To Perth

20090525SW4847
Originally uploaded by s webster

We left Esperance the day of the storm it was nice in the morning but around three o’clock it turned miserable the rain was coming down sideways and it got cold. We headed into Albany a nice little city on the coast. We stayed here for 2 days then continued along the coast line.

Our first stop was in Denmark, here is the home of the world’s largest barometer it was built in the Netherlands and transported here when the builder immigrated to Australia. After this we continued on and saw the elephant rocks, as well as the tingle trees. It looked like it was going to rain (again) as we got to the camp site we found it had a cabin that you could use just a basic thing with 4 walls and a stove. I was unable to get a good fire going for very long as all the wood was damp and would not catch.

After leaving the cabin we continued west into Pemberton to see the Gloucester tree. This tree is 61 meters tall. You can actually climb to the top, they put pegs in it in the forties to use it as a watchtower before that it use to take the forester 6 hours to climb to the top. Before seeing the tree we pulled out our food to make lunch well wouldn't you know the wildlife decided they would like our lunch as well. They (the parrots) were everywhere. Even landing on my shoulder while I was eating.

There is also a 10km hike that you are able to do thru the park. We then went to the southern point and saw the light house as well as the point where the southern ocean meets the Indian Ocean.

The next day I went and saw the Lake cave one of several caves in the area. As you descend the 600 stairs you realize you’re going to have to climb back up them! They show you a few different formations and run a little light show then its back up to the top.

We continued on towards Perth I wanted to see the underwater observatory at the end of a 3km long jetty but it was closed for renovations till 2010. There are a lot of shops and wineries around Margret River the area is quite peaceful. Everyone comes here to relax and get away from the city.

The next day we arrived in Fremantle. Fremantle was the first settlement on the west coast and is also the first port of call for any ships coming from Europe or South Africa. I booked into the hostel for a week then had a shower and washed my cloths. It was nice to have a shower again. Then I went in search of some food. Down in fishing boat harbour there are handful of fish and chip shops tho they are more upscale than the normal little shops. I checked out all of them and settled upon one and had garlic prawns.