Australia 2007... it's love!!

I’m back!! And it really does feel like coming back :) We’re about one week into our holidays and I’m absolutely loving it!! The beaches, the rugged country.. it’s just gorgeous. And the TimTams are as good as ever, haha, so is the Milo :) I’ve been stocking up!! God, I’ve missed this place, so if coming back to Melbourne in two weeks is only half as good as traveling through WA is right now, I’m so happy :)

So let’s start at the very beginning… Sunday 22 July, just after noon one of my aunties dropped us off at the train station and we were finally on our way. Our Australian Adventure could finally start!! Three flights, two movies, only a few broken hours of sleep and thirty hours later, we finally arrived at Perth Airport just after midnight local time. We were tired and jetlagged, but like I predicted… I was smiling :) Especially when we arrived at our hotel in Perth and I could finally lie down and sleep. Best night of sleep I had had in a long long time!! Morning came late the next day (it might have been the afternoon already actually) and we went exploring through Perth. I love big cities like that!! Just wandering through the streets and through King’s Park or along the Swan river… Getting lost in the crowd… Beautiful. Shame about the heavy rainshowers we had fro time to time.

Anyway, cities are only fun to wander around in for a little while, so when we got our huge campervan (it’s 7.2 meters long and 3.4 meters high) a few days later, I was happy to get on the road and really start traveling along the WA coast. First stop was Guilderton just above Perth, where we had our first taste of Indian Ocean beaches. Our camping spot was pretty much right on the beach front, which was great. Too cold to swim, but lovely to walk along the beach at sunset :)

Next day we moved on again, on to the Pinnacles desert. My dad and Paul had their little dirt road adventure to get there, haha. Boys will be boys, they were both in their element :) The pinnacles was a bit of a freaky place, all those pointy rocks sticking out of the yellow sand. But it was a pretty place too. Another beautiful sunset over sea in the evening and the next day we moved on again. To Geraldton this time, where we would be staying for a couple of days as we were getting tired of driving every single day. I love the driving; there’s something about travelling along a near empty road through deserted land. No one around but yourself and the occasional road train or fellow traveller. And the road kill of course… poor things. But driving for hours every single day is too much. So I was glad to be staying in one place for a few days. Geraldton was a nice place, we were staying at this caravan park which was very close to the beach once again. Too bad it was still too cold to swim, coz the surf was up perfectly. Would have loved to get in :) Also went to the museum where there was an expo on the Dutch VOC ships that sunk along the WA coast. Got to please the parents sometimes and do what they want as well, but it was actually surprisingly interesting when we were there!! Didn’t think it would be to be honest.

From Geraldton we went on to Monkey Mia. Another beautiful place here in paradise. Finally it was warm enough to go for a swim, so me and Paul did. Unfortunately it was very shallow water with no waves whatsoever, but it was lovely nonetheless. And it was good we got in that day, coz the next day it was a bit cold and rainy again. Everywhere we go, we really do take the weather with us, haha. Had a bit of a lazy day, which is what holidays are all about really… Table tennis, walking along the beach and card games is what our day consisted of. And in the evening we went for an Aboriginal cultural walk, which was very coowl. This Aboriginal guy took us on a walk to show us “the land through Aboriginal eyes.” Very interesting stuff!! Next morning we got up early to see the famous Monkey Mia dolphins, which was very coowl with how close they got… if you were allowed, yu just had to stretch out your arms and touch them!! Very awesome :)

As we were up early anyway, we left Monkey Mia pretty early too. On to Kalbarri, which is where we are now still. Yet another gorgeous place long the WA coast. And how calm and quiet the ocean was in Monkey Mia, that’s how wild and powerful the ocean is here. Huge waves crashing on the rocks and sand with such tremendous power… it makes you feel so small. Beautiful. And then to think that merely three weeks ago, I was standing on the Dutch beach with a couple of friends and thinking how good it was to be at the beach again. Well, beaches like this are ten times better!! I know I keep saying it, but I just love it :) This is living :)

Anyway, so Kalbarri is where we are still… Just lazing around at the moment, trying to get a tan, haha. I keep dreaming that one day I will get one :) Looks like another beach day today, and tomorrow we’re going to do a small safari around here. Canoeing and walking and driving with a 4WD through the gorges for the day. Really looking forward to that!! And then Saturday we’re going to make our way back to Perth, where hopefully we’ll arrive on Sunday so we’ll have a few more days to do stuff before we’re heading for Alice Springs on Wednesday for our 5-day camping safari around there!! That’s going to be great too, no doubt :) And then I’m finally back in Melbourne… I can’t wait!!!

So that’s the story so far as far as I’m concerned. If you read all of it, I’m proud of you, haha, coz it turned into another one of my XL updates I’m afraid. I hope everyone’s enjoying life as much as I am right now and that everyone is doing well. To all the non-Aussies, I hope you’re all having a great holiday too wherever you are… To all the Aussies, I’ll hopefully see you very soon. My love to all of you.
xxx Carine

PS. My new Aussie number for this trip for those interested... 0413 716 483