northwest

Hey guys!!

So, the last week of September we had our second study break. I spent it on a 10 day trip through the Northwest of Western Australia. On two tour buses, 26 international students and two tour guides traversed up the coast and back down through the outback.

We did so much, but here is a highlight for each day. :)

HMAS Sydney II Memorial - Lest We Forget

DAY ONE: Driving north. The wind was crazy and it was raining throughout the day. We stopped at a memorial as we traveled through wheat and sheep country.

it was actually pretty shallow

DAY TWO: We took a swim in the Murchison River Gorge at Kalbarri National Park and drove to our campsite near Shark Bay for the next two days. Our tent kept breaking and flying away, we had to "stake" it down by tying the sides to various rocks and eskies.




DAY THREE: On Sunday we drove to Monkey Mia and saw dolphins, played beach volleyball, had a sausage sizzle, saw sharks at Eagle Bluff, and visited Shell Beach. We also went on a boat tour where we saw manatees and whales up close and visited a pearl farm. The day ended with a visit to the Hamelin Pool stromatolites.

shell beach.
it is unimaginable, how the shells never seemed to end

we sat in a net while the boat was moving.
cold. so cold. so good.

stromatolites:
one of the first organisms to provide the world with oxygen

there was a lot of dancing on the bus,
and some serious sing-a-long-ing

DAY FOUR:  Lots of driving through banana (and other tropical fruit) farms, with a late afternoon relaxing at Coral Bay after setting up camp for the next two days.

DAY FIVE: An entire day was spent snorkeling, kayaking, and laying out on the beach. Some students also went on a glass bottom boat tour, a scuba dive, or an all day boat tour.

coral bay at sunset; from the sand we spotted a stingray

sunset above the gorges at Karigini

DAY SIX: We turned our driving westward into the West Australian outback as we drove and drove through the Hamersley Range. The drive ended with a nice dip into Circle Pool at Karijini National Park.

DAY SEVEN: This day, we spent the entire time going up and down gorges - sometimes straddling rocks like you would climb a while in a hallway. They were absolutely breathtaking, the rocks, the water, the plant life, and the animals.

faded aboriginal artwork

DAY EIGHT: We spent the morning back at Fortescue Falls in Karijini before turning south through mining towns.

This is considered to be, like many places in throughout the park, a extremely sacred place - in Aboriginal faith.

On the road, we made stops at fun places, like spongebob.
We also passed the 26th parallel, the Tropic of Capricorn,
an open mine, and lots of emus.

DAY NINE: After visiting a town fair in Meekatharra, we stayed at a sheep station for the night. In celebration of our last evening together, we had a bonfire which included marshmallows and other lovely lollies.

DAY TEN: Travel ended back at Murdoch after road stops, most significantly a spongebob box. These stops often/always included water fights as well.