Australia & New Zealand Adventure Part VII: Perth and the South West

Well...what can I say? It has been QUITE THE TRIP SO

FAR here in West Australia. Absolutely stunning,

brilliant, fabulous, and unpredictable!

So much has happened, that I am forced to write two

emails, one for the South West of the state, and the

second for my trip up the coast of

WA

to Broome, where

I currently sit in the path of deadly and destructive

cyclone - Cyclone Fay, just off the coast of Broome

and heading our way! I am stuck in our youth hostel,

getting drunk even though its still morning....what a

way to spend a few days!

Anyway, here is the update from when Giovanna and I

arrived in

Perth

. The next letter will follow, but

this should make it easier for you all to read!

Well,

Perth

is such a beautiful and cosmopolitan city.

We went to

Fremantle

in the morning for some

cappuccinos and just melted the morning away in the

blazing heat. We took a cruise back to the city

center, and found that they offered free wine tasting

on board - needles to say, we were both completely

sozzled by the time we got into the city of swans....

Later that afternoon, we hired a car for our south

west adventure and headed south. Our first stop was

the beach at the wondrous Indian Ocean. I was most

impressed with the clarity of the water and the

whiteness of the sand. I would say that the west

coast gives the east a run for its money in terms of

its beaches!

The next morning, in

Bunbury

, we hurried on down to

the Dolphin Discovery Center, a non-profit center that

boasts a bottle nose dolphin "interaction" zone where

the dolphins swim to on a daily basis right up to

shore to interact with the humans. Tears welled in my

eyes, as "Jet" swam in front of me inches from my

hands. These creatures are truly magnificent and

graceful.

Moving on that afternoon we found several paradisaical

beaches to lounge upon - Meelup and Bunker bay were

highlights! Just crystal blue water: a bounty advert

about to happen and not another soul in sight!

That evening was absolutely mesmerising. We went to a

bay that was supposed to have giant stingrays. Just

about to leave after failing to spot one, I noticed a

grey shape gliding by us close to shore. I ran,

screaming with excitement, and saw the ray : a large

grey "monster" with eyes the size of eggs and about

1.5 meters long. Some local fishermen there were kind

enough to give us some fresh fish to feed the ray with

- it was quite a tug-of-war extravaganza with the ray

tugging on one end and you holding on for dear life on

the other. Such a strange sensation! We were also

able to stroke the strange things, obviously avoiding

its painful "stinger".

Just at that moment, I looked up at the blushing

sunset sky only to spot two dolphins about 15 feet

from shore swimming in. I started to scream with

excitement (again) which was immediately followed by

more shrieks from Giovanna and a mad striptease and

running into the water. This time, without any prior

planning, I was swimming within 1-2 feet of these

creatures who were feasting on a pod of salmon.

Mind-blowing night. Truly.

That night we stayed in the top hostel in

Australia

in

Augusta

. Just so cute and the management so friendly-

pretty much how you can some up all West Australians,

wonderfully sarcastic in their wicked humor and

bending over themselves to be helpful. The characters

we met on our car journey alone were worth the trip!

The following day we visited Cape Leeuwin, the south

western most point in

Australia

. Then it was on to

the legendary forests of tall Karri and Tingle Trees.

Our first stop, just before

Pemberton

, was the giant

Bicentennial Tree. Now this was no ordinary tree, it

had a ladder carved into it so that you could climb

its' precarious 70 meter height to the top of the

forest canopy. I have no idea what possessed me to

attempt this ludicrous feat, with absolutely no-one

around, no net to catch you if you fall, and just a

sheer drop awaiting you under each rung, but up we

both went. Fucking exhilarating. Excuse the

language, but we wished there had been a crowd of

people around to cheer us on when we got to the top!

Instead, we sufficed on munching our lunches, feeling

like Ewoks in

Return of the Jedi

. The climb down was

even more terrifying, and we were most glad to reach

solid ground.

After such a morning, we treated ourselves to a

relaxing swim in Hooker Reservoir before driving to

Walpole for our third night.

The next day we also walked up into a tree-top canopy,

but this time it was via the famous Valley of the

Giants tree-top walk; essentially a bridge platform

built 40 meters off of the ground. It was very

exciting, just not quite as scary as before!

We continued driving through stunning forest and

coastline on to

Albany

, and since we still had hours

of light, we decided to press on the extra 300 K to

Wave Rock, in Hyden.

People say that Wave Rock is disappointing: 350 k from

Perth

and a 10 minute wonder. But I gasped when I

first glimpsed it. A sheer 15 meter high rock that

has formed the shape of a wave through erosive forces.

The view from the top was gorgeous too, my first real

view of the "outback" - red dust as far as the eye

could see in all directions....

The drive back was long, but we arrived in

Perth

that

night ready for our tour up the west coast in the

morning......

That's where I will leave it for now, its definitely

time to have another beer, and check out this

cyclone's latest heading!

I will write again tomorrow with more adventures. I

hope this email finds you all well.