Last two weeks in Australia

The past two weeks in Australia have been amazing. We have made several hikes in different National Parks, we have seen (and climbed) giant trees, relaxed at beautiful beaches, camped most of the nights at bush camps and enjoyed a lunch in a luxurious winery. Four days ago we returned our camper van (which was a bit sad...), but we look forward to the next chapter of our travel. We stayed for two nights in KL and we flew to Manila this morning. We'll stay for five weeks in the Philippines before we will go back to the Netherlands (time is flying!!).

We wrote our previous blog two weeks ago in Bremer Bay. After Bremer Bay, we stayed two days in Albany, the oldest European settlement in WA. According to the lonely planet, the aboriginals call this place Kinjarling, which means 'the place of rain'. For two days, it was indeed cloudy and raining a lot, but nevertheless we made the most out of it. We do not complain, because two days of rain in two months of traveling is not too bad. ;-) We had the opportunity to explore the spectacular coastline of Torndirrup National Park, close to Albany. We stayed at two different camp sites, and luckily these camps had a nice camp kitchen with a fire going, so we were warm and dry before we went to bed. :-) Because camping when it is raining reminds us of our bike holidays in Europe... ;-)

Of course, every morning we start with a good cup of coffee

We first visited to some view points, to get an idea how big Albany was. Afterwards, we drove to Torndirrup National Park where we made a couple of short hikes to the Blowholes, Peak Head and several beaches. 

Mt Melville Lookout 

78 steps  down (and back up) to the Blowholes

Coastline (with recent fire) 

Blowholes

Rough sea at the Blowholes

Peak Head

Salmon Holes 

Salmon Holes

Frenchman Bay

Making plans for the last 10 days of our road trip

Our camp site in Albany

Our neighbor

Since it was raining in the afternoon, we decided to go out for dinner in Albany. We dressed up, like the locals do when they go out, and enjoyed a local Australian brewed beer and good food. 

Steak and fish and a nice local pale ale

Nice view on Albany from our camper van

The next day it was raining quite heavily, so we went for a coffee in a nice bakery and visited the Anzac Museum. This museum is about the Australian and New Zealand involvement in the First Wold War. It was a very new museum, really cool with interactive screens and ipads everywhere. It was very interesting to learn about WWI from the Australian perspective. We actually didn't really know what their role in the war was, but the museum explained everything, from the recruitment of soldiers (the Australians didn't really have an army) till the battlefield and the return of the soldiers that survived the war. 

Having a coffee at a local bakery

Coffee + me = love :-)

Anzac museum: war declared

Watching the assembly of the convoys

Horses were very important during the war 

More than 40.000 soldiers lost their lives in the 1st and 2nd convoy

After this impressive museum, we had lunch in a nice cafe in Albany and walked around in the city center. There were quite some beautiful heritage buildings and old churches.

I think it is true! :-p

Cafes and bars in Albany

Main street in Albany

Albany (of course many 4wd's)

Nice buildings

After our walk, we did some shopping in the supermarket and bottleshop, fueled up our car and headed to Porongurup National Park. This park has 1100-million-year-old granite outcrops, very tall karri trees and many beautiful bushwalks. We stayed in this National Park for two nights and we explored the park by making two different hikes.

My barbecue master

Doing the dishes after our breakfast :-)

Which hike are we going to do today?

The first day we parked our car at the tree-in-the-rock car park and we hiked to the summit of the Devil's Slide. Afterwards, we continued to Hayward and Nancy Peaks. The first hour of our hike we were lucky, because we had a nice view when we were at the summit of the Devil's Slide, but afterwards the clouds were coming and we had no view at all from the other two peaks. Nevertheless, it was a super nice hike and we enjoyed it very much. 

Australian habit: placing warming signs everywhere to warm you for everything. 

Start of our hike in the karri tree forest 

The hike was nicely marked

On our way to the Devil's Slide summit

Almost there

We made it!

Enjoying our picnic and fueling up for the rest of our hike

Clouds already coming in

Erik showing his muscles ;-)

Little bit of rain, but still enjoying the hike

Nice tree at the end of our hike

The next day, we made another hike in the same national park on the Castle Rock Trail to Balancing Rock. We were so lucky with the weather, because the clouds were gone and the sun was shining again! We had amazing views and the visibility was excellent! On the Castle Rock at the end of the trail, they have built a 'skywalk walking bridge' on top of a granite stone. It was really amazing and a fun climb all the way up! Once at the top, we enjoyed the view. When we were back at the car park, we made ourselves a nice lunch. 

Karri forest

Balancing Rock (I am strong too!) ;-)

Climbing the rocks

We don't really like adventurous hikes... ;-) 

Almost there

Last part of the trail

Amazing views over the Stirling Range 

Skybridge at the Castle Rock

Hello?

Having lunch: sunny side up please!

After our hike, we headed to Stirling Range National Park, which was only 25 km away. This park consists of a single chain of peaks pushed up by plate tectonics to form a range. The park is not so big, 10 km wide and 65 km long. When we arrived at the National Park, we did the scenic drive to a nice lookout point where we make a short hike (only 400 meters), since we already made a longer hike that day in Porongurup. The views were amazing and it was great to be able to drive in between these peaks. The scenery was quite special, mainly because the mountains were so green.

One of the views during our scenic drive

Short hike to a lookout point in the middle of the range

360 degree view :-) 

So beautiful (you can see the path that we followed)

The road of the scenic drive

So many beautiful peaks in this national park

We stayed at a bush camp in the national park itself. As we wrote in our previous blog, we like these bush camps a lot. Compared to other parts of Australia where we have been, we could really see that it was 'high season' here. When we arrived (around 4.30 pm), there were only three other cars, two hours later, it was packed.

Relaxing after a busy day 

Hello!

The next day we decided to hike up to Bluff Knol, the highest peak of the Stirling Range (1095 meter), a six kilometer return hike. Six kilometer doesn't sound a lot, but we read at Wikicamps that some people needed 4-5 hours to get to the summit (since the hike is so steep). Indeed, it was a non-stop climbing exercise, but it took us less than 1.5 hour to get to the summit. Maybe we are getting fit after 3 months of traveling? :-p The views during the hike, but of course especially at the top, were amazing. We could see all the peaks of the range and there was a clear blue sky. However, hardly any clouds also mean that it is very hot. As you will see on the pictures, we both sweat a lot! This exercise made us quite hungry and when we returned to our camper van, we had a picnic and made ourselves delicious pancakes. :-)

Warming up  

Parking our van (Mt Bluff Knol in the background)

Beginning of our hike 

Almost half-way

We are getting there...

The other peaks of the national park in the background

Almost there! Sweating a lot... 

Enjoying the view

My crazy husband... ;-)

Flower that is very common in this area

Making pancakes!

After our lunch we drove to Denmark, where we did some shopping, refilled our water tanks and we stayed for one night at a caravan park (since a shower was, after a couple of days bush camping and so much sweating, more than welcome). :-) Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy the next day, but we nevertheless visited the beach. Afterwards, we went to William Bay National Park where we visited the Greens Pool and Elephant Rock.

Shopping at the IGA: our favorite supermarket

Beach at Denmark

Greens Pool

After a morning on the beach in the National Park, we drove to Walpole-Nornalup National Park. We had a picnic and made a short walk (the Ancient Empire boardwalk) in the Valley of the Giants. The name already says it all, but we both really felt dwarfs in the middle of the forest. The giant trees - some of them are more than 400 years old - are quite often hollow at the base due to fungus and bush fires. Despite of this, it is amazing to see that these trees are still alive. 

Ancient Empire Boardwalk

Granny's face tree (do you see it as well?)

So huge, it's crazy that they don't fall down

Hallow from the inside

We felt so small... 

Hollow on the other side

This night we stayed at a very nice bush camp again, this time one with a shower (that even had hot water thanks to a solar boiler)! Since it was very dark at this camp site, we enjoyed the many stars that we could see so clearly during the night. The next morning I worked for a couple of hours and Erik went to the gym. ;-)   

Arrived at our camp

Cooking dinner under the stars

Me working for a couple of hours

Erik at the gym ;-)

After our work(out), we drove to the village Pemberton. After a short visit to the Visitor Center, we went to the Gloucester Tree and climbed it to the top (57 meters). It is a fire-lookout tree with a viewing platform at the top. It was a nice and adventurous climb and the views were great. It felt actually quite strange to be in the middle of the tree tops overlooking the forest. 

The Gloucester Tree

Parrot at the Gloucester Tree

Me climbing the tree

Quite a steep climb ;-)

Almost at the top! 

No comment :-)

After this adventure we went to Warren National Park, where we visited another tree (Evans Bicentennial Tree) that was even higher than the previous one (68 meters). Erik climbed this one as well. Of course! ;-)

The platform in the middle of the picture is only half way...

Erik climbing the tree

Almost at the viewing platform (68 meters) 

That night we stayed at a bush camp in the National Park (Drafty's Camp). We were lucky to have one of the last sites available. The scenic drive in this national park was amazing as well. A cool feature was that you could turn your radio on 100fm to listen to all kind of details about the national park and the traditional aboriginal customs and beliefs. 

Scenic drive in Warren National Park

Our spot at Drafty's Camp 

Doing the dishes

 The next day we made a short hike to a waterfall in the Beedelup National Park.

Lookout at the Beedelup Falls

Nice bridge

Beedelup Falls 

After this sort walk, we continued our drive to Augusta. First we visited the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. It is the most southwesterly point in Australia and the point where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. Although we did not expect this at all, but you can actually see this from the lighthouse! It will not surprise you that the name of the lighthouse comes from a Dutch ship that passed in 1622. 

Point where the two oceans meet

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

Going up 

Light of the lighthouse

Beautiful views from the balcony

The lighthouse uses the original mechanics of 1896

Surprised to read Dutch so many km's from home

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

The area of Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park is also well known because of the impressive caves. Since we both have already seen many caves in Europe, we decided to visit one (and did not expect something special). However, we were positively surprised when we visited Jewel Cave. It was quite spectacular, especially because of the many straw stalactites and because of the size (it was huuuuuge!). At the end of the tour, we also saw a fossil remains of a Tasmanian Tiger, believed to be 3500 years old. 

Jewel Cave

Amazing formations!

Straw stalactites 

Fossil of the Tasmanian Tiger

Erik in the Jewel Cave

The next day was a beautiful day and we decided to go to the beach of Hamelin Bay in the morning. We enjoyed reading our books at the white beach overlooking the clear blue water. Afterwards, we went for a short walk (small part of the Cape to Cape Track) to a nice viewpoint. When we were walking next to the sea, we even saw a couple of stingrays!

Hamelin Beach

Erik, watch behind you! ;-)

Beautiful to see the stingrays cruising in the water

Remains of a jetty

Viewpoint at Hamelin Bay

Just love the color of this water

Viewpoint at another beach

Afterwards, we went to Gnarabup and had lunch at the White Elephant Cafe with amazing views over another beautiful bay. The Margaret river area is really amazing. At surfers point we watched both board and windsurfers playing with the waves.

Having lunch at White Elephant Cafe

Surfers Point

We stayed at a very nice camp site (Wharncliffe Mill) that was actually in between a bush camp and a caravan park. The owners really did a great job! They had - of course - a couple of barbecues in the camp kitchen, that we used to make ourselves a nice steak with freshly picked rosemary. 

Steak a la Erik from the barbecue

Yammie!

Apart from the beautiful coastline, the Margaret River area is also well known because of the famous wineries. We decided to visit one winery as well and we chose Leeuwin Estate. We had an amazing lunch with different glasses of wine. After our lunch, we walked around in the vineyard. It was an amazing experiences. We enjoyed the food. the wines and just each other company for a couple of hours. It was amazing, the atmosphere was just perfect!

Entrance of the winery

We dressed up, Erik shaved and he even put gel in his hair! ;-)

Sauvignon blanc

My starter: carpaccio

Erik's starter: King fish

So nice!! :)

My main course: duck

Of course with a glass of red wine

Desert!

Desert!

Wine cellar

Bunch of grapes

Winery

Restaurant at the winery

After our lunch, we drove to one of the view points to watch a more rougher part of the coastline in Yallingup. It was great to see how the tide was coming in and how the waves slammed against the rocks. Before we went back to our camp site, we had another look at Surfers Point and enjoyed watching the surfers again. :-)

Coastline at Yallingup

Short boardwalk

Watching the waves

The waves are so strong

Surfers Point

Amazing what they do with their boards

Some waves were huge!

The next day we drove to Meelup Regional Park where we relaxed on the beach and had lunch (pancakes again!) at one of the picnic spots. Afterwards, we drove to a camp site 40 km south of Perth, since we had to return our van the next day. We enjoyed our last night with a butter chicken rice dish and pale ale beer. Saturday morning we drove to Perth, we washed our van and returned it save and sound to Wicked. We drove almost 9.000 km in 8 weeks (plus another 1.000 with the 4wd to Mt Augustus).

Picnic at Meelup Regional Park

Last night with our camper van: cheers!

Washing our van before we return it to Wicked

Bye bye camper van!

We had two days in Perth before we flew back to Kuala Lumpur. In Perth, we stayed in a nice Airbnb in the middle of the city center. We went shopping (Kathmandu is always tricky, especially when there is sale...) and enjoyed 'city life' after spending so much time in the bush. ;-)  

Erik's new jumper

Hamburger time!

New shoes! 

On our way to the airport

Bye bye Perth! 

As this blog (probably) showed is that we really had a good time in Australia. It was a unique experience to have so much freedom, especially by traveling with our own camper van. We could just go and drive wherever we wanted. We often went off the beaten track and as a result we have been in so many beautiful places just by ourselves. We had high expectations of Western Australia, but we were time and again overwhelmed by its beauty.

And now a new adventure is waiting for us. The past two days we have spent in Kuala Lumpur (more in our next blog) and today we already started to explore Manila. We have another day in Manila after which we will start island hopping. We have a rough idea of what we want to see in the Philippines, but no clear plan yet. We'll see what happens.

We think this is so true... ;-)

We keep you updated!

Warm regards, 

Erik & Annemarie