Tour Number 2: Crossing the Nullarbor

Day 3

Our third day was meant to be the most awesome tour day that started with a surf lesson but it wasn’t to be. The company overcame the lack of instructor by providing us with two long time surfers who could guide us only for the surf to be nonexistent the next day. Since we had a morning free our guide took us to Murphy’s Haystacks where we took our own rock surfing photos to make up for the lack of visit to wave rock at the end of the trip. We had fun taking silly photos of one another for a short while amongst the ancient granite rocks before we were on the bus again. The rest of the morning was spent at a nearby lookout where we were able to observe sea lions relaxing and playing whilst our guide provided us with many sea lion facts. Our day improved at lunch time when instead of our usual sandwiches our guide cooked up some chicken burgers before it was time for the highlight of the tour.

Though it cost us extra we all decided to go on the boat trip out to swim with wild sea lions and dolphins and it was totally worth it. Like a lot of our tour our luck wasn’t the best for this either. It was the first warm day of the summer so the sea lions were being lazy and at first we thought they wouldn’t join us in the water but a few of the younger ones were tempted to explore and see what we were up to. They didn’t hang around for long and soon we decided to head to deeper waters to look for the dolphins. We had been told that they had been very friendly in the morning so we were hopeful of more success with them. We spent some time looking and we did find a few and ventured in to the water where they played with us for a short while before swimming off. I was glad that I had invested in one of the underwater disposable cameras so with any luck I have even captured them on camera. We saw a few more but weren’t as lucky as the other group who had been surrounded by them earlier that day. It was still an amazing experience and one I am glad I shoes to take part in. Both the dolphins and sea lions were so close that we could almost touch them and a couple of the dolphins danced right in front of me and it was fabulous to be snorkelling again. The experience was over too soon and it was back to the farm where we took advantage of the electricity to do some washing in preparation for our coming week without not only washing machines but most. After dinner that evening I decided to try out my tripod and take some night photos as the mostly clear sky and fire provided many interesting opportunities before it was time for our last night in a proper bed for the next week.

Day 4

As we left the farm the next day we all stopped by the hostel sign for our first proper group photo before heading for a morning of surprises. Our first was as stop at Streaky Bay where we stopped at a service station and walked into a room only to be greeted by a shark hanging from the ceiling. I had seen the sign on the way in but my friend in front of me hadn’t and jumped impressively. Even though I knew the shark was there I was still startled to have it stare me in the face as I walked through the door. From there it was on to Ceduna to a wombat sanctuary where as well as a cute little Joey and numerous wombats we also met a baby white wombat which we were allowed to hold.

On our way to our campsite for the night we stopped at a cattle grip where we were able to wait underneath until not one but two road trains drove over us which was more exciting than you’d think. We also stopped at the famous wildlife sign and the sign that marks the start of the Nullarbor plain. To break up our journey and get a rest from the bus we stopped to see the Bunda Cliffs at the head of the Great Australian Blight before we finally reached the evening’s campsite: the abandoned Koonalda Homestead.  The homestead was abandoned when the new Eyre highway was built and it was no longer financially viable. The owners just walked off and left everything behind. It’s a sad story but it was amazing to walk around and see the abandoned cars and buildings. We set our swags up under the shelter of the veranda of the cookhouse as we had seen some dark clouds threatening rain earlier in the day. We explored the homestead and I was able to try a few different settings on my camera with all the photo opportunities surrounding us. After our group prepared dinner we spent our night in the usual way and I enjoyed trying to get some more night photos. The weather was getting worse and the clouds meant there weren’t many stars out that night but it was still interesting and fun in between chatting to everyone. At bed time our guide warned us to move our swags out from the wall of the kitchen building so we didn’t have mice run over our heads and to listen out for dingoes during the night. I never thought I would regret being a heavy sleeper and whilst I was glad to miss the scurrying mice I was disappointed not to hear the dingoes in the distance the following morning

Day 5

The halfway point of our tour was a day of driving broken up by various interesting rest stops along the way. We stopped to admire the Great Australian Blight once more before crossing the South Australia/Western Australia border where we all trouped out of the bus to take the obligatory one foot in each state photo (or one on each side in the case of my stuffed companions!) before continuing on in to WA. Our first stop in WA was the buried telegraph station of Eucla. We stopped by the new Eucla on the way before continuing on to the buried telegraph station where we walked over the tops of the ruins and found an abandoned flip-flop which we left on a tree full of flip flops on our way across the plain. When travelling a long straight road anything that isn’t road or a bush becomes interesting including the sign alerting us to the start of the 90 mile straight. Of course with no air conditioning the opportunity to get off the bus could have had something to do with our enthusiasm as well but whatever the reason we all piled out and took photos of the sign and the road beyond it. The lack of air conditioning was definitely responsible for our excitement at the next stop, an atmospheric blowhole which blew some amazingly refreshing cold air that we all wished we could take back on the bus with us. Sadly that was not possible so we were back to being relieved at the numerous stops including the one where we could see 13km of uninterrupted straight road.

 

 Eventually we made it to our latest camp site where we hurried to set up our tents before the rain that had been threatening all day arrived. As well as setting up our tents we were able to have a look around the bush which felt like it was in the middle of nowhere instead of just a few meters away from the highway. The rain did eventually arrive but it didn’t stop us from enjoying our dinner under the makeshift shelter provided by our guide and before the rain settled in we were rewarded by a rainbow. As well as not spoiling our evening we were able to get a decent night sleep in our tents leaving us refreshed for our first full day in Western Australia.

Tour Number 2: Still in SA but heading towards the NUllarbor

Day 1

Luckily for me but not for my friend he starts work at 6:30am so he was able to drop me off in town in plenty of time for my 6:45am pick up for my Nullarbor tour. I was being picked up at the Adelaide YHA and became nervous on seeing many people gathering outside the hostel a few doors up. Eventually I spoke with one of the few people waiting outside the YHA and discovered that she too was waiting for the Nullarbor tour so we decided we were both unlikely to be wring and sure enough at 6:45am our bus arrived.  Though the tour is called the Nullarbor tour our first few days were to be spent in South Australia. Before the tour could start we had to make a few more stops to collect the rest of our group. In the end there was a mother and her young son, two German couples two Swiss girls who were travelling together and four other girls who were on the tour on their own like me.   Our first morning was mostly spent on the bus and we used the odd rest stop to try and work out who we all were. The girls and I who were sitting near each other managed to chat a little on the bus doing the who are you , where are you from and what brings you to Australia thing. When we stopped for a lunch of sandwiches (which would be our standard lunch fare for the next ten days) we were able to mix more and have the conversation with most of the other passengers however it soon transpired that the German couples spoke very little English. We managed to pass the time pleasantly enough.  

After lunch we drove to Alligator Gorge for our first group walk. No-one is sure why it’s called Alligator Gorge as there are no Alligators in Australia but it was still a lovely walk and I was happy to discover that I was not the only snap happy person on the tour as a few of the other girls were happy to hang back and take as many photos as me. The walk was great and it was too soon before we were back on the bus and on our way to Warren Gorge, the same place we had stopped on our last tour to look for Wallabies. 

We did make a couple of quick stops on the way to pick up a few drinks for the evening and to collect some fire wood. Getting the cider was easy but the fire wood proved more difficult as it turns out that tress far from being peaceful giants are actually cunningly evil. I was innocently trying to break up some branches by jumping up and down on them when they attacked me and knocked me to the ground scratching my legs on the way down. Luckily the only thing really hurt was my pride and I managed to avoid collecting any more evil wood. We got to Warren Gorge late afternoon and before setting up the campsite took a short walk to look for the Wallabies but no-one had informed them we were there to see them and only one came out to visit us. Despite the lack of Wallabies it was a lovely walk and even managed to get our first group shot with most of the group present and using the timer functions on our cameras whilst balancing them on our bags. It was almost as entertaining as seeing the Wallaby. It was still early by the time we returned to the campsite so some of the girls and I walked up a nearby hill only to find a fence blocking our path. The walk wasn’t wasted as we spotted some small cacti and a more likely looking hill on the other side of the campsite. We had done a lot of walking so only two of us made the attempt but it was worth it for the view once we got there. Having run out of hills we returned to camp and set up our first camp with camp chairs round the fire and swags just beyond them before our first camp dinner. I also took the opportunity to rearrange my bag which one of my new friends kindly photographed. It was then time to prepare our first group dinner before going in search of the wallabies once more. This time we kept quiet and as it was later on in the day we were fortunate to see a few and this time I had my camera so I could take as many photos as I wanted before it was back to the camp for the night.

It had been a long day for us all so by 9:30pm we were in our swags for the night. Though it was not my first night sleeping under the stars on the last tour the fires and weather stopped me from seeing them as clearly as I had hoped. I have ben looking forward to seeing an outback starry night and was therefore very happy that on my first night on this tour though the sky was clear and when I woke up in the middle of the night I saw not only Orion but also the Milky Way and so many other stars I wouldn’t have been able to make out any other constellation even if I could have remembered what the southern ones looked like.

Day 2

After rolling up our swags and tidying up our breakfast stuff it was time to hit the road. We had the excitement of stopping at the bridge from the opening scene of Wolf Creek (which I have not seen and have no plans to see) and at Port Augusta for a top up of our alcohol supplies and some water since we were having difficulty with our water tank. Once we had our essentials it was on the bus again until lunch time where we found some impromptu lunch guests in the shape of two very cute dogs which appeared to be as excited to see us as we were to see them. After lunch we stopped by Venus Bay to see some wild dolphins. It was the first time I had seen dolphins in the wild and it was pretty cool plus we were able to paddle in the sea with some pelicans to keep us company afterwards. Our next visit was to be the Tub at Talia caves. The views were spectacular so I decided not to venture down to the tub due to my fall the previous day, not to mention the twice I went over on my ankle whilst looking for Wallabies had made me think I was too accident prone to risk the steep log ladder. I wasn’t the only one who stayed up top and we amused ourselves taking photos of the tub and the surrounding area. Shortly the rest of the group returned as we were on our way to Coodlie Park hostel. That wasn’t our last stop for the day though, we were merely making a quick stop to pick up some sand boards and it was off to some nearby dunes for some sand boarding.

Sand boarding was fun but not as exciting as I hoped. The dune looked high but it took now time to board down it and the climb up was pretty hard. It might have been worth it if I could have kept my eyes open but it found it really hard, next time I am totally wearing sunglasses and then maybe as well as seeing the view on the way down I’ll know when to make sure my chin up and not end up with a bruise on my chin! Yup day two of the tour and I managed to hurt myself for the fourth time. Seriously, I’m not sure it’s safe to let me loose on the world by myself. Thankfully I wasn’t really hurt and this time my pride was also intact since I injured myself in the name of adventure and I had yet another impressive bruise to add to my collection. Due to the harsh climb on the way up we all only had a couple of goes each before we headed back to the hostel where we were assigned our rooms where we would spend the next two nights before our week of camping under the stars. The hostel is part of a farm where they plant trees and run the tour business as well as being home to a number of wild wallabies. That evening we were taken on a nocturnal tour where we saw a number of kangaroos but only managed to glimpse a couple of wallabies.  The moon was getting pretty full and the owner of the farm told us that made us easier for them to detect and therefore gave them time to run and hide. It was still fun and we stopped to see one of their borrows and discovered that wallabies have square poop. It wasn’t a wallaby but it was fairly entertaining and on eof the kangaroos obligingly jumped a fence for us which was something new. Our search for the evening over it was time for bed, tomorrow was going to be a big day after all.

Adelaide: The tour stop over city

When I told people I was staying in Adelaide for nine days they invariable asked me why. On explaining that I was taking a tour there and leaving for my next tour from the same place I then received sympathy. I can understand why some people might not like Adelaide it’s small and quiet; I enjoyed my time there but I’m not sure I’d want to live there.

On my first full day in the city I was thankful for a proper long lie as my first night in the city had been a late one. It was after 9am when I got up and it was straight to the showers to wash off the slight hangover that I seemed to have acquired. My UK friend was still asleep when I returned so I went up to the common room to send some e-mails, work on my blog and play with the many (900!) photographs I had taken over the last 6 days. Whilst there I caught up with my fellow Scot from the tour and was able to find her on the dreaded facebook before it was time to say goodbye again. Not long after that my UK friend arrived in the common room and we discussed possible activities for the day over breakfast. We decided to walk towards the cathedral and look for a cheap lunch spot. Sadly there was a funeral at the cathedral so we quickly passed it by. We did find some cheap but tasty lunch nearby then walked back towards town and the South Australian Museum. Our second guide had recommended it as it has an impressive collection explaining many of the Aboriginal cultures. This was by far the most comprehensive exhibition I have seen so far but the exertions of the tour (and perhaps the alcohol from the previous night) were catching up with me and I am ashamed to admit that combined with the dark rooms I found it difficult to take it all in and became rather sleepy. I took a quick tour of the other exhibits but I was less impressed. The Pacific cultures exhibit was small but interesting but the Egyptian exhibits and stuffed animals were nothing new. I did notice they were hosting the ANZANG nature photography exhibition which I decided I would visit at a later date. I then confused the museum staff by walking round the whole museum three times looking for my friend. As I was completely unsuccessful I decided that if I were to rest on the grass outside the main entrance then she would be sure to see me when she was finished. Sure enough as the museum was closing out she came and spotted me almost immediately. The plan was then to go for a quick dinner and get an early night as my friend had booked us in for a tour round a local chocolate factory the next day. Many of you should now know my views on plans and therefore be unsurprised that said plan didn’t work out (they rarely do in my experience) and we ended up not only getting dinner but a few drinks as well. It was a fun evening but drinking two nights in a row isn’t really great for my stomach or, it turns out, my memory.

I woke up the next morning and all I remembered was that we planned to walk along the river and perhaps get a paddle boat. Since I was feeling decidedly under the weather I didn’t hurry to get up and dressed. I was also very surprised that my friend was up and about and had eaten before me as she usually sleeps longer than I do. Sadly the reason for this was the afore mentioned tour. Instead of walking to the factory we caught one of the free trams but sadly missed the tour. We were able to take a walk through ourselves though and my friend was able to purchase some of their tasty Aussie chocolate to take back home. We then headed back into the city as my friend wished to explore the museum more. As we had fallen in to the habit of going round at our own pace we arranged to meet outside at a specified time. I was still not feeling entirely healthy so I decided to stay outside in the fresh air and took a walk over to the botanic gardens. The gardens were as lovely as any I have seen. I found my usual sense of peace and was delighted to discover the rose garden which still had most of its flowers in bloom even if they were starting to wilt a little in the heat of the coming summer. I didn’t wander far as I didn’t want to be late, as I often am. I therefore arrived at the museum with enough time to lie on the grass with my music in my ears so I could rest and soak up the ever so pleasant afternoon sun. This is where my friend found me and once we were sure I was awake ( I wasn’t even aware I had fallen asleep) we went in search of a sushi restaurant as my friend loves it and doesn’t get it very often back in the UK. It was then back to the hostel to pack up and get an early night as we were checking out of the hostel the next day.

Having packed the night before I was able to check out relatively quickly and my friend wasn’t far behind me. As she had a plane to catch she wasn’t inclined to explore the city further and I was grateful for the chance to catch up on my photos, blogging and e-mails. Her flight was early afternoon so she left late in the morning whilst I stayed in the YHA common room until 3pm when my friend from the mountains finished work and was able to pick me up. He did manage to confuse me slightly by driving a different car but once he found me it wasn’t long before I was chatting his ear off as I used to on our drives to and from work. I was also very excited as I was finally getting to meet his partner who i had heard so much about and even spoken too once or twice. I met her at my friends parents house where she had been looking after his younger siblings and for some reason went uncharacteristically shy and even more amusingly so did she! On arriving back at their house we had time for a quick change before getting some pizza and settling in front of the tv for food, wine and of course lots of chatting. Needless to say my friends partner and I didn’t stay shy for long, especially once the wine was opened.

The next day I caught a lift in to the city with my friend who started work at 7:30am. Though the art gallery doesn't open until 10am I had to go to the YHA to collect my camera where the lovely ATA tour guide had left it after rescuing it from the national park. Camera in hand once more I enjoyed exploring the city stopping to take as many photos as I could along the way of course. I stopped to get a croissant at one of the markets and have a cup of tea at a cafe before meandering through the streets to the North Terrace and the art gallery. They had recently held a specialist exhibition which was now finished so most of the galleries were empty and closed off. This meant that the remaining galleries had a most unusual arrangement. They had been arranged in periods not only show casing art from a particular period but also art which represent that period. Te international and Australian artists were all shown together and though I was disappointed not to see and of my favourite artists I saw a few name that I recognised as well as being introduced to a few I didn’t. I treated myself to a splendid lunch of duck on a mango risotto during my explorations then once I had exhausted the galleries I returned next door to the museum for a cup of tea whilst I waited for my friend as the lovely sunny day changed into a rather rainy one. Thankfully my friend was able to pick me up outside the gallery so I managed to avoid the worst of it. To celebrate the start of the weekend we headed to a nearby pub for dinner and a few drinks before finishing our evening with some criminal minds a few more drinks back home.

The weekend was very exciting as two of our friend from the mountains were in the city and stopped by to visit. We skyped our mutual friends that I stayed with in Sydney so we could all say hello and tell her we wished she were with usbefore heading back in to the city for a tasty meal with lots of meat and of course, a few drinks! It was a fun night and as it went on more and more of my friends friends appeared so I ended up talking to anyone foolish enough to sit next to me for more than five minutes. It was a random and fun night out for sure followed by a very lazy Sunday.

On Monday I was meant get a lift to the bus stop from my friends partner but ended up going back to bed and having a day catching up online and being lazy. I did get up the next day and she kindly dropped me off and told me which bus to get. They live quite a ways out of the city so I made it to the museum just as they were opening giving me plenty of time to enjoy the ANZANG nature photography exhibition. There was a large group of school children in at the same time as me which worried me until I realised they were all very well behaved. It was an excellent exhibition and I had great trouble leaving it, it took me half a dozen attempts before I finally made it out of the door without being distracted by one of the brilliant photographs. Once outside I decided to walk along the river towards the botanic gardens so I could take some photos with my proper camera as my previous visit had been recorded using my iTouch. This was a PLAN and therefore didn’t work. You’d think I’d learn but I can’t help myself, I do like to make plans, which is probably why I have so many of them. The plan was foiled by the beauty of the river. The day was what I had always imaging Australia to be. It was sunny, there were people relaxing beside the river and along the river as the ferries cruised slowly up and down it. There were also lots of ducks and other bird about which were all too tempting for a girl with a camera in her had, especially when I came across two duckling curled up together not far from the path. I did make it to the botanic gardens but only just and therefore had to turn about and head back in top the city so my friend could find me and take me home. It was a lovely last day in Adelaide. It may be the quietest city I have visited so far but that in itself gives it it’s own charm. It was lovely to see my friend again and make friend with his lovely girlfriend but whilst I was sad to leave them behind I was looking forward to my next adventure – crossing the Nullarbor!