Perth at Night

MMMmmm pretty.

Scooterin Perth

There's no cooler way to tour Perth. It's Fonzi cool. Video & photos of perth, fremantle, & Rottnest Island (quokkas!!.) Also included is a journey on the Highway to Hell that leads to the gravesite of Bon Scott. Hopefully he didn't & we don't end up there.

Stargazing

This is the shot I have been trying and trying to get...I finally got it! I wanted to do this with Uluru so that stripes of stars would be surrounding the giant rock at night, unfortunately I've never held the shutter open long enough. This shot was taken using 100 ASA film (very slow speed) with the camera on a stand. The shutter was held open for between 10 and 15 minutes turning night to day but leaving behind a stunning array of stars.


The second shot was taken pointing the camera straight up at the sky (and away from the moon which would over expose it.) You can see the milky way as a foggy patch running the length of the middle.

Life on the Reef

We now ask that you travel back in time with us, not long ago, on a planet not very distant at all, in fact closer than you can imagine, Nico and Damo hit the Great Barrier Reef. Well, not hit it, but took a three hour boat tour (egads, first warning) out through inclemant seas to the Great Barrier Reef.

To be more specific, the date was July 19, 2006 and the planet was the planet Earth. And this trip was a 5 day spree in the Cairns/Port Douglas region of Australia just prior to our trip to 'The Top End.'

The boat ride over was through very rough water and several passengers were delicately grasping barf bags in the rear of the vessel (a reenactment of what this looks like is to the right.) Fortunately for us, this old crappy boat was not our final destination. Our final destination was The Reef Encounter, a live aboard pontoon boat for an overnight stay on the reef....it even had a hot tub to warm up after snorkelling or scuba diving.


The next post will be about our experiences on the live aboard vessel including snorkelling and scuba diving on the world's biggest reef. For now, sunset over the reef as we sipped on a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon...mmmm.

The Top End Is...

The Top End Is

Sunset

The Top End is

Water Falling

The Top End Is
Crocodile

Maria Island, Tasmania

March 17th and 18th, 2006

Maria Island National Park is located just off the eastern coast of Tasmania and is only accessible via 25 minute ferry ride. Cars are not allowed on the island. It has a long history with it being originally settled in the early 1800's as a penal colony (Tasmania is the home of 19th century penal colonies.) The settlement peaked sometime in the 20th century with over 600 people living on the island (well after its early penetentiary phase) and had a vineyard, a cement factory, quarry, wheat silos, etc.

All these buildings still remain in varying degrees of disrepair - some fully maintained (like the penetentiary in which we stayed the night) and some just bricks strewn across the landscape. From the base in Darlington (the old village) one can hike to goregous views in just a few minutes without running into another soul. It truly is stunning.


The painted cliffs are a short 45 minute hike from the main encampment and offer amazing views of Tasmania's coastline (not to mention the painted cliffs themselves.) The best part of Maria Island is the solitude you can experience by hiking a few kilometers from base camp.


That said...the solitude is can be interrupted by a hysterically crying thirteen year old girl in the next penetentiary dorm who didn't realize the thinly insulated walls resulted in us being able to hear every sob (over something that got wet or it was too dark or another relatively trivial matter) and every yell by an overbearing father that failed utterly in calming down a hysterical brat.

Ya, that's the penetentiary below where we thumbed our noses at the ghosts of ex-convicts and managed to survive what would have been a well-rested evening if not for the sobs of the teenaged girl and our OVERLY HEATED accomodations...apparently those old wood stoves can generate temperatures approaching that of the sun...

Cape Otway & The Shipwreck Coast

On January 17, 2006 we hit the Shipwreck Coast along the Great Ocean road. The first part of the trip we did a major hike to access a couple of shipwrecks (Nico already mentioned earlier) at Moonlight Head - the Fiji (1891) and Marie Gabrielle (1880.) All that's left of either wreck are the anchors. The sign claims it's 366 steps but we counted and they lied. It's really 380. Because of the long hike and the inaccessibility of Moonlight Head (only accessible via a long dirt road) we only saw three other people our entire time on the beach. The beach is dotted with rocks and you have to be careful navigating the rock shelves.

To combat the phenomenon of wrecks a lighthouse was erected at the northern tip of the Eye of The Needle - an 84 KM gap between King Island and Cape Otway - in 1848 (nearly 50 years after the first ship entered the straight.) How can an 84 KM gap be called the eye of the needle? Well, if you think about it in nautical terms (1000's of KMs) 84 KM is a tiny space to fit a boat through without hitting something in the dead of night and without modern technology.

I can't imagine being the lighthouse keeper in that era...utlimate isolation...beyond that which even than the basement Damo would desire. The only contact with the outside world occurred every 6 to 12 months when supplies were delivered. It wasn't until the 1930's that it was accessible overland by road. The second lighthouse keeper

Even today it seems so isolated on the tip of the second most southern point in Australia with cliffs dropping away to trecherous ocean. Rock shelves and breaking waves even a kilometer out. One could see how shipwrecks happened a lot. The views from the lighthouse and the point itself were stunning and its well worth the admission fee of $11.50 Aus.

the great ocean road

January 16th-18th

Here's the winding road along the cliffside--one of the world's most spectacular (and fun) drives.

The anchor is from a shipwreak of the Marie Gabrielle in 1880, one of two wreaks at Moonlight Head and among oodles of others along this stretch of coast. We walked down and up 380 steps to get down to the beach!





The limstone cliffs are at Loch Ard Gorge and the rock formations are the remains of the Twelve Apostles (apparently in this story the apostles are picked off one at a time instead of Jebas - only 7 or so are left.) It's still so pretty!