather lifestyle.

Back in Freemantle by Friday afternoon and again many thanks to Fiona and Mike for putting us up for a few days. A tour around the city we ended up on the dock for a beer. The Queen  Elizabeth was in harbour as well. Fish caught by Mike for dinner, Aberlone, Crayfish and Dhu Fish, all very nice!

Saturday and a tour of Freemantle Prison, which is a listed building and an enormous site. In use from 1850 – 1991 it is an interesting and gruesome tour at the same time.

Well into the the Freemantle lifestyle, after shopping it’s the coffee shop, Apple and Rubarb cake, more shopping), yes  Julie did get a new dress in the last shop) and then it’s off to the beach from a swim. 

Pete & Jules

  
 

This was a magnificent and unforgettable day.

We arrived at the resort at 07.45 as the initial pod of dolphins were close to the shore. There is no guarantee how many if any Dolphins will appear each day. In the last seven days it has been between two and fifteen daily. Today, we had nineteen! Quite emotional really being so close to these fine animals.

Each day the Dolphins are fed a small amount of fish on up to three visits that they may make up to mid day. Today the Dolphins come in twice. It’s up to the volunteers who gets chosen to feed a wild dolphin, today, Julie gets chosen!

The second feed is much quieter. The place isn’t busy but a few people had gone on a catamaran trip or went for breakfast. We hang around and quite quickly most of the Dolphins were back.

After the day’ special a A$3 Banana Mike shake was consumed (by us, not the dolphins) we went for a swim as the temperature climbed. Four or Five of the Dolphins returned for playtime and were joined by a pelican!

So there we are standing in the water with Dolphins swimming around us. Mind blowing!!

A sweltering afternoon is followed by our first home cooked meal of the trip. “We can’t eat out every night for 3 1/ 2 months Peter” Yet to break the beer every day habit tho!

We head back down South tomorrow with Geraldton as the next stop.

Pete & Jules 

  

Day four Kalbarri to Denham was a solid day’s driving, with the sight of a kangaroo crossing the road in the distance at one point. We stopped at the Billabong Roadhouse just before hitting the World Heritage trail to Denham. Even caught the post game Super Bowl show at the roadhouse!

Stops on the way were spectacular. First to Telegraph Station where the lady in the store gave us all the information for our visit to the nearby world famous Stromatolites which date back 3000 million years. A fly infested walk around the walkway was still astonishing, trying to take in the significance of what we were looking at.

Diving back into the car with the least intake of flies is always a challenge. You spend 2 or 3 minutes after being back in the car waving your arms around clearing out those that got in. Everyone seems to do this and it’s hilarious to watch other people in their cars doing the same thing, once you are clear and have the aircon running.

Next stop is Shell Beach where we top out at 46 degrees for the day. Swim here and you are guaranteed a good layer of salt. Eagle Bluff next where the walkway provides tremendous views. A good place to view the marine life with the right equipment.

Ocean Park cafe has a spectacular view over the sea to go with your almond cake and iced coffee. 

We arrived in Denham pretty exhausted after a full day of driving, the heat and the continual fly battles. Denham is a lovely seaside township and our beach chalet accommodation is excellent. The sea is warm and dinner at the most westerly pub in Australia (The Old Pub) was very nice indeed; Red Spotted Emperor, chips and salad. Julie had a tasty Beef Chilli stir fry to avoid the chips!

It’s off season so most places are closed so that means, no crowds when visiting places against, the severe heat and for Feb & March the flies. 

This is a fabulous road trip, it’s hard to describe what the miles and miles and miles you travel, many times alone, are like. It’s like, you approach the crest of a hill expecting to see something the other side .. you reach the crest and just see miles and miles of up and down road ahead. Quite amazing.

Day 5 we think will be our furthest north to Monkey Mia to see the Dolphins. It’s an early start at 06.30

Pete & Jules 

  

A lay-in, later breakfast after the business people had departed and we picked the car up from Avis on 4 Feb and drove over to Fremantle. The weather is still scorching hot but ‘Air-con City’ in the car.

Around a 40 minute drive and we are passing our first brewery in Fremantle. Craft Ale Capital of WA it seems. Very kind of Fiona & Mike to put us up, we had a great evening out at the Little Creatures Brewery. Ten beers to try first … Wait for it, (in shot glasses) and complimentary.

Then a decision made on the beer, pizza and my first oyster from the shell (it tasted of the sea).  A night time tour of this vibrant town concluded the evening.

5th Feb and we headed out on our first road journey of our trip. Nervous for sure but once out of Freemantle & Perth and onto the Indian Ocean Drive you soon get into the swing of the long straight road ahead. A couple of hours driving and more traffic for company than we expected, it was a relaxed drive with ‘Pete’s Road Trip CDs’ playing, to our first coffee stop a couple of hours later.

The odd and sizeable dead animal in the road were avoided, the remnants of bush fires could be seen quite frequently as could massive sand dunes that looked like mountain ranges.

A beautiful beach at Lancelin was followed by the incredible Pinnacles Dessert in the Namburg National Park. This is a 3 kilometres gentle drive (too hot to walk) around these limestone pillars that rise out of the sand.We then head on northward to Jurien Bay for fuel, a swim (another nice beach) and overnight stay before Day 2. 

Our Avis contract says that we can’t go further north than Carnarvon, so that rules out Exmouth and Coral Bay but still plenty of reasons to head north, next stop Geraldton.
  

Day 2: Homemade breakfast and coffee and we are on the road by 9am. Now we really have the reality that we are on a road trip, foot down, pretty much straight road with the sea on one side for a lot of the time. Road Trains a plenty and fellow motorists here and there.

Temperatures continue to climb as we hit Geraldton which seems quite a large new town (we will call in on the way back), this time it’s just fuel, coffee and a sandwich.

A hour or so later we turn onto the road to Kalbarri and within a mile or so we see the Pink Lake, salt flats. Stepping out of the car to stretch our legs and it’s our first experience of the pesky Kalbarri flies, which make time out of the car limited!
Whilst we eat our sandwiches in the car, the three camper vans in the lay-by in front of us head out onto the road, the last one mis-judges the speed of the Road Train coming down the road and must have had a rear view mirror full of an angry Aussie lorry driver as he slammed on his brakes and had the horn blaring. Quite how there was not an accident, I’ll never know. About 45 mins down the road we are in Kalbarri, stopping at various points on the way to view the stunning scenery. 

Temperatures well into the 40’s and first stop after checking-in is the pool. A chat with an American family from Tennessee on a one year working holiday was cool. 

Kalbarri Road house had an excellent selection of food and beers and with a covers band cranking out some classics, we spent a couple of hours chatting to a couple from Lancashire, who emigrated to Perth seven years ago
Sunday we spent just touring some sections of the National Park in Kalbari. The heat well over 40 again and hotter in the depths of the park. We have not seen any wildlife yet, the Roos move at dawn and dusk apparently but, we try to remain as vigilant as possible when driving.

You really need to be kitted out with water, boots, fly nets and provisions for most of the walks but there are a couple of spectacular gorges that you can get to within a hot fly infested short walk for the car. Well worth the drive!!
This afternoon it’s a short drive south for more cliff top views and an amazing beach at Mushroom Rock. Standing on that beach, looking at the sea ….. I think we just thought, this is a big reason we are on this trip!
We also had the pleasure of meeting a German lady called Ruth on one of the cliff tops. She has lived in Australia most of her life. Ten months ago she sold up everything she owned in Bryon Bay, brought a 4×4 live-in truck (that she now calls home) and decided to travel Australia. One amazing lady! 
Next stop is further North to Denham and Monkey Mia 
Pete & Jules
  

Perth WA 02 – 03 Feb, 2016

OMG!!,  we are in Australia and that feels like an achievement in itself, having gone this far around the world to get here! Not that we saw much of Perth when we landed, just after midnight at the city’s airport.

Our maiden flight with Quantas (from Singapore) was just over five hours and was a very nice experience (it did seem weird to me that all the crew had Australian accents for some reason tho).

Still the Jet lag plays havoc with our sleep pattern and it was a fairly restless night that was ended with the sun shining through the hotel window from a bright blue sky when we could finally say “Good Morning Perth”

A stroll around this chilled City was the first order of the day. Many of the old traditional buildings still stand in the front drop on the high rise offices. All being used for some purpose, these are beautiful buildings. Half a dozen office blocks dominate the skyline at the bottom of town and the new Elizabeth Quay had just been opened a couple of days before in the harbour area.

This is not a large & overcrowded city, quite the opposite in fact. It’s a fairly quiet, compact and relaxed place under a canopy of blue. Using the free bus system in the city, we headed up to the impressive Kings Park and Botanical Gardens in the afternoon. A beautiful place to chill with acres of manicured grassland, trees, flora and fauna.

Tall white trunk trees planted in 1929 line the roads to the main entrance but you can wander into Kings Park anywhere from the side of the road. The Park also contains the cenotaph of Western Australia.

Sitting in the warm sunshine and beautiful surroundings waiting for the bus back, the thought stuck me that this is not what it is like waiting for a bus on a February afternoon in London.

A nice breeze the temperature is just right all day and ideal for an early evening pint at ‘The Lucky Shag’ a waterfront bar, which was buzzing by 5pm!

Elizabeth (not Queen) Quay sounds like it has been under construction for sometime, many locals seemed surprised by the fact that it had actually opened! A wide open space with artworks, a tower, a double bridge, sculptures and fountains. More food and bars on the way, this should be a nice spot for the locals to meet up for a while to come.

We ended the evening with a very decent steak and Australia Day 1 was complete. Impressed!

Wednesday 3rd Feb we decided to head to Rottnest Island, a 2 hour boat ride from Perth via Freemantle. A major conservation site the 7.3 Sq Mile island was the sole supplier of salt to WA for sometime, it was used for gun emplacements in the Second World War and has a long shipwreck history. 2 Lighthouse’s are on the island today.

We hired bikes so ended up with 5 hours to ride round the island and settlements, get lunch and have a swim before heading back.

This is a wonderful island and great for a bike ride. No traffic apart for a few service vehicles and the island bus, the place just has people riding around on their hire bikes.

Saw one guy approaching me on the opposite side of the road put both legs in the air suddenly … as he ran over a snake and a Peacock swiped the end of my ice cream cone ( I had left on the bench seat). One of main island inhabitants is the Quokka. This looks a bit like a kangaroo but is the size of a domestic cat. They are not dangerous and are often seen searching for crumbs where humans congregate.

At the Geordie Bay food-stop we pulled over for lunch. I went to the Men’s cubicle to change swimming shorts for normal shorts, only to find a Quokka sitting on the floor of the cubicle. I left my swimming shorts on!!

Most of our ride is posted on Strava which shows 10.8 miles and some (small) hills. Well done Julie!

Perth did not ever seem that busy after 8pm. What restaurants that were open, were not busy and the choice of somewhere to eat after 9ish was very limited. Whether most people eat in the hotels or we were in the wrong part of town (there was a murder the night before in the city) I’m not sure but, the food budget is back on track after Tuesday’s steak with Wednesday’s McDonalds and more ‘hanging with the (travelling) kids’.

4 Feb: It’s off to Base Camp today (yes I saw Everest on the flight to Perth) Fiona and Mike are kindly letting us stay with them before we head off on Road Trip No.1 on Friday, north up the Coral Road.

Pete