Perth to Exmouth safari!

First pics will follow!!
My second trip was about to start! The family was going on a holiday, so I had the oppertunity to do so as well. The West Coast was not on my agenda for when I am done, so this was the perfect chance to see that side as well. So Perth is was!

Saturday 18th of January
I had asked Melisa to take me to the busstation, because the family left on Friday evening. Due to some miscommunication we had to drive to Cohuna to catch the bus. In the bus I realized that it stops at Tullamarine airport, so I saved myself a ticket for the skybus and some time. Well I had a lot of time, but unfortunately terminal 4 was very small and boring! BUT there was WIFI!!! So the time went by pretty fast. Arriving in Perth, I got a cab to my hostel. It was pretty expensive, but okay for once right?! The outside of the hostel was really pretty, but the inside didn't match unfortunately. In my 12-person-dorm I met Pia, a girl from Finland and the only girl besides me in the room. We went to dinner (well I did, she already had some) and a cocktail after. It was a good first night in Perth. I was glad i had someone to spend it with.

Sunday 19th of January
I met up with Floor (an old classmate from the PABO) and Andrea (one of Floor's friends, also an au pair). We met around 9 am and went to have some coffee and I still needed breakfast. After that our first stop was the Apple store, Andrea wanted to buy an iPhone 5. After that we hit the stores, but with no luck! Around 4 I had a trip-scare, I forgot to call the company to arrange pick-up!! By accident we went past one of their locations and tbe guy there was able to arrange it for me still! After that I said goodbye to Floor and Andrea. It was a good day so I was a little sad to be on my own again. But luckily Pia was also going on a tour Monday and was available for dinner, so we went to Outback Jack and we had an awesome burger. Dessert was Ben&Jerry's ice cream!! Jammmmm! ARound 10 I had packed everything and went to bed, because it would be an early rise the next day.

Monday 20th of January:
I got up at 5.30 to do the last of the packing and check out. At 6.30 we were at the pick-up spot. Pia was traveling with the same company, just a longer tour than me, so we could go there together. We met some people there, but unfortunately for me they were going to Broome and not Exmouth. They were on Pia's tour. At the jetty St. Barracks I got into the right bus, said goodbye to Pia and off to the Pinnacles desert. There were some people I was able to talk to in the bus. It's a little weird in the beginning, but luckily you can always start with the basics: whats your name, where are you from, how long are you here for and what have you seen or will you see. ThePinnacles were beautiful, but itwas hot hot hot there (46 I think)! Weird right!? And to my surprise there was a Dutch girl on the tour. We got talking and switched seats on the bus to sit next to each other. It was funny to meet someone from your own country. The group was 20 people total, 2 from England, 2 from Denmark, 5 from Germany, 2 from Japan and 7 from Switzerland. After the desert we drove for 2,5 hours and had a nice lunch. One hour later we were at a big sand dune and went sandboarding. It was awesome!! Just a little sandy.. You wouldn't say! I went twice, but getting up the dune was a b*tch! After about another 2 hours of driving we arrived at the hostel. It was nice, just hot because there was no airco. We had chicken stir fry and pretty much fought for the showers after to get the sand off.

Tuesday 21st of January
An early start (5am) to go for a hike at Kalbarri NP. The first hike bit me in the ass! Fell down twice, thought I was making a good impression with that and it really hurt because of the rocks. But tough as I am haha i went through with it and had some awesome views. I also was able to do abseiling. That was really cool! After getting back on the top, we went for another hike. Luckily it wasnt as hard!! Oh and think we did this with starting at 32 and ending with 45 degrees. We went back to the hostel after that and met another tour group and to my surprise that was the one that Pia was in!! What are the odds? Apparently pretty big, because their tour was the same as ours, just longer and further. We had lunch and went to Shell beach after. And yes it was full of.. Right.. Shells! Really pretty! But because if the shells, the salt water and my busted knees, I decided not to go for a swim. We had a nice bbq in front of the new hostel, saw a beautiful sunset, wemt swimming at the hostel and ended up having a nice talk in the evening with a couple of my group. Right before bed we had a surpise in the room! A huge cockroach decided to make an appearence and (we embraced our inner girls) we got the guys to kill the thing. Did I mention it was huge AND FAST!? Just so you know. Had a good night sleep because we had airconditioning this time.

Wednesday 22nd of January
Not as an early morning, but still early. I got upnat 5.45 and we left at 7 to go to Monkey Mia!!! We saw a dolphin feeding there and it was just pretty there. So I sat on the terrace having a great ice coffee with Helga (dutch), Robbert and Becky (english) and later also Davina (german) and the two Danish boys Hjalte and Matthis. At 10 we were on the road again. Our first stop were stromatolites, which are living rocks. Yes living! You can google it for the specifics, but our tour guide Shaz didn't lie! After lunch at 1 we had a longggg drive ahead of us, but because of the switching of the seats I sat in the back with Davina and the three guys. It was good fun and Dabina and I even sang (okay attempted to) to some golden oldies. We got to the hostel in Coral Bay around 7.30pm and had some burgers. There were more activities to do at this hostel, one of which was pool. And even though I suck, I won!

Thursday 23rd of January
Because this was a day to yourself filled with activities that you chose, I didnt have to get up early. I went on a turtle eco tour at 12.30 with Davina and Helga among others. It was a glass bottom boat and we went snorkling twice (saw turtles both times) and went to the turtke sanctuary and saw 15 more. At 3.30 we got back and at 4 we were on the road again. We got to the last accomodation (we were staying here for 2 nights wooeehooee) around 6ish. After dropping our bags in the rooms, we made dinner. In the evening there is a noise curfew. At 10 it needs to be quiet, so they moved to party to the front of our dorms. When I got back from the shower and was planning on going to bed, I heard and saw them. If you cant fight it, join it right? So I joined them and had such a laugh! I ended up going to bed at 1.

Friday 24th of January
The last day already!! Gosh it went by sooo fast! We had another relaxing day planned and it started good with PANCAKES!! We were going to Turqoise Bay, which was our guide's favorite beach, and with good reason. It was gorgeous! Almost like it only is seen on a postcard. We were swimming, walking along the beach and taking pics. It was really good! We stayed there for almost 3 hours. We didnt stay longer because there was no shade at all and at that point we were all cooking! After that most of us went into the enormous town of Exmouth. I had a good ice coffee with Becky and Helga and we stocked up for the night. After a nice shower and some good food, the last night was starting. We (I say we a lot, because we did become a little family) played some games and had a few drinks. At 10 quiet hour starts at the caravan park, so we decided to go into town. After a little walk we got to the bar. Unfortunately that closed at 12, so not a long time there. Before heading back we ended up at a house party, but got asked to leave after like 5 minutes haha. Sooo back to the caravan park it is! By the time we went to bed it was around 3 and the bus would leave at 6 in the morning. It was a good last night for me!

Saturday 25th of January
Doomsday had come haha. I wanted to say goodbye to everyone before they left so I got up at 5 to do that and profit from a free breakfast. There were 5 people that weren't going back to Perth by bus. One had already left friday and rest left later today. When it was time to say goodbye, I found it much harder than I would have thought and yes there were some tears. I had such a great time with these people and even though I only knew them for 5 days, I was really gonna miss them. Also Shaz, our tour leader, was awesome and she helped make the trip as awesome as it turned out. Bright side: they live a lot closer than the friends I made in the States. So a reunion could happen, either in Australia or in Europe. Well after they left I was really sad. You spend so much time together and now I was on my own again and I didn't like it one bit!! I couldn't sleep anymore, check-out was at 10 and my pick-up would come at 12.30 (it was 6.30 then). So I ended up talking to friends and family on whatsapp and calling with my mom. Luckily there was one other girl that I had some laughs with, who was still there and she waited with me until 12.00. After I was really on my own. I arrived in Perth around 5 and my flight to Melbourne wasn't until 12, so I had about 7 hours to kill. There were some shops luckily, WIFI and because of Facebook I was able to talk to some of my tour friends. I love Facebook in moments like that!

Sunday 27th of January I arrived in Melbourne at 6 am, but for me it was 3 am (love those time differences). So I was EXHAUSTED! The bus to Barham wouldnt leave until 6 pm, so toooo many hours to kill. I took my time at the aiport and made my way to Southern Cross. I stored my backpack in one of the lockers there and walked into the city. I had breakfast at pie face and went to the library for some WIFI. I actually fell asleep in there, so I thought it was time for some coffee! I went to Starbucks for lunch and walked around a little bit. It was australia day, so there were some activities (dont really know what.. Saw some people dressed up) and a lot of stores were closed. So being in Melbourne alone and sleepy on Australia Day didnt turn out to be the best combination. In thebus I slept a little and at 10.45 I was back at the cabin. I still had Monday off due to a holiday here and Tuesday I started working again.