A long journey around Australia (page 2 of 5)

We didn’t rack up the kilometers! The stifling heat quickly boiled our brains under our hats and nets. We retreated into survival mode! Help!

A day worth celebrating. We’d said that to each other, nudging ribs when we were dreaming about the trip on our terrace back... Where was it again? So far away now! Anyway, we whispered to each other, "The first kangaroo, we celebrate! Properly!" So tonight’s festive—it’ll be (again) a "seafood platter with lobsters" and Australian Merlot because you can’t just eat these little critters any old way! Yum yum! Stepping out all dressed up, we’re surprised by an incredible flock of parrots. They’re taking over everything with the racket of Huns invading the city, intent on causing chaos! Everyone take cover!







We meet Loraine there. A French woman who spotted us because she ALSO works at the hotel. She works everywhere. It’s a necessity to renew her visa beyond the usual limits. She’s been traveling around Australia for a year and wants to extend it for at least another year. She loves it. As a waitress and all-around hotel helper, she earns 150 AUD a day with room and board. Nearly 100 €. Enough to leave with a little savings... We chatted nonstop—she even forgot her customers! Anyway, she’s a gem, full of tips and tricks. We’ll see her again... And then the rest... Same old story... We’ve got WiFi. Usable depending on the time and place... Dom’s in touch with the kids. She shows me photos... Don’t lose the thread...

Sunday, October 8, 2023 Kalbarri Loraine’s a hoot. She really sells her adopted country. Last night: - - So, is it really true about the spiders here? Are they dangerous? - - Deadly! There’s actually an atrax in the hotel area, but don’t worry, it stays in its nest all day and eats whatever comes within reach... For it to be a problem, you’d have to step on it! We, in unison: - - Can we see it? - - Sure! Meet you at the bottom of your stairs at 7:30 tomorrow morning! This morning: - - Sorry, I went by earlier—it wasn’t in its nest anymore. - - So... it’s out and about somewhere around here now!? - - Gotta assume so. But don’t worry, honestly, it’s chill... If you’re interested, there’s a cool blue-tongued lizard in those bushes over there. Ever since she said that, we’ve never walked past those bushes without scanning them. We’ve inspected them hundreds of times! No luck! And also... - - Are there snakes? - - Tons! Brown ones. They’re super thin. Not deadly... Well, unless you don’t get treated within 4 hours! They’ve got the antivenom, so you’ll pull through. But it’s best to avoid them (!!), apparently it’s *extremely* painful...



What a character, Loraine. Back in her hometown of Annecy, she’s gonna be a hit with her way of presenting things! On her recommendation, we went for breakfast at the Pelican. Right across the street, Kalbarri has a Pelican feeding program. These birds, like the kangaroos, are part of the seaside town’s attractions. They take good care of them—they’re the goose that lays the golden eggs. So every morning at 8:45, it’s a big draw for kids and adults alike...





We went back to the Murchison Gorge. To the Z-Bend. Gorgeous view, once again. But we’re done playing with our lives. We’re sticking to the shortest loops. Beyond that, we just can’t! It’s *scorching* out there!

Living it up! Attack! !







11 kilometers away, Skywalks offer an even more breathtaking view (it’s stunning, but just a little more!)!



Then back home. Pool time.

At 5 PM, happy hour at the... Wait! Doesn’t matter! The 5 PM pint ritual knows no borders!

Do you know this series?

For the 300-photo limit, I’d open a second travel journal when the time comes...

That’s not possible.

So far, follow-up journals have been censored.

It’s actually mentioned in the intro blurb when you open a journal.

But you can edit the current journal and remove some photos to stay under the 300-photo limit in the end.😉

If your journal has multiple parts, make sure to post all parts in the same journal (in the same thread). Journals spread across multiple threads are no longer accepted

Monday, October 9, 2023 François Peron National Park The AC in the car got the better of me. I wake up at 2 AM with a cold. I’m feeling the jet lag way more than Dom. I barely sleep a few hours here and there, but I’m hanging in there. I feel ready for the long drive to Peron.

Early in the morning, as the daylight gently appears, a small group of kangaroos grows bolder, listening at the doors, making sure there’s nothing to scavenge on the doorstep...





Breakfast at Red Bluff, then it’s time to hit the road... The long road. The *very* long road.

Still, right at the start of the journey, we spotted a family of emus wandering around the nearby bush—one of the many areas rebounding from the flames that regularly reset the surrounding vegetation. The landscape is mostly made up of the same monotonous, charmless bushes...



C’moooon... keep driving... Outside, the heat is beating down hard... My cold means I can’t use the AC, but come on—would you just let yourself die? Without AC, it’s not an option!



Thankfully, two and a half hours were made bearable by an incredible episode of *Pieds sur terre* about a sordid story involving a famous Prix de Rome-winning architect in the ultra-bourgeois milieu of Paris’s 6th arrondissement, followed by *Le Masque et la Plume*. We arrive at Hamelin Pool, famous for its stromatolites—rock formations resulting from cyanobacteria activity... Anyway, don’t bother looking too much into it; a cyclone destroyed most of the site, which is now off-limits...

Later, the famous Shell Beach—a beach made up of millions of tiny white shells...









And last but not least, Eagle Bluff—a viewpoint overlooking a stunning bay. Turquoise waters teem with sharks, rays, and sea turtles below. We had the *brilliant* idea to bring our binoculars, without which all of that would’ve just looked like vaguely moving blobs...

After that, it was just a matter of letting ourselves glide toward the RAC Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort... On the way to this prestigious spot, we—we won’t be doing that again anytime soon—spotted a small cemetery. And of course, we stopped. We didn’t regret it! !









And suddenly...



It’s an Australian Golden Orbweaver. Ever heard of Google Lens? It’s magic for identifying a plant or animal! She’s impressive, but “they'll bite if provoked, as any spiders will, but are not harmful and their venom has barely any impact on people. There can be mild pain and swelling around a bite site, and you might experience some nausea.” All good. A little pang in the heart when arriving at the Delphin... We’re stepping into mass tourism here, the kind we try to avoid... Everything to be wary of is right there... It’s a money vacuum... Though it does come with a few perks... A gorgeous balcony with a sea view. A very classy restaurant that’s also really good... Great selection of draft beers at the bar... In Kalbarri, we were squatted by fearless kangaroos; here, it’s the emus...



And so, a sumptuous dinner by the sea—black Angus for both of us with an Australian Shiraz... And then all the rest... You know what I mean... It’s orange with an orange taste, but with a little something extra to spice it up...

For the 300-photo limit, I’d just open a travel journal #2 when the time comes...

No, you just have to avoid posting most of the photos with Dom in them, that’s all.

This is my trip. My travel journal reflects my experience. It’ll have the photos I put in it. There are tons of other way more exciting travel journals out there for those who might find mine boring. And if there are limits, well, it’ll just stop. Who cares?

Who cares? Our eyes. For kindness’s sake, it’s best to avoid blurry photos, for example. The travel journal will be all the more beautiful for it. Otherwise, no offense intended, but a travel journal and a family album aren’t the same thing. You gain something by not showing yourself all the time. That said, you do you—especially if your goal is to have the reader lose interest after two pages.

Still, rest assured that your adventures fascinate me. Especially for such a long stay, which was probably very well prepared. Plus, I loved the first page of your story. I recognized some of my own moments of anxiety and exasperation in it.

Anyway, I'm signing off. Good night everyone and happy travels! Best,

Same here. Have a good day.

There aren’t many travel journals about Australia here, and even fewer that last as long as yours. It’d be a shame to give up now.

Ignore the naysayers and let the quitters quit.

As for the 300-photo limit, I can’t imagine splitting this long trip into several parts—each covering a different region, for example—would be seen as bending the rules. After all, that’s exactly what Vaikeaiti did in 2018, writing around ten journals, each focused on a specific Australian place, region, or itinerary. And if you decide to present just one, you’d still have room for four photos a day. In that case, you could trim some of the photos you’ve already posted (you can always go back and edit a travel journal).

Come on, you’ve got to take us all the way to Exmouth! Looking forward to reading more...

I totally agree. Criticism should be seen as constructive. We kindly ask for the rest.

As for the 300-photo limit, I can’t imagine splitting this long stay into several parts based on different regions, for example, would be seen as bending the rules.

So why didn’t Michel keep his travel journal going, then? 298 photos

Thanks for your comforting words—it’s a nice change from stuff like “the photos are terrible, they’re blurry, we can’t take your girlfriend anymore, this has become the worst slideshow night of my life… etc.” I hope the masters of elegance have learned to master indifference and will manage to ignore me. It shouldn’t be that hard, even for them. I’m okay with your suggestion to cut back on the visuals with fewer photos. I need to take a step back—images seemed more telling than the story, but alright, I’ll make the effort for you.

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 François Peron National Park We’re eating the best steaks in the country, breakfast is great with real toast and marmalade jam. The staff are in uniform and so is the crowd, but it’s not really our vibe. Still, we’re having fun! We watch the whole ceremony out of the corner of our eye, amused. But two days will be plenty. More than enough! Early in the morning, we watch the dolphin feeding. Oddly enough, while the ocean is full of them, a few dolphins have gotten into the habit of hanging around the beach hoping someone will literally put fish in their mouths. Much to the delight of kids and adults alike!



It’s still a bit *Jaws*, don’t you think?



Gotta admit, we’re pretty comfy with an ocean view and all that.

Leaving the little apartment, not far from the trash cans, we came across a skink! Yeah, I didn’t know they existed either. (Oh my god, without Google Lens…)

In the middle of the afternoon, we went to drink liters of seawater (yuck) while trying out our masks and snorkels. The water’s at just the right temperature. A little woozy (exhaustion + salt), we walked along the shore on a beach piled high with millennia of shell deposits. A kid’s paradise! A really nice walk with a French guy diving desperately to find his sunglasses that fell into the water, while his partner watched with an amused look. I tried to help, but the water was super murky—this guy had set himself an impossible challenge. Pelicans, a beautiful ray (stingray?), and then, far off as the rising tide became threatening, the reserve’s waterbirds in full conference.

With Dom, as we got closer, we gave them a nice little scare!



Then the excellent IPA on tap, the black Angus steak, fresh-squeezed orange juice—life as it is these days, while the idea of paradise still feels possible…

Wednesday, October 11, 2023 François Peron National Park - Carnarvon We ditched the raisin toast at the Dolphin to grab breakfast at Shark Bay Cafe, a 20-minute drive away, run by little Asian ladies completely overwhelmed by the task. Then it’s a 3.5-hour drive through a flat landscape. Bush as far as the eye can see on laterite soil, somewhere between ochre and red. Podcast, my friend! We arrive at Discovery Parks in Carnarvon in the late morning and get politely turned away because check-in isn’t until 2 PM. Well, time for some exploring—we wander around the small town, do some shopping, and notice a larger Aboriginal presence than elsewhere. It’s a less "Swiss-like" Australia than we’ve seen so far. People are arguing—at gas stations, in the streets. Tempers flare! Meanwhile, scattered around town are signs of esotericism, a mystical vibe here and there…





On top of that, we’re hit with a sudden drop in temperature and some seriously persistent wind. That’s when I realize my beloved fleece is gone. We lose things—every time. Nothing shocking, but I’ll have to replace it. Cold moments are coming, so I’d better be prepared.



We walk around checking out the three local restaurants, but nothing really excites us—way off from our culinary fantasies. Finally, they let us into the camp. The cabin’s perfect; we’ll be comfy here.

We went for a beer then wandered through this darn town again, noticing a heavy police presence on patrol. By 6 PM, we finally settled on the Hot Rock Grill at the Carnarvon Motel—a sort of stone grill with a buffet, in a very working-class atmosphere. Dominique was in heaven, indulging her passion for applied sociology. It’s a crowd that’s nothing like the Dolphin from yesterday!

Thanks Jean Luc, I’ll go to bed a little less clueless tonight thanks to you... and the skinks 😄.