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G'day

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    G'day

    Australian adventure update. Hot from the Victoria desert.


    We left Perth early on Tuesday (26th)morning and stopped at Mandurah to get some shopping, a coffee percolator and a real Aussie breakfast.
    The car was a real bargain and I was worried that it might have been a con because I got it for 35 dollars a day, Hertz and Avis wanted over 75. Anyway its fine apart from a bit of a weird smell and no CD player. But we dont have any CD's so thats not a hardship.
    It took me most of the journey to get used to the vehicle , the maps and the road signs. We arrived at Margaret River about 14:00 and hit the bar. I was paying about 8 dollars for a beer in Perth (4 quids) but finally remembered to buy jugs (the barmaid reminded me) so now its 4 dollars a pint, less than 2 quid.
    The hotel is called the Margaret River and Margaret (her surname is river) is chuffed to bits. She's got Tee shirts , mugs , the lot with Margaret River all over them. I want to get my own back but 'Scouse-git creek' is too far off our route.
    The room is fine with a real olde worlde set of furniture and one of those propellors in the roof. It smells a bit funny though.
    Its Wednesday and we spent the day visiting the area which is the very SW tip of Oz. We went to Naturalist cape and watched the whales migrating past the coast, we must have seen over a dozen, blowing spouts, then a fin and back, tail, then the odd big splash od a tail fluke. Very nice.
    We visited a winery but didnt want a full case, some caves, and its off to the bar now, then a game of 'citadels' in the room.
    We are off to Esperance tomorrow. The weather is just like an English summers day, we have had a couple of rain showers but its very pleasant.
    Margaret wants ro find a laundrette So I have to go now.

    Creatures seen so far, flock of 5 emus, little electric blue finches, lots of lizards, Whales, seals


    Atw may be good at search engines, but the people here definately do not walk upside down



    (\__/)
    (>'.'<)
    ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

    #2
    Originally posted by EternalOptimist
    Atw may be good at search engines, but the people here definately do not walk upside down
    That only seems to you because you also walk upside down because you are there! They don't call them anti-podes you know!

    Sounds like you having a good time - watch out for kengurooes!

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      #3
      Beware !

      Stay away from any sting rays, will you ?

      Comment


        #4
        Yes and if native aborigenes catch you and keep in a cell, and you have chance to escape or stay facing imminent beheading, then I am sure CUK has taught you well on what to do.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by AtW
          Yes and if native aborigenes catch you and keep in a cell, and you have chance to escape or stay facing imminent beheading, then I am sure CUK has taught you well on what to do.
          Yeah, follow point 9) on the CUK Academy thread!
          “The period of the disintegration of the European Union has begun. And the first vessel to have departed is Britain”

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by zeitghost
            Bugger the sting rays, look out for the sharks, crocodiles, spiders, box jellyfish, snakes, trees that are like giant stinging nettles with stings that last for 6 months.

            I think I've left something out.

            Oh.

            Don't go wandering off into the desert for a walk and get lost. Twice.

            Like that other pommie dickhead did about a month ago.

            Have fun.
            THAT pommie dickhead was a scouser, and I am er, oh forget it



            (\__/)
            (>'.'<)
            ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

            Comment


              #7
              Left Margaret River on Thursday (28 th) morning and headed down towards the coast across the grain of the country. The land is green, full of water, lakes rivers ponds. There are lots of wineries, cheese factories and breweries. Hit the coast at Albany and ploughed on East till we landed at Gibson Soak (pop 192), just North of Esperance.
              The room was 60 dollars and would have been perfect if it had ac, coffee making gear, or a hair dryer.
              Set off east at 06:15 on Friday, saw some kangeroos plus a couple of recently dead camels by the road. Passed a masive dried up salt lake 30 miles long. You could get liverpool in one end and manchester into the other !! Went for a wander into the desert and within 100m saw half a dozen skeletons, most kangeroos, bleached white. Wombat burrows and big somethings scurrying through the brush. The green has given way to desert scrub now and stunted acacia trees. Landed up in a place called Eucla but the room was even worse than at Gibson soak so we ploughed on to border town, just past the border food control checkpoint.

              Found a laundry and got the washing done. Put my reserve pair of socks on.
              Got chatting in the bar to a guy who worked at the checkpoint. Someone came in and mentioned the dead camels back east, they were all amazed that they were so far south. They considered driving over and getting the meat but decided it was probably too late. I asked the guy what camel was like
              'Well its a bit like venison, but very dry
              'can you barbeque it ?
              'nah its too dry
              'what parts do you eat ?
              'every single bit mate, we leave nothing. very dry though

              The guy told me the one thing he needed to make his job easier was to be allowed to carry a gun. (for arresting fruit flies presumably) .
              The guy who owned the place and the guy who ran the roadhouse looked remarkably similar. The guy behind the bar might have been a triplet. I hope marrying sisters is legal in south australia.I imagined the distant sound of banjos on the front stoop and did some involuntary buttock clenching.
              left border town and blasted east to port augusta where we are now.
              Either we got used to it or the smell in the car has faded.
              We are setting off for Alice springs tomorrow then Katherine
              should be there on tuesday evening



              (\__/)
              (>'.'<)
              ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

              Comment


                #8
                Well we are in Alice springs now, did 1250 kms yesterday through the Sandy and Victorian desert. There had been desert storms whilst we were in Port Augusta so the desert was dotted with pools and small lakes, it was starting to bloom, the scents are amazing.
                Margaret wasnt too keen on her brekky this morning , she said the sausage was 'a bit dry' . I didnt eat mine after that.
                Let me tell you about camels. I have come face to face with wild animals all over the place and can say that I have never been really scared. Under most circumstances they will beat a hasty and avoid confrontation with a human. Elks in the early morning mist in Canada, mad dogs in england, wolves in canada, snakes, a grizzly bear 15 feet away that turned tail and disappeared. (it was only a little one).
                But I got out to look at some wild camels last time I was here and this big male came ambling towards me. It was about 250m away but the evidence that it was a male was outstanding, very tall and with a wobbly hump. It broke into a trot making a heck of a noise. Let me tell you , when a 10 foot camel with a boner and a mad glint in its eye charges you, the survival instinct kicks in and I ran for the car. Luckily I could run through the desert faster than the camel could run through my sh!t so I escaped.

                Today (tuesday 3rd) we are going to find the springs themselves and get ready for the last big leg, three days solid driving over to broome via Katherine.

                (\__/)
                (>'.'<)
                ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

                Comment


                  #9
                  bROOME

                  bars open
                  Last edited by EternalOptimist; 11 October 2006, 06:43.
                  (\__/)
                  (>'.'<)
                  ("")("") Born to Drink. Forced to Work

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