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Susanne and MachielSusanne and Machiel
SatellitRediger rute
har rejst i 8 lande Læs mere
  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    Dag 124

    Biology lesson

    9. marts 2020, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We travel with a 2-berth van but an early morning inspection proved that it can easily accommodate 200 bush flies on top of that. Most of them were still a bit sleepy when we found them on the side of the van, seemingly disappointed they hadn't been able to find a way in during the night to suck on our skin. We were terrorized during breakfast to the extent that we decided to brush our teeth while driving and make a quick stop further up the road to finish up.

    Today we were going to the beach town of Denham in the Shark Bay area. It was around 300km driving from our free campsite. The area is probably mainly known because of the 'wild' dolphins at Monkey Mia which are being fed every morning. We thought that didn't sound too wildlife friendly and since we had already seen wild dolphins in natural setting in New Zealand, we decided to skip this. Nonetheless we felt it could be worth the detour to see Shell Beach, Hamelin Pool and some nice coast line.

    The driving here is by the way quite different to anything we have experienced so far. Roads are straight as far as you can see, always surrounded by red sand and bushland that never seems to end. Once in awhile there is a goat, emu, kangoroo or bird showing its face or lying dead on or besides the street. And every 100km or so there is a roadhouse coming up, often with petrol station. While that's of course commonly known about Australia, it is still a different thing to experience yourself. For now we still very much enjoy it.

    The first stop was Hamelin Pool, which is a Marine Nature Reserve where stromalites can be seen. These are rock-looking bacteria and the earliest signs of life on earth, as far as billions of years ago. It was cool to walk around there and learn a bit about them. Most were in calm, undeep water when we got there, and we could see some fish "floating in the air" swimming around the stromalites. We had another stop at a viewpoint over the sea, where it was interesting to see Australian red outback sand mixing with white beach sand.

    We arrived early at out campsite in Denham, which was needed as it was also washing day. After a late lunch we originally wanted to check out the local beach for swimming as it was warm weather and a coastal town but we both didn't feel too well and decided to take it easy. Instead we baked some improvised spinach-tomato-paprika-feta dough pieces and had a healthy tasty dinner.    Læs mere

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  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    Dag 123

    Gorgeous gorges

    8. marts 2020, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    The alarm went off extra early today. We even spared the time of eating breakfast and just did so while driving the 35 minute drive to the inland part of the Kalbarri National Park. We were actually lucky to be able to visit the park for several reasons. 1: the road leading to it was only sealed 2 years ago or so. 2: two weeks ago the park was closed for a week for undertaking a goat control program.

    We arrived there at 7:06. On the way we read a sign telling us the loop track we wanted to do was closed after 7:00 due to heat risk. That took us a bit by surprise although we didn't get up that early for no reason. We knew it was going to be hot. We just didn't know they would close a track that early. Anyways, we decided it was OK to start 10 minutes later than allowed. After the first 100 meters we had a stop in the shade to apply sunscreen as we skipped that before due to time reasons.

    After another few hundred meters we made it to probably the most popular attraction, Nature's Window. Incredibly red, very interestingly layered rocks formed a natural window through which one could see the gorge and river below. It was really very picturesque. Nonetheless we decided to actually undertake the 8km loop track starting right behind it. First along the ridge of the gorge, later along the river banks. There are some bushes and trees for breaks in the shadow but the actual trail is almost entirely in the sun. The views of the cliffs were truly amazing and the river was actually flooded due to recent rain. Apart from seeing trees in the water that also meant we had to climb around a narrow cliff part for a few meters which added a nice challenge to the track. While still early and also windy when on the ridge, it got very warm once we were walking in the gorge. They really are not joking when they warn people to not start this track too late. So we were happy when we were back at the car park at 11:00. In the last section Machiel was a bit too tall for a tree passing, so a short break to rest was very needed.

    We forgot to mention, the flies were again really horrible. Now they even went into the van. So an hour later we went to yet another viewpoint. Luckily that was only 650m from the car park. Nonetheless, doing this at 12:00 just didn't feel good. The views were of course great though as we could see another part of the gorge called Z-bend.

    Back at the car we were totally sweaty, annoyed by the flies and hungry. So we decided to spontaneously drive back to Kalbarri for some coastal climate and showers. The 24km detour was worth it. They had some free showers at the beach and great shadow parking with wind from the sea. Ideal for some resting. We also spotted some pelicans in the bay.

    In the late afternoon we left again. On the way to our free camping at the highway, we stopped at two other view points. They were nice but not so much compared to what we had seen this morning. The campsite was again having millions of flies. Even after sunset when they weren't flying anymore, they were still sitting all over our van and would not leave until we drove 110km/h for several minutes the following morning.    Læs mere

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  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    1
    Dag 122

    Aussie salute

    7. marts 2020, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    As almost every morning, we woke up with the sunrise. It just makes sense to try and use the cooler part of the day for activities. Today that meant exploring the coast line around Kalbarri. We went to one of the parkings and had a walk along the cliffs. We noticed once more that we were the only car on a pretty big car park. By now we are doubting that that is because we are so early. Maybe the West Coast is just not busy generally, it is not main season or corona keeps all tourists away. We don't know but we like it.

    We also went to a place called Pot Alley. On the pictures the water and beach looked very nice. Being there it was actually the impressive red rocks and Cliffs surrounding it that made us like it a lot.

    When we arrived in Kalbarri we did some grocery shopping, but when we returned to our van and wanted to load the stuff in, one of our plates slid out of the kitchen 'drawer' onto the asphalt and broke into many pieces. We already anticipated for awhile this could happen but we didn't really have a solution for it. Now we had enough and searched long enough for a carton box that fit and helped so that it won't happen again.

    Due to a lack of free campsites around Kalbarri we went for a paid one. The bonus of this is usually decent kitchen facilities. To make it easier for ourselves in the evenings, we cooked the warm meal of the day for lunch again. Wraps was on the menu for today, but we hadn't anticipated that we had to share it. Dozens of bush flies joined our lunch, and it turns out that besides our skin, they really like meat and lettuce as well. It was difficult to prepare it properly without them touching everything, and if they fly into your eye on every other bite then eating wraps isn't very relaxing either. We researched a bit about the bush flies and learned that they're the cause behind the Aussie salute gesture, where someone "waves one hand in front of their face at regular intervals in order to prevent bush flies from landing on it, or entering one's nose or mouth". We were slowly becoming masters of this gesture, but were still happy we could escape to our van afterwards where they didn't bother us much.

    We had some time left, the weather was warm and we were in a coastal town. So it was logical to ask for the local swimming beach and give it a go. It was very refreshing but we have to add that even if you know that it's supposed to be a swimming beach it is a bit of an uncomfortable feeling if there is none else in sight. After a quick dip in the refreshing water and a shower, we headed to the perfect sunset watching spot. Yes, we are not getting tired of trying. And this time we were rewarded. Apart from a tiny cloud layer, we could watch the sun disappear in the ocean. Back at the camping the sky turned pretty orange and red which had a cool effect at the river delta. So Susanne went for another small walk before we fell into bed being quite tired.    Læs mere

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  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    1
    Dag 121

    Bush flies

    6. marts 2020, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    It's hard to complain about waking up with a beach view. After breakfast we drove further north. With Geraldton we arrived in the biggest town between Perth and Port Hedland. It has 15000 inhabitants and several supermarkets. We stocked up on mainly fresh food and bought an additional fly screen for our front car windows. Just in case.

    After another hour of driving we arrived at the Hutt Lagoon, also called Pink Lake. The lake looked pretty dry with some areas having no water at all. So that was maybe slightly disappointing. However, instead we could see what looked like a salty crust in a light pink color. So that was also cool. From far the part of the lake with water didn't look that pink but going closer to its shore, that changed and we could indeed imagine that with a drone it would look very pink from above. Polarised sunglasses also have that effect though :)

    It was 14:00 now which meant it was apparently a good time to see the lake as it is the pinkest when the sun is standing high. However that also meant it was very warm and we were pretty hungry for lunch. So we continued to Gregory, a village 1 km further right at the sea. Here we had lunch with a pretty view. Then we went to the - this time not free - campsite of the day: Linga Longa Farm Stay.

    By now we felt like we had already gotten used to the amount of flies, and more importantly, the types of flies. You see, in Australia they have these bastards called bush flies. They're very different than the house flies in Europe, which are more interested in trash or food than in you. When they do buzz around you or land on you, it seems random. In Australia however these bush flies are definitely interested in you, and fly around your head as if they're orbiting a planet, before they inevitably land and do some further exploration on foot. Their favorite touristic hotspots are your ears, nostrils, and eyes.

    When we got out of the van on the Linga Longa Farm Stay, we quickly noticed this place was a bit worse in that regard to the previous days. So many flies. The caretaker was giving us a tour of the campground, asking us lots of questions in the process. In the meantime we were walking around waving our arms around and answering her with our lips closed. I guess she is used to seeing that by now.

    Thankfully we did know in advance that we'd find many of them here in Western Australia, so in Perth we bought some fly nets that we can put over our heads. Looks dumb, but it's effective. Inside the van it's also OK, even with all the doors open.

    We enjoyed a lazy afternoon, Susanne had a walk to the local beach which looked a bit too wild and lonely to swim but had interesting red sand features, and explored a heritage site building on the camp ground when trying to watch the sunset which again was happening behind clouds.    Læs mere

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  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    1
    Dag 120

    The Nambung Pinnacles

    5. marts 2020, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    To avoid the worst of the heat we headed north early to visit Nambung National Park. Less than a week after visiting the Pinnacle viewpoint in the Grampions, now we were going to do a walk through the so called Pinnacles Dessert. We arrived at 8:30 and were apart from 2 or 3 other cars the only ones there in the beginning.

    There were 2 options on how to see the Pinnacles. Either drive a 4km loop or walk a 1.5km loop. Since the road was unsealed and our rental car insurance doesn't allow that, we went for option 2. We didn't really feel that was a restriction though as we could walk around everywhere and take lots of pictures. It was pretty surreal how in this particular part of bushland there were thousands of limestone peaks peaking through the sandy floor. There was also a cute pair of galahs.

    We walked around there for a bit more than an hour before fleeing from the flies into the visitor centre which actually just opened at 9:30. They had some nice information about the partially Dutch history of the area and local flora and fauna. We spend another hour or so here before going back to our van were we relaxed and cooked lunch. We figured it's best to spend the hours between 11:00 and 15:00 not doing much, except for preponing the cooking of the evening meal so we can avoid eating and cleaning up in the dark.

    We drove further to explore Green Head's shopping centre for some tea towels, and a local beach for more relaxing. Our campsite of the night was another free rest area next to the highway. But let's put that right, highway here means one lane in each direction and almost no cars, especially not at night. Plus the rest stop had beach access! And some nice rocks to climb on for better phone reception but of course also a nice view for sunset.    Læs mere

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  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    Dag 119

    On the road in Western Australia

    4. marts 2020, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    A day earlier we made a solid checklist to avoid the issues we had in Melbourne. So were feeling prepared when we walked into the Travellers Autobarn of Perth. We realized quickly that the van they offered us again had some mould starting on one curtain, so we asked them to replace it and they did. For the rest it didn't seem like there was much wrong with it. It helped that by now we had some van experience, specifically with this model as well.

    We spent a few hours shopping at a shopping center to stock up for awhile. We realized we could have easily bought cheaper camping chairs than what we now paid for at the rental company, so we keep learning. We also noticed that corona has lead to a shortage of certain products like toilet paper, pasta and hand sanitizer.

    It was ridiculously busy for a Wednesday afternoon and we couldn't figure out why. We also had some serious traffic driving out of Perth heading north, which is something we've not seen anywhere else in Australia or New Zealand. We realized we hadn't eaten lunch yet and drove into a fancy Perth suburb. Once we got on the Indian Ocean Road the road got empty quite quickly. After an hour or so we reached our highway rest area for the night. It was quite nice especially since even though there were plenty of other campers, we found the perfect spot a bit further from the road in the shade of some big trees.

    Due to the way the timezone works in Western Australia, the sun sets and rises early. So while it was going down we were having dinner and when we cleaned up it was almost dark. It was clear that we had to stay in this rhythm for awhile to make the most out of our days here. When we went to bed it was still pretty warm but during the night it cooled down and thanks to a window with mosquito net that this particular van has, we even had some fresh air in the night.    Læs mere

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  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    Dag 118

    New Zealand taps

    3. marts 2020, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Due to a bit of a jetlag we were awake early on. But that didn't mean we'd do a lot today. First we had to wait until 8:30 for a rather late but free breakfast. Machiel tried a toast with the Australian version of marmite: vegemite. Not as nice as its counterpart from New Zealand, so we're going to give that one a miss. Afterwards we were researching stuff. The idea was to do a road trip to the north, but we were honestly taken a back a bit when we saw the weather forecast. Turns out even in March the temperatures can get quite high in the outback up north. Even in Perth we noticed we had to get used to the heat again after very pleasant weather back in the Melbourne area. We went for a walk to the visitor center of Western Australia to ask for some advice. This gave us reassurance and also some helpful information about the roads. We also bought a 4 week pass for national parks in Western Australia, stocked up on cash, looked a bit more into things we wanted to do along our road trip and prepared a van checklist and grocery shopping list for tomorrow. Then we were basically readily prepared for our big trip.
    The rest of the day we spend resting and reading about Super Tuesday and Corona.

    By the way, this will seem random but we realised we never properly complained about New Zealand water taps which only would be fair after having complained so much about South American showers. The thing about New Zealand taps is that they far too often just don't make any sense. Imagine for example a big sink and then in two opposite corner you have two tiny taps, one with hot and one with cold water. Not only can you not mix them to any other temperature, you also can't really put your hands under either of them because they are so close to the edge of the sink that there is no space. They were sadly very common, but there are also taps where you only get water as long as you hold the button pressed down meaning you can only wash one hand at a time, using that same hand, somehow? But the most brilliant tap is the one that combines the feature of having to press to get any water with don't press too hard because then you get a free shower with it. OK, rant over. We're not there anymore.    Læs mere

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  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    Dag 117

    To the West Coast

    2. marts 2020, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    No time for a lazy morning today as, for the 2nd time in 5 days, we had to drive back to Melbourne to hand in our van. And this time we didn't want the stress of last time, so we left at 8:30. We took a few breaks along the way to pack our backpacks and have lunch with coffee and tea. When we did reach Melbourne we didn't have much time left either however to fuel the van, clean it, and go to the supermarket. Then we had secretly hoped someone at our van rental Travellers Autobarn would be so kind to drop us off at the airport, as we had read in some of the reviews on this location. But that wasn't possible. Maybe we hadn't filled in their survey positively enough. We got an evil Uber to bring us to the airport instead.

    Checking in our luggage at Melbourne Airport was great. It was all self service, very easy and without any queue. We had enough time left to carefully select our dinner option, just how we like it. We went for Vietnamese on site with a Subway footlong to go.

    The flight went well, and this time we had a window! Which fit the moment as there was a nice sunset going on and when the clouds cleared we could see a bit of the coastline. Arrival went quickly, inland flights are such a breeze compared to international ones. A bus took us to the city center. From there we still had to walk 2km to our hostel though, which wasn't great while being so sleepy. While local time was only 21:00, our bodies were still operating in Melbourne time, meaning it was midnight. We checked in and got some good news: we got upgraded from a dorm to a twin room. When we were shown the room it was full of stuff... the employee mumbled "what the fuck". 😂 So we got another room. All good. Just a bit cold for sleeping as all rooms are connected to this central airco system you can't control.    Læs mere

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  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    1
    Dag 116

    Jacuzzi for giants

    1. marts 2020, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The goal of the day was to visit the western coast of the Great Ocean Road and return again to the same campsite for the night. After a bit of a lzay morning we headed towards the rough coastline. The waves were very high and it was great to stand at plenty of viewpoints just watching them crash against the limestone cliffs. We saw some very impressive splashes that must have been tens of meters high. In some of these inlets or coves the ocean looked like a jacuzzi for giants.

    After some viewpoints we stopped in a Port Campbell for lunch. We parked with a perfect view of the local swimming beach. Personally we found it way too cold to go in ourselves. But it was a lot of fun watching others in the waves with air tyres and surfboards. Eventually we got really sleepy and decided to take advantage of having a bed in our trunk: we went for a power nap.

    Part two of the day consisted of more viewpoints of cliffs and waves. We actually also made it to the famous 12 apostel everyone talks about when bringing up the Great Ocean Road. It was expectantly very crowded and in our opinion not as nice as what we had seen at other viewpoints along the road. There aren't really 12 apostles anymore, it's more like 5 or 9. Not that this matters anyway.    Læs mere

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  • RejsendeHalf around the world and back
    Dag 115

    When emu's attack

    29. februar 2020, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Our campsite was probably the least glamorous so far. There wasn't even a toilet. The only nice thing about it could be that it's a viewpoint on a mountain, however it was completely foggy so it was invisible until we almost left. We quickly made our way out of there and drove towards what we had left behind some days ago: the Great Ocean Road.

    On the way we stopped at the Tower Hill Lake. We read that it was a great spot for seeing wildlife and that turned out to be true. We went on a small walk around some wetlands and indeed spotted some sleepy koalas hanging in the trees. Very cute to see again. We also saw some emus walking around and one kangaroo. Back at the car park we decided to have lunch on one of the nice picnic benches. One of the emus also liked it there and seemed quite interested in our beetroot dip and wraps. It's slightly discomforting if an emu gets so close that it looks like it's gonna pick on you or your food. Luckily he didn't attempt too much and quickly found more interesting targets.

    Our next stop was the Cheese World. We had a quick look around their free museum on all sorts of old stuff like the first washing machines and a very old toaster. Then it was time to get one of their fresh milkshakes, which were really nice, especially the coffee flavoured one Susanne picked.

    The last stop of the day was called Childers Cove. We had finally made it to the Great Ocean Road again and saw some very beautiful coastline with a very nice beach and cool cliffs and limestone formations.

    Our chosen free campsite of the night was surrounding a cricket field, and when we arrived there was in fact a game going on. As we still didn't understand much of it we watched a YouTube video about the rules. We had a lentils curry for dinner in the sun before crawling into our sleeping bags again.    Læs mere

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