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Western Australia, February 28th-March 21st  2007       (by Dagmar)

  

 

Perth, Western Australia, March 28th - February 2nd  2007

After a 7.5 hour flight, coming from Auckland/New Zealand, we arrived at Perth International airport in Western Australia. The first time for us that we sat foot on to the Australian continent. We were surprised, that the airport compared to the size of the city of Perth and for the fact that it is the biggest city of Western Australia, is that small. Femke, Bart's cousin, was waiting for us. She lives with her boyfriend Hans since 4 years in Perth. The first 3 days of our trip we stayed with them, exploring the city, Kings Park and the Botanical Garden. On Friday afternoon our friend Ronald picked us up for a tour thru Perth and Fremantle, with a walk thru the market in Fremantle and dinner at the food court close by. 

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Perth to Albany, Western Australia, February 3rd-5th  2007

We spent the weekend with Femke and Hans driving South to Albany. We stayed 2 nights at Shelley Beach. Hans and Femke went paragliding. Bart enjoyed windsurfing at "Lowlands Beach". Soleil met some new girlfriends on the beach. So we had a busy weekend. We saw the first kangaroos and emus.

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Albany - Windy Harbour - Conto - Margret River - Busselton - Perth, Western Australia, March 5th--10th  2007

After the long Labor Day weekend, Femke and Hans went back to Perth, we continued to Windy Harbour, then to the D'Entrecasteaux National Park and further thru the "Boranup Forest Loop" to Conto close to Margret River. 

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This area is covered with caves. We wanted to explore one, the "Giant Cave", the only cave, you are allowed to explore by yourself without a guide. The cave is nestled amongst the magnificent Karri trees of Boranup Forest. It is one of the deepest caves in the district and also features extremely large chambers. We got helmets and flash lights. Although it is a cave of awesome proportions, the route is clearly marked and it is not possible to get lost. The cave is 800m long and reaches the depths of an approx. 30 floor building. It was an amazing trip!!!

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Bart went windsurfing in Margret River at Surfers Point. At the forest campground at Conto we had our first experience with the Kookaburra birds. The Kookaburra is heard as much as it is seen, like steeling food.

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In Yallingup we were checking out "Slippery Rocks", the local surf spot. Then we went North to the Cape Naturaliste, did a walk to the lighthouse and the whale lookout, continued further North to Busselton's 1841m long jetty and back to Perth.

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Perth - Lancelin - Cervantes, Western Australia, March 11th-13th  2007

We stayed another night with Femke and Hans and met on Sunday morning with Ron again for a surf session in Scarborough north of Perth. We could take Ron's 9.6 long board with us. Our final destination for the day was Lancelin, one of the best surf and windsurf spots in WA. Bart went windsurfing in the late afternoon. The following morning we both went surfing at Back Beach. That was great.....amazing, just 2 minutes of paddling, a break really close to the beach...and it was Monday, hardly nobody on the water, the waves for us.....

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Around midday we continued our trip to Cervantes further North to visit the "Nambung National Park", the Pinnacles Desert. Out of the shifting yellow sands rise thousand of huge limestone pillars, standing in strong contrast to the surrounding low heath lands typical of this coast.

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Geraldton, Western Australia, March 13th-16th  2007

Geraldton, the most northerly city we visited during our travels in WA... the Bill Sewell Complex with the old Geraldton Goal Craft Center ( Boab tree seeds, animals made of spray cans..), the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral,

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the HMAS Sydney Memorial ( honoring the 645 Australian sailors who were lost without trace during a World War II battle in 1941.... the memorial features a silver dome of 645 seagulls...)...Aboriginal Art in town.

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Some impressions during the long driving thru WA, some times off road...windmills in the distance, echidnas crossing the road (little spiky ant eaters), leaning tree in Greenough, an upcoming sand storm....

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Geraldton-Lancelin-Yanchep-Perth, Western Australia, March 16th-18th  2007

Back in Lancelin we had some more great surf- and windsurf sessions, fish and chips for lunch, and a great pizza dinner at Lancelin Lodge with Roberto and Mela. Roberto makes the best Pizzas.

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The next day we drove to Yanchep National Park to see the koalas. The koala, which is not indigenous to the west can be seen here in a special large enclosure. Kangaroos and cockatoos, the noisy pink and gray galah, can be seen, as well as little parrots. There is an aboriginal side in the park.

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Back in Perth we had a BBQ with Femke and Hans at the Burswood Park followed by an open air movie, " Stranger than fiction", with Will Ferrell.

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Fremantle and Scarborough, Western Australia, March 19th-20th  2007

We spent a great day with Ron on the beach in Scarborough. But when we came back to the car park, somebody had smashed the back seat little triangle window, but luckily nothing was missing. We carried all our valuables to the beach. Thanks to Ron and AVIS it took us just 1 hour to exchange the car and to continue with our day, a walk thru Fremantle, dinner at the Thai restaurant Han's and a great ice cream.

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After a coffee with Ron in the morning, he left for work and we drove to the "Australian Life Saving Championships" in Scarborough.

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Perth by night, March 21st  2007

Tonight we are leaving, thanks Femke, Hans and Ron for your hospitality and friendship. We'll be back. 

 

 

 

Last modified: September 02, 2008          Hit Counter