30. January

Roads we travelled…

Cheers, Tom and Anja

22. December – 29. January

Skyworks We are still in Perth – unfortunately the car is not 100% repaired so we are just waiting and not doing much else. We are going to the beach in  the morning and evening, got our health checked and sometimes we even take new pictures.

One day we used the family-ticket to ride to Rockingham and Mandurah which are around 50km and 80km south of Perth and directly at the beach. We watched several wind- and kite-surfer as well as diving students.

  Mandurah seems to be the place for the rich and beautiful… so many new apartments directly at the water and their own marina which could be directly at the ocean or at one of the canals. I had the feeling to be at the Gold Coast without the surf and not so many hotels. We walked along the foreshore and befriended some of the sculptures. We also tried not to disturb the fishing pelicans under the bridge.

Then the big day with the fireworks was there! No, not New Years Eve – there were no fireworks and we had to watch the Sydney fireworks on TV. Australia Day is celebrated with big fireworks and a huge program. We arrived in the afternoon and watched the camels, the  jumping castles, the local crusty demons and the air show. Sometimes around 8 planes were flying a formation or the flew just 5m above the water. Of course there were several helicopter “towing” some flags. The biggest flag was the Australian flag with nearly 20.000 square feet. I guess this pilot had a lot to do…

   The fireworks started at 8.00pm sharp. It was fired from some pontoons in the water as well as from some skyscrapers. Luckily we could see the pontoons otherwise it would have been impossible to get the right direction. I guess they told a story with the fireworks but unfortunately I couldn’t understand it. So we just concentrated on the lights and were amazed. The show took 30 minutes!

 Have fun,

Cheers, Tom and Anja

26. November – 21. December

Touring map

If anyone is interested, I’ve added a little map so you can have a look which trips MaPa, Tom and I did during December…

Happy Touring,

Cheers, MaPa, Tom and Anja

18.- 21. December

We’re nearing the end of the trip with MaPa as we arrived in Bunbury. We  discovered that they have their carol performance on Sunday so we decided to stay. Bunbury is famous for their local dolphins – they should come frequently into the bay so we decided to have breakfast with them. We arrived early, had our breakfast and no dolphins in sight. We must have picked the wrong day… But rest assured we saw dolphins but at the ocean beach where we swam in the afternoon.

The city’s wetlands are worth a visit. We went to the swamp and walked  around it and of course on the boardwalks to the bird hide-outs. We saw an abundance of waterbirds and black swans which my mum wanted to see desperately. There was a playground as well and as they always say “little kids like to play but big kids even more” we had a try at the swings, the see-saw and the little merry-go-around.

 Suddenly it was Sunday and time to get ready for the Carols at Candlelight. It started with a little concert and a free sausage sizzle. At 7.00pm sharp the first prayer was said and the singing started. The concert lasted 2h and they had several performer/singer on stage. We had a songbook but I hardly manage to sing along. Every song, even silent night, sounded so different I would have never guessed the German version. Unfortunately we didn’t have any candles – of course they were the electric lights in form of a candle – but we enjoyed it anyway. Luckily the rain kept away and the concert went smoothly without any shower. The rain started over night and didn’t stop until we reached Fremantle.

The last evening we spent in a pub and had a over-the-counter-meal and another beer tasting! I think we had a really good time and my parents made lots of new experiences during the 3,500km long drive. They slept out in the bush, at the beach, in different caravan parks, on a farm, under the stars and trees. We had cold, warm and stinking hot days as well as some rain but no downpour or hail. We also showed them a variety of “local” dishes/preparations; Fish and Chips at the beach (the chips of course on a sheet of paper), fried egg on aluminium foil on the fire and BBQ, a big “outback-burger” (which we hardly finished), breakfast and dinner at the beach in camper style (use as less pots as possible) and the over-the-counter-meal. And we’ve treated them to sweets like fried mars bar and mud cake.

When is your turn?

Bye, bye, MaPa, Tom and Anja

14. – 17. December

Get the tastebuds ready!

We made it to the Margaret River region which is famous for food and wine – I don’t know how many wineries are there, which are open to the public and what else they’ve to offer… First we visited a vineyard with a fabulous garden -  lovely roses and well manicured. They even employ 8 gardeners so I think they concentrate more on the garden than on their wine. But I can’t proof it as we didn’t taste any wine. But we learnt one feature of the roses and why most wine rows have a rose at the beginning and the end – the roses are more sensitive to any bugs or so. They are used as the early warning sights for any harmful insects…

At the next winery we purchase a tasting tray with 6 different wines and we only liked three. But they had a nice garden as well but the best toilets I’ve ever seen. You have to go to the toilets even if you don’t have to wee. They are fantastic. Every toilet was separate and had their own washing basin and pictures hanging from the wall. It felt like being in an antique store or so.

Margaret River does not only produce wine, there are also cheese factories, chocolate factories and breweries. The tasting tray at the brewery contained 6+1 beer. The one beer is the special beer and it was named “for the Ashes” – thought to be a good omen for the Ashes-series but I’m not sure what they’re doing with the beer now as Australia lost the series… Anyway as I don’t understand crickets I didn’t like the beer either. At the chocolate fabric we ate so much chocolate until we were sick and could go no further. We only bought cheese from the cheese factory directly and Tom was happy when we left their showroom.

After all these tastings we had to do some walking again and went to the  Ellensbrook Homestead. A house which was built early 1900 by one of the Bussell’ brothers. But the homestead was not open so we walked to the little grotto nearby. The grotto was beautiful and it has an aboriginal story behind it. The story was written in a diary – hopefully I can remember. It’s said that one women liked to explore the surroundings and went often to places she should not go. One day she told that she  saw a god in the waters and everyone was shocked and said that trouble is near. This woman was promised to be the second wife to the eldest but she didn’t want to. She escaped with one male, hiding at the grotto but the tribe came after them. They killed the man and she was returned to the tribe and had to do the dirty work. After a while she died from exhaustion and separation. Her soul returned to the grotto where her mate was waiting. It’s possible to hear their laughter…

Then we headed to the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse but only walked around the lighthouse enjoying the views from the cliff. At one place we were wondering where the kids are – we could hear kids screaming and it sounded as it was coming from below but nobody was seen. Just a little further we noticed the kids – it was a sea-lion colony. They were living on the rocks beneath the cliff and had their swim school and made the noises!

The Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park offers a long distance walk – the 135km Cape to Cape track. This walk traverses spectacular coastal scenery – we just did little parts of it - probably 3km up at the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse and the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse and around 2km at Hamelin Bay. At Hamelin Bay we met a guy who was doing the hike.

  Next stop was again on the list of my mum – the Jetty in Busselton. The jetty should be the longest in the Southern Hemisphere with 1.84km. And it has an Underwater Observatory at the head. The Observatory is only open at  calm seas as it is 6-8m under water on the ocean floor. But we were disappointed – no jetty as it was still closed for renovations and restoration. It was planned to be open by early December (ready for school holidays) but it was not. May be they can’t even make the official opening in February 2011.

Then it was time to find our spot for the night… We headed to the Tuart forest. The tuart tree is a giant tree and only grows in this part. We had a swim before we drove to Donnybrook – the home of the Granny Smith Apple. But apples are not in season yet so we just walked around the river and enjoyed an apple tart.

See you later,

Cheers, MaPa, Tom and Anja

12. – 13. December

Where oceans meet… Now we drove to Augusta, the closest town to where the Indian and Southern Ocean meet. Apparently this should be a fantastic sight – possible to tell/see the different currents and different water temperatures. But we saw just water. Anyway we had a look at the  lighthouse and the grounds. The Cape Leeuwin lighthouse is/was a very important lighthouse as the ocean is dangerous and it’s still one of the busiest ocean roads in Australia. Despite the significance the lighthouse was erected late – the Western Colony  couldn’t afford to pay for the construction and asked the Eastern Colonies for assistance (they would profit most of a safe passage…) but they denied. With the gold discovery it was finally possible to finance the construction and this coastline became safer. Only 2 or 3 ships have been  wrecked since the construction.  But I’m sure that I don’t want to be a lighthouse keeper. 3 keeper were employed so the light could run non-stop during the night. Of course your family lived with you but if any visitor had to ask for permission first and they lived far away from town. At some time a “reserve” lighthouse keeper was employed but he mainly ensured that enough firewood, the waterwheel was turning and other supplies were around.

Then we drove to the Hamelin Bay Caravan Park which is in the Cape Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. It was just 100m to the beach so we went swimming. And my parents saw a stingray. We could see it really well as one bloke nearly stepped on it when he was chasing a ball out of  the water – but I’m certain he was aware of the ray. We had our dinner directly at the beach so it was not only sweet pasta with fruits but it included some sand as well. And the sun made the day for my parents perfect – she sank beautiful into the ocean and a little island was the contrast. After so much sightseeing above ground it was time to head underground – we went to explore some caves. The first cave was the  Lake Cave with the Cave Works at the entrance. This cave is run by a private company and you need to go on a guided tour. This company operates the  Jewel and Mammoth Cave as well. The main feature is of course the lake and the suspended table which is a column hovering above the lake surface. Unfortunately the lake is “loosing” water – about 1cm per year. This water is an unique biotope – some little organism live in it. The biologists are working hard to discover the cause and even add new water to the lake – taking lots of care to not disturb the balance…

The Giants cave is managed by the DEC and can be explored self-guided. This cave is not open every day – mainly during school holidays but we  were in luck and the gate was open. So Tom and I stepped into gear (hard-helm, a head torch and an additional torch). Cameras are ok to be taken but definite no back-packs. This cave is the largest and deepest of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge and only suitable for the adventurous visitor as we had to scramble over rock-falls and negotiate a series of ladders. It’s estimated that the tour takes about 60minutes but we’ve topped it and needed 2h – we had to discover everything and take as many pictures and videos as possible. They nearly started a search party because we needed so long and they wanted to close the cave at 2.00pm but we came out at 2.05pm so all was ok. The begin of the cave was really easy – walking upright and lot of space left and right. And we couldn’t get lost – there was an orange rope guiding us and ensured that we would not step onto the fungi. But the more and more we went into the cave the harder and narrower it got. Sometimes we had to squeeze through a tight spot, sometimes to crawl on all four or climb little ladders (not wider than 30cm). After one ladder we had to make a 180degree turn and than slide down a slope. It was so much fun! To reach the daylight we had to scramble over some rocks – my parents were already waiting with the camera ready and calling for us. The turn for my parents was not far away – they explored the Calgardup Cave which is divided into two parts and has boardwalks throughout but you have to wear a hard hat and the torches as well. This cave is famous for the calcite crystal deposits, walls of coloured flowstone and of course stalactites and stalagmites. The other side of the cave features a lake and a stream where my parents saw frogs. One DEC staff (spoke German) went into the cave at the same time as my parents – she had to count the frogs so my parents couldn’t miss them ;-)

Happy Caving!

the Cave people, MaPa, Tom and Anja