Going bush: back in 2 weeks!

We're off again. Driving round Victoria and New South Wales. And this time when we say we'll be back in 2 weeks, we mean we'll be back on this site in 2 weeks and not in the UK in 2 weeks. Cos that would be silly - there's still so much to see!

See ya soon!

P.

Our Melbourne hosts

Thai, the dark ninja himself.




Nhi and Sunny.




Dave and Suwarni (Suarni, Sooarny, Sooani??)




and Bouncer the dog.



Thanks to all who put us up, took us out, fed and entertained us.

Great Aunt Margaret

A pleasure to meet her!

The New Memory Loss

Matt and Steve temporarily replaced by newer models with better bodywork.



And it just happened to coincide with the time when Phileas met Kylie!

Guess who: Neighbours revealed!

The hands, the nails, the poll. And the survey said... it was Izzy or Janelle. But the actual person was...



Dylan! And a nice bloke he was too. Apparently he doesn't wear those nails regularly, he's just doing a show where he is a dark prince. And that's what they wear.




His on-screen mother was a lot nicer in real life too. We were very perplexed to watch Neighbours here and find the whole Timmins family gone and replaced by strangers. Talking to Janelle, it wasn't their choice!



And this is the biggest smile we got out of Rachael - well, Stingray is dead afterall!



Connor was very tired, having done a lot of work and recently returned from Ireland where he had attended a wedding and funeral. He's also eaten a lot of pies since leaving Neighbours.



And the legend himself. We're almost family.




But not the coolest rocker on the block.



And this guy? Anybody heard of Daniel Fitzgerald? Coming to a screen near you soon (if not already there!)

Goodbye

It's sad to leave the west after such a brilliant time with friends and family but we had two fantastic gatherings to celebrate the fact that we were ever there!



Camping in the Perth Hills...



and a BBQ the night before this family send-off.

Many thanks to all family and friends who have been so generous during our stay in Perth. They have proved once again that on this trip people are the best thing to see. Love to you all!

An evening on the beach

Kylie-oke!

We got to see Kylie perform for free! And Robbie too!

She was rubbish but he was great.

Life on the ocean wave

A day out fishing on the glassy waters of the Indian Ocean. Not quite what Phileas expected at all - with so many, and such a variety of fish, this was a brilliant experience which sadly can't be repeated!





Thanks to Skipper Ian for filleting the catch of the day - he was too good at it for us to interfere!



And the result? Never tasted fish so good!

Roadkill

There are lessons to be learned about the dangers of crossing the road.



Especially if you're a sea dwelling creature.

Kangaroo Burgers

We didn't tell them what we'd just bought from the supermarket!



Very glad they're not omnivorous too!

Wildlife encounters

An incessant noise like a generator whirring. All day. Didn't have a clue what it was except that it wasn't man-made. In the morning we found hundreds of these empty insect shells maintaining their grip on every smaller variety of trees in the campsite. They hadn't been there the evening before. We wondered where their previous occupants had gone until...



Mrs P found quite a few scattered in the ablution block. Most were dead, some were twitching, enough were sufficiently conscious to frighten her away and wait till the other block had been cleaned. Cicadas apparently - 17 years underground and we were there when these particular guys emerged, sang, bred and died for us.



The stupid galahs! They make a right racket morning and evening but fortunately for them they're bright pink and that goes a long way in some people's book!



Monkey Mia. No monkeys but 8 dolphins came in for a feed at 8am. After a paddle with them they were given their fish and promptly left. After a quick meeting 50m off-shore, they were straight back for another feed.



Big birds, strange birds. And not a car in sight.

I (Mrs) was very amused by these big-beaked birdies. Watching them try and clean themselves with their oversized beaks and then when they waddled back into the water - some of them stretched up tall, some still squatting and waddling simultaneously.

Walkabout

Novel by James Vance Marshall, first published 1959. Read it, it's good. Tells of a young English boy and girl lost in the Australian outback, having to cope on their own. Then they encounter someone on their very own 'Walkabout' and...

But not just a novel...



Great coastline north of Perth: Kalbarri - gorges, alleys, rugged cliffs etc. A Jollagist's dream, ey Fordy!




Happy to be let out on good behaviour.




Called a pink lake, it truly was pink, despite our doubts. Salt and some bacteria or algae or whatever doing the biz. Nice work.




Phileas had never done a cartwheel on a beach entirely made up of tiny shells before so decided to give it a go.




They just keep coming.




Blowholes near Carnarvon. A beautiful place to set up a camping chair, watch the explosive power of the sea and try and eat 3 melted lollies.




A typical 24-hour rest area in the outback with a typical long drop toilet.




Karijini National Park in the North West of Western Australia. A very hot place at this time of year (we saw some mad dog dingoes and we were the Englishmen!) but a wonderful place to experience outback paradise: gorges, year round rivers, tracks and some of the best refreshing swimming pools God has ever invented.




A free swim before breakfast with the pool all to ourselves.




Night-time was hot. The lingering heat made sleeping difficult until we discovered kipping under a wet towel - hugging bottles of ice felt nice, but didn't have any lasting effect! Anyway, there were a million things that made up for a restless night.




And meeting lovely people - the Palmers, off on one of their very own, and seemingly regular, Walkabouts. With their French-based living, lengthy foreign journeys and intelligent, mature children they are certainly an inspiration for the intermittent traveller.