Good news!
Contrary to what it may look like, we did not drop off the face of the Earth and made it to Darwin alive, well, and with all body parts intact, what's more, still attached to the appropriate places. Turns out Australia is big. I mean BIG! and once you start heading northwest, remote. We use this as our excuse for not reporting back sooner anyway…Not having internet for more than 10–15 min every 5 or so days was actually quite pleasant.
Since the last update (only one really…) we explored Sydney and surroundings— first few days are a bit of a blur as it took us quite a while to get over the jet-lag — and met up with few friends on the east coast before heading over to see the big red rock everyone is ranting and raving about — Uluru. It is as impressive as they make it sound!
But what we liked even more was the night sky! Spent a few nights in swags under the open sky and must admit, never seen anything like it! After my initial fear that I might wake up to a snake sliding over my face, I thoroughly enjoyed it and crossed our minds several times since that maybe we should invest in a couple of those and do this more often!
The Olgas and Kings canyon exceeded expectations! Met some entertaining folks on the way as well.
Next stop was Perth. Ended up in prison in Fremantle, not out of misbehaving, but voluntarily opted to spend a few nights and commiserate to get the full Australian beginnings feeling. Entertaining for a few nights, but don't recommend it long term! We specially liked the charming local markets and the Little Creatures brewery here. Locals are very friendly. One evening, very early on into the trip, on our way to the Blue Mountains, we were staying in a place called Mount Victoria. Old colonial hotel, bit dated to fit in with the rest of the town, but very keen landlady to make up for it. As we check in, she tells us there is a local kenguru that comes at night and if we want to see it, we should go to the back of the building at dawn. Now…. at this point we have not yet seen a kenguru and, as you can imagine, I got hugely excited. Much to the delight of the lady, who then proceeded eagerly to inform us that there are also a few possums who come at night, and even an aboriginal family (!) who are staying, should we be interested to see more of the local curiosities….! Still makes me chuckle.
Then soon the big day arrived. It was finally time to pick up our new wheels and home for the next three weeks to start our big journey up north!
West Australia is beautiful, diverse and very, very remote at places! It has everything from secluded pristine beaches that stretch for miles, to rugged shoreline, dramatic gorges and even desert. Wildlife is abundant, interesting reptiles, birds and colorful fish everywhere. A few pics:
So here we are in Darwin, enjoying the great wet! Monsoon arrived, possibly building up to a cyclone in the next few days, accompanied by a small tremor this morning….locals tell us nothing to worry about! Sort of nice to have a hot shower and coffee at our leisure, but we are ready for the next adventures.
Next stop Brisbane and Fiji for new years!
Merry Christmas everyone!
