Australia
Facts:-
Day 284 continued - Wednesday 19th April 2006 - arriving in Australia
It was a pretty uneventful flight to Sydney. But we decided to postpone making a decision of what to do there until checking onward flight options on arrival!
At customs we had to have our boots cleaned - obviously too much Abel Tasman mud on them and so were almost the last into the arrivals hall. We found a free internet terminal next to the Qantas desk and before too long we were booked on a Virgin Blue flight to Adelaide!
It was departing in only 90 minutes' time, so it was a bit of a rush from one terminal to the other (but we also managed to by a LP and a SIM card for our phone). Once checked in, we also had time to book ourselves some accommodation for tonight. So, we were soon on our way to Adelaide, having not intended to visit the city at all only a couple of hours before!
We had clearly got one of the last seats on the plane, as we were snugly packed into the back row! It was quite a bumpy ride as we were apparently flying into a strong wind and the turbulence was particularly bad on the approach into Adelaide, where the plane was still wobbling around only 20m or so above the runway. Still, we landed safely and after asking for some directions, were soon waiting for a bus into the city.
We were surprised by the 30-minute time difference from Sydney - the first time either of us could remember being somewhere with a "half-hour" timezone. It was also pretty chilly - there was us expecting Australia to be hot - but our fleeces soon came out! Before too long we had checked into a decent room at Backpack Oz where we dumped our bags and headed out for some dinner in chinatown. We found a quiet, but decent, restaurant and managed to get a meal for both of us for about A$20, which we thought was good value. By now we were tired, so back at the hostel, went straight to bed.
Day 285 - Thursday 20th April 2006 - Adelaide
We enjoyed the simple (but free!) hostel breakfast of cornflakes and toast while reading flyers for lots of trips around Adelaide. We decided to book oursleves on a 1-day wine tasting trip to the Barossa Valley and a then 2-day trip to Kangaroo Island for the weekend.
We were pleased to find more free internet acess (this time in the city council offices) and after a while there, Ian went to try and change our remaining New Zealand dollars. He quickly realised that he should have got rid of them in Christchurch, but resigned himself to accepting a pretty poor exchange rate. We went to a food court for more chinese-style food for lunch and, as it was fine, decided to spend the afternoon following the LP walking tour of the city.
Our first stop was the Art Gallery of South Australia. A relatively small place, but free to visit. We enjoyed an hour or so wandering around the collection, particularly appreciating some of the Australian landscapes, which were incredibly detailed. Then it was on to the South Australian Museum, where for A$2 each we looked around the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, which (as usual) was excellent.
From there it was only a short walk to the State Library of South Australia where the Bradman Collection is housed. Ian spent an enjoyable half an hour or so wandering around reading some of the information about the man himself. Nikki soon got bored but found a comfy seat to sit on and perused our guidebook a bit more!
We continued on with the walk, along the Torrens river and through the Botanic Gardens. We had wanted to finish the walk with a quick visit to the National Wine Centre, but by the time we had negotiated a little detour it had already closed (the LP had led us to expect it to still be open :-( ).
So it was back to the hostel for some rest and then back to chinatown for another cheap and cheerful dinner.
Day 286 - Friday 21th April 2006 - wine tasting in the Barossa Valley
We were picked up by our Enjoy Adelaide coach just after 8:45am. There were only 9 of us on the tour, plus our guide, Gayle, who soon had us on our way towards the Adelaide Hills.
It was about an hour before our first stop at the Big Rocking Horse - Australians seem to have convinced themselves that a "Big Thing" advertising any old tat will be good for business - and they might be right! Anyway the Big Rocking Horse was advertising a toy factory - but no, it didn't rock. We spent our time there wandering around the adjacent wildlife enclosure watching lots of peacocks, a couple of kangaroos, emus and other caged birds, including (non-flaming) galahs and chatty cockatoos. Our next stop was the Herbig Tree, a big, old tree in which the Herbig family - early German immigrants - had once lived for several years! Then, surprisingly, it was time for an early lunch - and not a winery in sight yet :-(. Still, the food was pretty good.
Finally it was off to the first winery of the day: Chateau Dorrien. They had a very long wine list, but there was no time to taste them all - even worse, the server was really grumpy. Despite this we bought a bottle of Riesling. The tour continued on to the Richmond Grove winery, housed in an interesting looking building, complete with turrets! There we had a tour of the cellars and saw some grapes fermenting in tanks. Their tasting consisted of 4 wines, each from a different South Australian region, and a port. They were all pretty good and Nikki especially liked the Barossa shiraz, so we bought a bottle of this too!
The next stop was the Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre - a very modern glass building. We had a booking here for a tasting, but were late and consequently our tasting session was ridiculously rushed. We gulped down about 8 different wines in about 15 minutes, some of which we'd obviously tried at home, but they were still pretty good for the price (mostly under A$10 for a bottle). There was no need to buy any wines here as they would be available everwhere!
So we headed on to Chateau Yaldara, where lots of McGuigan wines were available for tasting. Again we were pretty rushed, but we did get to try a nice sparkling wine, some other whites and then 5 different shiraz wines. Fortunately we tried these in ascending price (and presumably quality) order and although they were all pretty decent, our favourite was the last and most expensive, coming in at A$60 a bottle - we wouldn't be buying any of that today!
We were then rushed on again (some of our group hadn't even tasted any wine at all at Yaldara - we wondered why they had bothered to come on a wine tour!) and soon reached our last stop - the Whispering Wall. This was simply the curved wall of a dam for a drinking water reservior. But it had the strange property that you could clearly hear a whisper from one side of the valley to the other (about 140m)! We tried it out and it sounded just like we were standing next to each other.
By now it was time to return to Adelaide, where we passed our second "Big Thing" of the day - the Big Scotsman! When we returned to the hostel, Nikki tried to burn our New Zealand photos onto CD but unfortunately the hostel computers couldn't manage this level of technology, so we'd have to do that another time. Meanwhile Ian had a snooze.
Thanks very much to the Forecasters at PA WeatherCentre for "sponsoring" this part of our trip!
We knew that the Central Market was open late tonight, so we headed down there looking for a non-rice-based dinner. After some searching and asking for directions from a friendly and chatty guy on the information counter (he started telling us all about how he had left the UK in the 1950s and never been back), we found Lucia's Pizza and Spaghetti Bar (recommended in the LP). Nikki had home-made lasagna, while Ian had ravioli - both tasty and, more importantly, cheap! Back at the hostel we packed for the weekend and headed to bed. We had an early start in the morning.
Day 287 - Saturday 22nd April 2006 - Sealions and koalas on Kangaroo Island
We were up and out of the hostel very early and walking down to Victoria Square for a 6:30am coach. The Sealink coach took us to Cape Jervis, from where their 45-minute ferry journey took us across to Kangaroo Island. There Dave, our tour guide for the next 2 days, met us and our fellow tourists. In total there were 13 of us, mostly quiet German students, but also an older American couple (Ron and Sharon) and a Dutch girl (Avi).
Soon we were on our way. The first stop was Pennington Bay, which had a nice if somewhat windswept beach, with surfing waves up to a couple of metres high (apparently quite small for this location but they were certainly the biggest Ian had ever seen). We walked a short way along the shore above the beach itself and then headed on to Mount Thisby (also known as Prospect Hill). Here it was a short walk up (apparently 510 steps) to a lookout. The views stretched to the ocean on two sides, but we weren't as impressed as most by the vista. It was soon time for lunch and Dave drove us to American River, where we had a sandwich lunch and spotted a couple of pelicans in the lagoon. But it was a bit chilly and we were wrapped up in our fleeces and eating under the cover of a small shelter.
Our next stop was Seal Bay, where a guide took us down a short boardwalk to a beach where a colony of Australian Sea Lions lived. We watched as a few of the sea lions entertained us. One younger male was trying to move into the territory of a dominant male, but he was soon chased away. The dominant bull then turned his attention to one of his females but she wasn't particularly interested! On the way back along the boardwalk we saw more sea lions resting nearby and even directly under the boardwalk, including a pup suckling.
Next, we were shown Little Sahara, where Dave showed off some of his Aussie Rules footie skills! and we climbed a small dune - it was sandy! Next we stopped at Hanson Bay Koala Sancuary, where a short walk through an area of eucalyptus trees gave us the opportunity to spot wild koalas high in the trees. We strained our necks and, in total, managed to see about ten koalas perched high above us, but it was too late in the day and too dark for any decent photos. We made a stop at a small store and bought some beer and wine before heading to Flinders Chase Farm where we were staying for the night. We had known that we would be in bunkhouse accommodation, but we weren't expecting separate boys and girls dorms :-(
We took the opportunity in the fading light to get a closer look at some kangaroos feeding in an adjacent field, but they soon bounded away if we approached closer than about 5m. By now we were pretty cold so we huddled around the big campfire Dave had made while he cooked up some steak and sausages for dinner on the gas BBQ. We were soon tucking into these and then sat around the campfire polishing off our beer (very pleasant Coopers Pale Ale) and wine while chatting. When we called it a night, Nikki decided to be a naughty schoolgirl and sneaked into the boys' dorm with Ian for the night!
Day 288 - Sunday 23rd April 2006 - Remarkables Rocks and Seals on Kangaroo Island
Hot showers before breakfast warmed us through and then it was off into the Flinders Chase National Park. Our first stop was at the Remarkable Rocks - basically a few large lumps of granite that the wind and the weather have moulded into pretty formations. There were also lots of orange algae growing on them, which added to their remarkability! We stayed there a while, taking photos and being careful not to go near the seaward slope as it was apparently very slippy and a couple of guys had drowned, trying to rescue someone who had wandered too far that way.
Next was De Coudic Bay. We walked along a boardwalk past lots of seals lounging on the rocks to Admiral's Arch - once a cave, now an arch and eventually due to be an island - due to the constant pounding of the waves. And there were indeed some pretty impressive waves breaking on the rocks in front of us, keeping the seal pups' swimming pools nicely topped up with water! On the way back up to the bus, we also saw a pod of bottlenose dolphins swimming by.
Next we called in at the National Park Visitor Centre and the two of us took a short walk, where we saw a couple of kangaroos grazing nearby. Unfortunately some other tourists rushed up to them hoping for a close-up photo opportunity, of course, they only suceeded in scaring them off. So we decided to continue on a different route and found three younger and smaller kangaroos, happy to pose for our photos!
Dave drove us on to the Pandana Wildlife Park, where we ate lunch and then had a look around. There were hundreds of native birds, including the striking cassawarry. Also on show were some wallabies and snoozing koalas. Dave took us into the koala enclosure, where we stroked one and posed for photos. Then we had the opportunity to go into a kangaroo enclosure and hand feed some kangaroos (these little guys had been reared from joeys after their mothers had been killed - usually on the roads - so they were used to human contact). They all seemed quite hungry, despite seeming to spend their time just lying around! A little later, we were just about to move on, but Dave had arranged a surprise for us, the staff at the park were hand-rearing a baby possum and we were able to hold and stroke the 5-month old, with big eyes and soft fur.
We had to drive back to catch our ferry and after a stop in Kingscote (Kangaroos Island's "capital"), where we bought a couple of souvenirs, we were soon back in Penneshaw where Dave dropped us at the local pub for dinner. Unfortunately, after such a budget-blowing trip, dinner wasn't cheap either. The special of steak and chips was OK, although, on the way down to the harbour, we did pass a fish and chip shop that looked more in our budget!
The 7:30pm ferry back to the mainland saw us back on our coach transfer to Adelaide, where we returned to the hostel quite late. We were impressed with their organisation - the bags we had left with them the previous day had all been moved back into our room, so we were soon able to hit the sack.
Day 289 - Monday 24th April 2006 - on to Perth
After our complimentary breakfast in the hostel, Nikki sucessfully burnt our New Zealand photos onto CD and Ian went to post them and some other stuff we had accumulated back home. We returned to the market for a disappointing lunch of laksa soup before catching our complimentary transfer from the hostel back to the airport. As Ian still didn't have any sunglasses, he spent some time selecting some at the aitport - making a big dent in our budget! Not to be outdone, Nikki bought a CD!
We flew with Virgin Blue again and, after landing in Perth, quickly found ourselves a bus to the city. At the busport, we checked out where we needed to catch a bus from in the morning - back to near the airport to collect our hired campervan - and caught a bus up to our hostel in Northbridge. We were staying at the Coolibah Lodge, which we had pre-booked from Adelaide airport. We had a quite basic room, but it would be fine for 1 night.
We headed out for dinner, but soon returned to collect an umberella and waterproofs! We planned to eat at the LP-recommended Sparrow restaurant and as we had a few minutes to wait for a table, we made use of their BYO policy and headed to the local pub / bottle shop to pick up a few beers. Back at the restaurant, Ian ordered some strange green nut dish, which turned out to be pretty good, while Nikki went for "typical" fried chicken with rice (all she got was some fried chicken and some rice), which tasted better once she asked for some sauce to add. The owner was certainly a very cheery chap and he got the whole restaurant to sing "Happy Birthday" to a customer as he presented them with a small cake.
Back at the hostel we made use of the cheap"ish" internet access to make some more diary updates, before Ian managed to lose over an hour's worth of typing - clearly it was time for bed!
Day 290 - Tuesday 25th April 2006 - heading north to Cervantes
Ian woke early and couldn't snooze, so went to use the computers early and caught up with all the diary entries lost the night before. Somewhat later, Nikki was also up and showered. By about 10am we had checked out and were on our way to the city. Despite the rain, we decided to walk as it wasn't far, but the rain got heavier and we were soon pretty wet!
After avoiding some hassle from some Aboriginal guys, we were soon back at the busport. Unfortunately we had just missed one of the 2-an-hour buses, so sat down to wait and shared a portion of chinese food for brunch. However, our bus didn't show up - it simply disappeared off the departure board. We didn't quite know what to do (it was Anzac Day and no information desks were manned). Fortunately, after some time a security guard came down to the bus stop and informed us that because of the Anzac Day memorial services / parades, our bus wasn't stopping here this morning. Ian asked why there was no sign up only to be told that he should have looked at the TV ads or in a local paper - great! He was so annoyed at that that he forgot where the bus was actually leaving from.
Fortunately, he knew it was one of two places - so Nikki waited at one and Ian walked up to the other. There were no signs anywhere and none of the bus drivers Ian asked seemed to know anything helpful either! So Ian wandered back to where Nikki was, and as no buses at all had passed her at all, we decided to try the smaller bus station where Ian had just been - we rushed - just in case we were going the right way and the bus was on time. Amazingly, it was and we were able to flag it down straight away. It turned out that the bus driver hadn't even known about the changed routing until she arrived for work in the morning...
It was now raining really hard and we had to keep a close lookout through the fogged-up windows for the Britz depot somewhere on the highway. Several people on the bus helped us look - no-one actually knew where it was, but in the end we spotted it without difficulty. It took about an hour to finish all the formalities (including us accepting a $5000 excess on our insurance - more than Rufus had cost to buy!) and then we were on the road again in a Rufus-like vehicle, with a permanently high roof and bigger bed and fridge. It even had a microwave - what a waste of storage space! But it was less than 3 years old, so everything was in really nice condition.
We had been given some vague directions to a supermarket that was open on Anzac Day. Unfortunately there was a bike race on and some diversions in place, so we got a bit lost. Eventually we found it and stocked up on groceries before heading north. Or at least that's where we hoped to go, but without a proper map, Nikki had decided to direct us towards Freeway 2 going north, which we reached, before realising that it didn't link up with any other roads heading further north. So we turned off, stopped at the first petrol station and bought a better map!
We also stopped at a local bottle shop (it was a novelty for us not to be able to buy alcohol in a supermarket) - well, we couldn't head on our long road trip without some cheap Aussie wine could we? and headed back to highway 1, where we had been a couple of hours before!
Our original plan had been to try and reach Cervantes before dusk, so that we could visit the Pinnacles Desert at sunset. However, it was well after dark when we turned off the highway towards Cervantes - the last 50km or so had been at a slow pace, wary of the "Beware Kangaroos" signs and our $5000 excess! Eventually we arrived in the small town and after finding a plethora of "No Camping" signs in town, pulled up on a grassy verge just out of town. We were both exhausted, so cooked up some dinner and headed to bed.
Day 291 - Wednesday 26th April 2006 - the Pinnacles Desert and heading further north
Our early alarm didn't wake us up (it went off an hour later - well done Ian!) But luckily Nikki woke up at 6am when she heard some traffic noise. We quickly threw some clothes on and drove the 20km or so to the Pinnacles Desert, part of the Nambung National Park. We passed a couple of kangaroos on the roadside, but there was nobody around to collect our entry fee, so we drove on through. There was a lot of cloud around as we set off around the loop track and so, as yet, no sunlight on the pinnacles themselves. We had hoped that a dramatic sunrise would illuminate the stunning pinnacles nicely for a few photos - the LP recommended dawn or dusk viewing.
But no, it decided to rain instead - in the desert of all places! It didn't rain too much though and we were able to drive around and look at the formations. (We later found an information board, which told us that the pinnacles had been formed when vegetation growing down into the sandstone, allowed water to seep through in some places more than others, eroding lots of vertical shafts in the rock, leaving pillars behind - eventually the sand too was blown away, leaving what we could now see poking up abouve the desert's surface). At one point the sun did actually come out, so Ian jumped out of the van for a few photo opportunities, but it was also raining, so he was soon back.
We took our time and explored the northern spur to the loop track, where Ian climbed a sand dune and Nikki watched a few bright green birds flying around. We managed to take a few decent photos, but there was really too much cloud around, so by 8am we headed off and drove the short way to Hangover Bay. We had hoped to spend the previous night here, but made use of the BBQ for a couple of breakfast sausages. The Indian Ocean was far too rough for a dip, so we spent a short while organising ourselves in our new van (christened "Iggy" - Iggy Top - geddit? - in reference to the high top roof) before continuing our long drive north.
Nikki soon had to test out the brakes as an Emu ran out in front of us, but the rest of the morning was uneventful as we made our way towards Geraldton, were we stopped by the ocean for lunch. It was too windy to sit outside, so we simply enjoyed the view whilst sitting inside Iggy.
We continued north to Horrocks, a small seaside town, where we hoped to spent the night and checked into the Horrocks Beach Caravan Park. We had wanted to spend the afternoon on the beach, but it was still too windy. So instead, we walked along the sand for a while, enjoying a little paddle. Back at the campsite, we relaxed in the sun, with a beer or two!
Ian used the BBQ to cook up a great sausage and tomato pasta dish - served with pasta (we thought we'd use the microwave as we had it!). We washed this down with a bottle of red wine and headed to bed.
Day 292 - Thursday 27th April 2006 - Kalbarri National Park
We got up reasonably early, but by the time we had made use of the showers and breakfasted it was 9:30am. We drove north to Kalbarri, stopping off briefly en route to look at a surprisingly bright pink lake lake - algae is apparently farmed here for beta caraotene / vitamin A supplements. Then we continued north towards the southern part of the Kalbarri National Park, where we drove off the highway several times to some coastal viewpoints. From our first stop we could see down to "Natural Bridge" and "Island Rock", where the cliffs had been eroded, leaving narrow headlands which had subsequently been knocked through to form an arch and then an island - certainly the surf looked pretty rough down there. Our next stops were at "Grandstand" and "Shell House" gorges, offering more coastal views where rivers had helped cut back into the cliffs carving out the gorges.
We continued driving on towards the Kalbarri township, passing an impressive-looking surf beach (Jack's Bay - the LP said it wasn't for novices - and it looked like they were not joking!). In the town itself, we stopped at the visitor centre for a map of the national park and to ask about potential bush walks. The girl there was really quite useless, simply telling us that she hadn't walked any of the trails, didn't know what they were like or how long they might take to walk - but apparently, yes you could swim in the river, as long as it wasn't flowing too fast. Very helpful!
We had thought that this might be a good (i.e. cheap"ish") place to buy some snorkelling gear, as we anticipated doing quite a lot of snorkelling both in Western Australia and later in south-east Asia. We found a shop selling what we wanted and a very chatty bloke who even gave us a discount :-).
Then, we drove up to the national park entrance, where we bought a 1-month ticket to (almost) all Western Australia's national parks - we didn't feel so bad about not paying our entry fee at the Pinnacles Desert now. The road was now officially a track (we weren't supposed to take Iggy off road - but hey) and it was 27km of a fast and bumpy ride to our first viewpiont down into one of the gorges that Kalbarri is famous for. At our second stop, we ate a quick sandwich lunch, before preparing ourselves for a few hours hiking in the heat of the day.
A few minutes into our "Loop Track" hike, we came to "Nature's Window", a natural hole in the layers of rock, through which you could see down to the Murchison River. We continued on the Loop Track following the top of the gorge high above the river. After about 50 minutes of great views, but annoying flies, we descended to the sandy banks of the river. Here the flies were even worse and due to high water levels, the track from here on was closed (the track markers were underwater!), so we had to turn back. We re-traced our steps and found the flies less annoying, but still irritating enough not to stop too often, or for too long. Even so, by the time we reached the van, each of us had at least 100 flies hitching a ride on our backs! And that's not to mention the others flying around our face, mouth an nose.
We jumped in the van, opened the windows and started driving almost immediately - much as we had seen a group of girls doing when we arrived - and soon got rid of most of the flies. After a few more kilometres of corrugated tracks, we arrived at the "Z-Bend" lookout. Here there was apparently a z-bend in the river (we only saw a v-bend). Although the sun was already casting long shadows, we took a couple of photos and a friendly chap showd us a thorny devil (lizard), which apparently changes colour to blend into its surroundings. It rested happily on Nikki's palm for a few moments (without turning flesh coloured!) and then it was time for us to continue our long drive north.
It was already 4:30pm and with more than 350km ahead of us before we would reach Monkey Mia - our intended destination for the night, we decided to just see how far we got before it was too dark to drive safely. As it turned out, after 150km or so, we came across a 24-hour rest area which, on inspection, appeared to be a highway-side campsite for campervans, caravans and trucks. The facilities (only toilets and fireplaces) were free to use, so it seemed an ideal place to stop for the night - at least we didn't run the risk of being asked to move on in the middle of the night. So we parked up, cooked some dinner and went to bed.
Day 293 - Friday 28th April 2006 - on to Monkey Mia
We woke early and were on the road shortly after 6am. We still had a long way to go before reaching the Monkey Mia Resort, where we had a cruise booked for 1pm. We drove for a couple of hours, reaching Shell Beach, where we stopped for breakfast. Here millions upon millions of small shells have been deposited by the ocean, been crushed over time and cemented together by water to build a very hard, white beach over 5m deep. It was pretty impressive. We also learned from a small display on the shore that the shells are still mined for use in restoration of old local buildings amongst other things.
We continued up the Shark Bay peninsula to Denham, stopping briefly at Eagle Bluff lookout for a view from the clifftop into the very clear water below. In Denham, we re-fuelled, bought some groceries and continued on to the Monkey Mia Resort. There, we had hoped to get a campervan site, but all the powered sites were booked. As it was a 50km round trip drive to Denham - the nearest alternative place to spend the night, we reluctantly paid over A$20 for an unpowered site (i.e. a parking spot)! At least we could use some of the resort's facilities and we did get to see several large emus wandering around between the vans and chalets.
It was pretty hot, so we thought we'd take a quick dip in the sea (keeping a close eye out for the local sharks!) before lunch. However, the sea was really cold, so we only got wet up to our knees before changing our minds! After a quick lunch back in the van we walked down to the jetty for our 1pm Dugong Cruise aboard the 60-foot catamaran, Shotover 2. As you could guess, the main aim of this cruise was to try and spot dugongs. Shark Bay is famous for large numbers of these animals - they apparently have the second largest colony in the world - due to there being a large amount of sea grass for them to feed on.
Nikki got to help hoisting the front sail and we were on our way. After a while, we managed to spot one or two dugongs, occasionally surfacing in the distance. Sailing around for a bit longer paid dividends as we spotted a few more, but it wasn't until a mother and calf were seen near the bow that we got a really decent view of these large mammals. We managed to stay within viewing distance of these two for a few minutes, but left them in privacy after a while and went in search of tiger sharks.
No sharks were to be seen, but we did see a small pod of bottlenose dolphins. The crew even lowered a sonar microphone into the water, so we could hear some of the dolphin communication - but mostly they were quite quiet. Eventually, we headed back to shore, where we had only about 30 minutes before our next cruise. (Well, not only had we managed to get a discount for using Amex for the trip - we knew it would be worth carrying our card around the world! - but the eveing cruise was available for only A$19, which we couldn't turn down).
There were only seven of us on the Sundown Cruise but we were allowed to bring some food and drink with us, so we had packed a couple of beers each and enjoyed them by the sunset. We wondered where all the time had gone as we were celebrating our 11-month wedding anniversary already. It was a very pleasant cruise and even though the wind picked up after a while allowing us to sail at a decent pace, it wasn't too cold (but we were now wearing long trousers and long-sleeved tops by now).
Back on shore, we showered and Ian set out to use one of the BBQs to cook up another sausage and tomato pasta dish. We shared the BBQ area with a British family, who had been on our first cruise earlier in the day. They had tucked into BBQ burgers and sausages and looked on enviously at Ian's preparations. We had a bit of a chat with them, but soon settled down to tuck into the great-looking and smelling (and tasting!) meal - we even had some garlic bread to eat, so it was a real feast. We washed it all down with the really good Shiraz we had bought from Richmond Grove.
Back at the van after washing up, Ian promptly fell asleep on the bench, snoring away, leaving Nikki to write up the diary and finish the wine! So much for a romantic anniversary night!
Day 294 - Saturday 29th April 2006 - Monkey Mia and back on the road north
We had been advised to get down to the beach by 7:30am to have the best chance of seeing the "dolphin interaction" so we got up early enough and made our way there. At around 8am, the dolphins started arriving - about 8 of them in total, of which 3 (Nicky, Puck and another) were allowed to be fed a small mumber of fish during a maximum of three daily visits.
For the "interaction" We were all instructed to stand in a long line, about ankle-deep, in the shallow water. This was to allow the dolphins to come up close and, if they wanted, rest on the sandy sea floor near us. Quite quickly a couple of the dolphins came within 10 feet or so of the line of people, but mostly this was at the far end. Then one of the helpers, asked the whole line to take a step back into even shallower water. Almost immediately, the dolphins seemed much more interested in coming to get a closer look at us and a couple posed right in front of us. :-)
After about an hour, the dolphins had had enough of posing and wanted their fish, so the helpers selected some tourists to give each of the 3 "feeding dolphins" a fish. After the feeding the dolphins soon swam off and we turned back to the beach, photographed a couple of pelicans and then headed back to the van for breakfast.
A little later, as we left the campsite, we decided to stop by the beach again, just in case one of the other dolphins was visiting and sure enough there was. It was Puck's third visit to the beach that morning and even though she had eaten all the fish she was going to get, she hung around, lying on the sand right in front of the 10 or so of us there watching. As there were so few people around we got a really good view of her and some decent photos. But Puck's calf (India) was keen for a feed herself, so we were encouraged to leave the beach, so Puck and India would swim back into the depths and feed for themselves.
We then set out on our way back to Denham, stopping briefly to look at Little Lagoon and a nearby river - both beautifully clear and blue. We also took the turning towards Francois Peron National Park and drove into the park as far as allowed in a 2-wheeled drive vehicle. This was not very far but it was far enough to reach the homestead. From there we couldn't see any of the stunning views we had seen photos of, but there was a small exhibit which told us something of the local indigenous wildlife and Ian sat in a hot pool, filled from a natural spring.
Driving back through Denham for a loaf of bread, we were soon back on the highway. We stopped off at Hamlin Pool to see the "famous" (and very exciting!) stromatolites. We delayed our first view of the stromatolites themselves by having lunch first but then took the short trail across the beach and passed a small open cast shell-rock mine to a boardwalk to view the stromatolites. Of course, we didn't really know what to expect from stromatolites. They are apparently the oldest living organism - at about 2 billion years - although these particular ones date from the last ice age only. Thety are most notable for increasing the oxygen levels in the atmosphere such that other organisms could grow and survive. Anyway, they just looked like small pillars of rock.
After a few minutes learning this and looking at them we had had too much fun (honest!) and decided to move on. We raced north up the highway to get to Carnarvon before the shops shut - we needed to re-fuel and re-stock our food and drink supplies. That done, we continued until it got too dark and a friendly kangaroo pointed us to a slightly off-road parking area, where we parked up behind a tree, slightly secluded from the road.
Day 295 - Sunday 30th April 2006 - on to Coral Bay
We drove for about a hour before stopping for breakfast at a picnic spot at the turning off to the Ningaloo Marine Reserve. Ian then snoozed, while Nikki drove the rest of the way to Coral Bay. We didn't have a plan, but quickly realised that there would be nowhere in or near the township to free-camp, so checked into the slightly cheaper but more scruffy of the two caravan parks (Bayview Caravan Park) - but it was still the most expensive place we'd stayed at in a camper van - and the BBQ facilities weren't even free!
Anyway, we headed for the beach. We soon found the sea, but no beach! - it was definitely high tide! We ended up walking a kilometre or so along the shoreline, through the breaking waves until we found Paradise Beach. There was still not a great deal of beach here, but just enough for us to lie on a sarong with almost no-one else in sight. We soon headed out for a swim, relieved that the water was warmer than at Monkey Mia. We spent the next few hours swimming, sunbathing and snorkelling out near the reef about 40 - 50 metres offshore. But we also found ourselves swatting at large, annoying flies for most of the time too :-(.
We continued enjoying the sun back at the campsite and after looking at some of the diving and other tour options for the following day, decided to head straight up to Exmouth, where the diving was supposed to be better. That evening, we discovered that our Bolivian-fake Sony CD player had died an early death - so there would be no more opportunity to listen to our rubbish CDs (or even some of the better ones) we had accumulated...
Day 296 - Monday 1st May 2006 - on to Exmouth
After breakfast, we took a stroll down to the beach again and up to a small lookout on the dunes. We took a couple of snaps and then started our drive about 150km further north. In Exmouth, we spent some time researching what organised trips to do (we really wanted to swim with whale sharks and hopefully do some diving too). There were far too many whale shark operators to choose from and very few dive shops. We had to book all our trips now as we wouldn't have any mobile phone coverage for the next couple of days, so eventually decided on a whale shark tour with Ningaloo Blue and a couple of dives with Village Dive Exmouth.
Then we stocked up on food and fuel, stopped at the CALM (Convervation and Land Management) office to book a campsite for the night - reserved for us immediately over the short wave radio - and drove out to Cape Range National Park. Within an hour we had arrived at the camp site at Tulki Beach, where there were about half a dozen other cars and vans and chose our camping spot. It was a basic campground, with no water and one camp toilet, but for only A$10 we got peace and quiet and a fabulous beach just a couple of minutes walk away.
We ate some lunch and then went to check out the beach - WOW! A beautiful beach with crystal clear water gently lapping on the shore. We could also see large breakers on the reef a kilometre or two offshore. There wasn't a single other person in sight and not a speck of litter either. We went for a swim, wondering if the dark shapes nearby were rays or grassy patches. We decided most of them were coral and grasses, until one darted away from Nikki making her jump! It was a ray about a metre wide, but we couldn't see what type. Then we sunbathed and read on our private beach for a couple of hours, watching the odd crab scuttle about.
Shortly before we left the beach we heard some splashing in the shallows, so Ian went to investigate. He didn't find out what caused the noises, but we did see a couple of small blue-spotted rays in only about 6 inches of water. We watched them for a while, but when Ian went to get the camera they swam off.
Back in the van, we met the resident ranger and paid our camp fees - he was a Brit from Sittingbourne, who had been in Australia for 35 years. We enjoyed a beer as the sun went down and later ate dinner outside by candlelight (Ian in his fleece, Nikki in shorts!) and gazed up at the clear starry sky.
Day 297 - Tuesday 2nd May 2006 - snorkelling in Cape Range National Park
We slept well and Nikki was amused to have scared a kangaroo away during a night-time toilet visit. She hadn't actually seen it, but knew from the rustling bushes followed by the boing, boing, boing... that it was a sizeable one!
Anyway, we got up and had a leisurely breakfast in the sun, before driving further into the park to Turquoise Bay. This was supposed to be a great spot for snorkelling, while drifting with the current. We walked to the southern end of the nearby reef and waded out towards the reef and drifted. Luckily the current wasn't too strong, so we had plenty of time for viewing the fish and corals while drifting past them. We saw loads of fish of all sizes although the visibility wasn't perfect due to the current churning up the sand in the water - we wondered whether the coral had recently spawned too - it was about the right time of year. Towards the end of the drift, there were some really big fish (a few feet long) and a large school of whitish fish, seemingly blocking our way back to shore. Of course we swam through them without difficulty, in plenty of time, so as not to get pulled out to sea by the current. After sitting in the shallows for a few minutes, watching the fish all around us, we walked back up the beach and repeated it all over again. When out of the water, it was quite chilly, so Ian even repeated it a third time. But then we decided to try another snorkelling spot.
Further south we stopped at Oyster Stacks, where there was no beach (only a rocky shore) and, with the sea pounding the rocks, getting into the water was a little tricky. Nikki decided not to snorkel and sunbathed instead. But Ian went in and was immediately swimming just a couple of feet above the corals. Some of the corals were badly damaged, but there were plenty of fish (including a school of parrot fish) and starfish around. He didn't stay out too long as it was pretty tiring swimming in the strong swell and it wasn't clear how difficult it would be to get back to shore. After drying off, we returned to the van and drove up to another beach and snorkelling spot: Lakeside.
After a quick lunch we had a dip in the sea before relaxing on the beach in the sun (have we mentioned that this was our third consecutive day without seeing a single cloud? - well, it was :-) ). Afer a bit, Nikki sat up and thought she saw a small ray in the shallows, but it popped its head up to breathe and she realised it was a turtle. So we grabbed our snorkels and masks and rushed into the sea to try and get a close look - and a photo or two - well, all our great turtle photos from the Galapagos had been stolen! We managed to swim quickly enough to keep up with this green turtle for a few minutes, but it soon easily swam away from us. We returned to the coral, where Nikki saw the largest fish (other than sharks) she had ever seen. A bit later, Ian spotted a large ray trying to hide in the sand and both of us saw loads of other fish of all sorts of colours.
After a little more sunbathing, we decided to leave, and were walking along the shore when we spotted another green turtle in the shallows, so Ian went swimming again and managed to get a few good pics. Then it was back to Tulki Beach, where we parked up and returned to our "private beach" to relax. Ian went snorkelling again and after seeing a couple shovelnose rays near the shore he also spotted a few anemonies. We then snoozed and read in the sun until it began to set.
We made use of our camp shower, hiding behind our van and later we tucked into dinner at a picnic table, spotting a couple of kangaroos silhouetted against the setting sun on the dunes.
Day 298 - Wednesday 3rd May 2006 - Swimming with Whale Sharks
We got up and drove back out of the national park to Tantabiddi, where all the whale shark tour boats left from. We grabbed a quick breakfast in the van before meeting up with our Ningaloo Blue whale shark tour group. We were introduced to our crew: Brad, Neil, Helen and Sonja, plus Leith, our cameraman.
Once onboard, the boat headed out to Lighthouse Bay and we got ready for an early morning snorkel - we'd been given wetsuits - apparently more as protection against jellyfish than for warmth, although we were quite glad of them as it was pretty chilly. Before we even got in the water a couple of manta rays were spotted and so we were able to go and snorkel close to these giants. They were about 4m across and very impressive and graceful in their movements. Unfortunately, as we had been told to stay in a tight group, so as not to scare the rays off, it was a bit of a scrum, with 14 of us trying to catch a glimpse, but we both got a few decent views, if no good photos.
When back on the boat, we enjoyed some morning tea snacks and headed off in search of whale sharks. This is apparently the best time of year to see these giants here, as the corals had recently spawned and the crew had seen them every day now for several weeks, so we were very hopeful. We stood up on the bow hoping to spot one (there was a spotter plane flying overhead, that would probably find them before us) and we saw loads of turtles and jellyfish (some of the turtles were eating some the jellyfish). Then we saw even more manta rays. These looked even bigger than those we had snorkelled with earlier and they came right up to the side of the boat, giving us great views.
So far there had been no whale sharks spotted by the spotter plane, so we went in for another snorkel near the Ningaloo reef. Here, visibility was good, but the corals were just a little too deep for us to get close to most of the fish. However, we practised diving down, so we might be able to see a whale shark from below later. Back on board there were more snacks waiting for us. It wasn't long now, before the engines switched to full power and we were racing to where a whale shark had been spotted. We soon realised we were in the fastest boat out there and we were soon way ahead of the other boats heading the same way. We certainly reached the whale shark well before any of the other boats.
Because there were only 10 tourists on our tour, we were all able to go in the water at the same time (as opposed to alternating swimming opportunities). So we all jumped in. Leith led the way, Nikki right behind him. We were told to try and split into 2 groups and swim on either side of the whale shark and Ian managed to get all the way around the far side and swim near this giant's head for several minutes, snapping away as he went. Now, this guy was a 8.5m long male - he was just enourmous! - what a sight, just a few metres away from us! Normally each swimming opportunity is for about 5 minutes, but as there were no other boats around we had a bit longer, before getting out and resting for a short while (and eating some jelly frog sweets!). Then it was back in the water in smaller groups with the same whale shark. After 3 swims each with this guy, our skipper heard on the radio of another, so we headed off there. This whale shark was really small at about 2-3m long. It was changing direction quite often, obviously not as comfortable with the snorkelers as the previous one. In fact as soon as we got in the water, it swam almost straight at Ian, passing no more than a couple of metres away, offering great photo opportunities! We swam with this one for a few minutes, before he dived down deep.
We were in and out of the water constantly for a couple of hours, and we swam with a couple more medium sized whale sharks. There were so few tourists around that we were able to swim with these whale sharks for ages (the idea was that if one group was swimming with the whale shark then another group would be more easily able to find it!) But we just ran out of energy and eventually each of these whale sharks just swam off into the deep blue.
Exhausted and exhilarated, the boat headed back north along the Ningaloo reef and we stopped in a sheltered spot for some lunch. We were provided with a fantastic spread of cold meats, salads and bread, roast chicken, feta, roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes etc. We hadn't eaten so well for a while - Ian easily polished off two big platefuls!.
We popped back into the water for another snorkel by the reef and although there were some impressive fish around, the visibility was quite poor and as there was a strong current to fight, we soon headed back to the boat. A platter of fresh fruit for dessert greeted us - we hadn't gone hungry today and after a celebratory fruit cocktail we headed back to Tantabiddi. From there we drove to the nearby Lighthouse Bay Caravan Park and checked in for the night. We both enjoyed hot showers and Ian cooked up another great sausage pasta dish on the BBQ, before we called it an early night.
Day 299 - Thursday 4th May 2006 - Diving the Ningaloo Reef
We had a 7:05am meet at the dive shop today, so it was an early start. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we learnt that the dive boat was being repaired and wouldn't be ready until about 11am. We got our dive gear together and, as it was a 20-minute drive back to the campsite, so not really worth trying to go back to sleep, we filled some time in Exmouth itself doing grocery shopping and using the internet at the Ningaloo Blue shop and picking up our whale shark trip souvenirs (including a "Wally the Whale Shark" each!). We also went to see another of the Big Things - A Big Whale Shark - except this whale shark wasn't really that big compared to the ones we had seen, or Ian (see photo).
Back at Village Dive Exmouth we were pleased to hear that the dive boat had been fixed and we were soon on our way to Bundegi Beach where we loaded the boat and headed off to Blizzard Ridge. En route, Nikki was feeling a bit seasick, but fortunately was fine by the time we were in the water. Our divemaster was Greg and there were only 3 other divers in our group. Fortunately there were no blizzards here today - in fact the visibility was amazing. We were soon down amongst the many thousands of fish on the reef. There were several white sea snakes swimming around and millions of small and large colourful fish all around. 
We saw a catfish, lots of big potato cod, a lionfish and somewhat later Greg pointed out a wobbegong (a type of shark that is incredibly well camouflaged on the coral). As there was so much to look at and so many other divers down there, we got a bit lost for a few minutes, but soon found our group again.
Back on the boat, we had some cake as a snack and moved on to our next dive site: The Labyrinth. Visibility was again excellent - we could see the bottom (14m down) from the surface. There were less shoals of fish here, but still more than enough to see. As usual we were at the back of our group, moving slowly and taking a few photos. 
That's why Nikki spotted a turtle, which the others didn't see. There were loads more colourful fish all around us. Then we swam over a small rise and came face to fin with a white tipped reef shark. We also saw a couple of moray eels and a blue-spotted ray, then Greg pointed out a larger green turtle resting under some coral. As it then swam away, Ian followed it, until realising he was rising too quickly and came back down deep. Then right near the end of the dive one of our group spotted an octopus curled up under a small rock.
Back on the boat again we ate a much needed lunch - it was 4pm after all. Then back at the dive shop, we cleaned all our gear and filled in our log books (making use of the many different dive shop stamps available!). We had originally planned to spend one more night in Exmouth, but as it was 5pm we wouldn't have time to do anything else here and so we decided to make an early start on our long journey south. In any case, we had just booked our flight out from Perth a few days earlier than we thought we might have.
We drove for about 2 hours, the last half hour of which was difficult going after dusk. Ian was on the look out for kangaroos on the road and fortunately for us (travelling at 100km/h or thereabouts, only saw a couple as they bounded away). We were trying to reach a 24-hour rest area we had spotted on our way north and settled in there for the night.
Day 300 - Friday 5th May 2006 - the long journey south
Our 300th day! - how great is that? However, it was not to be an exciting one.
We got up early and drove for a couple of hours to Carnarvon, where we stopped at The Dish for breakfast (with muffins, yumm!).
We continued on for another 450km, stopping at Geraldton for lunch. There we visited the Western Australia Museum before continuing south for another 2½ hours back to the Pinnacles Desert for sunset. By now, we had managed to clock up 1090km in the last 24 hours ttrying to reach the desert before sunset, but the views weren't even any good as it was pretty cloudy. We managed to take a few photos of the moon over the pinnacles, but nothing else.
We decided to drive back to Hangover Bay for the night (we weren't entirely sure where the "no camping" signs applied to and in any case we figured we were miles from anywhere, so the chances were that no-one would find us. We enjoyed a surprisingly good "cleanskin" (these wines could be pretty much anything as the vineyard has chosen to sell them without labels - we heard that this tended to happen if the vineyard ran out of labels etc.) bottle of Cabernet Merlot to wind down from the drive and tucked into dinner.
Day 301 - Saturday 6th May 2006 - The Pinnacles Desert again and wine tasting in Swan Valley
We were up at 6am again to try and see the pinnacles at sunrise. But, guess what? It was raining again! The rain actually stopped falling when we reached the pinnacles themselves, but there was still too much cloud for good photos.
We'd already seen 8 kangaroos on the way to the pinnacles, but while heading for breakfast at Kangaroo Point - aptly named it seems - we saw about 30 more kangaroos. Most bounded away quickly, but a couple posed for a photo!
After breakfast, we headed back toward Perth, another 225km, driving in and out of showers all the way. We had decided to call into a couple of wineries as we passed through the Swan Valley. Our first stop was Lamont. While tasting the first couple of wines, we decided to stay in Swan Valley for the night and spend the rest of the day visiting a few more wineries. We tasted Lamont's full range of wines, but our favourite was the first we had tried, the "Tapas White" - so we bought a bottle. Several others joined us in the tasting room - all women and we soon realised why - the whole place was engrossed by the Perth Aussie Rule derby game between the West Coast Eagles and the Freemantle Dockers.
Our next stop was at Baskerville Estate, we were the only ones tasting here, but we didn't really like any of their wines. We tucked into our usual sandwich lunch in the van before stopping for some groceries on the way to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory where we could scoff unlimited chocolate pastilles, choosing between white, milk and dark chocolate - there was even a special selection of dark chocolate from Ghana that was Ian's favourite.
Next we called in at Sandalford Winery - a big place that seemed to be hosting multiple functions at the same time. But they still had their tasting room open. For A$2.50 each we got to taste a range of 10 wines. The whites were all very dry. At first we thought it was just our taste buds struggling after all that chocolate, but apparently it wasn't, rather it was a destinctive estate style. The reds were more to our taste, but not enough to tempt us into buying.
We then decided we needed to check into a campsite and found a spot at the Midland Caravan Park. From there we walked to Jane Brook Estate. It was already 4:30pm and they were closing at 5pm, so we were a bit rushed, plus our server was a bit worse the wear from too much wine! In any case everyone was far too distracted by the final score of the big game coming in. Still it was a fun atmosphere and they had some really nice wines, although mostly out of our price range. We thought we might be able to fit in one more winery visit, so popped next door, but the place was already closed up, so we headed back to the caravan park for the night.
Day 302 - Sunday 7th May 2006 - driving south (again!)
We headed further south again, bypassing Perth city centre. After a few hours we reached Yallingup and had lunch overlooking the surfers in the bay. As we continued south we popped into Tassel Park Winery and tasted some of their wines, before driving through Margaraet River township and stopping at the visitor centre, checking out where we might be able to hire some bikes when we came back through the area.
Further south, we also called in at the Green Valley vineyard, a really small place, where we chatted to the elderly owner about wines, politics and knee replacements (!), before buying a bottle of very good red wine.
We continued on towards Pemberton, stopping short for the night at dusk in an off-road picnic area.
Day 303 - Monday 8th May 2006 - Tree Top Walkway and climbing The Gloucester Tree
We made it to Permberton without running out of petrol (it was a pretty close thing!) and from there decided to make the long round trip to the Valley of the Giants. There we headed for the Tree Top Walkway near Walpole. This was an impressive stucture, taking us 40m up into the canopy of the local Tingle trees. Although this walk was one of only 14 places highlighted in the LP Australia guide's Australia highlights, we weren't at all impressed. the walk seemed quite ordinary, the trees smaller than those we'd seen in New Zealand and there weren't even many birds around. In comparision, the ground level walk was more interesting, with some large tree trunks hollowed out by fire that we could walk through.
We stoppped for lunch in Walpole then drove back to Pemberton. We called into the Salitage winery where we each had a A$5 tasting tray of 4 wines. We ended up buying a bottle of Shiraz, but then thought it would be safest not to do any more tastings as we were heading to the Gloucester Tree.
We learnt that this 'climbing tree' was originally a fire lookout, but now tourists could climb the spiral "steps" to the top, nearly 61m above. We weren't sure whether we would make it all the way up, but just continued climbing steadily and eventually we were there. We were rewarded with excellent views and glad that the wind wasn't blowing strongly, as the cage at the top can apparently sway up to 1.5m in high winds!
Back on the ground we took some pictures of some colourful and near-tame birds before driving just down the road to the Gloucester Ridge Winery. We were surprised how many of their wines we liked and couldn't resist their cleanskin rosé for only A$5 each (you were supposed to buy a minimum of 12 bottles to get that price, but we got a special deal, buying only 6 - still more than we needed!)
On our way back out of town, we decided to make one more stop, at The Warren Vineyard, where we tried a couple of their aged reds.
We drove north for another hour or so, before stopping for the night at a rest area we had spotted the day before.
Day 304 - Tuesday 9th May 2006 - wine tasting near Margaret River - Day 1
We drove straight to Margaret River township, did some grocery shopping and hired a couple of mountain bikes for 48 hours (from the local Gull petrol station!). Then with the bikes in the back of the van, we headed up to the Taunton Farm Caravan Park and checked in for a couple of nights.
Almost immediately we got the bikes out and headed off on Nikki's Margaret River winery tour by bike (part 1!). After 4 or 5 kilometres, our first stop was the Woody Nook winery. There, we tried their extensive list of wines. It was a cosy kind of place and the walls were covered with busines cards from all over the world. Next, we continued on a few more kilometres to the Moss Brothers winery. There, they were waiting for a large coach party, but as they didn't show on time, we were able to enjoy the peace and quiet, chatting to Carolyn, our server, and David, the winemaker himself.
Once the tour group arrived, we headed to the Evans & Tate winery, which had a very modern visitor centre with large windows loking out over the vineyards themselves. They also had an extensive wine list, including some tasty chardonays and a few reds. One of our reasons for visiting here was that hey provided free BBQ facilities outside, so we bought a bottle of their Classic Red and Ian cooked up a few sausages to accompany it for lunch.
Once fully fed, we headed around the corner to the Cullen winery. This is one of the oldest wineries in Margaret River, with a very good reputation. But, while we enjoyed their wines, they were more pricey than others and the only one we really liked cost A$90 per bottle. Our final winery visit for the day was to Juniper Estate, where we enjoyed some very decent wines whilst chatting to our server. It was already almost 5pm, so we cycled back to the van and, tired, headed for a pretty early night.
Day 305 - Wednesday 10th May 2006 - wine tasting near Margaret River - Day 2
Today was time for Nikki's Margaret River winery tour by bike (part 2). We set off reasonably early (before most wineries were open) as we had a long risde to our first stop: Howard Park Wines. The ride was even longer than we had expected as the driveway itself wound through the pretty grounds of gold, red and green vines for about 1km before reaching the winery, making it about a 10km cycle before our first tasting of the day.
We were the first guests of the day and were faced with another extensive wine list (including their Mad Fish branded wines). Unfortunately we weren't impressed by the quality of the white wines, but the reds were all very good, especially the last two - their premium ones (there was supposed to be a tasting fee for these - but our server waived this for us :-) ).
We spent over an hour at Howard Park, before cycling back to the road and on a short way to Bettanay's winery. This was a very small establishment, where we chatted to the owner. He seemed a bit mad, but made very good wines - we liked them all, even the chilli-infused fortified rosé, which was interesting to say the least! We bought a bottle of Merlot for dinner tonight (it was a fairly cheap clean-skin as the labels hadn't been received from the printers yet!)
Next, we cycled to the Vasse Felix winery, which seemed to be an unnecessarily long cycle around the vineyards to get to the entrance. The tasting room here was a large underground cellar and their list of wines was also extensive. We tried a few of them, and although most were good, none particularly stood out. We asked if there was a short cut to where we were heading, only to find out that the tasting room was no more than 10 yards from the road we had cycled in on - we had cycled almost 2km from this point! - all we can say is that it was very well hidden!
From here it was still a lengthy cycle to the Willespie winery. Here a range of about a dozen wines was served by the owners daughter, Trish. We enjoyed them and the conversation, but one of the reasons we had headed here at lunchtime was to use their BBQ. However, it was an old-fashioned wood burning affair and not much good for our quick sausage fry up. So, we headed on to We're Wines, tasted some decent white wines before using their electric BBQ, which we couldn't get to work straight away - we were really hungry by now. We finished off our tasting with their reds and cycled all the way back to the caravan park, arriving pretty tired, not only after a day's cyclng and wine tasting, but an additional 10km detour for lunch. For dinner, Ian cooked up an enourmous tasty chilli con carne on the BBQ washed down with some wine in the outdoor camp kitchen.
Day 306 - Thursday 11th May 2006 - wine tasting near Margaret River - Day 3 and on to Bunbury
After breakfast, we returned our mountain bikes and while in Margaret River township itself, used the internet and bought some groceries. So, after all that hard work, it was time to taste some more wines!
Our first stop was the Leeuwin Estate, supposed to be the home of the best chardonnay in Australia. We tried a few of their wines - Ian was pretty selective as he was driving. Of course we had to try the latest version of the premium (Art Series) chardonnay. It was certainly pretty good, but not quite as stunning as we had anticipated.
Our next stop was the Pierro winery, where Nikki worked her way through their 6 wines, particularly enjoying the chardonnay and the red blends. Next, we stopped at a couple of the wineries we had cycled to on our previous days and bought a couple of bottles. Then it was on to the Margaret River Dairy Company, where we tasted some cheeses. We didn't need any more food, but bought a spicy pepper cheese anyway! (We actually visited two places advertising cheese tastings, before realising that they were both outlets for the same company - oh well, we got double tastings!)
By now, we needed to start the drive back north, but managed to squeeze in a visit to the Clairault winery, which had been recommended to us by Helen, one of our divemasters om the whale shark trip - she had worked there the year before.
We stopped for lunch overlooking the Indian Ocean near Wyadup and then continued north. We were planing to reach Rockingham, so that we could swim with dolphins the following morning. However, we phoned them to confirm the booking, only to find out that the trip may be cancelled due to lack of numbers :-(. We enquired at a couple of other places where, in season, you can swim with dolphins, only to find out that it seemed unlikely any of them would be running a trip for the following day :-(. We decided to head to Bunbury's Dolphin Discovery Centre, but unfortunately it was closed. However, the friendly woman in the tourist information office was able to help us.
We decided to stay nearby, so as to keep our options for the morning open, but shortly afterwards, the cancellation of our trip in Rockingham was confirmed. We found a parking spot, just off the highway and tucked into dinner and cheese and biscuits!
Day 307 - Friday 12th May 2006 - the Dolphin Discovery Centre, Bunbury and back to Perth
As our trip had been cancelled, there was no need to get up as early as we had been expecting and after breakfast, we made our way back to the Dolphin Discovery Centre. We put our names down for the dolpin swim trip, but we were the only ones and the minimum required was 4.
Nevertheless, as soon as we arrived, we were hurried to the beach, where 2 dolphins were swimming nearby. We stood in the shallow water, much as at Monkey Mia, while Big Nick and Osho swam around near us. The water was pretty murky and the low sun was in our eyes, so we didn't get as good a view of the dolphins as we had at Monkey Mia, but it was still good fun. Unfortunatey, no one else signed up for the dolphin swim, so it was cancelled and we left, disappointed again not to have been able to swim with dolphins.
We drove back to Perth, where we had planned to look around the city, courtesy of a walking tour in the LP. But when we arrived and parked up in the Kings Park Botanic Gardens, it was so pretty and the day so hot, that we dedcided just to walk into the park and the botanic gardens and enjoy a rest over a bottle of wine.
We sat down and enjoyed the display of several fountains switching on and off for a while, before walking around the gardens, including up the DNA tower (shaped like a DNA, double helix) and back to the van, enjoying views down to the city.
As it was close to the airport (and wineries!), we decided to return to Swan Valley and stay at the Midland Caravan Park again. There we chatted for a while to our neighbours, a Swiss couple, living in Australia and travelling around in a large trailer. Later, we even managed to finish up most of our remaining food (the rest of the cheese went down extremely well!).
Day 308 - Saturday 13th May 2006 - on to Melbourne
We enjoyed a lie-in. We didn't have too much to do today. We breakfasted while packing and gave our few remaining food items to the Swiss couple we had chatted to yesterday. Then we gave the van a bit of a clean and went to look for somewhere to refill our LPG bottle. This had been relatively easy in New Zealand, but in Perth, no one seemed to offer this service!
We broke our search by visiting the Houghton winery. There were tourists everywhere! We only tried their basic range of wines - they were mostly cheap - but, despite their reputation, we weren't impressed (it wasn't until later that we realised that we could have paid to taste some of their better wines!)
Then we drove a short way to a picnic area we had passed numerous times before and re-heated leftover chilli con carne and pasta for lunch. That left us just enough time to visit one more winery. We chose Lancaster Wines. (Nikki had seen that it also advertised cheese tastings - which turned out to be due to their proximity to the Margaret River Chocolate Company rather than anything else - it's difficult to taste wines after ruining your palate with chocolate, as we discovered on our previous visit to Swan Valley.) We were surprised to see the same guy behind the bar who had been drunk serving us the previous weekend at Jane Brook Estate. He even recognised us too!
After enjoying the tastings of wine and cheese, we popped into the Margaret River Chocolate Company for some more chocolate tastings. Then we needed to top up with petrol and finally get our LPG bottle refilled. Eventually we found out that Bunnings Warehouse (a B&Q equivalant) did this, so headed there. Ian managed to get a refil, but it took ages to find the only guy in the place that was trained to do it!
Now we were in a bit of a rush. Ian dropped Nikki at the airport with the bags and went to return the van. But he had to return to get Nikki's set of van keys off her! Of course, by then the fuel guage wasn't showing full any more, so he had to refuel again before Britz would take the van back! It was now less than an hour before our flight was leaving, so he even ran part of the way (1km or so) back to the airport!
Fortunately, we had no problems at check-in and were able to sit together too. However, onboard the Jet Star fight, the only food option was an expensive stale sandwich :-(.
We landed at Avalon airport, miles away from Melbourne and caught the connectng bus to the centre of the city. There, Claire (Ian's former housemate) picked us up in her fabulous old car. Back at Claire and Craig's place in East St Kilda, Craig was already watching the FA Cup Final, so we joined him. Of course, Liverpool eventually won 3-3!
Day 309 - Sunday 14th May 2006 - Footie at the MCG
Claire and Craig went out early, but we slept in and a leisurely breafast before using their washing machine (not for the last time!)
Then all together, we caught the tram into the city and enjoyed a couple of pre-match beers at the Duke of Wellington pub. From there it was only a couple more stops on the tram to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), where we were to watch Carlton vs. Essendon. This was a bottom of the table clash, so the stadium was pretty empty, but both Clare ad Craig are Essendon suppiorters, so we had a good time. Unfortunately, Essendon were rubbish and after a close first half, lost easily.
Back at "home" we were treated to a dinner of mussels in thai green sauce followed by roast pork. Yumm!
Day 310 - Monday 15th May 2006 - Melbourne
We slept well again on an enourmous inflatable bed. Eventually getting up and catching the tram into the city. After popping into the tourist information centre, we found lunch in chinatown and then headed on a walking tour of the city. The best bit was probably Fitzroy Gardens. Nikki realised she had been here before when she saw the Fairies Tree!
Back at Claire and Craig's place we were treated to dinner again, tonight: carbonara pasta, while we continued drinking our way through our remaining rosé supplies.
Day 311 - Tuesday 16th May 2006 - St Kilda and the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
After getting more washing done and updating our diary online, we took the tram down to St Kilda and picked up some sub sandwiches, tucking into them by the beach. Then we made the most of the sunshine and walked to the end of the pier and later a litle further along the shore.
After retracing our steps, we walked along the lakeshore in Albert Park, where lots of black swans and other water birds were resting. It was a bit of a longer walk than we had expected, but we still continued on to the Royal Botanic Gardens, which we explored a bit before we were too tired and headed back to the tram.
Once again we were treated to a home cooked meal, we could get use to this! and then chatted over some wine.
Day 312 - Wednesday 17th May 2006 - on to Sydney
We got up just in time to thank Claire for her hospitality before she left for work. We spent the rest of the morning pottering around, packing and using the internet. Then after 3 relaxing days in Melbourne it was time to move on.
Back on the tram into the city we made use of a 2 for 1 meal voucher at Wagamama, which reminded us of home! Another tram took us back down to the bus station, where we waited for our airport bus. We both managed to snooze on the way to Avalon, where we were quickly checked in for our Jet Star fight to Sydney. It was an uneventful and surprisingly short flight. We retrieved our bags very quickly and were almost immediately on a transfer minibus to The Sydney Star Accommodation near King's Cross, which we had pre-booked for the week at a great rate. Given the price, we had been a little wary of what condition the room might be in, but it was absolutely fine. We even had a private fridge, microwave and TV.
We soon headed out in search of dinner and found a pizza place allowing BYO. So we returned to a bottle shop we had just passed where, not only did they have a promotion on a particular range of wines, but we could taste them first before buying. We decided on a merlot which went down well with our pretty good pizza.
Day 313 - Thursday 18th May 2006 - Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb
We had bought a few groceries the previous night, so ate breakfast in our room before walking down to Circular Quay, giving Ian his first view of the harbour, bridge and opera house. It was almost time for our bridge climb, so we went and checked in.
After a short wait, we went through the lengthy briefing process and were kitted-up in some attractive grey jumpsuits and safety harnessess. We even practised walking up and down ladders!
Before too long we were on our way. The climb was actually pretty easy and not scary at all. First we walked under the roadway, where you could see a long way down through the metal gratings. Then, after climbing a couple of ladders, we were on top of the bridge span itself. There were lots of stops to enjoy the view and for our guide to take photos of us. It was a lovely clear morning, with just a few clouds in the sky and fabulous views down to the opera house, harbour, CBD and all along the north shore.
All along the climb we had a commentary from our guide through a radio link-up and we had plenty of time to really enjoy the views. One couple in our group even got engaged at the top of the climb! Eventually we returned to the ground, where we got certificates and a group photo (we even purchased one of the extortionately priced individual photos of us! and a few other souvenirs)
Thanks very much to Linda & Ashley Gander for "sponsoring" this part of our trip!
We needed to eat, so sat down on the lawn overlooking the opera house and enjoyed a small picnic before having a closer look at the outside of the building. We returned to The Rocks, where we picked up some useful information at the visitor centre. Then armed with travel passes, we used the metro network for the first time, back to King's Cross.
After a rest, we headed out to chinatown for dinner, where we found a foodcourt and tucked into sizzling plates of satay and black bean beef. After wandering around chinatown some more we headed for bed.
Day 314 - Friday 19th May 2006 - Watson's Bay
After a short lie-in, we made our way to Circular Quay, via a book shop where we exchanged some books and bought a Thailand LP guide. There we hopped on a ferry to Watson's Bay. The journey only took 20 minutes, much quicker than we had expected. Once there, we walked out to South Head, avoiding the large group of Japanese tourists as best as possible and averting our eyes from the nudists on one Lady Bay beach!
We walked as far as the oddly red and white Hornby lighthouse at the southern entrance to Sydney harbour and then walked back to the wharf. There we bought oursleves a "combo special" of fish, chips and calamari from Doyles. We tucked into these on the grassy area (Robertson Park) overlooking the bay and the city in the distance. And no, there wasn't anything left for the seagulls that surrounded us or followed Ian to the bin to throw away our empty containers!
We decided to take another walk, this time up to Rock Bluff for views out over the ocean one way and to the CBD the other. This was hot and thirsty work, so we bought a jug of beer from Doyle's Palace Hotel and sat on the roof terrace soaking up the sun for an hour or two.
Thanks very much to Jo Grimshaw & Chris for "sponsoring" this part of our trip!
We caught the last ferry of the day back to the city and found a decent internet cafe for a couple of hours. Later, we really struggled to find somewhere for an affordable dinner - it was Friday night after all - and ended up in the cheap and cheerful Café Linda for some pasta and risotto.
Day 315 - Saturday 20th May 2006 - Manly
Ian put a few ads for our mobile phone on backpacker notice boards around King's Cross while Nikki bought some picnic supplies. Then, again from Circular Quay, we caught the ferry to Manly. There we picked up a map of the Manly Scenic Walkway, which we planned to walk. We noticed that several BBQ areas were marked, so picked up some sausages and tomato sauce from a supermarket and headed off.
It was a little cloudy and cool, but the walk around the shore was pleasant enough. The walk started going around Manly harbour and then North Harbour, passing lots of apartments with fabulous views. Then we entered Sydney Harbour National Park and having found a BBQ that wasn't in use, Ian cooked up our lunch - we somehow managed to fit 7 sausages in 2 bread rolls! It even rained a little, but we still could enjoy the view across the harbour.
We continued walking, now through regenerating bush, and the route climbed some cliffs before heading back to the shoreline. Eventually we emerged onto Sandy Bay. Here, even more exclusive houses backed right on to the beach and lots of families were having parties in the nearby park. We stopped with a view of loads of yachts and finished the wine we had bought with us for lunch. However, we were rudely interrupted by a sudden thunderstorm, which left us rushing for the cover of a nearby building.
The rain soon passed and we continued the short remaining distance to the Spit. Before we started the walk, we had wondered whether we could walk it in both directions, but it was already getting dark, so clearly not! We sat down and waited for a bus back to Manly. The first bus went past us without stopping, so we were pleased that 30 minutes later we were able to get on the next one!
15 minutes later we were back in Manly and found our way to Harry's Bar, where the Super 14 semi-final between the Crusaders and the Bulls was being shown. We settled down and watched it over a couple of beers. Later, we found it difficult to find an affordable dinner. We even were seated in an Indian restaurant, before realising that the prices we had checked out in the window were for take away only - what a shame, the smell from the kitchen was great! Eventually we ate at a cheapish tourist haunt on the main road.
We took the ferry home too, enjoying views of the harbour and opera house by night and, after taking far too many photos, we headed back to our room.
Day 316 - Sunday 21st May 2006 - Coogee and Bondi
We were in no rush to get up this morning as Vicky and Nick (friends we had met several years ago, whilst on holday in East Africa) were picking us up. It was great to see them after so long (more than 3 years) and we headed to Coogee Beach. There we ate at Five O's, where we could afford a full breafast! and chatted about their recent move up to Brisbane (!) Then we wandered out to the clifftop overlooking the beach. There Vicky and Nick had to leave us and go and collect their son, Alexander, who was being looked after by Vicky's mum.
We started along the Coogee to Bondi coastal walk, passing a number of headlands and swimming and surfing beaches. In one secluded spot there was even a swimming club running races. Elsewhere, people were enjoying picnic or surfing. After an hour or so, we rounded the final headland revealing Bondi beach. Nikki thought that it looked much prettier than when she had visited before - probably due to the fact the beach wasn't packed with bodies - you could actually see the sand!
It was much too chilly for us to go for a swim, but still warm enough for Ian to have an ice cream and Nikki a famous Bondi smoothie. We finished our walk, wandering up to the lookout at the north of the bay, before catching a bus back to Hyde Park.
We decided to head to the Botanic Gardens, where we had a late picnic lunch, enjoying the view towards the opera house and the harbour bridge. A nearby wedding reception was presumably enjoying the same views! We walked around to Mrs Macquarie's Chair and back through the gardens to our room, stopping to use the internet on the way.
We felt in the mood for a curry for dinner, so walked to an "open 7 days" takeaway place that turned out to be closed! In the end we bought a take away from a dodgy café style place. At least it turned out to be OK. We tucked into it in our room, relaxing with the Eurovision Song Contest on TV! After hearing some of the songs, we were agreed that they were mostly awful, particuarly Finland's entry, which then went on and won easily! Who votes for these songs??!
Day 317 - Monday 22nd May 2006 - hiking in the Blue Mountains - Day 1
Up at 6:15am for a quick breakfast then we made our way to King's Cross for a train to Central Station. We had to wait 15 minutes for a train, which meant we had to rush to catch our onward train to the Blue Mountains. But we made it with about a minute to spare.
2 hours later we arrived in Katoomba. It was noticeably colder here than in Sydney - even our hotel room was cold. We headed straight out, bought some picnic suplies and walked down to Echo Point. At first we struggled to find the information centre here, but in the end we were able to pick up a couple of hiking maps.
We enjoyed the view from Queen Elizabeth lookout to the 3 Sisters and then took the Prince Henry Clifftop Walkway. The walk was mostly in eucalyptus forest, but we were able to stop at numerous lookouts, including Honeymoon Point, to enjoy the view across the gorge.
We tucked into a picnic lunch in a sunny picnic area near the Leura cascades, before walking down to view the cascades themselves.
Unfortunately, one of the trails we wanted to take was closed, but an alternate route shortly afterwards took us steeply down into the rainforest. The route took us through the forest to Scenic World in a couple of hours. From there we were pleased to be able to catch the cable car up to the top of the gorge 500m above, but less pleased to share the experience with lots of "oohing" and "aahing" Japanese.
From there we walked back around towards Echo Poiont, before deciding to head straight back to our room - there were some very ominous looking dark clouds heading our way! We managed to make it back before the rain came lashing down, but only just! As we warmed up in our room, we thought the rain sounded very heavy, but we very surprised to see the heavy hail in Katoomba was already on the local news, showing the streets covered in a white dusting!
Sure enough it was still all white on the ground when we headed out for dinner. We didn't want to go to far and ate a decent pizza and a BYO wine from the bottle shop next door.
Day 318 - Tuesday 23rd May 2006 - hiking in the Blue Mountains - Day 2
After a chilly night, we were pleased we had ordered a hot breakfast. After that, we wanted to catch a bus to Blackheath, but the one Nikki had seen whilst buying our picnic supplies turned out to be the only one running for over 2 hours!
So instead, we caught the train a couple of stops and then had to make our way almost 4km to the start of our planned walk. But, when we reached Govett's Leap, we were rewarded with some great views.
From here, we took the clifftop trail to Evans Lookout, passing Bridal Veil falls and enjoying the great views across the Grose Valley canyon along the way. We ate our picnic lunch while enjoying similar views from Evans Lookout, before descending down on the Grand Canyon Walk.
It was a long way down, with many slippery steps. Eventually we found ourselves back in the rainforest, deep in the canyon with tall trees, sheer cliffs and ferns all around us. We followed Greaves Creek for a while, crossing it back and forth several times. Then we continued on, behind a couple of small waterfalls and under a long stretch of overhanging rock, even through a short tunnel. 
From there it was back up. Lots of steps here and Nikki was starting to get a bit tired (unfortunately she'd already lost the hiking fitness built up in New Zealand!). Finally, a few zig-zags took us to the end of the walk. However, it was still a few kilometres walk back to Blackheath station from here.
About halfway there, we heard the train we had been hoping to catch leave, so when we arrived in the town, we had time for a couple of beers in front of a log fire in the New Ivanhoe Hotel. There, the bar staff told us off for ordering pints (well, we had been served pints in Manly), drinking schooners here instead.
By the time the train got us back to Sydney, it was pretty late and we were hungry. So we went into the first restaurant we saw on the main drag in chinatown for one of their set meals. It was pretty average fayre, with a glass of below average wine thrown in!
Day 319 - Wednesday 24th May 2006 - Pennant Hills Koala Park Sanctuary
We caught a local train our to the suburb of Pennant Hills and then a bus to the Pennant Hills Koala Park Sanctuary. Here, not only did they have koalas, but also fairy penguins, red-necked wallabies, eastern grey kangaroo, red kangaroo, agile long-footed wallabies, wombat, echidna, dingo, wallaroo and lots of birds including kookaburra, wedge-tailed eagle, white, black and pink cockatoos (with lots of white ones flying around outside the cages), galahs, emus and cassawary.
We spent our time wandering around and taking photos. We had a good view of the fairy penguins when they were being fed, and a little later, cuddled up to a koala called "Bula". We also patted a few kangaroos. Then we spotted a kangaroo with far too many legs! Of course, it was a mother and quite a large joey sticking half out of her pouch. We watched as the joey climbed in and out of its mother's pouch, several times heading back for another feed. We thought the mother was very patient, but one photo we took made it look like she was strangling him!
Thanks very much to Rachel & Adrian Killick for "sponsoring" this part of our trip!
We caught the same bus (with the same driver) back to the station and bought some pies and a cheesecake for lunch. Back in Sydney proper, we decided to climb up one of the Harbour Bridge pylons. There was normally a charge for this but we had complimentary tickets from Bridge Climb. There were some great views from the pylon, almost as good as from the top of the bridge itself, with the added bonus that we could take our own cameras up the pylon. There were also some museum exhibits on the building of the bridge and a short slideshow to watch which was very interesting.
We then headed for the internet café for a while before meeting up with Ian's ex-colleagues from the Ambac Sydney office in the evening. We headed out for a few drinks, although the first bar we visited was completely booked out. So, Simon led us to the [Establishment] bar, where we chatted over a few drinks and some snacks. We moved onto another bar, which was showing the first State of Origin (Rugby League) game - a last minute drop goal clinched it for NSW.
Day 320 - Thursday 25th May 2006 - on to Thailand
Nikki was not feeling on top form this morning - no doubt the result on no dinner and perhaps one (or more) too many white wines! So Ian packed up and spent a couple of hours editing our Australia photos in the internet café while Nikki went for a walk back in the Botanic Gardens to get some final photos of the harbour.
We grabbed a take away pasta lunch from Café Linda, which took ages to arrive, so we were almost late for our transfer back to the airport.
It was a pretty long and uncomfortable flight, despite being with BA - Nikki was still suffering and so even turned down the free wine!
Next