Perth and the rest of Oz

28th Aug Left Perth this morning after staying the night at Brian Fahys apartment. Collected Sally (England) and Sonja (Germany) from the YHA at 8.15am in the city centre. We headed off south towards a seaside town called Freemantle (FM). After taking a few wrong turns we arrived in FM, saw the marine Museum and the local beer brewery known as 'Little Creatures' it was quiet good. Called to various towns along the way including Rockingham, Bunbury, Mandurah, Busselton with its longest Jetty in the Southern Hemisphere (2km). Walked half of it but was very cold. Got to Margaret river, famous for its wine regions and gourmet food, that evening and camped in the car park of the visitors centre.

29th Aug Got up at 6.45am (wardens check for illegal campers at 7am) after a 9.5 hour sleep and had a breakfast of melon, tea and muesli bars. We went down to shower at the local backpackers hostel and hit the road toring the local winerys, coffee roasters, cheese makers and chocolate factory. After 4 hours of self indulgence we headed south for Augusta (the most South Westerly town in Australia) It was very wild with massive waves and high winds, next landmass south was Antartica.

30th Aug Went to the valley of the Giants, a forest of huge trees. There was a metal elevated walkway there that allowed its pedestrian walk around the tree tops about 50 metres up. I climbed to the top of the tallest tree via a spiral staircase around its trunk. They were originally built to allow sighters spot forest fire locations. In the area were those trees that you go walk in under them and in the past allowed you to drive your car under (no more though). Drove late until 8.30pm, 2.5 hours after dark. Driving slowly along (60klm ph) we spotted a kangaroo in the middle of the road. We slowed to a standstill with the head lights on him. We looked at him and he looked at us for about 5 secs and he hopped away. He was lucky we weren't a roadtrain. We travelled through towns such as Denmark, Albany and stopped for the night in a tiny town called Mungalip to camp for the night.

31st Aug Made our way to a town called Esperance and saw 'Australias Best beach'. Drove on to Norseman, the town at the Western end of the Nullabor plain (NP). The NP is a 2700km highway linking Perth to Adelaide. Its a mammoth of a car journey through the most isolated part of Australia. We drove 410 km today and camped at a rest stop on the side of the road.

01 Sept Drove to a roadhouse 40 km down the road today for our shower. At 6.30am we were mad for road. Along the way we saw fantastic views of the Southern Ocean and the Great Australian Bight. we saw whales and their calves resting by the cliff edge and after a 750km rally behind a roadtrain in the dead of the night we pulled in 25km before the South Australia border town of Ceduna.

02 Sept drove through the WA/SA Quarantine border and a few towns such as Iorn Knob (which gave the occupants of the van some material for some good jokes) Ceduna, Port Augusta and finally arrived in Adelaide around 7.45pm. Sally checked into the YHA and Sonja met up with a freind of hers. We all headed out for pizza and beer for our last Hurrah. I slept in the van outside the YHA.

03 Sept As time was short and couldnt get anyone to come along, I planned my route to Melbourne all by myself. Its definitely better travelling with others to share the costs and having a bit of craic along the way. I drove most of the day (550km) through beautiful countryside and typical Aussie towns before arriving at the start of the Great ocean road (GOR). I pulled into the carpark of the first attraction (the bay of Islands) and went to bed. It was howling wind and rain outside so with the pizza slices left over from last nights jumbo pizza I munched them quiet happily rather than getting out and cooking. I had 3 sleeping bags, my fleece, socks and my hat on and was snug as a bug. It was 7C outside that night.

04 Sept Slept like a log last night and was up and out for 7am. Saw all the sights along the GOR, amazing rocky outcrops and landscapes. Sights included London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge, 12 Apostles, and went to Cape Otway lighthouse. It was cool to be allowed into the lighthouse and climbed to the top and wander around. The history of the place was very interesting and looked at the lighthouse keepers residence and telegraph station from the 1850's. Arrived in Melbourne around 6.30pm and took my usual heap of wrong turns, got lost (easy when you have no navigator) and no proper map. I stopped at a petrol station and bought the A-Z for $27 which was a bummer just to find a hostel. i went to a popular area called St. Kilda, it was full of dual carraigeways , one ways, tramways etc. I pulled up on a particular street to consult my new map and a less than healthy looking lady opened the passenger door and said 'You looking for a girl?', I thanked her for her kind offer and declined. She had a look at my bag on the seat and didnt do anything but was enough to give me enough reason to get out of Kilda. Exhausted from the driving around and my brain doing a million miles per hour I stopped at a park outside the Novotel Hotel and went to bed.

05th Sept Up with the bin lorries at 6.30am and hit the road towards the city centre. I checked the lonely planet and decided on the YHA in North cehtral Melbourne. Once I was in the old town it was way easier to navigate and was at the hostel within 15 minutes. I checked in for 2 nights. Its a nice place and was delighted to have a decent bed and shower etc for a change. I even had a bath which i fell asleep in. I headed into town and had a look at the sights incl the Victoria Parliament house and was given the tour by a Limerick man.. Rode around in the trams and buses and took in the city. Met up with 2 lads, Eoin from Claregalway and Lee from England. They are joining me for our trip to Sydney in 2 days time.

06th Sept Went into town again today and checked out the library, Museum (amazing) and the AFL and cricket grounds. Went out on the town with the lads which was good craic.

07th Sept Headed off in the van with Lee and Eoin towards Wilsons Promomitory (dont know what a promomitory is). It was windy and cold but its the most southerly point in Australia. It was a beutiful spot and we camped at this campsite on a place called 80 mile beach. We were eaten by mosquitos. The rush fro coils and repellants was Olympic. Met an American couple at the campsite and they had a fire going. Nice.

08th Sept Drove to Snowy creek National park (where the Australians do their skiing). It was very cold and we were limited where we could go without snow chains etc. Had a good look around and headed off on a drive along this stretch which the map said had a few unsealed bits (No tarmac) It turned out to be a road like something out of the 1800's. we crossed over 2 bridges that were made from wood, though a town that nobody lived in, a town with one house and that was up for sale and was definitely the most rural part of Australia that I was ever in. We got to a roadside rest area and lit a big bonfire. It was freezing (we were not at sea level). That night I was rotating myself around the fire like a pig on a spit. That night i was in 2 sleeping bags, fully clothed, hat on and had to run the engine twice in the night to break the cold. Temp had dropped to minus 3 degrees celcius.

09th Sept Up and out at 5.45am we hit the road straight away. The sun came up about 6.30 and we felt at 7.30 it was warm enough to pull over for breakfast. We got to the capital city later that morning and had a tour around Parliament buildings. It was a new building and was amazing. We saw the national Library and had a look around the city centre. We arrived in Sydney that night and treated ourselves to a steak dinner and a couple of fair dinkum aussie beers.

10th Sept Dropped the van back to the rental crowd and after a check over and a disagreement over an acceptable level of return cleanliness, I was in the clear and deposit intact. Great! a month in the outback and 12,500 km without a ding was a great achievement. I said goodbye to Eoin and caught the train to the airport. After the usual airport rig ma role I boarded the Jumbo 747 for Figi.. It was nice to arrive into the heat again and checked into my hotel in Nadi Figi.