mt gambier

Blue Lake

a few friends told us that Mt Gambier was nothing to exciting and in fact, we probably shouldn’t really stop there because they’re a bit crazy. we decided to stop anyhow. 

Umpherston Sinkhole

we first explored the Umpherston sinkhole. sounds lovely, no? well, it was. lovely that is. it felt very “secret garden” actually. as you make your way down, you become fully aware of the lushness of it all. thick ivy hanging down, green grass, rows upon rows of blooming pink hydrangias. apparently when the property was still owned by the umpherstons, there was water in 1/3 of the sinkhole, which would have been even more magical.  the family used the space as their own private oasis during the hot south australian summers. now i imagine it get used for plenty of wedding or ball photos. it would be an excellent amphitheater as well.

next up, the Englebrecht caves- so named because mr. englebrecht used the caves as a dump for his distillery (before they knew it was an actual cave, not just a bottomless well. how nice.) we took a guided tour down into the caves and our guide was very knowledgeable about the area. the caves have been open to the public since sometime in the 1980’s, after 6 years (6!) of preparing- read: digging and cleaning out dirt/rocks from the cave's entrance. both caves have water in them and they open into larger bodies of water under the city itself. they are incredibly popular spots for cave divers from around the world. cave diving sounds both spectacular and terrifying. mostly terrifying though. *shiver* i can't imagine being down in a cave, so dark you can't see without your headlamps, needing to carry 2 of everything with you, you know, just "in case" and trailing a long rope with you to make sure you can get back out. see, terrifying.

the guide informed us that there is essentially a network of caves all around mt gambier, which theoretically could give way any day (but not likely for thousands of years) but most mt gambierites are none the wiser. in fact, most don’t even seem to know that they’re living over limestone caves, let alone ones that could collapse.

Englebrecht cave

after a quick lunch, we made our way to the famed Blue Lake. what makes this lake interesting is that the water dramatically changes colour: in winter, the lake is a dull grey-green colour and in summer it’s a sparkling sapphire blue. the colour change was mysterious for many years, but they’ve now figured out that it has to do with the calcium carbonate in the water and the heat/sun in summer. the lake is in a (geologically) young volcanic crater- only approx 20 000 years old. blue lake is the main source of water for mt gambier and has approx 60 000 megaliters, of which 5 000 are used per year.

we did the aquifier tour at the blue lake. it started down near the pump house, where the intricacies of how the water gets to mt gambier’s citizens and the general history of the lake was explained. we then rode an (incredibly snug) elevator (with 8 other people) down 30m to the lake’s edge (not quite actually. still a few metres up but as close as you can get), where we were able to see the actual pumps and get a closer look at the lake. i thought the colour of the lake was great, but it seemed to be as blue as most lakes at home (or elsewhere, for that matter). john disagreed. he thinks that it's much bluer then most lakes.

we stopped in the downtown area for a short while at the end of the day. we were quite surprised by the fact that the downtown wasn’t only nice looking, it was actually busy and had useful things in the shops. most communities of this size don’t have a “downtown” - at least not a functional one. they’d be all “big boxed” up. it was nice that this place was different.

i’m glad we decided to stop in Mt Gambier.  it has a surprisingly large amount of cool things going for it. sometimes it’s good when your expectations are low because you’re more likely to be pleasantly surprised in the end.

xo  

vic harbor to mt gambier

the drive from vic harbor to mt gambier is short but lovely, meandering from small seaside town to small seaside town. they're all essentially the same- mostly quaint, with a small mainstreet, trying to upscale themselves to tourists and "foodies" who are now making claim to the area, beach shacks next to estates, all vying for prime property.

on we drove through vineyards and farm lands, pink lakes and marshes. the area surrounding the murray mouth (the mouth of the murray river) is rather dry. we've been told by friends that the areas have been in drought for a long time due to the massive amount of irrigation and draining on the murray river (or river murray, depending on which area of australia you live in). when 3/4 of your population lives along it (or something like that), it's not hard to see how it could dry up pretty quickly. the murray is australia's longest river and is some 2400kms long. it's size can be summed up like this: the north of queensland, where the river starts, is currently experiencing massive rainfalls and flooding. this flooding isn't expected to hit the (now dry) murray mouth region until march. march! people are being warned to prepare accordingly.

jetty in beachport

we crossed the murray on a small cable-ferry in wellington. looked like it could hold about 16 cars or so. took all of 2 minutes to get across. why they didn't just build a bridge, i don't know. suppose here's something nostalgic about the cable-ferry.

after a night of rest on the coorong peninshoe-la (!) we headed down to the southern ports of the younghusband pensinsula (yes. younghusband) as suggested by a fellow traveller. we stopped for lunch in robe which was, once again, a typical little seaside town- quaint main street, lots of fishmongers, upscale cafes and restaurants.

next on the list was beachport, where john bravely went for a swim in the ocean (it's not hot at the moment. in fact, it's actually quite cool. mostly the wind is cold. and since the summer weather hasn't really "hit" the ocean is bloody f-ing cold right now).we were rather intrigued by the Pool of Siloam in beachport, which is 7x saltier then the ocean. it claims to do wonders for arthritis. it also claims that you can float rather nicely. a bit of history here: i don't float. ever. if people who float are buoyant, i am abuoyant. always have been. i can't even do a dead man's float properly. my legs sink. when i did my discover dive, the guy was surprised at how little weight was needed to keep me under water. michelle = tonne of bricks in water.

off we drove to the pool of siloam (sounds so biblical to me!). we pulled in and were hopeful- there was a lady in the water, pleasantly bobbing around, feet up, hands behind her head.  i asked how it was and she said "amazing. so nice to bob around".  the pool of siloam (i like saying it) looked like some sort of festery lake, where one might find crocs and diseases. but it was sheltered from the wind and small children were enjoying themselves and this lady was bobbing around with ease. with the sun beating down, i boldly entered the lake.

pool of siloam

fact- the pool of siloam does not make floating easy. i was unable to be buoyant without madly paddling my hands under water (eggbeater style). which, in my humble opinion, means that i was not floating, i was floundering. the aforementioned lady drifted by me and laughed about how great it was. then i saw her stand up.  (lightbulb!) she was, well, rather "buoyant" even out of the water. i felt somewhat better but still felt ripped off by the fact that i didn't get to float (john didn't either, for anyone wondering).

somewhat disheartened by our trip to the pool of siloam (say it. it's fun), we drove down to our next destination- mt gambier.

xo

victor harbor

angry waves at the victor harbour beach

no. it's not a spelling mistake. victor harbor is so spelled - if i am to believe wikipedia- because of an error of a surveyor general when the town was renamed in 1921 (prior to, it was port victor).

victor harbor (it feels so wrong to spell it like that) is a small seaside town in the south of south australia, on the fleurieu peninsula (pronounced penin-shoe-la in australia). with a population of only 11000 or so, the place is kind of quaint but still has everything you need. it's generally a bustling little metropolis at this time of year, but due to the terrible summer weather that south australia has been having, it actually was rather sparsely populated.

fairy penguin

vic harbour was a dominant whaling town back in its heyday. but as it's rather wrong to whale now, it's mostly just a tourist destination. people generally had the same reaction when we told them we'd be spending christmas there (oh! you'll love it there!). the town still gets an ample amount of whales in the area, but generally during june-oct.

it also happens to be home of the fairy penguins, whose name is under fire because apparently "fairy" penguins isn't a PC name. so they're also known as little penguins (because they only get to 30cm tall or so) or blue penguins (because they have a blue-ish sheen to them) or little blue penguins (for obvious reasons). fairy penguin is definitely my favourite. a few facts: they eat about 10% of their body weight every day. they can dive nearly 70m and can stay underwater for about 90s. the men make the burrows and then woo the ladies based on said burrows (hey baby, check out my house. you want to mate?)

causeway to granite island

pink lake between vic harbour and robe

the penguins live/hangout on granite island, a small island just off of victor harbor. it requires either a 600m walk or horse-drawn trolley ride. we opted to walk, mostly because we're cheap. there is a walking trail around the island and of course, a cafe/restaurant.

we spent 3 days in vic harbor, with my friend and her family. the weather was rather windy, rainy and brisk- which was nice but completely unusual for this area of the country at this time of year. i won't complain though, because i think being too hot in the van would be worse then being cold.

we left vic harbour and started our way down to mount gambier.  we drove by many a pink lake (caused by excess beta carotene), more vineyards and dry swampbeds (because they murray river is far too drained). we stopped for the night at a campground on the coorong peninsula- a national park in south australia.

xo

another australian christmas

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas... actually, it's not. not at all. not for a canadian and, i daresay, not even for the aussies this year. where we would normally expect cold and snowy in canada, australians are used to hot and beachy. alas, the weather around the country has been incredibly unusual and in many places, there is no such heat, sun or beachy weather. queensland is awash with rain at the moment and south australia- well, i'm told that it feels like winter right now. as i write this, the wind is blowing against the windows, the fire is crackling in the corner of the room and i could just as well be in a cabin by the mountains as i am in a holiday house overlooking the ocean.

christmas here just feels odd to me. in fact, i can't actually get into the christmas spirit at all. it's a bit of a shame really. i would like to. it's just that with hot weather (generally) and a lack of christmas lights in the surrounding neighbourhood, or christmas carols on my favourite non-commercial radio station (also the lack of snow...) i just can't get into it. i don't decorate my house - not that i ever did much in canada-, i don't play christmas carols in the house, i don't do any christmas baking. i'm not even inspired to go gift shopping. when people tell me how many days til christmas, i always say "what? no. you must be wrong". i suppose it doesn't help that i'm driving across the country in a van, pleasantly unaware of the day/date.

but then the big day comes. this year, christmas was spent with my friend (and her family). we had seafood for lunch (they did. i didn't really. not a fan of seafood as such), champagne and plum pudding for dessert (again, not me. not a fan). we popped christmas crakers and party poppers (my favourite!). then we curled up on the couches and read books, had naps and just relaxed. it was a thoroughly enjoyable day.

and then as quickly as it came, it left. christmas. done and dusted for another year.  i sit here listening to the wind outside and the fire inside and i think, well, maybe it's not that different after all.

family, friends, food. that's all it comes down to in the end.
xo

clare and barossa valleys

clare valley

wine. wine. and more wine. the clare and barossa valleys are 2 (of many) wine regions in south australia. clare is a quaint germanic tourist town in the heart of the valley. it's big enough to have everything you need but small enough to make you feel like you've stepped back into time.

conveniently, the clare valley has a 25km walk/cycle trail called the riesling trail. it follows the old train line and ambles from clare to auburn. we were told at the tourist centre that there weren't many wineries along the actual trail, so we chose to follow a few other routes before catching the trail on our way back. for 5 hours, we cycled through the rolling hills (some feeling less rolling, more steep), stopping in at the occasional cellar door to taste a wine or two before setting off on our way again. not all of the vineyards were open for business as it was midweek (which, clearly we had no idea. losing track of time is my favourite part of being on holidays) but we did manage to find a few lovely, smaller vineyards.

we also stopped at a place called Sevenhill, run by religious brothers. they have over 50 000 tourists who stop in. the wine wasn't all that good (so john told me) but the place itself was quite cool- a museum, underground cellar, church and crypt for people to explore.

underground cellar at Sevenhill wines

after the ride, we drove down to the barossa valley. this region of SA is currently under siege by locusts. not quite a plague of them, we're told. but enough to be disturbing and destructive. locusts eat most greenery (luckily for the wine makers, they don't like the vines) and generally avoid the hay crops. but anything else that might be green will be eaten. they stop at nothing. it is absolutely disgusting to be driving though a veritable cloud of locusts (they're rather juicy when they hit the windscreen).

the barossa is another splendid area with dozens of vineyards (much larger then in clare. also more "famous") and a variety of small germanic towns to explore, all of similar nature to clare only a bit bigger. we stayed with one of john's friends at her family farm- it was nice to have a solid bed and shower without flipflops on! the farm sits on 100 acres and is nestled between some vineyards and other farmland- feels like you're in the middle of nowhere, when in fact, you're right in the heart of wine country.

we left the barossa today and made our way to adelaide. john's friend showed us around glenelg, a really nice beachside area in adelaide (i had no idea adelaide was on the beach....sad, i know). we saw the most awesome looking activity- which we didn't do because the line was so long and it cost 10$ for 5 minutes- but it was essentially people in "hamster balls" rolling around in a small pool. it was hysterical. and i really would have loved to try it. next time. next time.

and now i sit here at john's friend's place, watching what might be the worst movie i've seen in a really long time. "rogue"- something along the lines of an australian version of Jaws, but using a croc instead. it's terrible. well and truly terrible.

but at least i'll get another shower without flipflops :)

xo

port augusta to clare

there are many things i love about australia. campsites are not one of them. after a poor sleep disturbed by bleating sheep (waiting to be crotched! the sheep equivalent to a brazilian...) and road trains wooshing by, we were awoken this morning by the sound of dirtbikes revving their engines (modern-day sheep herding perhaps?) it wasn't painfully early when this happened, but it felt painfully early to us. SA is 2.5 hours ahead of perth at the moment, thanks to daylight savings. at one point along the drive, we were 45 minutes ahead. then it's an hour and half. and then daylight savings. best not to get me started on that one.

so after a quick pack-up, we were back on the road. we stopped in port augusta to pick up some supplies for the next few days. most of our perishable food was taken from us (or quickly eaten by john beforehand) in Ceduna, to prevent fruit flies from migrating into SA or something like that. port augusta is the (and i quote) southern gateway to the flinders ranges, which we are not venturing into unfortunately. port augusta has been called many other things by my south australian friends, but i choose not to repeat them here)

we drove through the flinders to mt remarkable national park. in my opinion, if a place uses an adjective in it's name, for example mt remarkable, mt glorious, lake amazing, field of wonder or other such places, they generally are not remarkable, glorious, amazing or wonderful at all. they are generally rather lackluster. it's like when your mom says that a boy is "really nice" because he's not nearly goodlooking enough for your taste. "namely" places have to suck you in somehow, sell themselves to you. places that are truly naturally beautiful generally don't have to stoop to such levels. but i get duped all the time. i can't help it. how can you pass up something called mt remarkable? and then once you're there, it's too late. you might as well get out and explore anyhow.

we weren't able to climb mt remarkable today. it was a bit late in the afternoon and the friendly lady at the caravan park told us we'd need at least 5 hours to do it (so probably really only 3). so we decided to do some bushwalking around the area instead. it turned into a short trail run and was rather enjoyable actually. not remarkable though. just enjoyable.

from there we drove to clare. the scenery around here is much like the wheatbelt in WA. except that the areas not covered in gold coloured hay (or dirty coloured sheep eating the leftovers of the gold coloured hay) are green. and the landscape is actually rolling hills, not flat flat fantastically flat. it's quite pleasing to the eye.

we've settled into the clare caravan park for the night. it's a nice little place. it has grass and trees and lots of space. and more importantly, no sheep. it's by far the nicest campground we've ever stayed at in australia. i suppose i could've guessed it would actually be a nice place. it's not called "camp astounding" after all.

xo

the nullarbor

or so they say...

nullarbor. null arbor. no trees. filthy lie.

there are trees in the nullarbor. not much else really. trees, low-lying shrubbery, animals. that’s it. the nullarbor is technically only a small component of the 1900km drive from Norseman (200km north of esperance) to Adelaide, but it’s generally considered to be all of it.  it is painfully boring to drive. it’s the kind of drive where roadhouses get surprisingly large dots on the map, even though there's absolutely nothing else around said roadhouses. it’s such a long drive that by the time we finish, we will be over half done the entire amount of km’s that we plan on doing for this whole trip! We have been teased with signs suggesting that camels, emus, cows, wombats and kangaroos like to prance across the road but have yet to see anything other then the occasional ‘roo carcass.

tangent: because here’s the thing that kind of shits me about WA (i’m saying WA only because i haven’t yet experienced the rest of australia…). australia has the most magnificent coastline. honestly. it might be all sheer-cliffs falling into dangerously cold looking dark blue water or it might be all white-sandy-beach with lazily lapping turquoise waves or anything in between. but fact of the matter is that it’s really, truly amazing. and yet for some reason, WA absolutely does not want anyone to know that it even has a coastline, let alone a spectacular one. you can drive for hours in WA and not know that it’s even on the coast because for some reason, roads are nowhere near the coast. ever.  and so, as we drove across tree-plenty nullarbor, we saw nothing but trees, grass and dirt. no water. no coast. no crashing waves. nothing. the nullarbor sits about 60km north of the coast, save the very (very!) occasional glimpses of the water (only once you hit Eucla, approx 8 hours after you leave norseman!) the drive is painful enough as it is, why- i ask why?- would you not even have some “scenic tourist drives” that stretch from the nullarbor down to the water. yes yes, i know. it’s convenient for trucks, nay, road trains (an altogether different thing when you’re being passed by one) but still. surely some other tourists would appreciate the option to stray from the main road to take in the sights. or * gasp * have lunch overlooking something other then the roadhouse or a dirt “parking “ area. i digress.

tee at the par 4 near one of the road houses

there are a few interesting things along the nullarbor (believe it or not). first: the world's longest golf course. though we don’t have any clubs with which to hit a ball, we have stopped to look at a few (actually, only one) of the holes along the road. there are intermittent stops along the way where you get out, hit your par 4 then get back into your car. i think it’s only a 9-hole course but i’m not sure. it’s not on most maps and we generally can’t be arsed asking at the roadhouse.

two: the longest stretch of straight road in australia is the 90-mile straight. thrilling no? (why they refer to it in miles given that australia has wholly embraced the metric system -unlike we wavering canadians- i don’t know. probably sounds better then the 146.6km straight i suppose). for 90 miles the road is dead straight. set-your-cruise-control-and-go-to-sleep straight. not-even-a-blip-in-the-road straight. then you hit Caiguna and it diverts ever so slightly to the right and then bam! straight again. only not for as long, so they don’t name it this time.

RFDS emergency landing strip sign

three: the royal flying doctor service (conjuring up many a good image in my mind) uses the highway as, get this, their emergency airstrip. yup. there are random signs along the way with the image of a plane and a few hundred meters later there are white stripes painted across the road and then a few hundred meters later the second set of white stripes are painted across the road. i can only imagine what it must look like when they need to make such an emergency landing. someone in their car, totally dazed and hopped up on caffeine thinking “gee that plane looks close. is it getting closer? closer? closer!? aaaaaaah!”.

nothing else really exciting about the nullarbor.  there’s the occasional (poorly signed) turn off suggesting we go look at some special rock/outcrop/field but for the most part, our drive consists of this: shrubbery. road train road train road train. ‘roo carcass. road train. RFDS airstrip. shrubbery. trees. trees. shrubbery. ‘roo carcass. 

we are now more then 1/2 way across the continent

so, here we are on the eastern end of the nullabor, 2 full days of driving (and then some) later. thanks to good music (very cleverly wired in by john) and lots of caffeine- the drive was somewhat enjoyable.

we are now in a very random place called the nutbush resort (loose term here again), just outside of port augusta. there are hundreds of sheep baaa-ing, waiting to be sheared, nay, crotched (look it up...), right beside our "campsite". i think/fear that they will be lulling us to sleep shortly.

xo 

esperance and cape le grand

sunset at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand

esperance is a small seaside-town, about 8hrs from perth,  in the very south-east of WA. it was highly recommended amongst our well-travelled friends as a great place to go and unwind. it’s far enough from perth that most people don’t visit. in fact, when i told people that’s where we’d be stopping first, they generally said “oh esperance. i’d love to go. but it’s too far!” keep in mind that it’s only 8 hours from perth.

esperance does have another attractive quality- it claims to be the home of australia’s best beaches. a big statement given that australia is a beach and there are a ton of beautiful areas. we’ve been told that the beaches in esperance have actually been used in place of east coast beaches in advertisments for areas like the whitsundays. scandalous.

the beaches in esperance proper were lovely but nothing to write home about- especially if home is australia. we were pleased with our location though- a cute little campground just outside of the town, right on the ocean. after 2 nights, we decided to try our luck and drive out to cape le grand.

as it’s a national park, you can’t reserve a spot at the campground- first come, first served (or, as they say in australia, “first in, best dressed”. a statement neither john nor i can actually make sense of. which is it, first in or best dressed?) as luck would have it, there were “lots” of places left at the “campsite” at Lucky Bay. quotations are because "campsite" is generally a loose term in australia (or WA. we’ll discover more as we drive i’m sure) and the campsite was actually just a large gravel/dirt parking lot, with numbers allotted. i still find it hard to shake the expectation that in a national park (national!), you might actually have a small patch of grass or area to yourself, maybe a tree or a bush to shield you from your neighbour. alas, ‘tis not so. but what was lacking in campgroundness was made up for with simply stunning scenery.

Thistle Cove- Cape Le Grand

Shortly after we got Betty settled in for the night, we went for a walk along the beach. the sand was white as snow and fine as caster sugar. it actually made a crunchy snow-like sound when you walked on it. and it squeaked! the water was an amazing turquoise-blue colour. definitely a contender for the most beautiful beach in australia! we were incredibly tempted to swim but chose not to for 2 reasons. one, it was bloody cold out and two, the waves looked like they might suck me in and drag me to antartica.

Lunch break on the Coastal Track

the next morning we ventured off along the coastal track- it’s a 15km one-way walk. we decided not to disturb Betty and set-off for a shorter return-trip to hellfire bay. the walk was surprisingly well marked (so very un-WA) and graded appropriately (also very un-WA). as we climbed and clambered up rocks and through shrubbery, we were rewarded with endless views of seriously beautiful ocean, cliffs, islands and beaches (definitely more contenders for the best beach award). we returned a bit tired from the journey and not a second too soon- moments after we greeted Betty, the rain came down!

view from the top of Frenchman's Peak- Cape Le Grand

when we woke the next day, we’d decided to move on from cape le grand and start the drive to south australia but not before climbing frenchman’s peak on our way out of cape le grand. the peak was essentially granite and rose about 300m. we scampered to the top rather quickly- enjoying more glorious views of the park before making out way down. a bit slower on the way down, what with the rather precarious angles of the granite.  we ran into a few ladies climbing up the peak in flip-flops! flip flops! might as well rub some grease on your feet and ski down the rock. thankfully we didn’t hear any loud crashing noises or screams- so we think they made it back down safely.

we stopped in esperance for a short while, restocking, recharging and refuelling before we set out on the next leg of our journey: the long, long drive across the infamous nullarbor.

xo

it begins

john's surfing wave rock

i am writing this from the campervan. yes. it's true. our road trip has begun.

we left a few hours later then planned, thanks to a very last-minute sale of our car (thank god!) and so didn't quite reach our intended destination of wave rock. but we did get a few hours out of perth and settled on a roadside stop at "gorge rock". the setting ideal- off the road, marked location, and not one "no camping" sign in site. we were the only people in the place, which made it even better.

we didn't really explore gorge rock. at the risk of sounding a bit underwhelmed by most things in WA, the truth is,  we didn't think it was that exciting. the sign posts at the rest area provided us with a bevy of interesting information about the area (like the fact that the swimming hole was dug out by mr. jones, who used his new bobcat for the occasion...). we packed up in the morning and drove to our first "destination": wave rock.

wave rock is one of those places that are cool to see but not worth driving out too if that's all you're going to do. the rock is some 110m long and about 15m high and has been carved into the shape of a wave by the water/erosion over thousands and thousands of years. it's kind of neat. inevitably, we took a "hang 10" photo- as if surfing this rock is at all like surfing in the water. but it seems to be the quintessential photo, so we took it. we scampered to the top of the rock and looked out over the salt lakes (which i think are actually just salt. no water) then made our way back down.

trying not to be eaten by the hippo

now, wave rock isn't the only exciting rock formation in the area. there is a short 2km stroll over to the hippos yawn, so called because, yes, it looks like a hippos mouth when it's yawning (or yelling maybe. but hippos yell doesn't sound as nice).

there were a few other rock-like formations in the area but these required a drive on unsealed roads and frankly we just weren't up to it. we also chose to not pay the 5$ entry fee to "the lace place", an unusual side-show at wave rock. it's apparently the largest collection of lace in the southern hemisphere or something like that. part of me wishes we'd paid the entry fee, just to say that we did. the other part of me is horribly confused as to why a place like wave rock would have such a museum.

needless to say, we got back into the van and kept driving. through vast, incredibly dry fields of harvested wheat and dirty sheep, making our way to esperance- our current location.

xo

so long, farewell

the time has come. we are leaving perth. it's hard to believe that 4 years have come and gone so quickly. but they have. john has finished school and is officially a chiropractor now. i'm going back to school (because we just can't get enough apparently). we're moving on. we'll be on the road for the next 7.5 weeks, driving across australia with betty, our campervan. she's fully loaded and ready to go, eagerly awaiting our departure tomorrow morning.

we've been so busy lately that it hasn't quite hit us yet, and it probably won't until we arrive in brisbane and start looking for a new home. but i've tried to reminisce a little about life in perth and have come up with a few things about our life here.

things we'll miss: (other then the obvious... friends!)

- the proximity of beautiful beaches (5 minute drive. hello!)
- freo, and all of it's hippy eclecticness
- "winter" weather of 20 degrees during the day and 10 at night!
- being active, outdoors, all year long
- sunset on the beach
- all of our favourite cafes
- the local markets

things we won't miss (at all!)

- early closing times at shops, restaurants and cafes
- perth drivers (yes. they are that bad)
- the cost of living
- our property manager and house owner (2 seperate people whom i equally hate)
- the poor shopping options (this is more me then john, obviously)
- the distance to anywhere/everywhere else!

i can think of other things i love or hate, but they're more about australia in general and not perth specifically. my brain is fried and way to tired to think of anything else. so with that, to quote the von trapp family, we say: so long, farewell, auf weidersehen, goodbye.

thanks for all the memories perth.
xo

uluru and kata tjuta

the last few days that we spent with my parents couldn't have been in a better place: uluru (and it's less famous sister, kata tjuta). my dad, who was a bit "disappointed" that australia didn't look more like the set of crocodile dundee was happy to see a lot of red nothingness while we flew over the landscape. unfortunately for him, upon arrival at uluru we were told that this has been the wettest year that the red centre has seen for a long time and as such, it looked rather lush and green. quite a nice contrast to the red dirt and clear blue sky actually.

we arrived midday, from not so great weather in perth into some scorching desert heat. we hoped on the hotel bus and were delivered to the hotel quickly. there is only one complex in uluru- the ayers rock resort. it's a pretty good set-up in that they have from 1-6 star accommodation, and similar dining options. so you can pay for 2 star, and splash about in the 5 star pool area and no one cares.

our first day was pretty much spent by the pool as we tried to adjust to the heat of the desert. for dinner that night, we went to the backpackers pub and cooked some "buy your own" fish on the communal bbq while we listened to a one-man show (he had tracks to sign too. it was great!) the next day started out much the same, as we didn't have a tour booked until the afternoon. we chose to do tours and not climb the rock out of respect for the aboriginal cutlure- uluru is a sacred place to them and climbing it (as many do!) is rather disrespectful. for some reason people are still given the option to climb it, but we were told that this will stop mid-next year.

a bit of knowledge about uluru- it has a circumference of approx 9.4km (yes, km!) and is 348m high. it's 335km from the nearest city (i use that term kind of loosely here). it was formed, long story short here, by an old mountain range that collapsed in time. the stria on uluru sit at about 85 degrees, so the rock is almost technically side-lying. it's believed to be about 4-5km deep into the ground. and, little known fact here, it's not actually the world's largest monolith. that honour lies with mount augustus in WA (2.5 times bigger, actually). it's just that uluru is more spectacular because it literally is in the middle of nowhere and has no growth on it, so it really looks like a giant rock in the desert.

our first tour was the sunset tour of uluru (or ayer's rock as some people know it). our guide, who could have easily been a smooth-jazz dj, was a surprising wealth of knowledge. he managed to entertain our packed bus and educate us on the flora, fauna and general history around uluru. the sunset tour stops as the visitors centre where you get to spend an hour roaming around, learning about the indigenous culture and lifestyle, look at art, etc. we then drove around the other side and did 2 stops where our informative guide regaled us with stories of aboriginal culture and random bits of history. the tour ends at sunset, when the tour bus pulls into the "sunset viewing area" and we were given wine and munchies. amazingly enough, even though we felt like we'd been out there on our own all day, there were some 17 tour buses parked along with us. not to mention the dozens of cars in the "non-tour group" viewing areas. the colours really were spectacular as the sun set over uluru. it was easy to understand why it is an area of significant spiritual meaning to the aboriginal population.

the next day we *ugh* woke for the sunrise tour- 4:30am pick up. a bit rough really. again, our easy listening tour guide drove us around uluru to watch the sun rise above it. the colours are quite different then at sunset and i would probably chose sunset vs. sunrise for sheer awe, but that may be influenced by the 4am wake up call!

after the sun rose, we were escorted to kata tjuta, an equally impressive yet significantly less known rock formation only a short distance from uluru. kata tjuta (the olgas) is thought to have been formed at the same time as uluru but in a very different manner (i am not a geologist, so i will not try to explain the difference). we did a short walk into the olgas, trying not to be blown away by the intense desert wind that had come up. the tour ended before midday and we were taken back to the hotel.

that night we had the most amazing experience at the Sounds of Silence dinner. a truly unique event, we were taken by bus, at sunset, to an area between uluru and kata tjuta. the sun set over kata tjuta onto uluru. we were given champagne and appetizers and listened to a local play the didjeridoo. after the sun had set, we walked a few metres down to the dinner tables. large round tables in white table cloths peppered the area. we shared our table with 5 old norwegians- they were hilarious (and man! can they drink). for dinner we had a buffet of traditional australian fare (including crocodile ceasar salad and kangaro steaks) and for desert a whole plethora of deliciousness! as the sky got darker, an amateur astonomist gave us a tour of the night sky. he pointed out constellations we'd never seen before and spoke of aboriginal folklore. we were then encouraged to look through the telescopes to see jupiter (cool!) and the moon (also cool!). towards the end of the night, we put out all the lights on the tables and everyone sat quietly, listening to the (you guessed it) "sound of silence" in the desert. it truly was one of the most amazing experiences i've ever had.

the rest of our time at uluru was spent like this: laze by the pool, read, swim, laze, read, swim, drink, laze, swim, laze, drink, laze, laze, laze. when you are in the middle of nowhere (and i really mean that!) there really is nothing else to do but, well, laze. so we did.

it was a lovely way to end a great holiday with my parents. parting at the uluru airport wasn't easy, but we have good memories, lots of photos and the knowledge that i'll be in canada in july. i'll try to get photos up as soon as i can.

xo