Home » Australia » 1995 Travel Diary (Part 1)

I saw the New Year in with my brother and friends watching the impressive fireworks over Sydney Harbor. After the display we walked across the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge and then headed down to the nearby celebrations in the Rocks area. It was really kicking down in the Rocks area with all of the New Year madness one would expect. It was a great feeling as the New Year rang in and I realized that the next year was mine to travel and have fun - not to work. As I wondered what the New Year would bring I had a feeling that this trip was going to be a long one! I thought I would probably spend 6 months in Oz and then head over to Indonesia - after that I had no idea!

1995 Travel Diary (Part 1)

Gjcmcclurg
2005-12-23 14:34:04

Displayed times (last time: )

There were only two of us old enough to drive, and as the other guy terrified the others I got to do most of the driving! Some of the driving was pretty challenging as we had to negotiate some large sand dunes and steep overgrown tracks while being fully loaded with nine people and all of the camping gear.

I returned to Sydney in late February just in time to catch the huge Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. The event was huge and the procession was quite a spectacle. Some of the costumes were extremely flamboyant and looked as if they were straight out of 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'. After a few more weeks in Sydney I flew over to Perth in Western Australia and spent a few weeks catching up with my relatives who lived there.

This visit to Australia I decided I really wanted to explore the more wild west coast. Apart from the city of Perth the west coast had virtually no population and still had a pioneer feel about it. Tourism, which had totally swamped the east coast, was still relatively light and so it was possible to experience a bit of the 'Old Australia' feeling. At the end of March I set off from Perth and began my journey north. I had a rough plan of spending a couple months traveling by bus and hitch-hiking right up to Darwin in the Northern Territory. My first stop was the Kalbarri Gorge. I met up with another couple of backpackers and we hired a small jeep to explore the national park for a day. A sand track took us out to the edge of the huge gorge and we spent the day taking in the breathtaking views and enjoying some hiking along the ridge. The scenery was undeniably impressive, but the flies were so persistent that we were all quite relieved to get back to the hostel in the evening.

After Kalbarri I traveled up to Shark Bay and the famous resort of Monkey Mia. In Monkey Mia I went to the beach where the dolphins come right up to you in the water. I spent an hour or so watching the various ...