A West Coast Story..........................

5 days after we planned to leave Darwin we finally escaped! Pretty disappointed we lost almost a week of our trip due to Travellers Auto Barn being disorganised but at least we where finally free to roam Aussie in our camper! (Which has been given the name Bob Hoskins as its small and chubby)

Me and Bob Hoskins on the road

First stop was to the Adelaide River to check out the jumping crocs.There was about 20 of us on a little boat that treks down the river to find the  crocs. They where pretty awesome, huge and just sneaked up behind you. Very sly. The guy who took us on the trip then dangles massive pork chops over the side off a stick and they jump up out of the water for a feed. We where told to keep our arms in the boat as they wouldn't think twice about jumping up and taking a swift bite of you. Scary shit. 

Sneaky Croc

Kept my arms well inside the boat!

Wal lost his head!

After the crocs we drove to Litchfield National Park and camped at Florence Falls. Really amazing waterfalls and rock pools that you can take a swim in. Perfect opportunity to test out the new "waterproof" camera. So one dip in the pool and we discovered it wasn't waterproof! Only had it 1 day and being in the middle of nowhere not a thing we could do about it. Driving back to Darwin wasn't an option and the next place we could take it back was over 2000km away in Broome. Bloody Aussie and it's space of nothingness! Luckily we still had the old camera but just meant we couldn't take any cool underwater shots.
We camped at Litchfield for 2 nights then had to move on to make up for the lost time. It was probably good though as Wal was about to burst a blood vessel from the constant fight and teeth gritting with flies and mozzies.

Florence Falls

Wal in Buley Rock pool

Wal being at one with nature...........

Next stop was Katherine, we had planned to stay there for a night but pretty much stayed an hour and left. Weird weird place. Very small and to be honest, it smelt really bad. Huge aboriginal community lived there and not one to judge how people live and raise their kids but sat on the grass verge in the middle of two roads doesn't seem like the best place to let your kids have the run around whilst you get pissed. Anyway........

So on the road again, we had a little celebration when we hit the signs for Western Australia. Freedom form the NT!!! You get stopped as you pass the border where your asked 'Got any fruit?' Never mind that we could have been harboring criminals in the back or carrying nuclear weapons.......they just want to know about the fruit. Very funny. After they made me throw away my lettuce we where finally in WA!

No Banana's here clobber!

2 days driving later (Aussie is MASSIVE in case you didn't know) we arrived at Kununurra. Nice little town with not a lot happening but it was a good place to stop to get supplies so we could spend the night at Lake Argyle. The campsite was awesome with an infinity pool that overlooked the lake and the surrounding hills and mountains. Very scenic place to get away from it all. 

One of the many, many, MANY times I've filled the van up so far!

What a crap view............

Our next destination was Broome but again, it was going to take us about 2 days to drive there. So foot to the floor again, unfortunately this stint of the journey was corrupted by the fact we broke down not too far from a bush fire! The engine had totally overheated, and we had no signal on the phone to call for help. (Not that it mattered as we later found out that our breakdown policy didn't cover us for 'remote' areas and unless we payed a few hundred dolla$ they wouldn't come rescue us........one of the MANY things Travellers Auto Barn failed to tell us when we bought the van from them)
Luckily I managed to flag down some help and they guy who stopped was mechanically minded and after checking out the radiator told us our radiator cap was knackered which is why it over heated. We managed to get to the nearest campsite for the night and amazingly, even though we where in the middle of nowhere, the local garage (and only garage within about 1000km) had a cap that fit. Mega Boon......

We arrived in Broome about a week after we had left Darwin which is pretty good going. Again, Aussie is HUGE and it takes FOREVER to get anywhere.  For anyone that ever comes here be very cautious when an Aussie uses the term 'It's just down the road'....it never is.......NEVER!

Broome is a very pretty sleepy town with an amazing beach called Cable Beach. 22km long, white sand and the sea is so blue and warm. Lovely. It was a bit too salty to snorkel in but great just to swim and have a bit of fun.
We stayed on a great campsite with an awesome pool which give us the chance to test out the replacement waterproof camera......it's waterproof! Yey!

Erm.....am I allowed to have fun on the beach or is that against the rules too officer???

Looking Good on Cable Beach!

Looking even better in the pool!!

One of the main tourist attractions at Broome is the Camel rides on Cabel Beach. We went on the sunset ride which made it even better as the view was fantastic.
We also went to Broome's famous outdoor cinema, the film wasn't much to shout about (Real Steel) but the experience of being in the worlds oldest garden cinema was pretty awesome.

The Broome Sunset. We are 7th camel from the front!

High on a camel!

All lonely in the cinema!

So after experiencing all Broome had to offer (including some very good mango beer!) we got back in the passion wagon and on the road to Exmouth. It was quite a trek to get there but what an amazing place to see. Sandy Beach was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. White sand with the clearest sea water I have ever seen. As me and Wal had got our arses out of bed early we where the only ones there too so felt like our own private little paradise!

Sandy Beach. Amazing.

We stayed in the National Park on a campsite that was behind some sand dunes that overlooked the beach.....beautiful and only $7 each a night! Bonus!
 

Snorkeling was amazing on Turquoise Bay and Oyster stacks as it's part of the Ningaloo Reef with so many different fishes and sea creatures. Loved it.

You can find a Wally on the Ningaloo Reef!

Next was a short trip further down the coast to Coral Bay. Small beach resort and again as its part of the Ningaloo Reef so the snorkeling was amazing. We hired some Quad Bikes and went speeding along the beach and up and down big sand dunes to get to a good snorkeling spot. Great day. 

Wally definitely did not enjoy this day.

Huge sand Dune we sped down.

Back on the road again for a 7 hour drive to Monkey Mia. Again it's a lovely small beach resort where every morning at 7.45am (pretty much on the dot!) a group of wild dolphins swim up to shore for breakfast! About 6 turned up the morning we where there along with a baby dolphin. We weren't lucky enough to be picked to feed them but didn't mind as later in the day when we hired a kayak for the afternoon the mother and baby dolphin found us and swam all around and under us so we got good and close to them!

Kayaking was a good laugh (although very tiring!) so some well earned beers and cocktails were on the menu for later on.

Very happy for breakfast!

Nice tan leg lines!

I'm not sure the fish will appreciate yellow water Wal!

Last stop before Perth was at Kalbarri where we went to the parrot breeding centre and met some very cheeky Brazilian birds who liked to play. There is a huge national Park here but we needed to get to to Perth so unfortunately we didn't have time to explore it.

So finally after over 5000km of driving we are in Perth.......................(to be continued!)