There is more to see between Perth and Exmouth. We drove by on the way up, but now we had some more time to have a closer look at them.

For one, there is Kalbarri National Park, which consists of the Murchison River gorge and the Zuytdorp Cliffs at the coast. We hiked a bit in each part and discovered Natures Window and the Natural Bridge.

Further south we encountered a pink lake, which looks quite like it. Unfortunately it doesn’t show very well in the pictures. The color is due to some algae in the water.

Our next stop was the Hutt River Principality, where we had an audience with his royal Highness Prince Leonard. He is the ruler of this independent sovereign state of the size of Hong Kong. He gained independence in 1970 and therefore does not pay any income taxes to Australia.

In the evening we set out to explore the Nambung National Park. It is home to the Pinnacles, thousands of pointed rocks in the middle of a desert. The limestone pillars were surrounded by soil, which eroded over the years.

We spent the last two days discovering the area around Shark Bay.

On our way there, the first stop was at Hamelin Pool, a place where some of the last remaining Stromatolites can be found. They are microorganisms that look like your average stone. But they are much more than that.

Their species evolved more than 3 billion years ago and they were the first organisms to produce oxygen, thus being the enablers for many other life forms.

Our next visit in Shark Bay was an aquarium where we saw some of the local fish in big tanks. The tour guide explained everything really well and we got to see some interesting creatures. But the best part was the shark feeding.

The guide put a large fish at the end of a rope and then let it down into the water. The sharks instantly came there and tried to get it, but he pulled it away every time, explaining that this bait has to last the whole day. But eventually one shark jumped at the bait and got it, still hanging on the rope. After some time he managed to disappear with the bait.

The next day we went to Monkey Mia. People had been giving us so many dates when the feeding of the dolphins was said to occur, that we got confused and decided to be there at the first possibility, 7.45am. This was quite a good decision, as we quickly discovered that there are in fact no set feeding times. They will just wait for the first group of dolphins to appear and then start the feeding.

After waiting for a long long time, finally four dolphins showed up and some people from the crowd (over 150 were watching) were chosen to give fish to the dolphins.

The feeding finished right on time for our boat tour, a cruise on the Aristocat 2. We were almost alone when the ship departed. The only other people were two french girls (who were busy taking photographs of each other during the whole trip) and a french family.

After we helped to set sail we visited a pearls farm, fed some fish, saw lots of dolphins, dugongs and even a big turtle. On our way back, we tried the advertised attraction, “boom netting”. We climbed onto a net behind the ship, hanging slightly in the water. Then the ship started to move. Starting quite slow, it moved faster until the french girls had enough and climbed back on deck.

Then it started again and we encourage the captain to go “Faster! Faster!”. He does. After a while we were almost flying above the water and the waves began to hurt as they hit us. But we had a lot of fun.

After quite a long while even we had enough of it and went back onto the deck as well. Shortly after that we saw the first sharks (the bigger one is 3 metres long!) and were quite happy to be not too close to them any more.

After driving for more than a thousand kilometers we’re up north at the Ningalo Reef. I finally get to use my underwater camera that I bought in Perth for only AUD 40 (28€).

First we went to have a look at Cape Range National Park. It has several superb spots for snorkeling. After we got some flippers, snorkel and goggles for Eiko, we went to Turquoise Bay. It is really cool, because you can walk on the beach for 100-200m and then you get into the water. The tidal current brings you back to where you started. You just have to exit before the current pulls you out into the sea.

While floating, you get to see lots of corals and fish in many different colors. We also saw a turtle and a reef shark (usually not dangerous) up close.

Today at Coral Bay, the southern end of the Ningalo Reef (in total 300km long), I went snorkeling again and I got to see a Manta Ray. Very beautiful creatures!

The part of the reef close to the shore is bigger but not as colorful. It’s still amazing and feels like being in a giant aquarium or a zoo tank.

As we left the metro in downtown Perth we were greeted by a military band who was playing “Let me entertain you” with a really cool performance.

But that was not the only good impression of the city. Another highlight is King’s Park, located on the river side and slightly elevated (242 steps lead to the park). The park is huge and full of trees and plants from all over Australia. There was even one tree, about 750 years old, that has travelled all the way from the north of Western Australia (more than 3000km). It doesn’t have any leaves, but it seems to be growing.

For dinner we went to Annalakshmi, an Indian restaurant right at the river docks. It wasn’t only delicious, but also for free! Lunch and dinner are offered every day of the week, except Mondays. They do it based on donations – you can pay as much as you like when you leave the restaurant.

Once more we were lucky and there was a free music festival that day in Northbridge (a district of Perth), the “Saturday Spectacular” with young bands from Western Australia. There were quite a few spectators due to the great quality of music. Then we wanted to enjoy a cold beer with the music. However, it seems to be forbidden to drink in public as there were plenty of food stalls but none for drinks. Instead we had to invest in two scoops of Ben&Jerry’s ice cream.

The next day we set off to explore Fremantle, or Freo as they call it here. We had a look at the Fremantle prison, a world heritage site, which was in operation until 1991. The Shipwreck Galleries were also interesting. They had several artifacts from sunken ships (also coins from Hamburg) and a piece of the famous merchant ship Batavia on display. The rest of the day we spent watching parades, street artists and people drawing on the streets.

We’ve been in the area around and south of Perth for the last few days. Now we’re heading north and finally have some spare time to recap the things we’ve seen and done so far. I’ll start with our tour to the south of Western Australia.

Our first stop south of Perth is
Busselton, where we visit the Busselton Jetty, the longest pier in the southern hemisphere: Almost 2 km of wood. It has been destroyed more than once by fires, storms and cyclones, but has always been rebuilt. There is even a small train on top of the pier and an underwater observatory at the end, but we just walk down the pier on our own and enjoy the beautiful scenery and the fresh breeze.

While heading further south we encounter the first forest fire. It’s a controlled one but nonetheless there is a lot of smoke and fire right by the side of the road.

When we arrive at Pemberton, the sun has already gone down, but we still need a place to spend the night. So we decide to check out the nearest national park. The road into the national park starts quite wide and surfaced, but soon it transforms into a narrow, bumpy dirt track. We are quite sure that this is not covered by our rental car’s policy, but it is a one way road, so there is no possibility to go back. We even see a kangaroo jumping down the road in front of us and follow it for a while, before it leaves the road again.

Finally we discover the camp site in the pitch black forest. There are even some people around. Who would have thought that?

After a very quiet night, we head to the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, the highest climbable tree in the world! The way up is made of reinforcement bars that are drilled into the tree. On the top, at a height of 75 m, is a viewing platform from where we have a stunning view of the forest.

The next sight – the Tree Top Walk – is almost a bit disappointing. It is only 40 meters high, expensive, quite short and doesn’t even have explanations of the trees and animals you see from up there. It just doesn’t feel so great after having climbed the enormous Bicentennial Tree before.