Fun things to do in State of Western Australia

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By law Gary has to demonstrate how to put a life jacket on and inflate it. As he stood on a chair and alternatively flapped his wings and held his nose, I doubt anyone, except Gary, would have survived if we sank. We would still be laughing at his demonstration.
He then explained how the whole world was linked to Walpole. He enunciated on subjects as varied as how the Egyptians discovered the world was round, to Russian nobility, to the America’s Cup, to how his grandfather was shot nearby and how the sailors from the wreck of the Mandalay survived.
It was a 941 ton Norwegian barque that was hit by a not uncommon strong southwest wind in 1911. Fearing for his ship the captain ordered it to be run aground on the beach.
Next day several men were sent to find assistance and, two days later, they returned exhausted and battered by their confrontation with the unfamiliar Australian bush.
They had meat though and, amazingly, it was from a bull that had been wearing a bell. On the third day the residents of Tinglewood found them, no doubt searching for said bull!
The Mandalay never left and some remains today lay covered by the sand.
All that, of course, was before and after he explained how Chekhov, Rudyard Kipling (named after Rudyard Lake where his parents honeymooned) and several other writers of note all had links to Walpole.
Famous names were bandied around like cards at a poker game and our bald headed, barefooted host at times put stuffed woollen animals on his head and under his arms to illustrate certain points.
He showed many pictures, including one of a 10kg feral cat they’d caught nearby and then produced the impressive shark photos and claimed they’d got them 20ft long in the inlet in the old days.
Of course, that was before he got onto the snakes and said their total is up to 40 bites in the area in the last 6 ½ years and then told us about the boy who’d interrupted a pair of mating tiger snakes and was bitten by both of them, one on either leg.

WOW, WHAT A CIRCUS
I was in the middle of the Nullarbor crossing and the man was clearly in shock, his agitated expression revealed a deep emotion. His voice was non stop as he explained what had happened.
“You have to go on this cruise, it was amazing”, he said.
“What did you see?” I queried.
“See? I don’t remember”, he replied, “it’s that man, he’s incredible. The stories he tells are so fantastic. He knows all the history.”
All the history of a village the size of Walpole isn’t something I normally speed off to hear. Located in the famous southern forests of W.A., Walpole isn’t exactly the sort of place you’d expect a great deal of; but it was the man’s emotion that sold me as he was obviously not someone who normally got excited.
So it was that three days later I booked in for the WOW cruise, Walpole’s piece de resistance on the tourist trail.
I was told to be there early, like everyone else was. The man however turned up ten minutes late, charging down in his 4WD carrying all the provisions for the cruise because, for our $40, we were to get a cup of tea and cake included.
We boarded the fully enclosed flat bottomed boat, started out, and our host, Gary Muir, began. For the next 2 ½ hours he never stopped. I knew know what Nullarbor man had been talking about.

Fremantle Prison was built in the 1850s. It was still being used as a prison as recently as 1991. It was opened as a tourist attraction in 1992. Tours are run daily taking in the grounds and the cells and explaining the history of the place.

By far the most interesting tour, I think, is the tunnels tour. As the name suggests this tour takes place in a series of tunnels dug out under the prison and its grounds. The tunnels were constructed in the early days of the prison to access a natural undergroud reservoir as the colony of Fremantle expanded and began to run out of water.

Before heading underground you put on hardhats, overalls and boots as well as harnesses for safety. It's not necessary to wear closed-in shoes as you have to wear the boots provided but try to remember to take your own socks. It's much better than wearing the paper booties they give you if you don't have any socks with you. The first part of the tour involves a descent down a series of steel ladders to a depth of around 20m. It's not difficult and the safety gear provided means that you can't actually fall. Just take it slow and easy and everything is fine.

Some portions of the tunnels are low so be prepared to bend. My favourite part of the tour was getting in little canoes and paddling through a portion of the tunnels. This is a fantastic tour and shows the prison from a very different perspective

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You'll get a great view of the city from the top of this park... beautifully manicured flower beds... Great place to just take a stroll and chill out... There are daily guided walks available at 10am and 2pm... Check out the website below for more information...

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Planet Perth Tours - 4 Days Perth to & from Monkey Mias http://www.planettours.com.au/index.htm

Day 1 - Leave Perth and head north to Nambung National Park. Explore the Pinnacles Desert, where you will see some of these unique limestone formations, some towering up to four metres tall. On to beautiful Hangover Bay where you can go for a swim in the ocean. Head up the coast to Kalbarri. See the coastal gorges with amazing views over the coastline and ocean to the town. Overnight in Kalbarri.

Day 2 - Explore Kalbarri National Park and the Murchison Gorge. Visit Nature's Window and get stunning views over the park. At the "Z Bend" Gorge there is an exciting walk down to the bottom where you can cool off with a swim in the Murchison River. Head further north to the Shark Bay Region. Stop at Shell Beach, 110km long and consisting of solid shells up to ten metres deep. On to Monkey Mia where you spend the night at the Resort.

Day 3 - Head down to the beach to see the dolphins. Go sailing on a catamaran and look out for more dolphins, dugongs, turtles and sting rays. Leaving Monkey Mia, stop at Eagle Bluff where you get spectacular ocean views from the top of the cliffs. On to Hamelin Pool, a marine reserve containing the ancient Stromatolites. Drive further south for an overnight stay on a farm in Northampton.

Day 4 - Today it’s sandboarding over large natural sand dunes, so hang on! After this adventure it’s time to cool off in the ocean with a quick dip at a deserted beach. After lunch we head for the Swan Valley where we stop and enjoy some wine tasting at an exclusive winery and check out the Chocolate Company. We are back in Perth at approximately 6.00pm.

I like this tour very much. Nice Guide. Nice tourmates~

A problem:
sometimes we need to stay in a 8-person room youth hostel. But there were 7 guys but 9 girls in the group~ So one girl would be unlucky to stay in the 7-guys room that night~~~

Whether you go for a day trip or to stay for a night or week, Rottnest is one place you really should see whilst you are in Western Australia. This place is etched deep into the psyche of West Australians - the small island on our horizon, beyond its western beaches nothing but endless miles of ocean stretching all the way to South America. For so many of us this is where we learnt to ride a bike, got drunk for the first time, first holidayed away from our parents - so many rites of passage.
For the day tripper there is the Settlement with its colonial-era pub and cottages, museum and little chapel to explore before you either hire a bike or take the round-the-island bus to head further afield to one of the numerous pristine beaches, meet a quokka, take a trip on a glass-bottomed boat over the reef with its tropical fish and wreck, visit the historic guns and wartime tunnels up on Oliver's Hill or whatever else takes your fancy.
It's a nice day out but to really get a feel for the island you need to stay overnight at least. Then you can enjoy the quiet peace of the place after the day-trippers have left, take a sunset tour out to West End and drink champagne as you watch the sun go down, sit out under the stars at the Quokka Arms with a cold beer, find a lookout spot to watch the lights coming on like a string of diamonds over on the mainland and get up in the early morning for a walk under the huge spreading branches of the old Moreton Bay figs down to the Bakery for fresh bread and croissants. Now you begin to see why the people of WA love this place and return year after year, bringing their children and grandchildren with them.

Accommodation is always very heavily booked during the summer and school holidays. You really need to plan ahead if you are intending to stay on the island. Check the website for the options on offer.

The back road from Collie to Donnybrook (where the first Granny Smith apple was grown), via the little hamlet of Mumbellup, takes you through one of the prettiest valleys in Western Australia's south-west region. This is fruit growing country and the road is lined with orchards. Go in the Spring when the blossom and the wildflowers are out, come back in the early summer for cherries, apricots, nectarines and peaches bought straight from the grower. Autumn brings plums, apples and pears.

The Old Goldmine at Donnybrook has a good cafe and bottles their own excellent apple juices. Like good wine these are identified by the variey of apple used, Pink Lady, Fuji, Royal Gala, etc, and each has its own distinctive and delicious flavour. Their apple and ginger juice is also excellent. There really was an old goldmine here, the workings are open to visitors and there are lovely gardens as well.

leyle

Walkthru' the places I visited on a virtual photo album containing hundreds of pictures taken at Perth, Fremantle, Bunbury, Donnybrook, Busselton, Margaret River, Pemberton, Walpole, Denmark and Albany.

Copy and paste the following URL onto your web browser and you're good to go!

http://www.FlipViewer.com/fven/?opf=http://members2.myflipbooks.com/anitayongml/WA.opf&fvl=1

Enjoy!