I'm fit to Dive according to this piece of paper or I don't like the weather lady

Well after searching for a week I got a ride. We were to be leaving on the 16 well 2 days ago but the girl I will be traveling with is going to work 1 more week so I'm still stuck here. Tho there is a upside I will be going diving this weekend as long as the weather holds out.

I had to go and get a dive medical done. Basically pay the office $75.00 and the Dr. writes me a letter saying I'm fit to dive. and $75.00 was the cheapest I found one was $150.00.

today I had gone into a dive shop here and was talking to the guy he said that right now it doesn't look good as it is suppose storm this weekend so I'll let you know how it goes.

Death of my Archos

ugg my Archos (Personal Media Player) has died. it's been working great up until now and then nothing. So now I am left without a mp3/video player for the rest of the trip as I will have to send this back to get fixed.

Fremantle

Over the next few days I saw the sights of Fremantle. I went and did the Prison tour night tour as well as the Tunnel tour which takes you underneath the prison the prisoners dug the tunnels out for fresh water. You climb down a long latter onto a walk way and then into some boats to see the extent of the tunnels which actually go outside the prison walls. The water is crystal clear and you could drink it tho they did have a diesel spill a few years ago that polluted the water they did get a team in to clean it up tho there are still some pockets that get stirred up. The guys that were down before my group managed to tip the boat over and fell it so you could really smell the diesel. You can see some of the pictures on my flicker site.

They also have a market here though nowhere near as extensive as the one in Melbourne. Only one little section is fresh fruit and vegetables the rest is food vendors and trinkets.
Perth is a nice city though there is absolutely nothing to do here they have one park Kings park and a few museums. Getting into the city was a short 20 minute train ride. I walked up to the park as the cbd (central business district) is well below it.

I took a trip out to Rottnest Island it’s a short ferry ride from Fremantle cost’s apporx. $52.00 the island is approx 24kms around. People come here to see the Quokka’s they look like big rats hence the name of the island. People come here to relax, surf, snorkel and see the sights. At one point it was a prison, farm land and even a salt mine as there are 3 salt lakes that dry up once a year.

To Perth

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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.

Jazz festival - long post

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Originally uploaded by s webster

Back in Melbourne I found out the Melbourne International Jazz festival was on. It had started on Monday so I had missed most of it but was able to take in a few shows! Meanwhile I finally got an email from the girl I had met in Halls gap who was heading to Perth. So I had to figure out how to get to Adelaide. I found a person wanting to leave when I did though they wanted to get there via the great ocean road. But working it out I decided that it would still be cheaper and the fact that it had rain the previous week maybe mother nature would be with me this time. So we went and purchased some supplies at the market.

I didn’t have a sleeping bag which I would need on the trip to Perth. So off I went to purchase one. Great more things to buy and carry around with me... Ok what is with these auzies.. $1200.00 for a sleeping bag I finally found one for $120.00 tho I’m sure I could have gotten one allot cheaper somewhere else but that was the cheapest in downtown Melbourne.

We left Adelaide on Monday morning heading north then down the Eyre Peninsula the first night we camped just outside of Whyalla beside a Military training ground. There were even some permanent campers there. The wind was howling so we sat inside the car before bed. What was that squeaking noise? Humm. Oh look mice! So I decide I was going to sleep with the food in my tent and not leave it in the car for them to fest on. The next morning I find they had already gotten into my bread. Just one end though so the rest was ok. They did manage to have a party in the car that night I was told chasing one and other also feasting on the cheese that was still there. So off to the store we went in search of a box with a lid for the food.

We drove till Port Lincoln and decided to stay in town at the caravan park. We setup camp and then walked back into town to have some fresh fish. I had some locally farmed tuna it was great.

We drove to Coodlie the next day. And decided to stay in the yha here as the clouds looked nasty. We were right it poured. So much so that the rain came in the hostel I’m sure I would have been completely water logged in the tent.

We made some good distance the next day entering the Nullabor (treeless plain) tho I’m not sure why they call it that as there were trees all the way thru it. we stopped in Fowlers bay and got to see 2 seals playing with some dogs that went for a swim. Got some good pictures of them as well as the sand dunes.
That night we camped in a parking area beside the highway. It was fairly quiet tho sometime in the morning a semi decided to park somewhere close to the tent and woke me up. And then probably 2 hours later it was time for him to leave.

Sometime around 8 I woke up, ate then headed off again. Stopping at the Head of Bight to try and see some whales at their winter home. From here there are no islands till the Antarctica. It wasn’t the nicest day and it looked like rain. Looking out into the ocean there was just lots of water the waves were crashing against the shore. I stood there for about 45minutes just staring out into the water hoping to see something though nothing appeared. The rain was starting. Walking back up the boardwalk I looked out once more. What was that? Looking thru my camera I could see these 2 enormous shapes coming closer. Whales they be! I looked around I was the only person standing there. Back down the boardwalk I went to the closest spot taking picture after picture. They came right up to the shore and were heading up the coast. Just lounging on the surface blowing water out their spout. I stood and watched them for another hour or so taking about 300 pictures. It was great to see

.

As it was already 12:30 we decided to just have lunch where we were. After eating we headed out again. Stopping once or twice to take some pictures of the cost line. We made good time today crossing the SA/WA border you aren’t allowed to bring any fruit or vegetables across because of fruit fly’s tho we had used up all our fresh stuff the night before. The last stop of the day we pulled into Eucula. This was an old telegraph station town but in the 50ies someone had the bright idea of introducing rabbits to Australia where they grew rampant as they had no natural enemies here and such ate all the vegetation around the shore and town. Eventually the wind moved enough sand that covered the town completely so they packed up and moved 5kms inland.

Dusk was just settling in and we were the last ones here so we decided to setup camp and stay the night. There was cloud cover so it was quite warm. The warmest night camping so far. You would think sleeping on sand would be comfortable but not really. I woke up fairly earlier 7am and could not sleep any more. It might have had something to do with the curawong yelling right outside my tent! The sun was shining. The first time since we left Adelaide! We broke camp and drove back into town, filled up the car $1.54/l (0.20c a litre cheaper than the other town) and started out on the last leg of the treeless plain. Here there was not much to see just vast open space like the prairie land back home. We did come across a few eagles feasting on their kill beside the road.

We camped 100km outside of Norseman as there weren’t many other spots to stop after the town. After setting up camp and cooking diner, I looked behind me and the sky was bright red as the sun was just setting. It had been a really nice day.

We headed into Norseman the next morning stopping to fuel up and then on to Kagoolie-Boulder where we stayed at the YHA. It was nice to finally have a shower again. We decided upon staying 2 nights so we could rest up and see the town. It seems like everyone here lives here while they work in the mines. I was feeling really tired so I slept and read my book. That night I walked to the store and bought a steak and a salad. It will be nice I thought to have some fresh stuff again after being on the road for the past week.

It was suppose to rain but it was nice while we stayed inside. We both still weren’t feeling well so we stayed another day though we did go out and see the Super Pit (gold mine). It will be 3.6kms long and I don’t remember how deep it will be when it’s completed in 2017.

We headed back down to the coast to Esperance to see Cape le Grand. Here they have white sandy beaches that squeaky when you walk on them. Tho of course the first big storm of the season is coming. We got to the camp site at Lucky Bay in Cape le Grand. It was already dark so I had to setup my tent by flash light which is always fun. Here they have an actual kitchen with running water and a cook top.

We met some other travellers 2 from Germany, a Scottish guy, 3 from Canada and 2 from Perth who are moving to Melbourne. It got really warm as it clouded over and ended up being a really nice night. Having woken up again at 7. The birds just won’t leave me alone to sleep I went off to have a shower. HOLY cow! It was so cold I turned blue some solar power hot water heater that is! We had packed up the car as it was really windy and knew it was suppose to rain. Tho after talking to a ranger the storm is not supposed to hit for another day. So we may just end up spending another night here as it is really nice. Even with the clouds. Well it’s time to go off in search of some geocaches!