Western 'Straya

'Straya?  What's 'Straya?

Oh, sorry, let me translate that for you: AUSTRALIA.  Said the way the lovely folks down under say it.  Like talking with your mouth full, except it's not.  You can thank them for this spelling, not me.

The accent is one of the many things one can come to love about the country.  The people are incredibly friendly, laid-back, and fun.  The scenery is varied and sometimes unexpectedly beautiful.  There's a sense of freedom and true exploration to be found in the numerous national parks.  Something we came to know and love during our month-long adventure from Darwin to Perth that I mentioned in my last post.

My photos are finally edited and ready to help me show you what that trip was like (spoiler alert: it was amazing!).  Be forewarned: there are 212 photos and they're all in this one post.  So enjoy looking through them when you have some time!

Camp our first night.

Boab tree.

Hiking in our first national park, Keep River NP.

Bungles, cool rock formations common in this area of Australia.  The layers in the rock are formed by different types of sandstone: the red has lots of iron and manganese, and the grey is colored by a dark algae because the rock holds more moisture.

Cory and Oliver.

Oliver, Cory, and me on the trail.

Oliver, Cory, and Vanessa.

The first of many stunning WA sunsets.

Purnululu/Bungle Bungle National Park.

The bungles the park is named for.

Cathedral Gorge, in Purnululu/Bungle Bungle NP.

Echidna Chasm, in Purnululu/Bungle Bungle NP.

Cory, Oliver, Vanessa.

Big and icky centipede.  Later on in the trip I got bit three times by one like this in my sleep.  Luckily they aren't poisonous, but it still really hurt.

The entrance to Echidna Chasm, from a distance.

I can't believe signs like this are still necessary in Australia for the Aboriginal population.  Several Aussies we talked to were rather embarrassed by their country's treatment of their indigenous.  Hmm...

One of many scary-looking but benign huntsman spiders we encountered.

Cool rock pool near Wyndham.

Skipping rocks.

Emma Gorge in El Questro Wilderness Park, the first stop on the Gibb River Road.

Oliver!

Zebedee Springs in El Questro Wilderness Park.  A fire had just finished burning the area.

Luckily, this was the only snake I actually saw.  It was pretty cool watching him climb the tree with ease.

Driving on the Gibb River Road.

Cory and Oliver in Barnett Gorge.

Manning Gorge.  We jumped from the black ledges across the water.  Wee!

Galvans Gorge.

See, I really was there!  The swimming was so refreshing after many hot dusty days.

Bell Gorge.

One of 30-odd freshwater (i.e. not agressive) crocs in Windjana Gorge.

Big stinky noisy flying fox (bat) colony.

Windjana Gorge used to be a coral reef.

Entering the cave of Tunnel Creek National Park.

Bat colony.

Oliver just had to explore the bat colony...

And then so did I.

The way we climbed up and out of the cave.

How many hermit crabs do you see?  There are 7.

Quandong Beach north of Broome.

Trying mango beer at Matso's Brewery in Broome.  It was good, but the ginger beer was better.

Gantheaume Point, Broome.

Wacky team photo: Cory, Oliver, Vanessa, me.

Cool layered rocks typical of WA.

With the other crucial member of our team, Jackie II!

Eighty Mile Beach.

The most sand dollars I've ever seen on a beach.  No, not just the two in the middle.  Keep looking!

Kendall destroy castle.  (Also, look at my goofy tan lines.)

Oliver with his creation.

Cory the Creator.

Boooo Vanessa's castle!

Good day to be a bird.  Bad day to be a crab.

The expanse of Millstream-Chichester National Park.

Vanessa, Cory, Oliver.

Deep Reach Pool, Millstream-Chichester National Park.  Swimming at places like these was our saving grace in the dusty desert heat.

Hamersley Gorge, Karijini National Park.  One of my favorite ones.

Amazing rock formation.

Hamersley Gorge from above.

Weano Gorge in Karijini NP.  This was my favorite adventure, but since we had to swim into the depths of the gorge, I don't have photos of the whole thing.  And I think that makes it more special.

Handrail Pool in Weano Gorge.

This where we had to swim further in, all the way to the waterfall at the end of the gorge, where it intersects the main gorge system of the park.  As we continued, the rock layers got more pronounced and the walls got higher and narrower.  What an adventure.

Weano Gorge from above.  So explored all of what you can see, down inside the gorge of course.

Hancock Gorge in Karijini NP.  Again, had to leave the camera behind to swim into the best parts.

And then...getting towed from Karijini to Tom Price because Jackie II was old and temperamental and broken.  Cost us two days and lots more money.

Aaand back in Karijini!

Oliver and Cory in Dales Gorge, Karijini NP.

Circular Pool, at the end of Dales Gorge in Karijini NP.

My little lizard friend patient enough to wait for me to get a good photo of him.  Thanks, mate.

Climbing out of Dales Gorge.

Circular Pool from above.

Kalamina Gorge in Karijini NP.

Me hiking down into Knox Gorge, Karijini NP.  Yes, it was hot.

Joffre Gorge in Karijini NP.

Another swimming expedition took us further and further and further down this gorge.  We were surprised at how far it went, and we didn't even reach the end!

A change of pace: Turquoise Bay, Cape Range National Park.

The beach at Coral Bay.

Hamelin Pool's stromatolites - living active bacterial colonies that are examples of life's first step from ocean to land.

Shell Beach.

Doesn't it remind you of pasta?!  Suddenly, I'm hungry...

A stranded-but-barely-still-alive jellyfish.

Oliver and Cory.

Visited by emus on the road to Monkey Mia.

Curious but also scared...and that goes for both of them!

I'm an emu.

Monkey Mia.

Cape Peron National Park.

Will you take the picture already?  Oh.

Skipjack Point, Cape Peron NP.

The sand says it was a busy morning.

The Loop, Kalbarri National Park.

Love those layers.

I said to myself, "What a cool rock."

Nature's Window.

Peek-a-boo is still fun.

Hiking into the Z Bend in Kalbarri NP.

Unfortunately my camera decided to stop focusing completely (because the lens got bent apparently), but the scenery is still amazing.

Would've been more convincing if Oliver and Vanessa weren't smiling...

Can't tell you how many hours we spent like this.

The Pinnacles Desert.

Cockatoos.

Lovina Beach.

Jackie II, Cory, Vanessa, and Oliver in Perth, one month and 8000+ km/5000 miles later, and somehow still in one piece.

All photography copyright Kendall DeLyser.