Postcards from Australasia #17

We've come to a major milestone on our trip of a lifetime, leaving Australia, having first arrived here on June 6th   We visited Fiji and PNG on the way but have spent the vast bulk of our time in this country, indeed continent, of extremes.   We're sad to be leaving but also excited about where we're going, New Zealand.

The wildlife will be different, no more wallabies or indeed Kangaroos:

We've been under literal clouds since leaving Shark Bay, the West Australian summer has proven cloudy and cool for us recently.   We kept getting out and about looking for new species of animal and bird, though the season makes everything quieter, understandably.  After many months of looking in suitable holes in trees though we did finally spot an elusive Australian Owlet-Nightjar:

They quickly hide when spotted so a brief glimpse but it did lurk back towards the sun as we were leaving.

One of our favourite and one of the more ubiqitous species is the Lauging Kookaburra, we'll miss their distinctive song:

From Shark Bay we headed south via the Margaret River to Albany to meet our friends Craig and Stacey.   Craig is a 4WD enthusiast and took us on a tour of West Cape Howe National Park, including dropping in at Dunksy Beach, only accessible with a serious 4WD car or boat and lovely spot it proved to be:

The following day at Little Beach in Two Peoples Bay, we found a group of small jellyfish had been washed in:

We spent a week in and around Albany, stopping to admire some of the local 'recycling':

We were due to visit the Stirling Ranges National Park but cancelled our stay there as more than half the park had burned and the majority of it was closed:

Instead we spent more time on the coast, dodging the showers.  One trail in Two Peoples' Bay didn't turn-up any of the hoped for but unlikley bird species, however the trail, unwalked in a while, was covered in spiders' webs, a proper hazard in this part of the world:

We did find a Western Spinebill, handsome bird:

We drove on from Albany, via Ravensthorpe, this their grain silo:

And on to Esperance, where we visited Cape Le Grand National Park.  This spot was Thistle Bay, and a stunning spot it was too, one of the few beaches in the park inaccessible to the 4WDs and therefore still in good condition:

This is Frenchman's Peak in the park:

From Esperance it was a long drive back to Perth, though Aussies don't seem to be daunted by really long drives like we are in the UK, given the scale of the country beyond the crowded East coast it's easy to see why.

On the way back to Perth, like proper tourists, we stopped at Wave Rock:

It's a surprisingly busy spot given the flies and given it's four hours from almost anywhere else.

We spent our last day in Australia on a wine cruise along the Swan River, winding up at the Sandleford Wine Estate for a tour and lunch. 

We've loved Australia, time now to move on....