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North of Perth

Written by Nadine Zangerle on . Posted in Australia

After days searching for the right car to get us around Australia, we found a nice campervan. A white Ford Econovan built in 1999. A German couple really did a good job in optimizing the inside of the car. So we just need a proper name for it. Any idea?

Since the campervan still has to go through a quick check and changing registration to Western Australia, Cynthia, Micha and me decided to travel a bit to the north of Perth with Anke and Pete’s Mazda – the Ambassador. So we packed camping stuff and bought some food and off we went.

Pinnacle Desert was the destination we were heading. Easy to travel on the new Indian Ocean Drive, after 3 hours we first stopped at the campground in Cervantes to set up our tents. Then we went to the Nambung National Park to see the formation of natural limestones known as the Pinnacles.

Practicing with our new camera, Micha took plenty of pictures. Unfortunately it was too cloudy so we decided to come back the next morning – at 5am. We just learned from Pete that some clouds are perfect for the picture because it defuses the light but too many. Well you also need some light otherwise the pictures get quite dark. So in the morning we had been the only one in the park except for the kangaroos and the emu, which showed up.

The next day we hit the road again and travelled south. On the way back to Perth we stopped at a beach to enjoy the ocean. We were in the mood of more kangaroos and koalas, so we went to the Yanchep National Park. Just after 4pm is the perfect time to see plenty of kangaroos. It was crazy how close we could get.

The koalas quite sleepy in the trees were a bit hard to find but one active fellow just munched away and didn’t bother about the pictures everyone was shooting. And so many different parrots chased around in the park, we didn’t want to leave. Just brilliant.

On Sunday we went to Fremantle with Pete and Cynthia. We strolled around the busy streets, bought Micha a Crocodile-Dundee-Hat and were looking for good places to take pictures. So we went to the Maritime Museum at the Fremantle harbour. Unfortunately Anke was busy studying at home since she has an exam coming up.

Since we haven’t seen much from Perth yet, this will be the next on the list – after picking up our campervan on Monday evening. Than the tour can start…

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Busselton

Written by Michael Zangerle on . Posted in Australia

After our early morning pick up by Anke at the airport, we took her to buy food for our organized weekend.

On Thursday we drove three hours south from Perth to Busselton in a sweet pretty cottage. There we made ourselves cozy and checked out the jetty, the longest of the southern hemisphere - 1.8km.

http://www.busseltonjetty.com.au/

On Friday morning we made our dive equipment ready and had a dive at the Busselton Jetty. 20 degrees water temperature was quite a difference colder, but we got Pete and Anke gloves, head covers and good wetsuits. But after an hour we were damn freezing of course.

Nevertheless, we got to see a lot. Sure, you can not compare it with the tropics. The visibility is less, corals are only a few there, but an exciting underwater world presented itself to us. It was great.

The dive made so much fun that we booked 2 dives on the destroyer HMAS Swan shipwreck for Sunday. It was sunk in 1997 for the diving world - is on 31m deapth - toilets, sinks, laundry and kitchen still in it.

On Saturday we drove down south to Margaret River. There is currently a Surf World Cup taking place, but we drove down there more because of the wineries. Free wine tasting was announced and it was really delicious.

We learned a few tricks off-road as Anke and Pete have took us off-road in their four-wheel drive. The route we took was quite demanding and not possible to drive with a normal car. We came to small, remote beaches and watched a few lonely surfers. And Nadine saw her first kangaroos, jippie.

We were almost back on the normal road, but came across a car - with four-wheel drive though- and hopelessly stuck. Since this was not a Jeep, he sat in on the soft sand with the entire body. So we helped him out first, and recommended him to turn, as the route gets harder and it was already dark.

Anke had spontaneously booked the next surprise the day before. We were on for a one and a half hours tour through the bush - on the backs of horses. Pete and Micha fought very bravely as novices and it was hilarious when they trot back and see them swinging.

After that, we were extremely dusty, because Australia is extremely dry and sandy. After the first day we had the first sunburn. So be careful, always nice lotion and stay in the shade.

On Sunday we went out by boat for 45 minutes. And there we dove twice the Swan, after we heard the beautiful story of the white shark. The day before there was a sighting...

The first dive the four of us were first in and last out off the water. Well, if you can just dive together with four dive instructors knowingly that the others are just as relaxed and little air consuming as yourself.

We dived the stern and found interesting things, swam through the entire second deck, and came out again on a watchtower. After 46 minutes then it was quite cold and we ended the dive.

When we came up, one other diver took even emergency oxygen. What happened exactly, we do not know. This couple did follow us and they were quite hectic underwater. Later they probably split the air and it must have happened that he inhaled some water. But he is alive…

The second dive was OK but not spectacular. Since the wreck was open for fishing there were not that many fish schools around. But puffer-fish in a school of a hundred was new to us.

On the way back to Perth we visited Cynthia for an hour. She is picking grapes at a winery and makes good money. Just funny to see her again. She will come to us next weekend and we will go together to the Pinnacles in the north.

As Anke needs to study a lot for university and Pete has a deadline for a huge project  coming closer, we did go ourselves. We are in search of a campervan and plan the weekend with Cynthia.

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Kuala Lumpur 2012

Written by Michael Zangerle on . Posted in Malaysia

After the longest non-stop flight we've ever had, 12 hours and 40 minutes, we were totally exhausted when we arrived in Kuala Lumpur. Here we were with the beautiful sultry air of Malaysia welcomed the morning at 6 clock. Starting at KL Sentral, breakfast at McDonalds and at 8 clock in our hotel, the Classic Inn.

This feels like one is always a bit of home. It is simply beautiful and the people still know one. So we strolled into the familiar streets and durchstoeberten as always, the Low Yat - Malaysia's Largest Electronics temple on 8 floors.

And as always we were looking for, because we had already created a small list. Nadine's expected macro lens was much cheaper than expected. Yeah, we know what you're thinking - is just fake. No, is not. Are you registered with Nikon and 2-year warranty.

The first night we met up with Julian, Manager Reef Check Malaysia, the Irish Pub. We had St. Patrick's Day we did, but the Malaysians celebrate this so thoroughly, we would have not suspected. Even Julien, who has lived 17 years in KL, was puzzled. And so the Malays had simply blocked a complete street, a Stage erected, constructed a comedy tent (which ran every hour performance) and erected on the streets of cocktail tables. Hundreds of people walked around with Guinness hats, and also because Micah wanted, he also got the same one: O)

We are not eliminated by Anke and Pete to Perth, we have indulged ourselves like a massage. Nadine was very nice to fight with the jet lag.

 

Accommodation: Classic Inn
Price: US$ 25
Comment: small double room with bathroom. Breakfast included.