Bryans Big Trip

Today has been a good day. Awake with the alarm, and the first job was to totally repack my luggage (as I've had to do each time I've done a load of laundry). That done, I had a light breakfast and checked out of the resort at 09:30. The plan was to head to the cafe on the beach for a coffee and muffin, but being a Sunday there was a massive queue waiting to order so I took my cameras to a lookout that provided a great view of the beach and coast. Returning to the car park, I could see that the cafe queue situation had worsened, so I abandoned the idea of a coffee, and headed onto the road southwards. The first planned stop today was at Mammoth Cave.  There is a limestone ridge running the length of the Leeuwin Naturaliste peninsula that's riddled with caves, many of which are open to the public. Into Mammoth Cave, and there was a self guided tour with a player and headphones guiding me around the various chambers. The commentary was very interesting, telling me that this l...

For a day where I don't change accommodation, there was a hell of a lot of driving involved! Today I was backtracking about 120km (75 miles) to Bunbury for my last paid excursion of the trip, and the Dolphin Discovery Eco Cruise. The meeting time in Bunbury was 11:45, so I gave myself just over two hours to get there. But first, I wandered down to the beachside cafe near my room for a coffee and muffin (passionfruit and white chocolate today). Away from the resort at 09:30, and on traffic filled roads with loads of roadworks Google Maps was spot on with how long it should take. I pulled into the car park at just after 11:00, and met up with my fellow passengers. We loaded up off the beach at 12:00 and were off. With my recent record on eco cruises of not finding what we were looking for, after 20 minutes I started getting a case of deja vu, but then we found some dolphins. We stayed with the pod for about 45 minutes until it was time to head back into the beach. Back to the car, an...

Well, today has felt like a bit of an odd day. Not least because on Friday next week I'll get into a metal tube for the 17 hour flight from Perth to Heathrow. Where has that time gone; in some ways it feels like only yesterday that I sat on the train pulling out of Norwich station and recording the first video of my big trip.  But it's not time to reminisce yet; I still have a weeks worth of memories to make. I was awake before the alarm again, and headed down to breakfast before packing, loading the car 13 floors below and checking out at 09:30 to miss the madness of a city rush hour. Out of the CBD, and onto the freeway; at the first services area I opted to get fuel and to check in with the last paid excursion of the trip that I have tomorrow (assuming that I don't add any, which is a possibility for Thursday). Once again, I was in amongst the traffic and longing for the days (only yesterday) when I was on the road alone ..... the lyrics of the song say 'you don'...

Note to self; never assume .... it's a lesson I learned a long time ago, but still occasionally need a bit of a reminder. This morning, when I was looking for washing up liquid so that I could wash up my teacup and leave my room in a good state, I discovered a washing machine in what I'd assumed was a storage cupboard in the bathroom. It's been a little while since I did laundry, so had I spotted this yesterday I'd have done a load. Opportunity missed!  After packing, loading and tidying up after myself I checked out and left at 08:00. A stop off for the usual fuel combination (unleaded and coffee) and then away from Geraldton. My first suggested lookout was over two hours away, so back onto State Highway 1, then onto the Indian Ocean Drive to find Green Head. Off of the main road and onto a compacted sandy road, and I arrived at the lookout. I cannot say that I was very impressed in the moment by the views up and down the coast; perhaps some of the fantastic stuff I...