Monday, September 12, 2011

Western Australia


We finally arrived after the endless flight. I started to fret that the Aussies might regain the Ashes before I arrived. I’d only come to rub it in.

We started in Perth, more precisely a seaside resort called Scarborough, which is actually in the neighboring city of Stirling. Those Scots get everywhere. The Indian Ocean is framed by a long sandy beach stretching North and South. A cycle and walking path runs parallel to the beach the other side of a sand dune wildlife park that is carefully preserved. A sign declaring that there are snakes in the park has the desired effect of keeping people to the designated paths.

We drove 3 hours south to Margaret River, a small town supported by the surrounding wine district. We were here 10 years ago and there are definitely a lot more wineries, although there are still plenty of rural farms. We found a charming retired air force chap called Bill to drive us around the place with Wine tasting starting at 10a.m. Bill really enhanced our day with his knowledge of the local flora and fauna. We finished up with lunch at Leuwin Estate winery, superb.

We flew on north from Perth to Broome in the Western Kinberleys. We were now in the tropics where they have only 2 seasons, wet and dry. We arrived at the back end of the dry season. No need for a weather forecast. The days are 36C and sunny – every day. We stayed near Cable Beach, so called as the first place where a communications cable was laid along the sea floor to Asia. Another long, long beach – 22Km of pristine white sand. We walked on it for an hour or so without appearing to go very far. The sunsets are famous with the beach facing west so we headed to the handily positioned bar for a sundowner. The sunset was spectacular but does happen rapidly. We ordered our well deserved G&T, but the sun dropped like a stone and was long gone by the time the drinks came. You can actually see it moving it descends so quickly.

We booked a day trip on a small plane visiting some of the local attractions. First stop Windjana Gorge in the Napier range (www.kimberleyaustralia.com/windjana-gorge-national-park.html ) where a short walk up the Lennard River had us face to face with half a dozen crocodiles sunning themselves on the riverbank. No need to panic, as these were fresh water crocodiles and no danger to humans unless provoked, and we certainly weren’t going to be introducing ourselves. An ancient place, the rock walls have fossils of primitive sea creatures from hundreds of millions of years ago when the area was under the sea.

A short hop and we were at Bell Gorge for a leisurely walk through the bush and a refreshing swim in a rock pool underneath a picturesque waterfall. The rock pool floor was covered with moss making entry and exit a slippery exercise. Subsequently, I crashed into the pool in a buster Keaton comedy slide and dive.

The scenic flight back took us over countless tiny islands, some hollowed out through mining, and the famous Horizontal Falls where a small gap between two gorges has water gushing from one to the other creating the impression of a flat water fall. We had a brief stop at Cape Leveque where I had power snooze on the beach as Mags dipped her toes in the sea.

Technology really is marvelous, darlings. I downloaded the Australian road map to my phone (my phone!) so that I wouldn’t have to rely on Mags’ wonderful but eccentric navigation. The app came with a choice of voice-overs to guide me through the bush. I was tempted by Kylie and Dame Edna but opted for Rolf Harris. Good choice. As we approached our destination we had Rolf asking, “D’ya know where you are yet?”