Sunday - March 30.
In Perth we bought a white Ford Falcon wagon from year 2004 for 2600 dollars.
We bought it from some French people who had driven the car from Sydney to Perth. Now they were moving on and had to sell it. They promised us it is a good car and that the car is ready to go on the road again right away.
The price started at 3000 dollars, but we managed to get it for 2600 dollars due to all the stuff we had to buy ourself and that they really wanted to sell it now before they were going further.
It has papers that show us the car is registered in Western Australia and that it was serviced in february. It feels good to drive it, so we took the chance and bought it. Our first car. :) It feels good, but lets see... We talked about, that it is a gamble with these backpacker cars...
Monday - March 31.
We spent most of the day buying all the stuff we need to live in our new home. About 350 dollars spent on those.
We drove to the Perth suburb, Armadale, where we slept in an expensive Caravan Park (38,5 dollars) after trying to find a free campsite in the darkness. The day before we bought a map for campsites in Australia. It also has free campsites. We wanted to sleep in a free spot, but it was hard to find in the dark and scary and not nice.... Markus was mostly "afraid" of kangaroos jumping in front of our car, but maybe we even found it, not sure. In the end we decided not to stay alone in the dark and drove back to a real campsite, but there they charged us a lot... But what can you do?
Tuesday - April 1.
We drove through a little town called Corrigin and saw a Dog Cemetery on our way to Hyden and the Wave Rock.
Here we explored the amazing granite rock formations of Wave Rock and Hippo´s Yawn.
The wave shaped granite cliff "Wave Rock" is a part of "Hyden Rock" and over 110 metres long and taller than a 3-storey building. (15 metres)
Hippo´s Yawn too is a formation in the "Hyden Rock" looking a bit like a hippo if you have a good imagination.
We slept in a Caravan Park. Here we payed 20 dollars for a good camp spot with kitchen and showers... And free star watching :) We can now both say that we think our home is cozy and we both sleep good and long time in our new car. We are going to bed around 8.00 pm. and we sleep the latest around 10.00 pm. Then we wake up around 7.30 or 8.00. in the morning. Ready for the new day.
Wednesday - April 2.
We left the Wave Rock in the morning and went to see the "spectacular" Mulka's Cave
and an area with the salt lake, "Lake Magic".
Mulka´s Cave was, to be honest a big disappointment. We had high expectations because it should be the cave in West Australia with the most significant Aborigional rock art. But after seeing other ones, Mulka´s Cave was really not worth the drive.
Mulka´s Cave is in a large block of rock that has slipped from the main granite outcrop known as The Humps. The lower surface of the block has been hollowed out by chemical weathering and by wind erosion to form the cave as it is today.
The dominant art is hand stencils, of which there are over 140 examples representing both adults and children. Archaeological excavations in the floor of the cave suggest, that the use of this site was relatively recent. Stone artefacts and bone remains were found in association with old camp fires which have been dated to about 400 years ago.
Our car has only a CD player and a radio, so we bought cheep speakers so we can listen to our own music. Its perfect, but the problem is, that the speakers are so bad that the sound is so silent... But they were cheap. They are so bad that we bought our first cd and that works much better. Now the problem is that we have heard the same cd millions of times and we are already a bit tired of it.
We slept on a free campsite in Munglinup.
Thursday - April 3.
We drove to a bigger town called Esperance and here toured the Great Ocean Drive (not Great Ocean Road). Here we captured the fantastic coastline.
Eg saw the Twilight Cove which is Western Australia´s most popular beach. It was easy to see why.
Beautiful and pristine white sand beaches and crystal clear blue water in perfect weather.
We tried the water, but it is COLD. But we hope and know that it will be better as soon as we leave the Southern Ocean and get to the Indian Ocean. Then it will be cold down south, but when we drive north of Perth it should be lovely.
We also stopped to see the Pink Lake that was not pink due to some algies and insects which were not there at the time.
In the afternoon we bought a Parkpass, that will give us free entrance to many National Parks. It costed us 88 dollars and lasts for a year. The normal entrance to a National Park is 12 dollars per day per vehicle. Now we just hope it will save us some money.
We slept in Bushland Caravan Park in Esperance.
Friday - April 4.
We drove the ca. 50 km. east to Cape Le Grand National Park.
Here we used our Parkpass the first time. That felt good... :)
In this National Park coastal scenery,
rugged granite peaks and
wide sandy beaches
characterize the landscape. We saw many more lovely beaches
and climbed to the Frenchman peak, 262 metres high, to see amazing and breathtaking views over the National Park and area surrounding it.
262 meters sounds like nothing, but it was hard!
But we made it!
and when the surroundings are flat the views are undescribable.
On the way back to Esperance our car broke. It overheated.
We slept in Bushland Caravan Park in Esperance, when we finally got there after filling the radiator tank with water a few times on the way.
Saturday - April 5.
We used most of the day to figure out, what was wrong with our car and then fixing Homie (the car). Found out that the radiator, the thermostat and the thermostat housing were broken and had to be changed. Now Homie has a brand new radiator, thermostat and housing + the green liquid (coolant). It all costed us nearly 400 dollars.
But the good thing was, that while the mechanic worked on our car we had a lovely walk in town. This included time for a milkshake and shopping around... :)
With our "new" Homie we drove to Munglinup and slept in the free camp site we visited earlier.
This is what it looks like inside Homie, just before we go to sleep...
One of the free campsites had a toilet
with own library.
Sunday - April 6.
We drove to a little beachtown called Hopetoun (yes, Hopetoun, not Hopetown). Once the township was a thriving port for the Philips River Goldfields. Today there is not much to see in the town from the old days and I would say, that the town today only is a sleepy little beachtown with a pier in the water from where people fish.
In Hopetoun we both had shark for lunch. It was actually just white light meat with not a lot of taste... But it was expensive :) It was called "Gummy shark" and I now know that it is not my favourite.
After enjoying our lunch outside in full sunshine we drove to Fitzgerald River National Park. The second time we used our Parkpass.
Here we saw more amazing views, steep cliffs, huge waves, rugged granite formations and white sandy beaches. We stopped eg. at East Mt. Barren where a lookout showed us most of the park with coastline as far as we could see.
In the end of the day the weather suddenly changed and it started to rain.
We then drove to a free camp site where we stayed overnight.
After the rain we walked around in the area and came across this shack and the note they left...
We see wild kangaroos and Wallabies once in a while and we see a lot of parrots,
pelicans and other birds in all colours and sizes all the time.
Sometimes we spot bottlenosed dolphins, New Zealand fur seals or sea lions. But so far we can't really tell the difference between the fur seals and the sea lions. There are also a lot of lizards in different sizes.
Today we saw our first Emu pair in the evening sunlight. Beautiful. Its nice to wake up every morning to birdsong, but that feeling might not last... People have told us how irritating all the birds can be...
Monday - April 7.
We drove through The Stirling Ranges National Park (3. time using our Parkpass) and the Porongurup National Park to Albany.
The Stirling Ranges boast more than 1500 species of native plants, 87 of which are not found elsewhere in the world.The park is situated about 80 km north of Albany where the peaks of the Stirling Range abruptly rise from a surrounding landscape of lowlands, most of which has been cleared for agriculture, for more than 65 km.
We went to a couple of lookouts with the car, but did not go for any walks.
We decided to come back to Porongurup National Park another day.
In Albany we booked 3 nights in a good motel with shower, toilet and a real bed. Jubiii!!!
Tuesday - April 8.
We explored Albany with surroundings. We stopped at The Dog Rock, the Brig Amity, and some good lookouts for example Mt. Adelaide and the Emu Point. with spectacular scenery and amazing views and more white sandy beaches with lovely water...
We walked the center of Albany. It is not a big city, but it is very nice.
Western Australia´s colonial history began with the arrival of the Brig "Amity" in Albany's Princess Royal Harbour in 1826.
Under instructions from the British Government, the Amity brought the first European settlers to these shores to establish a military post. After an arduous journey from Sydney that lasted 6 weeks and 2 days, the Brig anchored on 25 December, 1826. On board were Major Edmund Lockyer, 19 soldiers, 23 convicts, a small staff, the ships crew, and the supplies and equipment for the task ahead.
The settlement´s initial name of Frederickstown never took hold and in 1832 it was renamed Albany. For several decades it continued to be known as King George Sound.
The Brig Amity in Albany is a replica of the Amity sailing ship built in 1970s. On this ship which brought the first European settlers to Western Australia we went on a audio-tour on the not big boat. 23 x 6,5 x 26 metre. A bit creepy... :)
We took showers and slept like babies in our motel.
Wednesday - April 9.
We went to Torndirrup National Park about 20 km south of Albany. Here we saw, once again, the picturesque coastline, the lighthouse on Cave Point, the Natural Bridge and the Gap and spotted some fur seals in the Salmon Holes.
The seals can be seen at the left side in the the water... The fishermen were trying to catch salmons, but the once we spoke to had no luck...
No salmons were on site even that the place is named after salmon looking for calm waters close to the beach.
The Natural Bridge and
the Gap are 2 natural features carved from ancient granite by the forces of nature. The Gap features a 25 metre sheer drop to the ocean. We also went to see some blowholes, but the weather was too good. So no blowing for us.
In the end we went to Stony Hill lookout. Here we climbed some small rockformations and
viewed some spectacular sights of Albany and surroundings.
Afterwards we bought snorkeling gear and too much cans and dry food in Albany. Carina's snorkel mask is better than Markus' but he has better fins.
Our last night in a real bed for this time!
Thursday - April 10.
Drowe to Porongurup National Park and here we used our Parkpass for the 4. time. The 12-kilometre Porongurup Range lies 48 kilometres north of Albany.
The range´s distinctive granite domes are the remains of the ancient Porongurup pluton, a massive bubble of molten rock that rose from deep in the Earth´s core and pushed upwards into the overlying base rock of the continent. Over millions of years the softer rock lying above the pluton weathered away to expose the giant granite mass. Changes in temperature and in the weight of the overlying rock caused the granite to fracture. The relentless natural forces of sun, rain and wind wore away the square edges of the fractures, slowly sculpting the exposed pluton into the rounded shapes and deeply incised valleys that exist today.
Here we walked and climbed the 4.4 km return granite skywalk to see the Castle Rock and
the intriguing Balancing Rock.
It was steep walk on a ok path for the first 1 km. Then it turned into harder walk with a lot of granite stones. In the end it was real climbing.
But it was worth it. The view was breathtaking from the summit.
We slept in a free camp spot on the Cosy Corner Beach in the West Cape Howe National Park.
Friday - April 11.
We drove south to Shelly Beach, which is the the most southerly beach of Western Australia - another beautiful beach whith white and soft sand.
Here we saw lots of men fishing. They were standing fishing on the beach and they actually cought some big fish. It turned out to be huge Salmons.
After that we drove through the tiny town of Bornholm to the little town of Denmark and stayed for the afternoon and night in a big new campside. We spent the afternoon on the beach. Markus went swimming in the very cold water in the Southern Ocean. He said it was refreshing... :)
Saturday - April 12.
The first thing we did was to drive the Denmark Tourist Drive. An about 35 km drive with possible stops along the way. We stopped for cheese taste and chocolate taste. And decided that from now on we won't take extra tourist drives unless there's something really special. This time the drive itself was just a drive on a small tarmac road in the forrest.
After this lovely morning we drove to the beaches of Green's Pool, where we walked along these nature made pools with crystal clear green/blue water.
Pools made by rocks in varous size with sandy beaches in between.
Here we also saw some rocks which looks like elephants. The Elephant rocks...
Carina took a dip in one of the cold pools in the Southern Ocean. This was heaven :)
Now we visited a fudge/cider tasting place where Markus bought chili cider to accompany his lunch.
Then we drove further to the Valley of the Giants and experienced the spectacular Tree Top Walk
and the ancient empire walk.
The first walk is a canopy boardwalk 40 metres above the forest floor.
We both liked the Tree Top Walk.
The second walk is a stroll through the forest to see the trees from the normal perspective.
We also viewed the Giant Tingle Tree, a huge old tree in the middle of nowhere.
We slept for free in Shannon National Park and used our Parkpass here for the 5. time.
Sunday - April 13.
Drove to Manjimup for fuel and breakfast and then to Bridgetown for views and a local market where we bought plums. Then we came to Augusta and from there we drove the last about 10 km to the Cape Leeuwin, where two great oceans, the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean, meet and the tallest lighthouse of mainland Australia is.
Cape Leeuwin is known for its treacherous reefs, rocks and windy weather and the cape is regarded by mariners as one of the most dangerous coastlines in the world.
The Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse was built in 1895 to safely guide ships travelling to Australia´s eastern ports. By 1896 the lighthouse was fully operational and today it still features the original lens that shines a light with the intensity of a million candles.
The lighthouse guards one of the world´s busiest and most important shipping lanes and remains an important historical and meteorological weather station.The lighthouse´s 1000 watt and 120 volt tungsten lamp flashes every 7.5 seconds with a warning light that is visible from over 47 kilometres away.
We did not climb the lighthouse, but we did an audio tour on the cape and we saw the meeting point of the Indian and the Southern oceans plus we enjoyed the view around the cape.
There was a lot of birds, but we did not see any other wildlife. But we did feel the wather.
It was so windy! Therefore we decided to eat our lunch which only contained of cereals and a couple of good plums we bought earlier on the market, in the car...
After visiting the Cape Leeuwin we went on. But before we reached our destination, the town of Margaret River, we made a stop in one of the caves that are to be found along the way. We went to discover the "Lake Cave". This cave is stunningly beautiful. It is called a crystal wonderland of dazzling white formations and fabulous reflactions.
We descended into a giant doline amongst ancient karri trees, past limestone cliffs and under huge weathered stalacites and their breathtaking reflectioning on the clear lake water.
We were both amazed by the unique "suspended table" formation which seems to defy gravity, hovering above the lake.
Before going to our campsite just outside the town of Margaret River we went to Prevelly beach town and saw the breathtaking view of the coastline from Surfers Point lookout.
We slept in a nice backpacker campsite. It was a bit like a farm due to all kinds of animals that lived on the premises...
