Wednesday, April 14, 2010

No Pictures

Just Kidding!

Finally got some decent (and free) broadband, so please sit back, relax and follow me on a picture-filled journey from Perth all the way to Sydney.

So we start south of Perth, in the Porongurup.


This is where Adam and I worked for 2 weeks on a vineyard, and also where I saved several small children from being crushed by a boulder.

We then headed south to beautiful Albany,



where we witnessed firsthand the Sock Fence,

and the Dog's Head Rock.



Pretty fetching.

Also in this area is the Tree Walk, which is a series of suspension bridges 40 meters in the air,



and the Bicentennial Tree, a 67 meter climb (I only made it up 25 meters), with nothing but air below you as you climb up.



Then we started heading north again to the Margaret River Wine Region.

And what do you do in a wine region? Well, mostly you just wake up really early to go and pick grapes, but every now and then you get to spend some time drinking free wine samples, hanging out at the beach and going to concerts. Here we have the renowned (and incredible) Xavier Rudd.



After about 4 weeks in our beautiful campsite,



Adam and I began our long journey north.

First stop, the Principality of Hutt River.



Yes, there are in fact 2 countries on the continent of Australia, though Hutt River (and it's current ruler Prince Leonard, below) is often overlooked.



Check it out, this country does exist (I have the passport stamp to prove it) and is totally legitimate.

Along the way north, we stopped at Ningaloo Reef (the largest reef in the world on a western shoreline) for some serious snorkeling. While we were there, we saw tons of cool fish and coral,



and I met my Sea Turtle, who was kind enough to show me around for ~15 minutes before taking off.


Then it was inland to the spectacular Karinjini National Park,



and obligatory swim after a long hike down into the gorge.



In Broome,



we saw real fossilized dinosaur footprints



and we went to a crocodile farm



(wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley... or anywhere, for that matter).



And that was it for the West Coast (there's more to visit, but all the roads were flooded out while we were there). So we continued on to the North Coast and beautiful Litchfield Park.


How could you not go for a swim here? Well, there is one compelling argument:


Who knew? 'E nu (OK, bad pun attempt, you don't need to laugh).


But to be fair, there were a number of lovely safe swimming holes in the park.


Then to Darwin, a lovely laid-back city that is surprisingly vibrant. We didn't spend a lot of time there, but I did have the best fish 'n' chips meal ever (tons of barramundi, shrimp and calamari for less than $15) while we were there.



Southwards! To Kakadu National Park


and some thousands-of-years old rock art.



The park is actually a massive wetlands area bigger than Holland, so it isn't much to look at, but apparently there are millions of birds at certain times of the year (though not while we were there). Also, some nice swimming holes and we saw a baby wallabee that a park staff member was raising after it's mother was killed by a car.

We then headed south to the stunnung King's Canyon


And then further south to this behemoth



Yes, the famous Uluru, it's big, it's overrated, it's touristy as all get out, but it's still pretty cool.


And it is MASSIVE. To give you an idea of the scale of this rock, check out the people near the top on this photo.


Can't see them? They're not much more than specks.
The real star of the show, though, was the nearby Kata Tjuta.


Massive rocks that soar hundreds of meters above you as you walk between them, it's pretty outstanding.

We then busted across the great nothing to Cairns for our dive course on the Great Barrier Reef (more on that later).



See that blotch out on the water? That's the Great Barrier Reef (well, part of it anyway, it's a lot more impressive when you're under the water).

The tablelands inland from Cairns are really spectacular,

but we didn't spend much time there. Nope, we just drove south for 5 days (stopping at Steve Irwin's Zoo along the way, more on that later as well) until we got back to where we started in Sydney.
So long Queensland!

9 comments:

ZenJos said...

There is only one word: Awesome.

ZenJos said...

Concert report: It was neat. A bit light on the improv, but neat. in the Outro for "If I Had $1000000", they moved into the chorus of Pilot's "Magic", to which I felt would be appropriate to wave my cell phone, as one would for ballads.

Well, seems I was the only one in the auditorium who thought that was a good idea, so in the end there was just one jackass waving his cell phone around, and that jackass was me. It got me a second of eye contact with Ed, which made it totally worth it.

Also occurring at the concert: Discussion of farts and that they are funny, "You drove here from Prince George? Wow. We flew in from Toronto, but hey! Prince George!", and an improvised rap about the Edmontosaurus.

All in all, a good night.

stephenrstone said...

I'm very impressed by his Royal Highness Prince Leonard! :)
-That is totally one of those things you talk about as a kid, but then later say "Nah... no one's going to do that!"
-Snorkeling and the like also looks pretty cool! Sounds like some cool times!

Scott said...

All I did was get my wisdom teeth out.

Really awesome pictures (I especially liked the sock fence)

Although I couldn't quite see the dog in the rock (is there one?)

Christian said...

Jeremy, sounds like a cool concert, I wish I could have seen it (someday..)

Scott, the whole rock is a dog's head, the stripe around the bottom is his collar and his nose is pointing up to the left.

ZenJos said...

Christian.

I got stories.

So. Many. Stories.

Also I am 25.

But I still got stories.

They want to be told.

The want to be told so badly.

Hurry up and come home.

Scott said...

OMG COMEDY CENTRAL CENSORED THE FOLLOW UP EPISODE OF SOUTHPARK'S 200TH, BECAUSE MUSLIMS THREATENED THEM!

I hate Muslims (extremists) so much >_<

ZenJos said...

The next day on The Daily Show Jon Stewart had a choir sing "Go fuck yourself" to said muslim extremists. It was glorious.

Anonymous said...

Wow sounds like an amazing trip.
Love the pictures of Xavier Rudd at Womubu in Busselton near Margaret River. I think this is now an annual event held in February/ March. How good is the Gloucester tree. I think it is great how it is left to peoples own self preservation if they climb it or not.
Thank you for sharing all your trip as it has given me lots of ideas for a trip up the west coast of Australia, let alone the rest of Aus.

Thank you