Northwest Trip!

Get ready for the longest post ever. So for the past 10 days I have been without a phone or a computer. I think that this is the longest period of my life that I haven't been connected to the outside world. For my first study break I traveled up the Northwest coast of WA (Western Australia) with 50 other study abroad students. Here is a map outline of the path that we took over the course of 10 days. (I'm not sure why its white in the middle but its just desert in there anyways so that doesn't really matter)

In total we drove 4000km which is around 2500 miles. Or the distance from Maine to LA. Basically it was a ton of driving and I'm fine if I don't set foot in another bus for another month. So here is a synopsis of my trip. Hope you enjoy it!

Friday we left Perth and drove up a little past Gerealton to Northhampton. Because we left during morning rush hour traffic we took the scenic drive along the west coast and saw some gorgeous beaches as we made our way  through Cott Beach and Joondalup. 

This was at Natures Bridge off Kalbarri National Park

Murchison River also in Kalbarri National Park
(here we saw some wild kangaroos near the river)

This is what a lot of the trip looked like since there was so much driving 

From there we headed up to Hamelin Pool where the stromatolites are located. As you can see above they aren't visually exciting. But basically they allowed humans to survive on Earth because they started produced oxygen into the atmosphere billions of years ago.

As a geologist my dad was really excited for me to see these 

There were so many beautiful sunsets throughout the trip. Its so different from CO where when the sun sets behind the mountains it gets dark immediately. Here I've noticed that its after the sun actually sets that the sky is most beautiful

By this time we are in Shark Bay where Monkey Mia is located. What makes this area significant is that every morning wild dolphins come in for a snack. As you can see above the dolphins come in very close to the shore, but you aren't allowed to touch them. They are also given just a snack so that they learn how to hunt for their own food and aren't dependent on humans.

Also in Monkey Mia we went on a boat ride which was really nice after being in the bus forever. 

We also visited Shell Beach, there isn't any sand at this beach. The shore is made out of little white shells. There was no one at this beach because the shells kinda hurt to step on. Also the water was pretty salty and shallow. They said that it was as salty as the Dead Sea but I didn't think that it was that bad at all.

From there we spent a two days in Coral bay where we spent time on the beach and got to snorkel in Ningaloo Reef. Here are a couple of pictures from the dive (thanks to my brother who bought be an underwater camera for Christmas :) )

This is another picture of the bus since there was so much driving by the end all of us were so ready to get off the bus

This next part of the trip was my favourite! After we went along the coast from Shark Bay to Coral Bay we started to head inland. We stayed at Karijini National Park. When I pictured the "Outback" when I first choose to come to WA. I envisioned the really red dirt, shrubs, and nothing around for miles. This is exactly how it was out in the bush. Since its the end of summer and still kind of hot we were some of the only people in the park. I don't think I've ever been so secluded in my life. The main attractions of the park are the gorges (seen below) and within the gorges there are freshwater pools. The pools were amazing!! We also saw the thorny devil and a dingo while in the park!

One complaint about being in the outback. FLIES!!!! They were horrible. Everyone bought fly nets because it was unbearable to be outside without one on

We also had time to hike around the gorges and look at all the local plants and cool geological features

 

These pictures don't do justice to the beautiful places that we visited. Just google Fern Pool or Circular Pool to see some amazing pictures of the different pools in the park.

Towards the end of the trip all of us were really ready to get home lol (who even knows what the 26th parallel is haha)

During the trip we camped at different locations including a farm, the bush, and a sheep sheering farm. I am a pro at setting up and taking down a tent.

This picture has a long story that goes along with it. We were looking for another fresh water pool somewhere out in the bush that turned into a major adventure. Our tour guides ended up driving us around the the outback on such a bumpy road (aka an area with no grass). During the few hour long drive we got stuck, had to take the trailer off, and hit some major bumps. I thought that it was so much fun! Driving through the outback like that is totally what I expected Australia to be like; it was amazing!

Overall I really enjoyed the trip and feel like I saw the "real" Australia. There is no other place in the world that is like Australia. I just can't get over that there are pine forests, beaches, deserts, and wheat-lands all within a few thousand miles of each other. I am loving my experience here and am so grateful that I am able to spend 4 months in such an amazing place. I'll post again sometime soon, let me know if you want any pictures or posts about anything specific!  :)

Love 

Emily

Southwest Trip!

As I mentioned before last weekend I went on a 3 day trip to the Southwest coast of Australia. It was the most amaizing trip ever; so much fun!!! During the trip I traveled along the coast from Perth to Albany. Here are a few highlights from the trip!!

On Friday morning we left from Perth down south to Bunbury. First we saw one of the last standing Tuart forests which was some specific type of tree but it basically looked like a National Forest in the US. Then we headed to the Bunbury where we walked the jetty (basically a boardwalk) which is 3 km long each way.

Next we Yallingup to go the beach to hang out for a bit and eat lunch. The waves were huge! You can tell from below, as James would say, we got wrecked. Haha I got a pretty bad sand burn but it was so much fun!

From there we headed to the Ngilgi Caves. These caves were significant to Indigenous people thousands of years ago but they are still just as cool. At the lowest point in the cave you are 11 stories underground.

Margret River was our next stop. This is a popular wine country. So we stopped for a glass of wine before heading out to see the sunset. Our tour guide raced us to the southern tip of southwest Australia to Leeuwin so that we could see the sunset. At the lighthouse is where the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean overlap. That was really pretty and awesome to see just ocean around.

For the night we stayed in the very small town of Augusta. This was my first time in a hostel and I didn't think that it was that bad. But some of my flatmates had ants in their bed and I was just happy that wasn't me haha.

Moving on to Saturday, we had an early start so that we could make it down to Albany by the end of the day. We first saw the Bicentennial Tree which was used to stop fires a century or so ago. Nowadays you can climb up the tree yourself and look around for kilometers when at the top. The tree stands at 70 meters (230 ft). To get to the top there are metal stakes hammered into the tree and some chicken wire on the righthand side to make you feel a little better. But other than that nothing else. No harness, nothing! There pictures don't do the climb justice, it was one of the scariest things I've ever done but at the same time amazing.

Next we went to the Tree Top Walk. Here there are platforms that are suspended in the air to make it feel like you are walking in the tree tops. This wasn't that scary considering the climb we did just an hour before.

From there we went to Elephant Rocks and drove through Denmark.

Another one of my favorite places that I visited were The Gap and Natures Bridge. This was a geologic formation by the sea that was just amazing. My tour guide was really interested in talking about the tectonic plates moving and all that other geological stuff that I know my Dad will enjoy this site when he comes to visit.

For the night we stayed in Albany. It was overcast and rainy so we didn't get a good sunset but the cold was a nice change for the 90 degree days that I've been experiencing since I arrived here.

On the last day we drove to the Stirling Ranges where we hiked Bluff Knoll. Even though I don't love hiking the view at the top made it worth it. I think that we went up about 1000 meters so it was pretty difficult but so rewarding in the end.

From there we headed back home to Murdoch. The trip was so much fun with all the new friends that I have made here so far and makes me even more excited for the Northwest trip which is during my first study break in two weeks.

Sorry for the extra long post. But I hope you enjoy the pictures. I have my first assignment due tomorrow  so I need to get started on the study section of study abroad.

Emily