Struck gold as I checked into my room, met a girl from Scotland who had a car and was about to go out on a mission exploring the area…so I rolled out for the day with her and saw some pretty amazing places,

The Blow Holes, a Geezer style thing that blew water out of a hole on the cliffs.

The Gap !

Albany

The Bridge

Mind the Gap

All good…then drove quite a way to Two Peoples national park to find a “Little Beach” probably the most amazing beach ive seen to date.

Little Beach

Little Beach - Amazing !!

Little Beach - Albany

...and then on the way back some sort of feeble thing called Dog rock, see for your self !

Dog Rock

Went for a walk yesterday with Bobby & Miko a 15K round trip in preparation for the hike up we have in store in Stirling Ranges national park in a couple of days… walked to the top of Mt Adelaide great views of Albany!

Spent an hour trailing the pubs trying to get one to put the Liverpool v Watford game on Fox Sports, no one was interested….nightmare, ended up just watching a movie at the hostel!

written by  tomrendell on January 14, 2007 from Albany, Australia
from the travel blog: Western Australia !!!
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On the way from Walpole to Denmark we visited the Valley of the giants Tree Top Walk, which was pretty cool, but not so good with a hangover from last night,

Tree top walk

its tough at the top

up top

up at the top

Next stop the best beach so far…Greens Pool, for a quick swim…and diving off the rocks, then look at Elephant Rocks.

Greens Pool

Elephant Rocks

Elephant Rocks

Greens Pool

After that the bus rolled on into Denmark where I was the only one jumping off, which was fine as I wanted a few days to chill out and rest up again.

Ate fish and chips by the river as I was far too tired to cook !

The next day relaxed by the beautiful Denmark river a minute away from the hostel, and did a little chilled out river walk.

At the River

Up the creek

Got a call from some friends I met in Dunsbourgh that they were coming over to Denmark for a night, so that evening met them in the pub, Adam Heather, Debs and Jo.

The next day was pretty ropey, dark and gloomy, hammered it down with rain in the morning, we went out in their car to Greens Pool for a swim, and were the only people there as the weather kept changing warm and sunny one minute, cold and grim the next.

Greens pool/ Elephant rocks

The Sea

At one point had to dash back to the car during a torrential downpour, see the three drowned rats in the car

the gang

3 drowned rats

Escaped the English style rain with a cup of tea in a random café that seemed to pop out of the bushes when we needed it most, even if a weird guy was running the place trying to sell us the contents of 5 years worth of car boot sales junk as well as a pot if tea !

get the kettle on

Denmark River

After that in the howling wind, we walked up the track to Monkey rock ! With some stunning views, well worth it

Adam, Heather, Jo, Debs & Me @ Monkey Rock

View from Monkey Rock

then we found some horses, in a random Field !

Debs with new pal

Jo & Heather

Drove back through to Denmark and with that the gang had to move on to Albany, I could have gone with them but wanted to stay and explore Denmark and to find time to relax for at least 5 minutes..which is proving harder than I’d thought !!

The next day awoke to find Bobby and his girlfriend had arrived and had hired a car and wanted to go out for the day…so no rest for the wicked! Off out on another day trip….

Went to some feeble zoo with them both, now wouldn’t have chosen to do this on my own, but felt I might as well, it was pretty lame, and couldn’t get out of the place quick enough…feeding muesli to donkeys not quite what I had mind when I set off travelling!

But …got to see a Koala…albeit asleep….so not all bad…that’s another box ticked !

Felt I needed some exercise after seeing those caged donkeys…So got Bobby to drop me off near the beach and I ran the 6k back to the hostel…running the only thing that comes close to fill the big void of playing football, I’m really missing that (Dan cant wait to set up our new team when I’m back)

The next day explored some more beaches, Waterfall beach…with the most pathetic waterfalls I’ve ever seen, but a really nice beach, water was a bit rough for swimming though!

Next morning shot through to Albany.

written by  tomrendell on January 9, 2007 from Denmark, Australia
from the travel blog: Western Australia !!!
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My trip to Walpole or "the vally of the giants" as its called due to some of the worlds largest trees being in the surounding forests..

Left Nannup on the EasyRider bus, got picked up around 10, Bobby who I met in Dunsbourgh over xmas was on the bus heading to Walpole with me which was cool !

The bus took us into a Winery on the way, I tasted a few wines, and felt a bit ropey right away, think it was to close to breakfast time !!

Me and Bobby at the winery...to early !

Another stop of on the way was the Gloucester Tree, the world largest climing tree at over 60 meters, the driver told us only 2% of people who intend to climb the tree actually do it...I wasnt letting that stop me, even though about half way up the tree starts to sway as the weather was pretty grim, very windy, had to pass a few people fozen with fear about 3/4 of the way up...anyway worth it when I got to the top, amazing views of the forrest. it used to be used as a fire lookout, so its the tallest one for miles.

Gloucester tree

Gloucester tree

View from the top

Had a tee-total night the evening, couldnt even look at a bottle of wine without feeling sick :-(

the next day, went on an eco cruise, which everyone was raving about, even lonley planet gave said it cant be missed, so we gave it a shot.

The guy running it was a total comedian, it was like a comedy show and eco tour at the same time !

another bloody beach

at the Beach

Saw the Walpole inlet, which is amzing and untouched by the logging industry.

the inlet

The boat took us the most stunning beach, (im running out of superaltives here) unreachable by foot, not a sole on it, the waves were some of largest ive seen, and the forrest came down to meet the cliffs !

Amazing Beach

The Beach

After the cruise, spent the afternoon at the beach topping up my amazing tan (yeah right)

The tan or lack of it...what a joke, 8 weeks in Australia and I still look like the milky bar kid !
at least I havnt burnt though..unlike some people, Ive seen a few people who needed hospitalising...grim...

The River

Me and Bob on the tour !

tried to stay up for the football, Liverpool Vs Arseanl, swapped the wine for the coffee at about 2.30am, waited for ages for it to start, then must have passed out, woke up to see them go 2-0 down, then must have passed out again, woke up in the morning to find out they lost 3-1, not the best !

anyway the next day rolled on to Denmark.

written by  tomrendell on January 8, 2007 from Walpole, Australia
from the travel blog: Western Australia !!!
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Its basically the furthest inland ive stayed so far, its based in the middle of the Blackwood forest, a little town about pop 400.

The place I stayed was called the Black Cockatoo and is an “Eco Retreat” with no internet or TV it’s a hippy’s paradise, there is a huge organic garden, and its very green !

The Hostel

It wasn’t like the other hostels I’d stayed in, I was pretty much the only backpacker, there was a hypnotist with his 5 yr old daughter, a weird bloke who looked like Bad guy from Ghostbusters 2 and he had this spaced out hippy in tow, couldn’t figure them out, He said they were friends, but they seemed very odd, but harmless…

An enormous old English guy, who was an ex chef and basically lived there, he insisted on cooking everyone’s meals…fine by me !

And then a couple of friends from Sydney, who drove over during their Uni summer break…
Lucy and Duncan, they were sound, I went out on the Blackwood River with them in some Canadian kayaks which was great, even though it was a fairly cool day.

Kayaks

The Spring Board

It was really friendly and everyone sat around the fire in the evening having a drink together playing a few games, really different from some of the previous hostels.

This place is very cool, very chilled, it was really relaxing, when I was just hanging about it felt ok to jut laze around, If you get the chance spend the night there…very unique place

Lucy, Me, Porcha & Duncan

Arrived in Augusta to find the Baywatch YHA…expected to see the Hoff running the place, but no such luck!!

I get here before Kannara, So check in, Check it out, grab some food, the Youth Hostel has won best Hostel in Australia every year since 1997 so you know its going to be good!
It’s more like a hotel compared to some places.

I cooked us steak which she rated at only 6/10!! The cheek!!

The next day checked out these famous wineries as Augusta is so close to Margaret River, We went to a few, and a few wines, they taste so much better than some of the rats pi$$ we’d been drinking the week before in Dunsbourgh. Checked out a few of them and a brewery in the area, The Bootleg Brewery…which did some great beers! But all this alcohol was a bit much in the afternoon! Spent some of the late afternoon at Hamlin Bay!!

Hamlin Bay wines

Hamlin Bay Beach

Took a forest drive felt like the absolute middle of nowhere they could have filled Return of the Jedi here, Kept thinking the Ewoks were going to come crashing threw the trees !

the forrest in Augusta

More Forrest

Even more wine first thing! Bought my first bottle of decent wine at Hamlin’s! Superb!….Mum; Ones in the post!

Then a afternoon on the beach, we found one called “cozy corner” its not so cozy on the 6km unsealed road to find it !

the path to the beach

Cozy Corner beach

Worth it when we got there, hardy anyone else there, was really nice with loads of mini islands a few hundred of meter into the sea, made for good snorkeling, although my mask is pretty crap think I need a new one!

Spent New Years Eve in the hostel with some of our wine, can’t believe how quiet this hostel was, It was more of an old peoples home, compared to the Holiday style resort of Dunsbourgh over xmas.

But that didn’t matter as we had a great time anyway, Had a really cool time here and a really good laugh, but it was a good job we had the car here, as you need to drive a bit to see the bits and pieces!

Top of the world !

View from the lighthouse

Anyway the next day, checked out the lighthouse, and the point at which the two oceans meet, you can see the waves crashing against the rock in different directions so you can see the exact location, was hoping t would have been a calm bay so I could have swam across two oceans…but far too choppy !

Me and Kannara at two oceans point

Southern ocean to the left Indian ocean to the right !

After Lunch Kannara had to shoot back up to Perth, So I was home alone, Literally, felt like I was the only one there after that, but was moving on first thing in the morning so hit the sack early doors as I needed a good nights sleep!

Cape Luewin

Moving on anywhere after Dunsbough was going to be a hard act to follow, & Margaret River with all its hype was no exception.

Didn’t think to much of the place at first, your based in the town and its simply one long street of tourist style shops and pubs, your 10k from the beach, and the “Margaret River” is nothing more than a small stream!

The Margaret River

They were pushing wine tours at the hostel as the place is Australia’s famous wine region, but as that’s no fun on your own, I didn’t bother.

Spent the day wandering around didn’t get up to anything interesting...and didn’t meet any interesting people in the hostel, apart from one English guy, who I watched some of the cricket with until his nagging wife dragged him away !! : Note to self!

Saw the beach on the way into the area though as the bus stops their briefly and we had chance to check it out, and its the West Coasts No.1 surfing location, you could tell that back up the road in Dunsbourgh/Yallingup but down here the waves are even bigger.

"The Box" Surf spot

Surfers Point

The next day got ready and moved on to Augusta where I was to meet up with Kannara again for a few days, So I waddled out of the hostel with my ever increasing luggage…I need to ditch some stuff.

Some cheeky cove

What a choice for Christmas, this place is the business, I could actually live here !! its big, clean, full of cool people who are also staying till Xmas, has Skysports, free bodyboards, and the back garden meets the beach...Ideal...

...

Spent 9 days here, have just left Dunsbourgh, and had the best time possible, I was gutted to leave the place, everyone was so friendly & chilled....well and truly had the time of my life !!

the kids in the hostel

Me Bobby and the girls !

Spent Most of my time with Adam, Heather, Bobby, Will, Debs, and Mikeo..

Debs, Adam & Heather

Bobby, Lauren, Ruth, Heather...off to catch some waves

Anyway...Most days we would jump into the car and roll down to the surf beachs either Smiths or Yells early doors around 8, as Adam had to be at work for 12, so we'd get chance to catch some decent waves before lunch....

Adam and Me ! on a wave

Some dude on a tube (is it Adam)

That left the afternoon free to chill out, in the hamock or watch a DVD...or in Wills case..sleep all afternoon !

Heather & Dave

One afternoon we pilled down the beach and went to Yallinup for the first time, the surf was of this world...never seen anything like it....didnt stop Me, Adam and Bobby from getting wiped out big time on some killer waves. Miko and Heather got no further than getting their feet wet ! dont balme them really !!

Me and Bob !

The next day Dave took us on a tour of the cape, where we got to see the dolphins again, Heather just saw them diving through the waves as we were driving away, an amazing sight, almost better than seeing them up close they were better at catching the waves than us !!

the coast

the cape..where we saw the Dolphins surfing the waves

Surf master Dave then took us back down to Smiths beach where we tried to learn to surf, Bobby, Heather and Myself had a go out on a long board...didnt really get it though, Heather was trying to show us how to stand up on the board, but kept falling off herself ! some teacher :-) we just got back on the bodybords for some user friendly action !!

Ruth and Lauren gave it a miss...I think they thought it was too cold..ha..ha

That day evening we had the BBQ at the hostel, and discovered our cheapo way of drinking, value box's of wine...5 littles for $10 thats about 4 quid !! ha-ha we got lashed !!

Christmas kind of crept up on us, as there is not much of a build up here, like back home..so before we knew it it was Xmas Eve, but it was just another day down the beach...pretty cool xmas eve though !!

We had a massive Chritmas eve meal that evening in the garden with everyone !

Then the following morning, we were all up and on the beach which is just 5 secconds from the hostel garden...to have our Christmas brunch on the sand...the classic Aussie Xmas !

Ruth, Heather, Lauren on xmas day

Ester & Heather xmas day

Pretty warm xmas day...think it was 32 in the shade at about 11am...

After the food I went back in side to cool off...and as the premiership highlights were on foxtel !!

Dunsborough, Australia

Everyone xmas day

Happy Days !

Anyways...Spent the rest of the day with the gang, ended the day playing cards...with a very pi$$ed Bobby and Miko..

Heather, Adam, Me, Bobby, Miko on xmas day

Boxing day we spent...yep youve guesed it at the beach, with Adam, Debs, Heather and Dave came over to join us too ! Shame though as there were no waves even at Yells..the place where the monster waves were only a few days before...

And as it was my last night in the beach house hostel, we had a bit of a massive night out !

the Gang in the 3 bears

Debs took one for the team and took the car so we didnt faff about with cabs...(what a trooper)

We all had a great time, even though Dan the cave man was there !! #@#% YEAH
I can just see Adams face when we saw Dan on the dance floor !! haha !! what a muppet !!

everyone down the pub on my last night

Back at the hostel after the pub, finished off the last of the wine, not a good move when I had to be up and ready in the morning,

anyway, Big thanks to the beach house for being the best hostel in WA, everyone who does this coast should stop over here,

Ill miss all the beach house kids heaps...Adam, Bobby, Heather, Miko, Will, Dave, and all the others that were there for xmas, Even Dan (haha

written by  tomrendell on December 21, 2006 from Dunsborough, Australia
from the travel blog: Western Australia !!!
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I arrive in Bunbury mid morning and grab the last dorm in the hostel...bit of luck as I hadn't booked !!

after checking in I have a chat with some of the people in the hostel, bit of a mixed bunch, bit of an older crowd than the 20somethings in the previous hostels up the coast, this is pretty much a working hostel so most of the people are there long term as they have jobs in the town, which makes for a good atmosphere in the place as they all have a good laugh with a few beers in the evening. all sorts in this hostel, French, Spanish, Korean, American, Australian..etc...I feel I'm the only English person there baring Jenny from Newcastle.

After a movie night in the Hostel everyone gears up for the weekly karioke sesh down the local, I sail on down the pub with them, and roll out my crowd pleaser Johnny B Good...a classic from the uni days....Remember those quality Karioke nights at Uni Rich ;-)

the next day went to the beach with my French room mate Xavier, went for a snorkel, but didn't see much, so just ended up swimming !

Pool competion in the evening crashed out in the 2nd round though...no suprise there !

Next day up early doors, went down to the beach with Jenny to see the Dolphins, as they came in early each morning, bit like at Monkey-Mia up the coast.

chilled on the beach after that, and cooled down with a swim !

Got pretty wasted in the evening a cheap bottle of wine, then a few beers playing pool in the pub finished me off, cant remember getting home !!

Next morning jumped on the bus...adios Bunbury !

Busstleton..

The shocker...checking into to this hole is not exactly what I had in mind, what are Lonely planet thinking, they make this place sound tip top, using words such as "comfy", "cozy", "welcoming"...yeah for the Mice maybe !!

but as the old chestnut goes..."Its not where you are its who your with" and I was with about 10 Japanese people in this place......a bit overwhelming at first, but basically I've never met a group of people who made me feel part of their well established group so quickly.

later that evening again went back down to the pier with the Japanese kids and went fishing we caught heaps of fish, and the next day they cooked it all, the best fish I've ever tasted, they sure knew what they were doing.

Its not the easiest thing in the world having a conversation with someone if there is a big language barrier, a lot of people will give up to soon, but these guys have taught me that its worth the effort. Special mention to Shizuka thanks for the origami crane fly :-) hi to all the others Yoichi, Mio, Vanessa...and Tomo thanks for the fishing lesson :-)

All this plus the good weather and scenery made up for the grim hostel !! as Shizuka called it...Bed bug backpackers ha-ha

Anyways...just like some sort of mysterious helpful dog...I disappear into the distance almost as soon as ive arrived...

written by  tomrendell on December 13, 2006 from Bunbury, Australia
from the travel blog: Western Australia !!!
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It really is a fantastic city, not too big, very compact, but has the High Rise look of Docklands in London, but right in the heart of the city centre…its unbelievably clean, has a enormous & impressive river called the Swan, which they make the most of, unlike the rather grim looking River Hull

Park in the City Centre

View from the clock tower over the Swan

Friday evening. Just back in Perth, and head up to Kings Park with J&P went up there with some KFC and a couple of beers, to watch the sun set… makes for a great picture.

Perth at night from Kings Park

Tree in Kings Park at Dusk

On Sunday I spent some more time with Kannara, we went over to the movies, and saw Borrat. Matt – Great recommendation, I’ve never laughed so much in my life…. that’s probably to do with watching virtually no TV for a month though!

Couple of days later…

I’m up in Perth. And I catch a sightseeing tram begin to regret it immediately, as it seems to be full of 70yr old pensioners…and to make matters worse…the bus driver thinks he’s funny, the only thing worse than that was the pensioners were lapping up his crappy jokes…I got off the tram pretty sharpish… (I can Imagine Helen laughing at that one)
[br>

City and Trees

The Bell Tower

Spent Friday day in Fremantle, went to the harbour and went on a submarine! And to check out a Shipwreck exhibition at the near the beach…later I shoot off to the beach with Pascal and go body boarding …Surfs up…I catch a few decent waves, but also get wiped out by an absolute massive ‘un

Boadyboarding's cool...but its no football !

Julie comes to meet us after we’ve finished, and we grab fish and chips on the seafront,
Back to house...Pascal as per usual cracks opens the beers…happy days!

Saturday we go out for some drinks in the evening, have a good laugh; even meet some English people…always good to chat about the football!!

Sunday morning…more Bodyboarding at 8am..most of you lot are still in V Bar…I’m hitting the waves…some excellent conditions make for the best Bodyboarding yet…at a place called Secret Harbour!

Yesterday, head up to Kings Park again, this time with Kannara we took some food up there for lunch, and just chilled out all afternoon in the shade. Later on we wandered down to Matilda Bay, a cheeky little bay where you can hang out on the bank of the river…ideal with a cold one!

Kannara Vs the Magpie

Kings Park

Kings Park

The Park

That brings me up to date…

Tomorrow, I leave on another leg of the trip from Perth round Via Dunsborough, Margaret River, Denmark, Albany, Esperance and everywhere in between, and yes that’s the same Esperance where some fifteen year old kid had his leg bitten off by a great white last week..
Adios.

written by  tomrendell on December 12, 2006 from Perth, Australia
from the travel blog: Western Australia !!!
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Leaving Denham to come to Coral Bay was ment to take about 7 hours, however due to Greyhound buses being driven by complete monkeys, we arrive 11.5 hours later…(that’s longer than Manchester to Hong Kong)

This includes a stop at a Road House (service station) for over 2.5 hours at 2am…& as this place is away from the Coast…its damn hot, even at 2am its almost 30C

Anyway finally get moving, and arrive in Coral Bay at 5.30 am…
At this point I just need to sleep, so I find my room…a 4 bed dorm with 3 girls in it asleep….I have to make the top bunk while a girl is asleep below…I’m thinking

“if she wakes up and I’m stood at the foot of her bed this is really gonna freak her out”

So I basically don’t make the bed very well, and clamber all over her as there is no ladder…clearly waking them all up in the process…but who cares…I’m finally in bed

So Next day up about 11, go for a little explore, check out the beach, the pub, etc, all looks nice, Beach looks like the best so far…

Spend most of the day just reading and chilling out, and rustle up a spag bol.

Later on the People I met in the previous Hostel arrive on their bus, so we have a few beers in the evening, and then later head on down to the beach about 11pm armed with a box of beer and spend the next couple of hours sat by the waters edge drinking many beers and having a good laugh!

All the kids..

The next day I’m pretty hung over so miss the morning at the beach with the rest of the gang, I prefer to stick on the air con, draw the curtain and roll over!

I finally get my self up and about in the afternoon, Meet up with them down on the beach, we walk down the coast to a shark nursery where the young sharks seem to “hang out” there’s probably about 50 of them in a small concentrated bay, as they are all reef sharks and fairly harmless we wade into the water scaring most of them away, but as we stand still, in time they swim back around us…being surrounded by sharks is pretty freaky even if they are reef sharks…. later we find out threes the occasional Tiger shark in there with them…Doh!!
[br>
That evening we head back down to the beach at sunset to check that out before we walk back to the Hostel and prepare out massive BBQ…

The Gang at Sunset

Chris.....putting another shrimp on the barbie

Everyone getting stuck in at our BBQ

Manta Ray

Me...looking like a Pro !

After swimming with them twice, we sailed over to a turtle sanctuary, and then out deeper to a dense coral reef where they let us snorkel for another hour or so…saw some amazing colours in both the coral and a thousand type of fish, even saw a reef shark vanishing into the abis…and clown fish like Nemo…think its safe to say everyone was in awe of the ocean that day! !

Nemo

Some Fish

The next couple of days was spent chilling out, with a bit of a swim and run down the beach late on around 5pm after it cooled down…

Sun set over Coral Bay

The day after that I was off back to Perth…only 2 of us on the bus, my self and Bonnie, A long 1 and a half-day journey ahead. at least we had a laugh though.

We spent the night in Spooky Geralton, not the best place in Australia, very creepy town, even the people in the hostel were o

written by  tomrendell on December 5, 2006 from Coral Bay, Austria
from the travel blog: Western Australia !!!
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