Coral Coast 1.3.- 10.3.2012
14 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
Thursday morning we picked up our rental car and started our journey to Exmouth which is on the westcoast about 12 hours north of Perth. Our first stop were the Pinnacles in the Nambung National Park close to Cervantes. there’s a whole desert of Pinnacles whch is pretty impressive.
The next day we arrived in the Shark Bay area. First we went to the Shell beach – instead of sand there’s little shells everywhere.
Afterwards we went to the Eagle Bluff Cliff Top Lookout where you have an amazing view of the ocean. It’s very nice but there are many flies so you cant really enjoy the view for too long.
Our final stop for the day was Monkey Mia, there’s a great beach and we just relaxed on the beach and tried to get close to the pelicans. The next morning we went back to the beach for the dolphin feedings. There were three feedings between 8 and 10 in the morning and both of us got to feed a dolphin. It’s really impressive how close they come and one of them even touched me with his fin 
After the dolphins left we walked along the beach and the jetty and spotted a huge shuffle-nose-shark ( ray) and a big fish missing a chunk and a turtle
We packed our stuff to leave Monkey Mia and the next stop were the blowholes where the waves hitting against the rocks sometimes shoot 20m high fontains in the air. When we were there they weren’t that high but it was still a nice view.
We spend the night on a campingground in Coral Bay and the following day on the beach. Coral Bay is very beautiful, amazing beach and the water is like a bathtub- very cool!
It took us the whole evening to drive to Exmouth and when we found a campground it was bedtime already. The next morning we visited Bundegi Beach, the SS Mildura Shipwreck where we saw a couple of turtles in the water and the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse from where you have a beautiful view. Next stop was the Jurabi Turtle Centre where we didnt see a single turtle 
Then we finally entered the Cape Range National Park and went to the Milyering Visitor Center where we saw a huge lizard just chilling in the shade.
After we figured out that we will spend the night at the Lakeside camp we drove there and went snorkeling there as well. After a couple of minutes in the water drifting along we saw this massive sting ray in the sand. It was huge. We have seen a couple of small ones in the water before but this one was huge. Unfortunately Janine wasn’t fast enough to take a picture because she first thought it’s just a log in the water , well it wsnt and we were fucking scared, with it’s tale it was as bis as we are! crazy and very rare so close to the shore–) lucky us I didn’t like it so much but Janine convinced me to keep snorkeling and it was quite nice, we saw a couple of cool fish.
The next morning we went to another recommended spot for snorkeling – Oyster Stacks. We hopped in the water and swam around and saw a lot of fish and suddenly we see this cool yellow fishswarm just 2 metres next to us and we were showing each other the swarm almost at the same time until we both realised there was a huge shark swimming behind the swarm. I was about to pee in my pants but i was too much in a shock good thing i could still move my fingers to get a picture it was fucking scary to see this massive shark about 2m swimming towards us and about 2 m from us it turned to the right and away from us and following him was another little shark which was kind of cute but i couldnt feel anything besides fear well luckily we survived and we couldnt swim back to the beach fast enough. I was totally in shock and couldn’t talk cause i was trying to understand what i just saw and Janine was going crazy, she had a real adrenalin kick and was screaming :” yeah we saw a shark, how cool is that ……” ( crazy bitch) I didnt really want to go back in the water but did after awhile but not in the area where we saw the monster and not so far out
In the afternoon we went to another snorkelspot which is supposed to be amazing- Turquoise Bay. There’s a drift snorkel area and a bay snorkel area, both quite nice and we saw a lot of fish and i saw a little reef shark, not scary at all just like 1m long, they are harmless Turquoise Bay is amazing, it just looks like paradise- breathtaking beautiful!
In the evening we drove back to the lighthouse to see an amazing sunset. Afterwards we went back to the turtle center because its hatching time for the little turtles. So we sat on the beach for about two hours but nothing happened. No baby turtle we spend the night in the car on the parking lot and went back to that beach in the morning and we saw a dead baby turtle- missing the head and an arm
we saw a lot of wildlife, a lot of emus-they run around in the towns totally free just like cats in germany – and kangaroos but definately most of the kangaroos we saw were dead on the highway not alive ….
After we found the dead baby turtle we went back into the National Park and drove to Sandy BAy, its not supposed to be a good snorkeling spot, in fact its not a famous spot to go to at all but its the only beach that has a tiny bit of shade spend by two picknick tables, i wouldn’t really call that shade but that’s ok a good thing we went there because it was amazing, there were just two other people on the whole beach so it felt like we had everything for ourselves and after a couple of minutes we saw two turtles in the water really close to the shore so we went in the water and swam and snorkeled with the turtles all day- it was amazing. We got so close to them we could even touch them, they werent scared at all and they were hanging around all day- it was so cool!!! We decided to come back the next day to swim with them again because it was so amazing so we camped in the closest camp Pilgramunna.
The next morning we went back and nobody was there! Just us and the turtles! amazing!!!! We spend the whole day there because it was like paradise and we didn’t wanna leave ever again We even built our own little hut to have some shade – awesome day!!
We went back to the shipwreck for sunset because someone told us its really pretty there and pretty is definately not the right expression, its breathtaking, seriously i have never seen such a beautiful sunset in my life just AMAZING!!! After the sun was gone we decided to stay on the beach and try to see some turtles hatch this night and we walked up and down the beach and then finally Janine found one but it was really weird because it was stuck in a hole that looked like a crabhole and after a couple of minutes we saw the crab that lived in there- it cought the baby turtle to eat it for dinner!!! So we tried to keep the big crab away from it’s hole which wasnt that easy because it kept coming back because it knew there was a big meal waiting in his hole but we threw stones at the crabs and they stayed away and so we tried to get the turtle out of the hole which wasnt so easy because it was kind of stuck and we didn’t wanna hurt it so we just tried to move the sand around it and finally were able to pull it out and OMG it was the cutest thing EVER!!!! We walked along the beach to find a good spot to put it in the water because the waves were quite big and we didnt want it to get washed back on the beach and end up as dinner for another crab because there were hundred of crabs, its crazy- even i was a little scared, they are everywhere on the beach at night. So when we thought we found a good spot Janine let it in the water – good thing we waited a little bit because it got washed back to the shore so I picked it up and we decided to throw it, we weren’t sure if he is gonna survive it but it was definately a better chance it was really hard to say goodbye because he was so cute and we called him ” the One ” because he is gonna be the one in a thousand that is gonna survive!! That’s a really sad number but its true just one baby turtle in a thousand survives because ob crabs, birds and sharks that love to eat them Well anyway after a couple of minutes I threw it in the water and we waited about ten minutes and it wasn’t washed back onto shore so we know he made it!!!!!
The next day we had to start our way back to Perth unfortunately!! But we had an amazing trip, probably the best 10 days ever!! And we know that we are so lucky that we saw all this crazy shit in such a short time and we are so greatful! On the way back we stopped at the leaning tree to see the sunset.
Perth
14 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
when we arrived in perth we met up with our host alex and he seemed to be quite nice, after work he plays some sport and he goes to the army so we barely ever saw him but thats ok. we went into the city and walked around, its not as big as sydney but thats what makes it really cosy. we went to Cottesloe Beach 20 min outta town and its beautiful. we spend most of the days there cauz its a really nice place to hang out and relax. another day we went to kings park which is a huge park on a hill overviewing the city- brilliant view! ideal for a picknick.its always sunny in perth, we didnt have any rain in 3 weeks and always around 32′C
on a friday we decided to try the nude beach because its the best place to give it a try since nobody knows us and it felt really weird in the beginning but you could get used to it i guess ….when a couple next to us started to have sex we decided to leave and thought maybe that just wasnt our thing, well it was worth giving it a try
another day we went to Fremantle a little cute town half an our from perth and spend the day wandering around, we saw the queen marry 2 and some other cool stuff, nice day.
after 5 days we moved to anoter host-Matt and he’s amazing, he is so friendly and generous, its unbelievable, he just seperated from his wife and has two adorable kids we have met, but yes he is a great host and thats why after our trip to exmouth we decided to come back and spend our last days in Perth which are our last days in Australia at the same time here. on night we had 11 people sleeping here which wasnt al that chaotic, it was fun and eahc night someone else cooked something for the big family, it was great.
now that we are at matts place for the second time there were 13 people staying here and 8 of them were french which wasnt too good bec they tended to speak french only :I( well 4 of them left today so we’ll see how it goes
one day matt gave us a walking tour through perth cuz h used to do it as a job, it was quite nice but theres really not much to see in perth
so the last days here in perth we spend updating our blog because we know we have been very lazy and we are very sorry but its been rally hard without a laptop- might be a lame excuse but its true. so we try to update our blog as good as possible and go to the beach almost every day to get some tan before we get back to cold old germany
Adelaide 18.2.-21.2.2012
14 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
when we arrived in adelaide we got picked up by two other couchsurfers from the airport and we went straight to the beach – Port Nualanga. its a really pretty beach with beautiful clear water very good for snorkelling. before we got there we searched one and a half hours for a snorkelset for one of the other guys… a little annoying but thats ok. there was another guy in the car who is a host on couchsurfing as well but luckily we didnt pick him to be our host cuz he was a littl weird…. well on the beach all the others did was snorkelling and all we did was lying on the beach and relaxing. we walked along the jetty and saw some squids but not many fish. it was a really nice and relaxing day and back in adelaide we met our hosts ben and roger, very nice guys around 40, but funny. the next day we went to another beach with remi and isabelle- the other two couchsurfers. Gleneg Beach wasnt as nice as the one the day before and the weather wasnt as good either but there was some kind of festival going on thet was fun. there was a huge screnn showing short movies, beachvolleyball- , handball- and lifeguard- competitionsgoing on. later that day we went to another festival with roger in adelaide city ” garden of unearthly delights” where you could see tonns of shows, a lot of little stands and attractions- it was fun. back at his place we drinking a glass of wine we decided to visit the barossa valley the next day. thats what we did and we visited two vineries for a tasting and watched how they crushed the grapes which wasnt as great as we thought it would be would it was fun anyway. afterwards we drove to a lookout and then to the murray river where we camped for the night. we had some crackers and played ‘bullshit” (card game)with an older couple from montana until the sun went down. we had so much fun and saw a lot of stuff in only three days. great people!!
The Great Ocean Road
17 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
The day started with a little crisis but turned out to be really beautiful as we got the car finally and started the road trip to the great ocean road. Our first stop was the last big grocery store to get the last goodies then we were off to our adventure …. It was really so much fun driving haha I was the only one driving because I’m so old and ensurance is cheaper so Sandra couldn’t drive. We stopped at a lighthouse for the first time and walked around there for a bit then the next stop was a road with lots of wild koalas which was really awesome and Sandra took like hundreds of pictures then we wanted to stop at another lighthouse but it was closed already so we went to checkout our possible camping ground because we borrowed a tent and sleeping bags from our host on our way to the twelve apostles we took a back road from the camping ground and saw a wild kangaroo when we finally arrived at the twelve apostles it was almost time for sunset so we took pictures and watched a beautiful sunset. Then we decided to stay there and sleep in the car because we wanted to see the sunrise as well and the camping ground was a 40 min drive back. So we spent the night in the car which was surprisingly really comfortable but we didn’t make it to see the sunrise because it was soo cloudy that we didn’t even bother to go out of the car instead we slept until 8 am and then got woken up by a cleaning guy who told us that the rangers will be there soon and they will give us a 270$ fine for camping in the parking lot haha so we left really quick and stopped at loch ard gorge to have breakfast . There was a really nice beach and not so many people around. After that we went back to the main attraction and took some more pics to bad that it was still cloudy. So after that we actually went on our way back this time, we had more time for stops so we started with the Gipson steps which was another beach followed by koala stop again but this time the supposed to be good road to spot koalas wasn’t soo good and we quickly turned around. Our next stop was the teddy look out. From here you really have a beautiful view of the ocean and of the road . It was quite windy up there and we had to be carefull not to fall of the railing . Our last stop were the Erskine falls which was really beautiful and we took again hundreds of pictures. Our plan was it to watch the sunset on one of the beaches but again the weather picked up and it wasn’t so nice anymore we were even freasisng eating our dinner outside ! This was just soo awesome and the whole trip was soOoo much fun.
WE DROVE THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD, AUSTRALIA
Melbourne 12.2 – 18.2
17 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
So since our lift didn’t show up we had to take the overnight train from Sydney to Melbourne and arrived at 8 am at the southern cross station! From there we took a short train ride again to get picked up by our host. We arrive in this really awesome house and even have our own room here. Everything is so high tech and new here that we are soo happy that we discoverEd couchsurfing anyway first day after the shower we went to the St. Kilda festival which was awesome. There were so many people around and just shops and food stands everywhere. They also had a beach volleyball competion and a skateboard one as well. There were also some rides ans stages. The next day we slept really long and then went into the city and just walked around. They also have all these free buses and trams to bring you to all the tourisspots we also got some information about hiring a car. The next day we went to the Victorian market which was nice but nothing really special, we also wanted to meet one of our old working mates but he had no time for us. So we went to the shrine of rememberrance and to thebotanical gardens. We finally booked a car to pick up the next morning to go on our road trip
Canberra 10.February
17 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
We took a bus from Sydney to CanBerra thinking we had found a ride from Sydney to Melbourne which in the end we didn’t but who knew so we only did this little day trip to Canberra. We arrived at 10:30 am and started with the National museum of Australia which was nice but a little bit confusing and we didn’t really know which way to go and stuff. So we left to go to the parliament house of Canberra . Which was really “interesting” but nice to see anyway. Again this city reminded us a little bit of Washington d.c. The last stop we did was the war memorial. This was actually really nice but due to close so wew kind of had to run through it. They also had a firealarm and evacuated us all for a short time but that didn’t help us with the remaining time so we didn’t really saw the whole thing. Our bus was due to go back to Sydney at 6 pm and we arrived there around 10:30WTO walk the Sydney streets for the last time for now !!!
Blue Mountains 5.February
17 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
One thing we haven’t done was the blue mountains. so we took the train to go there . There is not much to tell you besides the tree sisters we saw : ) we walked a lot and had an awesome day !
