Monday 5^th March, 2012

Today is Labour Day at the west coast and thus there was not much going on in Perth. In the morning I brought the car back. As I first missed the entry to the car park I could do an additional lap around the block. After I went for sightseeing. Perth is isolated at the west coast, the next big city in Australia, Adelaide, is about 2700 km away. The capital of Indonesia is closer than the capital of Australia. The door to the west, as Perth is also called, has in average 8 hours of sun a day. I could feel it on my body as the sun is really burning. The city is placed at the Swan River which flows into the sea about 20 km outside of the Perth. As Perth is not a very old city, there is not much to see. I went the roads up and down and looked at the old houses in between the skyscrapers. As it was very hot, I decided to make a lunch break in the hostel. After I walked to the Swan River and enjoyed the parks there. Between the walks I laid into the shadow to read a bit. Despite of being in a big city you can relax here. The end of my sightseeing was the visit of the Bell Tower. Here you find church bells from London hanging in modern architecture. And from the fifth floor I had a great view over Perth.

Saturday 3^rd March, 2012

In the morning we went to the Shoalwater Bay. Here we boarded the boat and the safari started. Only about 5 minutes out in the sea we already saw a few dolphins. The next hour we followed and watched them. For me it is the first time I saw dolphins swimming in the sea, but not for Konrad. As I had taken my pills against motion sickness I could stand in the front of the boat and take pictures. Konrad could not believe it as he remembered of the opposite in Island were the pills had not helped and I had been very sick. Our ride was not yet over. The boat went to Bird Island were there are cormorants and pelicans nesting. Then we met again a dolphin which was playing with a ray. Next was Seal Island with its seal colony. As it was very warm, they liked more to sunbath than to move around. We often saw flying pelicans. At the end of the tour we left the boat at Penguin Island. Here every hour a ferry goes back to the mainland. First we enjoyed our pick-nick as there is no shop here. We also observed a few of the local lizards. One just walked over the pick-nick area. Then we went onto the two kilometre long path around the island. First we saw a decayed tractor stand in the middle of the nature. Passing nesting pelicans we went to the beach. We enjoyed the refreshing bath and the waves and then we let us dry by the sun. Back at the start we went to see the feeding of the penguins. A few of them live in the visitor centre. They are not able anymore to live in the wild. Four times a day they get fresh fish. After the feeding we went back to the mainland and from there back to the motel next to the airport. As there was still some time left we went to the centre of Perth and walked a bit in the Kings Park. We heard some parrots in the trees and saw them flying away. The evening we closed with a dinner with sight to the city.

Tuesday 21^st February, 2012

I fell in love, sorry Konrad. But Maria Island entered my heart. With the boat we went to island. There I joined a German couple for the rest of the day. First we went to the Fossil Cliffs. Here I could see up to 240 million year old fossils in the rock. Back in Darlington we continued to the Painted Cliffs. That are rocks which have different colours in the sunlight. The best time here is at low tide. We were lucky and the sun started shining as we were there, so we could marvel at all the colours of the different rock layers. Finally we hiked into the interior of the island and then back to Darlington. On the island I saw today some kangaroos, wallabies, goose, hen-like birds, a wombat and a breeding penguin. Unfortunately I did not see any dolphins. Then we went back to Triabunna with the boat. There I wanted to get some money from the ATM, but it did not work with any of my cards. According to the unfriendly lady from the supermarket some French had the same problem a few days ago. I said that there might be a problem with the machine. She did not believe as the problems are only with foreign cards. But as I could always get money so far, I believe more in my version. Anyway, my credit card was accepted and I booked another night in the caravan as I do not yet have enough of Maria Island and will go there tomorrow again.

Monday 13^th February, 2012

After a short walk at the beach I visited a special market hall where they showed and sold artisanry. You could see different handmade papers, jewellery made of glass and sea shells, clothes and cheese. I looked a bit around and informed me where to go on. My trip led to Penguin. There is a very big figure of Pingu and everything in the village is about penguins. On some beaches at the east coast live little penguins, they are also at home on Philipp Island. After I went on to the harbour town Devonport. As all remarkable is along the beach, I walked along the beach promenade. I was a bit disappointed, then except of the harbour there is not much here. The ferries from Melbourne land here, but that will be in the evening. As it was only noon, I decided to drive on. Over the countryside I could drive with 110 km/h and reached soon Launceston. Here I was looking for accommodation and was walking a bit through the town. The evening I enjoyed in the vis-à-vis park.

Monday 30^th January, 2012

We awoke in the early morning as the main street was just below our window. Sow we packed our stuff and went to the ferry. Unfortunately we were a bit too late so we had to wait for the next one. We used that time to have breakfast. With the ferry, a katamaran, we went to Sorrento. On the Mornington Peninsula we drove along the coast. We actually wanted to go to French Island to observe Koalas. But a few drops of rain made us to think it would be better just to continue driving. We enjoyed the nice view to the coast a went a bit walking. On the way we saw also a few parrots. Until noon we had luck with the weather as it was clear in between. But the rain started again as we drove over the bridge which connects Philipp Island with the mainland. As we reached the Koala Conservation Centre it was bucketing down. We waited for 10 minutes in the car and hopped it will get better. Our prayers were answered and the rain got fewer. We used this moment to run to the café. Then the weather went better and better and we finally could go to see the koalas, kangaroos, birds and insects. After we found accommodation, we went to the Nobbies Centre, a place were you could see seals. At least if you go at the right season. There was a very strong breeze and we had to make sure that our caps did not fly away. We followed a boardwalk and at one spot there were many people with cameras. Below the walk there sat a small, 15 cm tall penguin. The penguins here, the Little Penguin, is the smallest penguin species and they come back every evening from fishing. With some skill it was possible to take a picture of it. Also here we met some wild kangaroos, somehow there are many animals on this island. As it was already late in the evening, we decided not to go back to Cowes where our motel was. Instead we made a hike to the Swan Lake. As the name tells, you can observe swans there. But not white ones, as we know them. In Australia the swans are black. We could observe them and other water birds from two observing stands. On the way to the lake ww met an echinda. Konrad explained it as a egg-laying cross-bread between a hedgehog and a anteater. Can you imagine that? In the evening we went to the Penguin Parade. First we educated ourselves at the visitor center about penguins. OK, Konrad knew already quite a lot about them. The we went over the boardwalk to the tribune. As we were there very early, a ranger gave us the hint to go to the bottom. The seagulls made the opening act and entertained the visitors with their behaviour. It got colder and colder as we wore only short trousers and a jacket. Slowly the sun set, now it could not last long until the penguins arrive. But first we saw their enemy. There was a seal swimming in the waves and was waiting for dinner. Hopefully it did not eat too much! At 21:04 it started. The first of 652 Penguins plash at the shore. It sounds like many, but in the spring here there are many more. About 120 of the little animals passed beside us. Cheerful is their behaviour. They arrive with the waves. Then they wait until their group is big enough. Finally they walk in zigzag through the gulls, so they are not seen by the enemies. After the gulls they run as fast as possible over the beach and then up the hill to their nests. Some will walk up to a kilometer. As it started to rain after a while, we went back to the visitor center over the boardwalk. Beside we there many penguins in front of their nests or we could listen them chatting to each other. After we made sure that there is no penguin hidden below our car, we went back to the motel with many impressions.