Saturday, October 23, 2004
Perth to Broome
Goodbye to Planet Inn - my home in Perth for the last couple of months. That was an amazing place and deserves a plug. I didn't get to know Tony the owner too well but I can tell he puts alot into the place to create some atmosphere.
I hit the road with a hangover on Monday the 11th of October and picked up my travel buddies Marco and Annika. Marco is from Switzerland and travelling with me as far as Darwin. A few days ago, we dropped Annika in Exmouth where she is doing a dive course.
Click this link to see all the pictures from the trip. I'll include some of the best ones here too.
Our first stop at sunset was the Pinnacles - rock formations sticking out of the sand dunes. We walked around the 4x4 track and then drove around it just for good measure. We got back on the road, stopping to take a picture of the sign to hangover bay. The first major town on the coast is Geraldton where we stopped off to get a few supplies and visit the Cathedral. Next was Kalbarri national park, where we stayed and did some walking for a couple of days. I'd like to recommend it but the flies and wind drove us completely mad so we got out of there in a hurry.
Next was Monkey Mia which was much nicer than I expected. We stayed overnight in the resort style campsite, enjoying all the facilities that we had lacked camping in the bush for the last 3 days. I couldn't resist taking a trip on a catamaran - saw some dolphins and met some charming Irish girls. I was pretty hungry after the cruise so I took a seat outside the restaurant and ordered Fish and Chips and a VB (Victoria Bitter). Just as my food arrived so did Steve and Rachel - two friends from Planet Inn. We've been travelling together since then, they have a Ford Falcon which is a classic backpacker vehicle. They have been an absolute riot in all sorts of ways. Steve chases everything that moves in a skirt, including Annika who is really a stunning looking girl. Unfortunately for us she has a boyfriend back home.
Compared to our Swiss style organisation the Falcon team are a complete shambles, lacking even the most basic necessities eg. a tent (they sleep in the back on a mattress). The chaos makes for plenty of lively discussion and argument about stuff like whether the cool box should go in Bertha or Big Bird (that's our name for the Falcon), how to drive properly on a dirt road, the state of the tires etc. Ironically Big Bird has not had a puncture and Bertha has had two. Steve does breakdown recovery for living so it's sometimes been a bit of a bussman's holiday for him. A couple of days ago we stopped to help out a family who had broken down in a 4x4. Rachel and I were in the Falcon and we sat and watched while Steve did his thing under the bonnet. There were loads of people in the 4x4: a couple of blokes, naked kids and an old tormented aboriginal woman who kept wailing at at us through the car window. Anyway, on with the story...
We got to Exmouth, stopping only briefly at Coral Bay and Shell Beach. Exmouth is a pretty nice town really although there's not much there. We got a tire fixed and did laundry etc. We left Annika at the dive center and got back on the road late the following day. I'm not sure why we set off so late but by sunset we were on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere with a flat tare. Here's a picture I took whilst listening to the sound of escaping air.
Luckily Big Bird is made of tough stuff and Steve and Rachel caught us to help change the wheel before it got too dark. I made a mental note to get the puncture fixed and buy a wheel nut wrench as soon as possible (this vital piece of equipment is something Big Bird had but Bertha was missing). We arrived in the mining town Tom Price a couple of hours later. First priority was to set up camp, followed immediately by scoring some beers. We went into town and walked into the only bar, my jaw dropped when I saw who was working behind the bar - it was none other than the glamorous Sophie who I had met in Perth (again at Planet Inn). I really couldn't believe my luck! Turns out she had been ditched by her boyfriend left in Tom Price to fend for herself; which she was doing pretty damn well, so well in fact that despite the best efforts of Steve and myself, she declined our offer of a lift to Darwin. Anyway, it was really great to see you Sophie. Read on to see what you missed.
From Tom Price it's a short drive into Karijini national park. We bumped into the Irish girls from the catamaran whilst filling up with water and arranged to take them out in Berth the next day. It turned out to be an amazing trip with some spectacular gorges, natural swimming pools and a bit of rock climbing. Here are some pics:
Winding our way through the gorge
Marco rock climbing
Rachel not looking scared at all
Me climbing in boxers and sandals
High diving was the main event though. I had had some practice the day before near out camping spot. On my first big jump i hesitated for a minute or two and then didn't jump far out enough so i ended up in a shallower spot than i was aiming for. My foot still hurts a bit. Anyway that day I did a pretty dangerous long distance jump with absolutely no hesitation this time - much better. Of course Steve had to follow and do the same - the crazy things we do to impress the girls. I haven't got any pictures of me jumping so you'll have to take my word for it. Here's one of Steve:
That's all for now. We've been relaxing in Broome since last night and we plan to stay another few days before getting back on the road.
I hit the road with a hangover on Monday the 11th of October and picked up my travel buddies Marco and Annika. Marco is from Switzerland and travelling with me as far as Darwin. A few days ago, we dropped Annika in Exmouth where she is doing a dive course.
Click this link to see all the pictures from the trip. I'll include some of the best ones here too.
Our first stop at sunset was the Pinnacles - rock formations sticking out of the sand dunes. We walked around the 4x4 track and then drove around it just for good measure. We got back on the road, stopping to take a picture of the sign to hangover bay. The first major town on the coast is Geraldton where we stopped off to get a few supplies and visit the Cathedral. Next was Kalbarri national park, where we stayed and did some walking for a couple of days. I'd like to recommend it but the flies and wind drove us completely mad so we got out of there in a hurry.
Next was Monkey Mia which was much nicer than I expected. We stayed overnight in the resort style campsite, enjoying all the facilities that we had lacked camping in the bush for the last 3 days. I couldn't resist taking a trip on a catamaran - saw some dolphins and met some charming Irish girls. I was pretty hungry after the cruise so I took a seat outside the restaurant and ordered Fish and Chips and a VB (Victoria Bitter). Just as my food arrived so did Steve and Rachel - two friends from Planet Inn. We've been travelling together since then, they have a Ford Falcon which is a classic backpacker vehicle. They have been an absolute riot in all sorts of ways. Steve chases everything that moves in a skirt, including Annika who is really a stunning looking girl. Unfortunately for us she has a boyfriend back home.
Compared to our Swiss style organisation the Falcon team are a complete shambles, lacking even the most basic necessities eg. a tent (they sleep in the back on a mattress). The chaos makes for plenty of lively discussion and argument about stuff like whether the cool box should go in Bertha or Big Bird (that's our name for the Falcon), how to drive properly on a dirt road, the state of the tires etc. Ironically Big Bird has not had a puncture and Bertha has had two. Steve does breakdown recovery for living so it's sometimes been a bit of a bussman's holiday for him. A couple of days ago we stopped to help out a family who had broken down in a 4x4. Rachel and I were in the Falcon and we sat and watched while Steve did his thing under the bonnet. There were loads of people in the 4x4: a couple of blokes, naked kids and an old tormented aboriginal woman who kept wailing at at us through the car window. Anyway, on with the story...
We got to Exmouth, stopping only briefly at Coral Bay and Shell Beach. Exmouth is a pretty nice town really although there's not much there. We got a tire fixed and did laundry etc. We left Annika at the dive center and got back on the road late the following day. I'm not sure why we set off so late but by sunset we were on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere with a flat tare. Here's a picture I took whilst listening to the sound of escaping air.
Luckily Big Bird is made of tough stuff and Steve and Rachel caught us to help change the wheel before it got too dark. I made a mental note to get the puncture fixed and buy a wheel nut wrench as soon as possible (this vital piece of equipment is something Big Bird had but Bertha was missing). We arrived in the mining town Tom Price a couple of hours later. First priority was to set up camp, followed immediately by scoring some beers. We went into town and walked into the only bar, my jaw dropped when I saw who was working behind the bar - it was none other than the glamorous Sophie who I had met in Perth (again at Planet Inn). I really couldn't believe my luck! Turns out she had been ditched by her boyfriend left in Tom Price to fend for herself; which she was doing pretty damn well, so well in fact that despite the best efforts of Steve and myself, she declined our offer of a lift to Darwin. Anyway, it was really great to see you Sophie. Read on to see what you missed.
From Tom Price it's a short drive into Karijini national park. We bumped into the Irish girls from the catamaran whilst filling up with water and arranged to take them out in Berth the next day. It turned out to be an amazing trip with some spectacular gorges, natural swimming pools and a bit of rock climbing. Here are some pics:
Winding our way through the gorge
Marco rock climbing
Rachel not looking scared at all
Me climbing in boxers and sandals
High diving was the main event though. I had had some practice the day before near out camping spot. On my first big jump i hesitated for a minute or two and then didn't jump far out enough so i ended up in a shallower spot than i was aiming for. My foot still hurts a bit. Anyway that day I did a pretty dangerous long distance jump with absolutely no hesitation this time - much better. Of course Steve had to follow and do the same - the crazy things we do to impress the girls. I haven't got any pictures of me jumping so you'll have to take my word for it. Here's one of Steve:
That's all for now. We've been relaxing in Broome since last night and we plan to stay another few days before getting back on the road.
# posted by Dominic @ 1:20 PM 
