Friday 2 December 2011

Australia Nov/Dec 2011 Carnarvon-Perth

Australia Nov-Dec 2011
Travelogue 13 Stage 2
Carnarvon, WA - Perth
from Bryan and Raewyn
austadventures.blogspot.com


Mile long jetty at Carnarvon
Carnarvon
Our last tales were from Carnarvon, midway along the Western Australia coast, and some 900 kms north of Perth. We arrived there October 5th and a week later were offered jobs cleaning and maintaining the grounds in our caravan park. It was pleasant work, with fine days and warm nights and not long before we found we had been in Carnarvon a month. It was time to move on. We needed to move south out of the summer cyclone/flood zone, (which stretches from Carnarvon to Darwin) yet not reach cold and wet Perth too early. On November 7th we left Carnarvon and followed the coast southwards, flanked by outstanding views of a translucent blue Indian Ocean edged in whitest sand, offshore breakers topping the 260km long Ningaloo Reef, and a crisp blue sky overhead.

3500 mllion years old stromatolites , Hamelin Pool, WA
A detour on the way took us to Hamelin Pool, home to rare rock-like stromatolites. Around 3500 million years old, these fossils are believed to be the oldest living things on earth, growing in warm shallow salty water. Stromatolites give off oxygen bubbles as each tide slowly covers them. Further along this one-way road is Monkey Mia, famed for hand-feeding wild dolphins, but a 300km detour to get back to the main highway meant we gave this a miss. Dolphins are seen often at most beaches along this coast. We stopped overnight at Murchison River Rest Area, surrounded by other campers – and many chummy Australian bush flies. Next day was on to Geraldton.


Geraldton
Pinnacles Desert, WA
Geraldton is an historic coastal town, some six hours drive north of Perth. We stopped a week at Fig Tree, a serviced rest area some16 kms east of Geraldton, surrounded by huge fields of golden swaying wheat. Each evening was 'happy hour' with most other campers involved. Geraldton's weekend markets, historic buildings and fine beaches make it an attractive place, if a little strange as most shops close at weekends. It's a little like going into a time warp.

Cervantes
Strange rocks at Pinnacles Desert, near Cervantes
Sunday 13th November we left Geraldton, and two days later settled into the cray-fishing town, Cervantes, close to the Pinnacles Desert region of Nambung National Park. In all Australia, only in this park are found strange limestone pillars up to 5 metres high, in their thousands. A drive and walk through the park allowed us to get up close and personal with some of the pillars. They are extremely hard and depending on where in the park, are in different coloured groups. Various theories explain how they formed, but not knowing adds to their attraction. Oddly, this site was virtually unknown until the 1970s when it was 're-discovered' by locals.


Perth City from Kings Park
PERTH
A zig-zag trip with a night in Yanchep National Park, surrounded by hundreds of kangaroos, and a detour to the Gravity Discovery Centre, found us in Perth on Thursday, November 18th . With 1.6 million people, Perth is the largest city in Western Australia and considered the world's most isolated city. With its many parks, fine surf beaches, easy transport and agreeable climate, Perth is a very liveable city and home to thousands of NZ expatriates The view over the city from the 400 hectare (1000 acre) Kings Park is perhaps the most renowned view of the city - the Swan River fronting the city skyscrapers, and softened by a ribbon of greenery between river and city. There's a lot more sights in Perth than we have seen in the last two weeks. We've visited the Perth Mint, Fremantle markets and inner-city (where bus transport is free), stayed a week with long-time ex-NZ friends, had dinners with other friends we've made along our journey, and organising storage of our car and caravan. Time is now short, and our exploration of Perth will have to wait until we return next year.

This is the end of Stage Two of our Australian journey. We fly back to New Zealand mid-December, and plan to be back in Perth sometime mid-2012 to continue our journey. Please join us. Should you wish to unsubscribe from the blog email list, please let us know. Comments are also welcome.

Have a Cherry Christmas, an equally wonderful New Year and prosperous 2012.

So this is where we are







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