We ended our time in Western Australia preparing for our ambitious trek across the Nullarbor Plain. While staying with our final host in WA, we were lucky enough to spend some time making preserves from the excess produce that the farm generated, namely tomatoes and chili peppers. Our first go at preserving was at making and jarring some tomato soup, then some tomato chutney, then salsa, and lastly some seriously hot hot sauce! We were able to take some of our preserves with us on our adventure, which meant we didn't have to spend as much on groceries as initially anticipated. We made sure we had some canned staples such as baked beans and vegetable soup, and stocked up on quick noodles like rice vermicelli, hokkien, udon and soba. We had tortilla chips and rice crackers, dried fruits and nuts for snacks, and plenty of muesli and soy tetra packs for brekkie. We also made sure we got a slow leak in our car tire fixed before we left, which only set us back about thirty bucks, but upon researching where to get our oil changed, we were unpleasantly surprised to discover that it would cost around $150! Back in Canada, we were used to our Quik-Lube and Jiffy Lube, where an oil change is performed while you wait, and only costs about thirty dollars or so. Luckily, there lived a former mechanic at the farm we were then staying at, and he was happy to show Jason how to perform his own oil change in the garage, which cost us the price of the oil and filter only. So feeling much more prepared and happier in the wallet, we were ready to set out across our 3000+km journey!
While discussing our plans with eachother and with some of our hosts and fellow WWOOFers, we decided to take our time crossing the Nullarbor Plain, giving ourselves just over a week to drive from Denmark in south Swestern Australia, to Adelaide in South Australia. Apparently this was still pretty ambitious, but Jason and I had a relaxed attitude about it, knowing we could stop at any time to camp or rest or sight-see. We had a number of free campsites in mind that we wanted to stay overnight at, but nothing was set in stone. This turned out to be a good thing, as some of our plans were foiled in the first couple of days due to shite weather. And, as we later discovered, Australia's highways have an abundance of rest stops; some of which are simply a lane next to the main highway to literally just pull over and nap, and some are almost like campsites, with a series of places to park, shaded by trees and scrubs, and occasionally have firepits (although we were in the season of total fire ban). Along our journey we topped up our tank at just about every opportunity we had, because you never knew how far the next fuel station would be! They were extremely sparse in the middle of the desert, a couple hundred kms between each at least.
So we'd had some less than desirable weather the week before our journey, mostly overcast and lightly raining daily, which prevented us from hitting the beach too much... But the day we were scheduled to depart was calling for some pretty heavy winds and thunderstorms. This would also be the first night we had ever camped in the car, and we were headed for a campsite quite near the ocean, so we were a bit concerned that we might need to alter our plan already. At the least, our first campsite at Waychinicup National Park wasn't very far away, so there would have been time to assess if need be, but turns out we were in a bit of a bay and sheltered from the windiest weather. We were definitely glad to be sleeping in the car though and not our tent, as the rain hit pretty hard that night, and the sound would have been deafening. Sadly because of the weather we didn't get to explore much of Waychinicup, but it treated us well and the ranger never came by to collect the camping fees, so we were able to camp for free that night.
The next day we were going to be heading for Esperance, one of Australia's (and the world's) best beach destinations. We were also going to be camping at Cape Le Grand National Park, right on the ocean, but this time we were going to have to forfeit our plan. We headed into the town of Esperence, but seeing that there was nothing but pouring rain and heavy cloud-filled skies, the beaches were a no-go. The campsite we planned would also have been almost two hours off our main route, and to head there for the night would've been redundant seeing as we couldn't enjoy any of the sights. So instead of making the probably dirt-road journey to Cape Le Grand, we stuck to the highway and soon found a caravan park where we could crash. Now, caravan parks are a huge thing in Australia. I guess we Canadians would know them better as trailer parks, but they aren't quite the same thing, and we certainly haven't run into any Ricky's, Julian's or Bubbles's. Caravan Parks, or Holiday Parks or Tourist Parks, as they are called all of these, are geared more toward the traveling folk with campervans, trailers, motorhomes, RVs, or people like us who are traveling the country and sleeping in a car or van. They often have both powered and unpowered 'sites', the powered usually costing a bit more money, and so the unpowered sites would suit a situation like ours where we don't have anything to plug in except a kettle, or backpackers with a tent or swag. We've now seen all manner of caravan parks, from the pretty basic, with just a toilet block, usually including showers and possibly a laundry, to ones that look like a village: thoughtfully laid out sites and cabins to rent, huge amenity blocks, fully-equipped camp kitchens, common lounge room with flat screen tv and DVD collection, a swimming pool and outdoor barbecue area. While caravan parks are not free to camp in, they have certainly been welcome to us every few days while road-tripping, as we can at least get in a shower and possibly wash some clothes, and it's nice to have access to a real kitchen once and again. We have also met some really great people at these places, some fellow travellers, and also some people who live in caravan parks full-time (more on those later).
The night spent in Esperance was our last "planned" stop along the journey, til we got to Adelaide. We spent a total of 7 days journeying from Denmark, averaging around 500-700kms of driving per day. The speed limits on Aussie highways are 110km/hour, so it was easy enough to travel this distance in 5-6 hours. We were armed with snacks, some good tunes on our iPhones (which we updated before our departure, thankfully), and we generally alternated the driver once per day. The next four nights we spent at rest stops, generally ones that had a decent amount of space and were a fair ways back from the road. We always stopped before sundown, and still do as a rule. It is extremely dangerous driving in Australia at night, largely due to the wildlife, particualrly 'roos. Sadly the most wildlife you will see crossing the desert will be the roadkill, and the occasional wedge-tail eagle scavenging from them. We had an unfortunate experience once before, driving to Wedge Island with the beekeeper's daughter, when we had to be on the road after dark. We were in her troupie, a very large vehicle and fairly new to her, when along one of the dirt roads we saw a big male roo near the edge of the road. He was facing away from the road, but as we approached he lazily turned around and bounded directly into the side of the truck. Head-first, he would've been knocked out instantly, but unfortunately this is exactly what happens hundreds of times every night just after dusk. We wanted to avoid any more unfortunate incidences with wildlife, so we made it a rule to stop driving before dusk. We still saw 'roos at dusk, but luckily they were in the plains, bounding together in small groups away from the roads. We were also fortunate enough to spot some emus along our route, though not for long as they are quite shy. We also saw road crossing signs for camels, echidnas and wombats, but spotted no such critters on that trip.
Car camping would take some getting used-to, but by now we certainly have it down! Our lunches largely consisted of items that needed no cooking, or canned foods we could heat up on our engine block. A typical lunch would be Baked Beans and Toast, or homemade salsa and tortillla chips. We also had a variety of snack foods, including plenty of apples and oranges until we got to the South Australia border, at which there is a quarantine check for fruit flies. Therefore, you cannot bring any fresh food across the Nullarbor, so we had to be sure to eat it all before we got there. For dinner, we would often cook a meal over Jason's homemade camp stove, which he crafted from recycled tin cans. We made a number of yummy meals, such as Cinnamon-Apple Bulghur, Peanut Noodle Stir Fry, Pasta with Tomato Chutney, and of course more Baked Beans and Toast! Going into fall, it started to get darker earlier anmd earlier, so filling our evenings with things to keep us occupied was going to be a bit of a challenge, but we did pick up a ukelele in Albany just before the big drive. We began learning some tunes that we could play and sing together, some of our favourite Bob Marley tunes, some Bedouin Soundclash and whatever else we knew. This has since proved to be a great way to pass the time, and is especially nice around a fire :) We also were able to occasionally use our laptop to watch some tv series and movies, provided we were able to charge it.
The driving wasn't difficult, as the roads were more or less stick-straight, and there was only one paved road for over 2000kms. The only way you can really get turned around across the Nullarbor is if you pull off for fuel and get back on the highway heading in the wrong direction! The scenery changed slowly but surely, from forests and coastline in Denmark, then the trees thin out to scrubby bush and the occasional gum, then to complete flat plain just before crossing the South Australia border. The Great Australian Bight was breathtaking, sheer cliffs straight down into the turquoise ocean, extending as far as you can see on either side. The scrubs start to return, and slowly the shade trees also reappear, and the land begins to undulate once again. It is really pretty amazing watching all the different ecosystems come and go as you drive by, and the birds and animals change with the surroundings.
The next time we saw a shower was at a caravan park in Port Pirie, just north of Adelaide, South Australia. There we met a couple of other travelers, working their way across Autralia and living out of a van which they'd decked out pretty nicely. It was complete with solar panels on the roof, powering the fridge and power outlets inside, pretty nice! We got to talking and share a beer with the couple, swapping stories and travel tips, til it got too cold and rainy to stay outside and chat. The next day we headed into Adelaide itself, which we originally had thought we might stay in for a couple weeks - but seeing as our timing for the WWOOF hosts we were interested in didn't work out, and the wet weather had followed us across the desert, we decided not to linger and camp in the rain. Instead we would continue all the way to Melbourne, another two days of driving south from Adelaide, and maybe see some more of South Australia on our way back up in a couple months through the Red Centre to head north to Darwin. So we continued our camping for a few more nights, until we arrived in Melbourne on Day 10! There we are. Ten days to cross the desert from Denmark to Melbourne, where we finally have a bed to sleep in again, indoors, with a real kitchen and hot showers too. The cousins have been awesome, welcoming the Canadian strangers with open arms, and it's really nice to feel like we have some family here on the opposite side of the globe :)
Up next, we travel to Tasmania for more WWOOFing, car camping, and the search for some of the rarest wildlife in the world! Check out our current videos here, and all our photos are on Flickr. Til next time!
Sunday 26 May 2013
Saturday 18 May 2013
South Western Australia
Whew! I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry to give excuses, but the internet distribution in the more remote regions of Australia is either very slow, very limited, or very non-existent! So we have some catching up to do...
While WWOOFing at the apiary, we had the wonderful opportunity to take a trip to Wedge Island for the Australia Day long weekend. Our host's daughter and her friends were going to be passing by the property, and very thoughtfully offered to pick us up to go with them. Canada Day is fun and all, with fireworks, maybe some camping and a 24, but it's nothing compared to the celebrations that happen nation-wide for the Australian holiday! It is a huge celebration, with the "celebrating" starting very early in teh morning, and continuing til very late, for every day of the three-day weekend. Everyone and their mom hits the beach, in troupies and utes, decked out with shade sails, beach chairs, barbecues, and the Triple J top 100 blaring from every vehicle. We slathered on the sunscreen and bummed around the beach the whole sunny weekend, and Jason even got to experience a bit of beginner kite-surfing! We slept in our tent behind the beach shack, which was sufficiently full of sand by the end of the weekend. It was a great experience, and we got to meet many interesting people who had been gathering at this spot for many years. A great inundation of Aussie culture.
After our fun-filled and sting-filled time at Homestead Honey, Jason and I looked for a way to get to our next host in Margaret River, WA-the famous wine and surf region! Still not having a car, we were desperately searching on RideShare, Gum Tree (the Aussie equivalent of Kijiji), and Couch Surfers for a lift south, about 5 hrs away from the apiary. Our contingency plan was to either hitch-hike or bus it, but at the last minute we found a ride with another beekeeper! He was coming to our host's location to drop off some bee boxes, and heading home to Busselton, which was almost all the way to Margaret River. So we helped this bee man deliver some more boxes on the way, complete with (many) more stings for Jason, as he only had the one proper bee suit... and we finally arrived in Busselton around 10pm, a bit late to catch the bus the rest of the way. We asked our ride to drop us off at the nearby caravan park so we could camp for the night and leave in the am, but out of the goodness and probably pity in his heart he insisted we crash at his place instead. We arrived unannounced to the rest of his family, which seemed initially to be a source of tension, but after a little conversation I think they all felt that we weren't murderous hitchers. So we crashed in the lounge room, and his lovely wife drove us into town in the morning after dropping the kids at school :)
We did a bit of shopping while waiting for the afternoon bus, locating some new sunglasses to replace the ones that were claimed by the ocean at Wedge, and acquainted ourselves with Busselton. The bus ride took us through a scenic route to Margs, where we espied vineyard after vineyard along the lovely Caves Road. We finally contacted our host from town, who picked us up and took us to our new home for the next three weeks! We were amused and intrigued by Jim's evidently laid-back attitude, his Hawaiian shirt and surf shorts, and his American accent. Turns out he served in the Navy, and when his stint was up moved to Australia for the surf. He has been an active and innovative part of the local community for the last 30 years, and we were going to be staying at Matan's Art Gallery and Lodge, which houses artists and backpackers as well as Jim and his family. Jim and his wife are both talented artists, and for the three weeks we spent with them we worked mornings and afternoons on various art projects, took a midday beach break nearly every day, had dinner parties and pizza nights, bottled homemade beer and cider, drank it, and spent our days off learning to surf (or scurf) at the beautiful beaches on the south west coast of Australia. Needless to say, we were in heaven! We also hosted a West African Drumming Workshop at the gallery before our time was up, and you can see a video of our time at Matan's here. We also learned that these folks were well connected with our next two hosts that we had lined up, so we knew we would continue to enjoy ourselves in WA.
The other thing we managed to accomplish in Margaret River was to purchase a car! After chatting to some other travellers who were staying at the lodge, we decided it would be worth our while to invest in a vehicle that would allow us to see more of Australia at our leisure, and that would also serve as a bed when it came time to cross the long stretches of road to the other side of the country. So we managed to find a gently used Hyundai Lantra Wagon for $2000, with space enough for us both to sleep in the back. It has so far proved to be a great investment, low maintenance, and a very reliable car :)
So we drove our new car from Margaret River along the coast through Hamelin Bay and Port Augusta on our way to our new hosts in Denmark. We had a tip from a local fisherman in Margs to check out Hamelin Bay for some stingrays! It proved to be a great tip, and we caught lots of video of our close encounters with the creatures, as well as our visit to Jewel Cave. Finally we had the freedom to see some sights and stop along the way to our next destination, not having to rely on bus schedules or the kindness of strangers to get us where we needed to go. We drove through the giant Karri forests on our way to Denmark, home to some of the tallest trees on the continent, and the first real forests we had seen since leaving Canada. Australia is nothing if not beautiful, but forests and woodlands are not the norm, and we were beginning to miss the sight and smell of the trees. In this way we made our way to the southern coast of WA, and found our next destination at the Wolery, an intentional community near the green and alternative town of Denmark.
We spent two weeks here in a mudbrick, solar passive home, on a permaculture property, with a well-travelled couple who took us in as members of their family almost as soon as we met them. We ate the most amazing, fresh, organic and loved food from their extensive garden, homemade sourdough and preserves of all kinds, and Louise's beautiful Anzac cookies, made especially vegan just for us. We spent plenty of time in the garden with Lousie, making compost piles, harvesting veggies, and learning about the benefits of incorporating chooks and ducks in the fruit orchard. Our primary function while here was to help Simon build a new retaining wall out of Earthbricks, complete with a frame for a future pond. We finished it just in time, and got lots of footage of the building process. The other perk that made our stay in Denmark particularly memorable was the nearby beach, Greens Pool. Our first sighting of it's white sand, crystal clear waters and rocky surroundings made our jaws drop. It was the perfect spot to try out our new snorkeling gear that we acquired in Margaret River, and has certainly been one of the highlights of our trip so far. We spent so many days at the beach, and we were spoiled with weather until just before we left. Sadly we didn't get to take photos when the weather was pristine, but there are plenty of snorkeling videos from all of our underwater adventures. Simon also tutored Jason in some fine points of photography, which has certainly improved our ability to capture our trip on film ever since.
We were certainly spoiled with secluded beaches, beautiful coastline, and a very hippie friendly atmosphere in Denmark. We miss all of the lovely people we met in WA, and the summer weather, but it was time to move on to another part of the massive country and a new phase of our trip. We were about to cover about 3000 kms on our way across the desert, so stay tuned for the next post with all the photos and videos to prove it. In the meantime, here are the photos of our progress so far, and all of our current videos are here on youtube. See you later, WA!
While WWOOFing at the apiary, we had the wonderful opportunity to take a trip to Wedge Island for the Australia Day long weekend. Our host's daughter and her friends were going to be passing by the property, and very thoughtfully offered to pick us up to go with them. Canada Day is fun and all, with fireworks, maybe some camping and a 24, but it's nothing compared to the celebrations that happen nation-wide for the Australian holiday! It is a huge celebration, with the "celebrating" starting very early in teh morning, and continuing til very late, for every day of the three-day weekend. Everyone and their mom hits the beach, in troupies and utes, decked out with shade sails, beach chairs, barbecues, and the Triple J top 100 blaring from every vehicle. We slathered on the sunscreen and bummed around the beach the whole sunny weekend, and Jason even got to experience a bit of beginner kite-surfing! We slept in our tent behind the beach shack, which was sufficiently full of sand by the end of the weekend. It was a great experience, and we got to meet many interesting people who had been gathering at this spot for many years. A great inundation of Aussie culture.
After our fun-filled and sting-filled time at Homestead Honey, Jason and I looked for a way to get to our next host in Margaret River, WA-the famous wine and surf region! Still not having a car, we were desperately searching on RideShare, Gum Tree (the Aussie equivalent of Kijiji), and Couch Surfers for a lift south, about 5 hrs away from the apiary. Our contingency plan was to either hitch-hike or bus it, but at the last minute we found a ride with another beekeeper! He was coming to our host's location to drop off some bee boxes, and heading home to Busselton, which was almost all the way to Margaret River. So we helped this bee man deliver some more boxes on the way, complete with (many) more stings for Jason, as he only had the one proper bee suit... and we finally arrived in Busselton around 10pm, a bit late to catch the bus the rest of the way. We asked our ride to drop us off at the nearby caravan park so we could camp for the night and leave in the am, but out of the goodness and probably pity in his heart he insisted we crash at his place instead. We arrived unannounced to the rest of his family, which seemed initially to be a source of tension, but after a little conversation I think they all felt that we weren't murderous hitchers. So we crashed in the lounge room, and his lovely wife drove us into town in the morning after dropping the kids at school :)
We did a bit of shopping while waiting for the afternoon bus, locating some new sunglasses to replace the ones that were claimed by the ocean at Wedge, and acquainted ourselves with Busselton. The bus ride took us through a scenic route to Margs, where we espied vineyard after vineyard along the lovely Caves Road. We finally contacted our host from town, who picked us up and took us to our new home for the next three weeks! We were amused and intrigued by Jim's evidently laid-back attitude, his Hawaiian shirt and surf shorts, and his American accent. Turns out he served in the Navy, and when his stint was up moved to Australia for the surf. He has been an active and innovative part of the local community for the last 30 years, and we were going to be staying at Matan's Art Gallery and Lodge, which houses artists and backpackers as well as Jim and his family. Jim and his wife are both talented artists, and for the three weeks we spent with them we worked mornings and afternoons on various art projects, took a midday beach break nearly every day, had dinner parties and pizza nights, bottled homemade beer and cider, drank it, and spent our days off learning to surf (or scurf) at the beautiful beaches on the south west coast of Australia. Needless to say, we were in heaven! We also hosted a West African Drumming Workshop at the gallery before our time was up, and you can see a video of our time at Matan's here. We also learned that these folks were well connected with our next two hosts that we had lined up, so we knew we would continue to enjoy ourselves in WA.
The other thing we managed to accomplish in Margaret River was to purchase a car! After chatting to some other travellers who were staying at the lodge, we decided it would be worth our while to invest in a vehicle that would allow us to see more of Australia at our leisure, and that would also serve as a bed when it came time to cross the long stretches of road to the other side of the country. So we managed to find a gently used Hyundai Lantra Wagon for $2000, with space enough for us both to sleep in the back. It has so far proved to be a great investment, low maintenance, and a very reliable car :)
So we drove our new car from Margaret River along the coast through Hamelin Bay and Port Augusta on our way to our new hosts in Denmark. We had a tip from a local fisherman in Margs to check out Hamelin Bay for some stingrays! It proved to be a great tip, and we caught lots of video of our close encounters with the creatures, as well as our visit to Jewel Cave. Finally we had the freedom to see some sights and stop along the way to our next destination, not having to rely on bus schedules or the kindness of strangers to get us where we needed to go. We drove through the giant Karri forests on our way to Denmark, home to some of the tallest trees on the continent, and the first real forests we had seen since leaving Canada. Australia is nothing if not beautiful, but forests and woodlands are not the norm, and we were beginning to miss the sight and smell of the trees. In this way we made our way to the southern coast of WA, and found our next destination at the Wolery, an intentional community near the green and alternative town of Denmark.
We spent two weeks here in a mudbrick, solar passive home, on a permaculture property, with a well-travelled couple who took us in as members of their family almost as soon as we met them. We ate the most amazing, fresh, organic and loved food from their extensive garden, homemade sourdough and preserves of all kinds, and Louise's beautiful Anzac cookies, made especially vegan just for us. We spent plenty of time in the garden with Lousie, making compost piles, harvesting veggies, and learning about the benefits of incorporating chooks and ducks in the fruit orchard. Our primary function while here was to help Simon build a new retaining wall out of Earthbricks, complete with a frame for a future pond. We finished it just in time, and got lots of footage of the building process. The other perk that made our stay in Denmark particularly memorable was the nearby beach, Greens Pool. Our first sighting of it's white sand, crystal clear waters and rocky surroundings made our jaws drop. It was the perfect spot to try out our new snorkeling gear that we acquired in Margaret River, and has certainly been one of the highlights of our trip so far. We spent so many days at the beach, and we were spoiled with weather until just before we left. Sadly we didn't get to take photos when the weather was pristine, but there are plenty of snorkeling videos from all of our underwater adventures. Simon also tutored Jason in some fine points of photography, which has certainly improved our ability to capture our trip on film ever since.
We were certainly spoiled with secluded beaches, beautiful coastline, and a very hippie friendly atmosphere in Denmark. We miss all of the lovely people we met in WA, and the summer weather, but it was time to move on to another part of the massive country and a new phase of our trip. We were about to cover about 3000 kms on our way across the desert, so stay tuned for the next post with all the photos and videos to prove it. In the meantime, here are the photos of our progress so far, and all of our current videos are here on youtube. See you later, WA!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)