AU westcoast
Trip Start
Mar 19, 2007
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32
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Trip End
Oct 15, 2007
Exmouth, Australia
Monday, May 28, 2007
Since leaving, we camped out at different beaches, stopped in Kalbarri, Denham (Shark Bay), Monkey Mia, and now Exmouth. Let's see- we've seen Emus galore (usually sniffin around the campsites looking for free food), a few echidnas (they look like a cross between a porcupine/miniature anteater), a chain of catapillars crossing the road, more kangaroos than I could count, parrots everywhere, a few eagles, and the best was the wild dolphins!
Let's see.. interesting stories- well, we almost got stuck in sand trying to find our first campsite on the beach
Bad fish sticks
. We did manage to get our tires (which were halfway covered in sand) out of it by swerving back and forth a bit. The first night Nadja and I tried setting up camp, she hooked up the propane tank to the stove and I had the task of lighting it. Well, I did- and the whole thing burst into flames! Nadja flew back about 5 feet, and I'm convinced I burnt off some hairs! Apparently, the hose wasn't tightened on enough, so flames were coming out of both the stove and the hose connection! Somehow I managed to turn it off (took me a few tried since its a bit backward), and well.. we were a bit hesistant to light it again after that! We did manage to cook some noodles and tea before the night was over :)Flies are a BIG problem going up the west coast, so half of the lovely views we saw were plagued with hundreds (no exaggeration) of flies swarming around us. Let's just say, the mosquito headnets we have, have been put to great use!
Monkey Mia was probably the highlight of the trip though! I was able to go into the water where wild dolphins come up and feed one! I was also a bit sneaky and waited for the ranger to leave after the last feeding and when the dolphins came back, I was able to wade in the water with them abit (till I got in trouble).. lol.. It's really controlled just for the protection of the dolphins.. but what an experience! There is so much more to the story, but this entry will be heaps long if I give you all the details now!
Now for the people, we met some nice Irish fellows at one campsite/caravan park, a nice aussie couple, and in Monkey Mia we ended up playing cards one night with a 3 guys. One was from Chile, England, and the last was from France. It just so happens, that offering your leftover sausages to some hungry boy backpackers may just be the start of a beautiful friendship!
beach campsite
! It was great though, we went out to Cape Peron, a beautiful Natl park in Shark Bay and did some 4wheel driving, we THINK we saw a shark, and of course battled the flies a bit. Anyways, it was quite an experience having 5 different nationalities in a car at one time! That night back at the camp we met 2 girls from the UK. We all said goodbye the next day, but lo and behold, 2 days later, we all met up in Coral Bay. We went snorkeling, Matt (the british fellow) saw a reefshark and just about scared the crap out of all of us!.. But it was some amazing snorkeling. Then the me, nadja, the boys, and the 2 british girls all spent the next 2 days in Exmouth. We went to the beach again, and watched the sunset out at cape range national park. Sadly though, we also killed our first kangaroo :( It wasn't intentional, but Chris (the Chilean) was driving their caravan, followed by the english girls, then our 4wd. Well, the sun had set and there are always heaps of kangaroos on the side of the road at this time. Apparently one jumped in front of his car and all we know is that we saw them swerve, by the time our car came up to it, I knew that a roo had been hit. I made Nadja stop (you always have to make sure there isnt a joey in the pouch if its a female) and luckily there wasn't, but sadly the roo wasn't dead. Of course, I broke into tears (it was obviously in pain!). Anyways, none of us were sure what to do, and most of them just assumed leave it.
Blow holes
. Naturally, I wouldn't leave it, so Chris and I used my jumper to carry it to the side of the road (its legs were broke). At that point, I was still crying, and I had 4 different nationalilities trying to pry me away from the roo. Anyways, lucky for us we were able to flag some passing aussies down, and they put it out of its misery for us (I didnt think I was physically strong enough to do it and no one else wanted to) . It definitely put a damper on the night, but it was another lesson learned! And since then, I found out that we did the right thing by not leaving it there to suffer (and also a better technique for ending its suffering).As for now, the boys have already left for Darwin and now our little campsite is much lonelier! But Nadja is out swimming with the whalesharks (I couldn't afford it), and I'm just hangin out in the town killing time till we head back to Perth tomorrow! And even though the boys left, theres never a shortage of people to meet. Last night we chatted with a young guy from switzerland whos actually French and had a nice cup of tea! Anyways, that's the update for now!
Comments
COOL !!
COOL !!! -UnD