Road trips. A university students idea of a holiday. Pack up a car, get a map, and drive. This past week, Brittany, Amanda, Sanna, Martin and I did just that.
After the whole Margaret River debacle (it was only a debacle because there were so many people on it. It's so hard to do fun things with a huge group that has no leadership.) we decided that another road trip was in order. This time, there were to be no plans, just a leave date and an return date. Our first day we drove down to the tourist town of Pemberton. It's a really really small town that caters mostly to backpackers coming through the region. The forests in the area are incredible. Huge karri trees surround almost the entire town. A really cool place. We camped near a creek in a caravan park. To cut costs we borrowed a tent from a friend. The tent was made for three people. We had five people in our group. We were very cozy in the tent. Also, since we were further south, the temperature was a little chillier, especially at night. We froze that first night.
The next day we drove along the coast to a town called Walpole where we got coffee which made everyone happy. Right after we made our way to the famous Tree Top Walk. It's a steel structure that takes visitors up into the tops of these massive trees. The trees weren't karri this time but tingle trees. Because of the iron ore in much of Australia's soil, the trees take on a reddish tint. The treetop talk was stunning. We were nearly 40 meters off the ground at some parts! I can officially say that I've danced in the tree tops.
After that we trekked to a place called Greens Pool where the coast is not sand but massive rocks. We climbed around on a section called Elephant Rocks. Martin and I got adventurous and climbed on some of the more dangerous sections of rocks. The rocks were very steep with rocky gorges in between. Death traps for sure. We made it out alive though. As we were walking back a massive snake slithered across the path. Then it just sat there, in the path, staring at us. An Aussie man and his daughter came up and he told us that it was an Australian Brown Snake and that it was one of the most deadly snakes in the world...and we were all barefoot. We turned back from there and found a different path to the car.
Drove to Albany after to find a place to sleep for the night. Found a great caravan park that had a pool and a hot tub and really nice facilities. It didn't take much convincing for us to decide to stay there. We quickly changed into our bathers and swam and relaxed in the hot tub. We went into Albany for dinner and a drink at local bar. After we all walked out to the beach and watched the stars. So many shooting stars. It was amazing.
The next day we decided to explore Albany. We took the drive along the cape which Albany sits on and stopped along the way. Our first stop was a look out, but we traversed through the bush to the coast. We found a perfect place for jumping into the ocean. We all took turns jumping into the amazingly blue water. Just driving down this peninsula we stopped at some of the most beautiful places in the world, one right after the other. The Southern coast is just breathtaking.
After we had our fill of amazing scenery we started our trek back. We wanted to make it to Busselton to watch the sunset. The drive back was intense. Martin was driving ridiculous fast on these winding roads. Magpies were reluctant to move for our car so we had to brake constantly and then the bugs...We must have hit right after all these insects hatched because there were thousands of them. Once we hit them with our car they stuck to the windshield. Once the sun hit the windshield covered in bug guts it became impossible to see out of. It made the drive a little scary. We made it to Busselton just before the sunset and walked out onto the jetty (supposedly the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. It's almost 2 kilometers long!) and watched the sun go down. There was a lightning storm going on right along the horizon so we watched that for awhile as well. Hit the road after, only stopping to get Chicken Treat for dinner. Made it back to Murdoch around 11:30. Exhausted. Fulfilled.
Road trips. A university students idea of a holiday. Pack up a car, get a map, and drive. This past week, Brittany, Amanda, Sanna, Martin and I did just that.
After the whole Margaret River debacle (it was only a debacle because there were so many people on it. It's so hard to do fun things with a huge group that has no leadership.) we decided that another road trip was in order. This time, there were to be no plans, just a leave date and an return date. Our first day we drove down to the tourist town of Pemberton. It's a really really small town that caters mostly to backpackers coming through the region. The forests in the area are incredible. Huge karri trees surround almost the entire town. A really cool place. We camped near a creek in a caravan park. To cut costs we borrowed a tent from a friend. The tent was made for three people. We had five people in our group. We were very cozy in the tent. Also, since we were further south, the temperature was a little chillier, especially at night. We froze that first night.
The next day we drove along the coast to a town called Walpole where we got coffee which made everyone happy. Right after we made our way to the famous Tree Top Walk. It's a steel structure that takes visitors up into the tops of these massive trees. The trees weren't karri this time but tingle trees. Because of the iron ore in much of Australia's soil, the trees take on a reddish tint. The treetop talk was stunning. We were nearly 40 meters off the ground at some parts! I can officially say that I've danced in the tree tops.
After that we trekked to a place called Greens Pool where the coast is not sand but massive rocks. We climbed around on a section called Elephant Rocks. Martin and I got adventurous and climbed on some of the more dangerous sections of rocks. The rocks were very steep with rocky gorges in between. Death traps for sure. We made it out alive though. As we were walking back a massive snake slithered across the path. Then it just sat there, in the path, staring at us. An Aussie man and his daughter came up and he told us that it was an Australian Brown Snake and that it was one of the most deadly snakes in the world...and we were all barefoot. We turned back from there and found a different path to the car.
Drove to Albany after to find a place to sleep for the night. Found a great caravan park that had a pool and a hot tub and really nice facilities. It didn't take much convincing for us to decide to stay there. We quickly changed into our bathers and swam and relaxed in the hot tub. We went into Albany for dinner and a drink at local bar. After we all walked out to the beach and watched the stars. So many shooting stars. It was amazing.
The next day we decided to explore Albany. We took the drive along the cape which Albany sits on and stopped along the way. Our first stop was a look out, but we traversed through the bush to the coast. We found a perfect place for jumping into the ocean. We all took turns jumping into the amazingly blue water. Just driving down this peninsula we stopped at some of the most beautiful places in the world, one right after the other. The Southern coast is just breathtaking.
After we had our fill of amazing scenery we started our trek back. We wanted to make it to Busselton to watch the sunset. The drive back was intense. Martin was driving ridiculous fast on these winding roads. Magpies were reluctant to move for our car so we had to brake constantly and then the bugs...We must have hit right after all these insects hatched because there were thousands of them. Once we hit them with our car they stuck to the windshield. Once the sun hit the windshield covered in bug guts it became impossible to see out of. It made the drive a little scary. We made it to Busselton just before the sunset and walked out onto the jetty (supposedly the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. It's almost 2 kilometers long!) and watched the sun go down. There was a lightning storm going on right along the horizon so we watched that for awhile as well. Hit the road after, only stopping to get Chicken Treat for dinner. Made it back to Murdoch around 11:30. Exhausted. Fulfilled.
5 comments:
So glad that you are almost home....good thing that I read about all these dangerous things are they happen...you know how I worry!
Mannn! Luke, all that looks/sounds so sweet. I'm jealous! Anyways, you'll be in the states soon, can't wait to kick it, bud. I went through and started organizing pictures and oh man, there are some great ones from the old 3 West days.
Luke, looks like you are having the time of your life! Your blog is amazing and I hope I get the chance to study abroad too. Can't wait to see ya next semester!
- Sarah Quigley
Looks like you had a great fun and all of these pictures are so beautiful. Thanks for sharing your experience.
beautiful place abd you guys are having a lot of fun.
Post a Comment