THE LAND OF OZ

After a brief, but very luxurious stop in Singapore we finally arrived in at our entry point to Australia: Perth.

When we set out on this adventure we only had the first 7 months planned and Australia seemed a long way away in mind and in miles. So much to see and do before our arrival on this antipodean continent! Our plans only stretched as far as booking our arrival to and departure from Australia. We had lots of time to think about how and where we were going to travel and eventually we decided to buy a Land Cruiser, pack it up an head out onto the open road.

We first stayed in Scarborough, enjoying the casual and laid back atmosphere of one of Perth's seaside suburbs. The towns are so geared up for outdoor living with brilliant parks, public BBQ areas, playgrounds, walking and cycle paths all with the white sands and turquoise blue water of the Indian Ocean as a backdrop.

We then spent Easter week with our friends Jed and Nicole Teague and their 2 sons, Ben and Jack, at their beach house in Myalup, a couple of hours south of Perth. Rory, Alice William and James really enjoyed having some lads to hang out with. Ben taught Rory, Alice and William how to body board in the surf, too cool!

Margaret River was not to be missed. This wine growing region of Australia only produces a small percentage of the country's wine but the quality is superb. A couple of days had to be spent touring and tasting and we crossed the threshold if several cellar doors: Vasse Felix, Cullen, Wise and Clairault. The children put up with us only because we promised a trip to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory!

The following week we headed 900 km north to a resort called Monkey Mia in the Shark Bay. No monkeys but plenty of wild dolphins swimming in the warm shallows of the bay. A mother and her calf came right up to William as he snorkeled 3 feet from the shore!

On our return journey to Perth we stopped in briefly at Shell Beach. It does just as it says on the box: a beach stretching for miles made up of tiny cockleshells 10 metres deep in some spots. The tiny mollusc's thrive in the hyper salinity of the waters of Shark Bay.

Another really interesting feature of the area are the worlds best known colony of Stromatolites. They mostly look like metre high mushroom shaped rocks but are covered in living organisms almost identical to those living 1900 million years ago. It is thought that the earth was covered in these at one time and they are responsible for increasing the oxygen level in the atmosphere to sufficient to sustain life. Pretty impressive for something that just looks like rocks! They are extremely fragile and a boardwalk has been constructed to walk over them and are best seen at low tide.

Back to Perth and time to get ready to load up the truck and head...EAST!