cruising Western Australia

We decided we were going to see the most we can of Australia so we headed north. Our first stop on our north bound journey was Pinnacles desert to see the towering limestone pillars.

We stayed a few days in Kalbarri. This is a great tourist town. We were there off season so it wasn't very crowded. The weather was beautiful. I have some great photos of the brick red rocky coast. Marty fished and I took pictures at this sandy inlet we hiked into. The beach was made of crushed colorful shells. Marty also did some beach fishing. He was using small fish for bait. I spent the whole time trying to get a good picture of this pelican that was stalking my fisherman. At the end of the evening, Marty threw a fish in the air and the pelican swooped in and caught it. That was my best picture of the day.

Our next destination was Coral Bay. We visited some interesting places along the way. The first was another huge beach completely made of shells.

The second was (following passage copied directly from Australia Lonely Planet 2002, page #974) ~Hamelin Pool, a marine reserve containing the world's best known colony of stromatolites. The microbes, descendants of organisms that existed 1900 million years ago and established the building block for more complex life, are extremely fragile- wheel tracks from the early pioneering days are still clearly visible. A boardwalk allows visitors to view them without causing further harm~ It was cool.

We finally arrived at Coral Bay. This place is great. The water is soooo blue. We did some great snorkeling along the Ningaloo Reef. The best way to see the coral is at Turquoise Bay. From the car park, you walk down the beach, swim out 50 meters, then just let the current carry you down the reef. We saw alot of large colorful fish. Be careful, it is a strong current and from the water, you can't see the sandbar. I freaked at the end because I thought I was getting pulled out to sea. It is not possible to swim against the current. Then suddenly, I was thrown into the sandbar. Despite that incident, I am voting this beach my favorite in the world. The sand is brilliant white and the water is well...turquoise.

Our next destination was Broome. I had planned to route us through the interior to see some gorges then up north to Broome. Hindsight is always clearer.

If you go to Australia, you need to know this: find the Tropic of Capricorn on your map, ok- from April to September travel above it and from October to March travel below it...any straying from this basic rule and you experience weather extremes!

We started early so the desert was cool the first part of the journey. But then from noon until about two, not even the a/c blasting in our faces could cool us down. We found a station and filled up with gas. Words cannot describe the oppressive heat we were experiencing while pumping gas. It was 48*C (about 120*F) that day. We never ended up seeing the gorges because the turnoff was a two hour drive down a rocky, dusty road. Five minutes down the road, we aborted our mission. We were in survival mode and just wanted to get back to the coast.

But the next day was better. We got up early and made it to Broome. It is a real fun town. During the dry season, I hear it is quite the party town.

We were there during the local Christmas party. They had a live band. We paid a $25 cover charge then it was all you could eat and drink. We were one of the very few tourist there and invited to several Christmas parties.

The next morning we both woke up with splitting headaches. We decided to skip the rest of the parties and make our next goal: Christmas in Darwin.