I met the tour up in Perth at about 7:15. We all checked in and had a coffee, so by the time we left the city, it was about 8 or so. Everyone was tired but pretty friendly. Enzo, our bus driver, was super fun, had lots of things for us to do in the stops and was just a super nice guy. Other than the driver, though, it was a bus full of 14 girls until we got to Dongara where we picked up one German guy! The first day was heaps of driving, about 750km or so. We didn't see too much, but had a few nice scenic stops.
First up were the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park. There are thousands of limestone pillars poking out of the sand. They can get up to four metres tall, but the ones we saw were smaller, maybe only two metres at the most. The desert landscape was pretty impressive, as well. And luckily there was a bit of a breeze going through so it wasn't too hot and the flies mostly stayed away.
We also passed through major crayfishing towns like Dongara and Geraldton. Not much to see, really, but crayfishing's a huge industry in WA. The crayfish out here are a lot different than the ones in North America, they're much more like lobsters and can be pretty huge. Crayfishing season is on now, and lasts for about 6 months. The guys working on the boats make $60-70k in just that time (and spend the rest of the year surfing, apparently). The companies pay them quite well - they get a retainer at the beginning of the season and then are paid a percentage of what their boat makes (usually 5-10%) at the end of the season. Much better than other remote jobs where they get paid throughout then often don't save enough to get through off season. All along the coast these shacks are set up so they can get to the boat easily. There's really nothing else around for a few hours' drive, though.
We got in to Kalbarri at about 7:30pm that night, so didn't end up seeing much of the town. We left for dinner at about 8 and walked a ways to a really awesome seafood BBQ place - Finlay's. They do a backpackers' special, so for $10, we each got a huge plate of food - battered fish, grilled fish, mussels, prawns, squid rings, chips, rice. And there was a salad bar, too! None of us could finish it all, but it was really delicious. And a fun place, too!
After having such a long day on the bus, we all crashed pretty early that night.
Day 2
Seven o'clock start today! We went to the supermarket for breakfast and lunch shopping he headed inland from Kalbarri to see the gorges of the Murchison River. We checked out Nature's Window and The Loop. We could have gone to another spot, but given the option between that and going to a beach in the afternoon, everyone on the bus chose the beach! The gorges we saw were quite nice, though, but lots of flies!
Really flat boring drive - we were on the 2nd longest stretch of road with no turns in the Southern Hemisphere. It makes driving across the prairies seem interesting - at least there are grain elevators and the occasional cow, there. This drive, though, was just flat expanses of shrubs for as far as you could see. To keep ourselves occupied, we played bus cricket. Everyone puts $2 into a cup. One by one, we went and sat next to the driver and you had to try to get cars driving the other way to wave at you. If they did a little wave, you got 2 points. Proper wave, 4 points, and if they used 2 hands or the passenger waved as well, then 6 points. But, if they didn't wave, then you're out! The person with the most points won the money! And if you didn't get any waves, then you got a squirt of cold water in the face!
Of course, as soon as we started the game, we went about half an hour without seeing any cars! But the game stretched out nicely, and ended up taking a couple hours. I didn't win, but I didn't get squirted either.
We also played Enzo's Bus Bingo. Everyone wrote down 15 cards on a piece of paper and then Enzo called out cards until someone had all their 15 cards called out. Bingo! Quite a good driving game, actually!
Finally, we got to the Shark Bay World Heritage Site. First stop there was Hamelin Pool Stromatolites. They're really not much to look at but they were the first organisms to really start producing oxygen and pumping it into the atmosphere. Shark Bay is one of the only places where they're still alive - quite a feat considering they've been around for about 4 billion years! The organisms are cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and they form mats and pillars out of sand and mucus. These pillars were, way back when, similar to what coral reefs are today. They made great habitats for primitive ocean creatures. But considering they're not much to see, it was a pretty quick stop.
We ate lunch on the bus between the stromatolites and our next stop, Nanga Bay. Went for a bit of a swim there, even though the water was quite chilly! The beach was amazing, though. It was all shells, little tiny clam shells mostly but also some pretty snail shells. It looked a bit like shell pasta, but was actually quite comfortable to lay on. And no sand between the toes!
A short drive away and we were at Ocean Park, an outdoor aquarium. We saw baby loggerhead turtles, sea snakes, a bunch of sharks. It was a really nice place, actually. All the fish were caught in the Shark Bay area, and the guide was really knowledgeable about everything. My favourite, though, was a stone fish.
Doesn't look much like a fish, but see if you can find its mouth and eyes. They don't move hardly at all, but have really poisonous spikes along their backs. Luckily, they aren't ever found on sandy beaches, so it's pretty unlikely to step on one.
They fed some sharks at the aquarium, too. Lemon sharks and nervous sharks. There was also a big tiger shark in there, but it stayed under the whole time, so we just got glimpses of it. Very cool, though. And because the aquarium's right on the water, things like the sharks are just there for a few months and are then released back to the ocean.
After the aquarium, we arrived in Denham at the hostel. It's a really nice hostel, there's a pool and it's across the street from the beach. I'm in a 3 bed room, and it's quite lovely. I think the hostel was once family motel units. I'm in a 3 room unit, so there's a kitchen/lounge area and then three dorm rooms attached. After getting settled, we went to the pub for dinner, and then to the hotel bar where the local band (The Denham Genes) played. Pretty awesome night out, actually.
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Well, that's about long enough for now, I think! I'm still working on writing up the rest and I'll post more soon.
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