Diving the Swan Wreck near Dunsborough

We had 2 dives on the wreck and we had fun looking about. We had a go on the bridge and Nic sat on one of the toilets! Quite a novel experience as it was our first wreck dive.

Perth to Esperance - lots of cute animals, wreck diving, massive trees and stunning beaches

We've had a busy few weeks so this blog is a whopper!

We spent a week in Perth with my Uncle Jeff, his girlfriend Yvonne and her lovely family. They made us really welcome and it was exciting to live in a lovely house (with a new pool). Jeff and Yvonne took us out and showed us some lovely places and we had a couple of days sight-seeing on our own.

One of our days was spent at the stunning Rottnest Island, we cycled about in the heat and went snorkelling in the cold clear water. Here is a cute Quokka:


We also had a day touring around fabulous Fremantle and Perth. Here is the one photo we took of Perth:



Here's me with Jeff and Yvonne - looking a bit red after a day around the pool!

After leaving Perth we went over to Penguin Island near Rockingham. Here are some ridiculously cute blue (fairy) penguins:

It started to rain (shock horror) and rained for about 3 days. I had to put my jeans on for the first time in about 4 months!

We visited the small but lovely Dolphin Discovery Centre. We didn't see any dolphins but we did see some cool stuff in the rock pool and aquarium, including this wonderful cow fish:

We had a few days to spare before our Swan Wreck dive so we had a few days trying to avoid the rain around Margaret River. Here is Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse located where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean:

We did our diving (check our videos on separate entry) and then headed off to see some big trees. We climbed the 60 metre Gloucester tree that used to be a fire lookout tree. My legs were a bit wobbly at the end but the views were fab.

Here is ring-necked parrot eating someone's picnic.

Next we went to see the giant Tingle trees. There used to be one that you could drive through until it collapsed in 1990.

We did the Valley of the Giants walk - 40 metres above the ground with more fab views. Here's Nic looking very small:

We left the big trees and drove to Porongorup NP to do some walking. Here's a view from the top:

We carried on to Stirling Range NP and did even more walking, this time up Bluff Knoll, just over 1000 metres high:

Here is the view from the top:

Near the top there were masses of beautiful wild flowers:

We left the hills and headed back to the coast. This is a beach near Esperance that we saw doing the Great Ocean Drive - the coastal scenery is amazing here.

Then we had a night at Cape Range NP. Stunning.

In a day or 2 we will have left Western Australia and we'll be in Southern Australia. WA is totally amazing - undeveloped, amazing wildlife and stunning natural scenery.

sea lions at jurien bay

nic being headbutted by sea lion pup

Sharks Bay to Perth via Kalbarri and Jurien Bay

We've continued our trip down the west coast and we've been through the wheat belt. It was strange seeing hills, wheat fields and wild flowers. There are also a lot more flies down here and we succumbed to buying fly nets. Above is a picture of us at Nature's window in Kalbarri NP. donning our nets.

Below is a bob-tailed skink that Nic rescued from the middle of the road; as you can see it wasn't very happy about being moved!

Below is a picture of Pink Lake at Gregory, the photo isn't great and it looked much pinker in the flesh.

Below are some shots of the Pinnacles; mad structures in the desert. There are thousands of them and they're still not sure what they are. We think the one below looks like 'the scream'.

Here is PomPom with the Pinnacles.

Next we drove to Jurien Bay and had the most amazing time playing with the sea lions in the Indian Ocean. There was only 7 of us on the boat and we had so much fun. It was like playing with a dozen Labrador puppies underwater. The water was cold but we stayed in for an hour. They would put their face right in front of yours and even nudge you if you weren't playing enough - hilarious. If you ever get the chance to do it don't hesitate. They were unbelievably agile, fast and graceful.

Here is Nic playing:

Here we are surrounded by them:

On the way back we found an octopus trap. The skipper fished the octopus out and we released it. It was very sticky.

We have now arrived in Perth and we're staying with my Uncle Jeff, his lovely girlfriend Yvonne and her 3 children. We've been made so welcome and they've just had a pool put in so we may never leave!