Home » Australia » Touring the South West

I get back to Fremantle ready to start a job selling sand (not to the Arabs but to aussies) pictures, something that I actually have experience in believe it or not!! I check out the job the day before and find out I'd be posted about an hour and a half away from where I'm staying. My tax codes and stuff have been mucked up so I'd be making a hassive $7 an hour - I don't get out of bed for less than double that!! At the rate money is being spent here I could survive another month before going home, so an executive decision has been made.

Touring the South West

Gareth Penpraze
2007-04-20 23:50:44

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paying for the camping spot. We continue on down the coast checking out some surf spots but not making the use of Stevies boogie board we stole before leaving. We stop at Cape Leeuwin - the most south westerly point in Oz where the indian and southern oceans meet.

We make our way to Pemberton - Emmets home for the past 6-8 weeks, passing various types of road kill and very few cars - maybe 2 per hour, rush hour country style!! We check out the national park and waterfalls around Pemberton obviously leaving the $10 for the van in the unmanned fee box. We meet Emmet after his work and head for some pool and cold beer - finally - in the local sports club, with me leaving being the Oz pool champion (I'll get you back for the Pro Evo yet mate). The next evening were off to Brigetown in the van with Francesco - Emmets room mate - and Marie-ann, his girlfriend. 5 in the camper and an hour later we've parked up in Bridgetown. The party starts with some excellent food, if I don't say so myself and some drinking games. Off in to bridgetown for some Blues. The town is pretty small and shut off at both sides with performers outside the banks, infront of hotels, in car parks and in the bars, even outside the sports store.. It ends up being a quiet weekend - only 40 beers, a bottle of Cougar and Jameson and that doesn't include the drinks outside the campsite.

The Sunday we leave Emmet, Fran and Marie-ann back to Pemby cause the suckers have to work on Monday!! Me and Kev get back on the road and head north. We stop at Cape Auguste to check out the views. Its meant to b a good spot for whale watching and we're lucky enough to spot a huge beast hop out of the water and splash back down again. Mightn't sound exciting but you'd have to be there, especially when companies charge you over the odds to go out in a boat and see nothnig!! We still have a day with the van so we get to Stevies flat in Cottesloe for a decent bed and shower and continue north the next morning. We head to New Norica. Its a place where Spanish monks have set up camp and started their own town and brewery - the buckfast abbey of Western Australia!! We get attacked by the flies again and swallow enough to satisfy anyones hunger for a couple of hours!! We do a tour aruond the town and get some nice gifts - Monk port - doubt it will make it back to Ireland though!! Theres a plague of locosts as we travel to our next stop, many being splattered off the back of the rear view mirrors and in the window on to my face!! We get to Cervantes and the Pinnacles, passing Emus and some more road kill. The pinnacles is a desert with strange linestone rocks coming out of the sand. Pretty cool because you can drive round it. We come across a Mummy, Daddy and Joey kangaroo infront of us. Daddy buggars off and the Joey hops into the Ma, she stares us out then dissappears as well. The van has to be back first thing the next morning so we get back to Cervantes to fill up the van so we can get back to Perth. Only problem is the only gas station within 100km closed a half hour before, so we've no choice but to go to the bottle shop and set up camp for the night!! On the way back down to Perth the next morning we stop at a country park for some Koala spotting, they are almost as lazy as
me and the Komodo dragons put together!!

Getting the van really wet the appetite to travel again so the flights are changed and its back to Indonesia for me. Oz has been really class and I met loads of great people but spent more money than I thought I had and probably the same in one month there compared to 3 1/2 months in Asia. Back to surfing on Kuta beach in a few days.......

Gareth Penpraze
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/ASBO-Holidays/