Archive for August, 2010
We left the guesthouse at 9 for Fremantle where the 10 o’clock ferry brought us to Rottnest Island. It only takes 30 minutes to get there and a little later we were ready to go on the rental bikes. We made a tour of half the island looking out for scenic views and wildlife. We saw 2 bobtails and several skinks (lizard type reptiles) and a lot of Quokka’s. The quokka is native to Rottnest and looks like a very small kangaroo. When we stopped to eat our lunch we were suddenly surrounded by 6 of them begging for food. Since it’s illegal and more important since they can get sick from human food we didn’t feed them. Several of the quokka’s had joeys (babies) sitting in their mothers pouch.
All too soon we had to return the bikes and get back on the ferry to Fremantle where we strolled the historic center until it got dark. An half an hour drive got us back to the guesthouse where we started to pack for tomorrows flight to Alice Springs.
200 Km south of Dongara are the Pinnacles. We had the choice of doing a 1.2Km walk or a 3.8 Km drive. The drive covered a lot more ground so we decided on that and as there were pullout spaces about every 50m there was ample place to stop for pictures. We ate our lunch here and continued our trip 3OO Km south to Rockingham, near Perth, just stopping for a few roadside geocaches.
During the afternoon we logged number 600.
We started the day with the daily pelican feeding in Kalbarri. After the feeding we hired a motorized boat to make a 1 hour trip on the Murchinton river. By the time we returned the boat it warmed up considerably and when we arrived at Kalbarri NP hiking to the different lookouts it was already hot, not bad for a winter’s day.
When we left the park we found that a part of the bush was ablaze, the smoke could be seen from 10 Km away and we saw flames next to the track.
From the park it was a 200 Km drive to Dongara with a stop in the Geralton MickeyD for a late lunch.
We’re moving again. Leaving the hotel at 8:30 we bought some food and filled up the car and started our drive south. First stop was Shell Beach. As the name suggests the beach is made of small white shells. Further south we took another side road to the stromatolites. These “rocks” are live organisms believed to be the source of life on earth. We were able to see oxygen bubbles coming up from some of the stromatolites. We soon turned onto highway 1 until we crossed the Murchinton river. A few kilometer further we exited Highway 1 in the direction of Kalbarri. We drove into the park to Ross Graham lookout and Hawks Head lookout.
We checked in our hotel and drove through the town to Red Bluff a lookout over the Indian ocean. Shortly after we arrived there we saw the sunset. It was then time for dinner and retreating to the hotel and preparing for tomorrow’s drive further south.
