Roadkill

This is a dead critcher. We stopped to take a picture of it, so we thought we might pass it on to you all. Also it was the first picture we took on an empty memory card, so any time we tab over looking through ones we have taken recently and we go to far this guy pops up as we come around to the first pictures again.

Simply Splendid

This is a Splendid Fairy Wren. Seriously, that's its name. Australian ornithologists are great.

I will make a much bigger post that features this lovely fellow in the future! It involves pancakes, syrup, and birds :)

Two Oceans

This is just a beautiful picture of some flowers right down in the south-westiest part of the southwest. This is right near the lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin. This is the Indian Ocean, but turn around and go a hundred meters across the small cape and you are looking out at the Southern Ocean. Absolutely gorgeous place.

Red Bluff

The gorgeous coast just south of Kalbarri. This is from near the top of Red Bluff which you can see to the left of the photo. Kalbarri lies not at the first point on the right but where you can see the surf breaking behind it. That is the mouth of the Murchison river. To get there from Galena Bridge the water has traveled about 70kms to the coast and has passed through the very spectacular gorges of Kalbarri National Park.

The Southwest of Australia

The funny thing about where we are is that it doesn't have an official sort of name. It's the Southwest, the Margaret River area, the Naturaliste Peninsula, the wine region of Western Australia... but it's so distinct and wonderful. It is so vastly different from the Australia that I've come to know. It's lush, green, wet, highly vegetated and, above all, mild. That being said, it is spring/early summer so it's going to be a bit cooler now than later but it's lovely. There are rolling wheat hills, vineyards, orchards, karri forests, farmlands, adorable rural centers with lush artisan coffee shops, festivals and farmers markets, wine tours and chocolate tastings, olive oil in every possible form!

This is an 'anywhere' land in that it could be anywhere in the world. We could be in the countryside of the UK, the verdant sheep hills of Ireland, the national parks of New Zealand, the pine forests of Northern Alberta (albeit non-native here), the redwood forests of Oregon, the vineyards of the Okanagan, the rain forests of the Canadian West Coast, the brooks of Southern Ontario, the olive groves of Italy... it's endless!

And yet it is so far off the radar of anyone that isn't Australian. Or even any Australian that isn't Western Australian. It's so far down on the modern tourists list that it's nearly free of tourists! We love it. It's like finding the most beautiful and best kept secret in Australia and we don't have to share it with anyone. 

It's also a completely different region for plants and animals. There are full-size kangaroos, hundreds of flowers, brightly coloured birds, giant trees... the biodiversity is endless. Indeed, it's one of the most biodiverse places in the world. There are an estimated 8000 plant varieties in this tiny region, making up two thirds of Western Australia's total plant taxonomies. AND over 80% of the plants are endemic, meaning they're not found anywhere else at all. This is an area of about 150x150km... compare that to Western Australia which is about 1500 x 2500km... 

We are in a very special place.

Here are just a few photos from around the place showing some of the amazing scenery!

More to come later!

Galena Bridge 2

This one is a kind of continuation of yesterdays post. This is the van parked where we camped at Galena Bridge. That in the background is the Murchison River, one of the few we have seen in WA with actual water in it!! We actually camped here two nights in a row. I think we have talked about it before, but all along the highways of Australia are stretched 24 hour rest areas where there are often toilets and bins, and you are allowed to camp there for free. They are often about 100 kms apart and make for a very easy cheap way to travel.

Galena Bridge

Night time at Galena Bridge. This is from a while after the sun set with the nearly full moon behind me. Looks like daytime, but for the stars! This was possibly our favorite place we have camped in the van. Beautiful place, nice and quiet, plenty of birds. Good rest area. This is shot from the old lower crossing back at the new bridge.