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| Dinner with Hope
We picked up another rental RV near the airport, and drove
to Fremantle to have pizza and beer with my second cousin, Hope McCarra, whom I
had never met. Hope is an adventurous free-spirit who has spent her teaching
career in NZ and Australia. From Fremantle we headed down the Indian Ocean
coast to Penguin Island to see the Little Penguins (aka Blue Penguins). The
Margaret River area is known for its wineries, Karri forests, and beaches. Its
temperate climate makes it a great vacation location. We hiked the trails around Cape Naturaliste
Lighthouse and toured Jewell Cave.
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| Little Penguins |
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| Banksia
We continued down the coast to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse and
the great Southern Ocean. After a hike to Beedelup Falls, we took a picture of
a Kookaburra near the parking lot. We returned to our van and fixed crackers
and cheese. The Kookaburra flew in our open back door, grabbed a piece of
cheese, and flew out before we could register what happened. Near Walpole, we
did a tree canopy walk, 120 feet above the Valley of the Giants. We toured a banksia
farm (174 varieties). While hiking in
the Stirling Range NP we saw a group of wild Emus running through bush. Our 10
days of exploring the area was not long enough. We returned to Perth for the
Easter Weekend and spent a couple of days exploring the city including the
Western Australia Museum and Kings Park.
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| Tree Top Walk |
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| Downtown Perth
We left Perth and headed north with Exmouth as our most
northern destination. Our first stop was the Pinnacles Desert. We were greeted
by hundreds of bush flies, who like nothing more than getting in your eyes,
nose, mouth and ears. After this, we wore head nets for the remainder of our
time north of Perth. We explored a few towns on our way up the coast. We took a
cruise out of Monkey Mia and saw Bottlenose Pacific Dolphins, Green Turtles and
a Manta Ray.
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| Pinnacle Desert |
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| Green Sea Turtle
After 15 hours on the road from Perth, we made it to
Exmouth. This area is famous for the Ningaloo Reef, which is the best reef we
have snorkeled (including the Great Barrier Reef). We came here to swim with
the whale sharks. The coral blooms in March and April attract the whale sharks
to the area. The whale sharks are very large solitary fish. Fortunately they
are not meat eaters! Growing as large as 60 feet long, they are quite
impressive. We took a boat out to the outer reef and waited for the spotter
plane to locate a whale shark. Our boat would move into position in front of
the whale shark, and we would jump in the water. Usually, the whale shark would
not be bothered by a group of swimmers and just continue to feed as it moved by
us. We would then try to keep pace with the whale shark by swimming as fast as
we could. Once the whale shark outpaced us we would return to the boat and wait
for the next whale shark sighting. For the first four whale sharks, they moved
away too fast for me to follow them for long. The fifth time I was in a better
position and was able to keep pace with the shark for a few minutes. Swim
racing was never my thing and I was soon exhausted and had to stop for air. But
it was a thrill I will not soon forget!
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| Basket of Red Kangaroos |
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| Our Aussi Home
Also in this area was Cape Range NP and we explored a couple
of gorges. After several days in the Exmouth area we headed south. We wanted to
do more snorkeling at Coral Beach, but the weather turned bad, so we continued south
to Fremantle. From here we took a passenger ferry to Rottnest Island. We took
advantage of their hop on hop off busses to explore the remote corners of the
island.
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| Firewood Banksia |
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| Quokka
We hiked to their pink salt ponds and saw NZ fur seals along
the coast. While visiting the Rottnest
Lighthouse, we spotted a Quokka, a rodent that only lives on this island. Back
in Fremantle, Hope treated us to breakfast, before she left for a weekend of
surfing with friends. We toured the Fremantle Prison and walked the historic
downtown district. We returned our rental RV and flew to Sydney for a 24 hour
layover. We visited the Maritime Museum before heading back to Honolulu.
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| Sunset over Indian Ocean |
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