Where do I begin? It’s been quite a long time since I’ve sat down to write a blog, but that’s not to say that I haven’t been trying. I’ve set reminders on my phone, told myself that I’d write a post the following weekend, which turned into the next weekend, and so on. For some reason, I haven’t been able to find the motivation to write. Which is weird because blogging has always been a stress relief for me. I think a part of me is wondering where should I start – should I catch everyone up on the last two years? Should I talk about my teaching experiences and why I’ve decided to quit? Should I write about some of my past trips, such as Hawaii or New Zealand? Maybe those posts will come eventually but for now, I’m going to write about my current trip. And forgive me, cause I might be a bit rusty.

As many people know, I’ve decided to leave Australia (I’ll probably have to do a post about that too). However, Western Australia has ALWAYS been on my list and I knew that I 100% wanted to go there before leaving. And that’s where I am now! My flight was at 9:15 on Saturday morning, so I didn’t have to leave for the airport until 7:45. Unfortunately, my mind was racing the night before and I didn’t get much sleep (probably due to me worrying about the weight of my bags). However, I sped through security and got on my 4-hour flight (so weird that my flight to New Zealand was shorter). I arrived in Perth at 10:40am and then had to figure out the transportation system. Once I finally figured out how to find the bus, I got on for the long journey into the city. I spent the day walking around, exploring all of the streets and arcades, and walking down to the water. A couple of my friends (Alexa and Asbrand) were coming back to Perth after exploring the southern coast of WA (I would eventually be heading north), so we met up for dinner at a Mexican restaurant close to my hostel. It was so nice to see them and get a chance to catch up!

On Sunday, I went to Rottnest Island. First, I got the train to Fremantle – a smaller town south of Perth. They were having a Sunday market so I quickly checked it out before I had to catch my ferry at 9:30. The main reason anyone goes to Rottnest Island is to see the quokkas, and they quickly made the $80 ferry ride worth it. Quokkas are nocturnal so they typically sleep during the day. However, since there’s so many people (and food), a lot of them will wake up from a slumber just to see what’s going on. BUT when one quokka finally wakes up, a whole crowd of people will rush up to it in order to get a selfie. I loved seeing the quokkas, and I probably spent more time hanging out with them than I should have. The day was pretty chill, and I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach before catching the ferry back to Fremantle at 4:30. I went back to the market to finish checking it out, and then headed back to Perth for the night.

On Monday, I was starting my drive up the coast! I picked up my rental car at 11am (even though I still had PTSD from the last rental, which I’ll ALSO have to write about sometime). I made a few stops along the way, and the first one was Yanchep National Park, where I walked along the koala boardwalk. It was like an “I Spy” game, searching for koalas along the boardwalk. There were supposed to be 9 koalas hidden inside, but I think I was only able to find 4. I continued on my way to Lancelin Sand Dunes, where many people were renting snowboards to go down the sand hills. I decided against it because 1) I was short for time, and 2) I didn’t want to be spending days digging sand out of all of my cracks and crevices. I don’t even snowboard on snow – I wasn’t going to have my first faceplant in the sand! I continued the drive to Nambung National Park, where I went on the Pinnacles desert drive. It’s a short 4km drive through the desert, and the sight of the Pinnacles is spectacular! It was really cool to see all of the random structures in the middle of nowhere, and I even got to see a couple of kangaroos! I had forgotten that the sun sets just after 6pm here, and I realised that I wouldn’t be making it to my hostel in Geraldton while it was still daylight. I was extremely paranoid about driving in the dark after seeing so many dead kangaroos on the side of the road (seriously, there are tons!). However, I made it to my hostel safely!

I only spent one night in Geraldton since it was really just a stopover to Kalbarri. That morning, I went for a walk around town just to see what it was like. It definitely felt like a retirement coastal town, but it was cute! I then made my way towards Kalbarri. I stopped at the Pink Lake, which was really neat to see. I’m not sure what actually causes it to turn pink, but I didn’t feel like walking through it. I made quite a few stops on the way to Kalbarri. Kalbarri has a national park and half of it is coastal, while the other half is within a gorge. I made most of the coastal stops on the way to the town since it was on the way. The views were amazing, and it was so cool to see the lines along the limestone rocks. I stopped at the Natural Bridge, Island Rock, and the top of Pot Alley. Since I was only wearing flip flops, I decided to save all of the hiking stuff for the following day. I stopped at the tourist centre and was told to head to the gorge as early as possible, and to bring 3-4L of water. A lot of people have died in the gorge because of dehydration since it typically feels 10 degrees warmer in the gorge than it does in town. I was also told that the river had flooded the day I got there and that they hadn’t had rain for weeks before that. Because of this, the hike that I had wanted to do was shortened (I could only go up to the 3km marker and come back). When I went to the grocery store to get food, I was shocked to see how high the prices were (and not so shocked to see little to no gluten-free options). I realised that this would likely be the same for the rest of my trip, since there would no longer be any of the main grocery stores that are found in the cities and bigger towns.

The next day, I left the hostel at 7:30 to head to the National Park. My first stop was Nature’s Window, which is likely one of the highest Instagram photos that people seek out. When I arrived, there was only a small family there at the time. Little did I know that when I’d return after doing my hike, there’d be a lineup of people waiting to take a picture. I did the Loop Trail up to the 3km mark, and then did the 3km back. During the first 200 metres, I was seriously considering going back to my car. The trail included climbing up and down rocks, with a steep drop on either side of you, and I figured that it probably wasn’t the best idea to continue on my own. However, I saw another hiker and they said that the trail would flatten out, so I’m glad that I continued. The views were so nice, and it was amazing being able to see all of the colours of the rocks. After finishing the Loop Trail, I went to the Kalbarri Skywalk. The Skywalk had two grated projections that went out over the gorge. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it! After enjoying the view for a bit, I drove further south and stopped at a picnic table for a quick lunch. Then I did the shorter Z Bend Canyon Trail, which ended with another spectacular view! By that time, it was 12:30pm and the heat was at its peak. My body couldn’t take it anymore! I headed back to the coast to check out Pot Alley one more time, but this time I actually went down to the beach part. After spending some time there, I went back to the hostel to take it easy for the rest of the day. I hung out by the pool, chatted with one of the people staying in my dorm, and had dinner.

On Thursday, I was heading to Monkey Mia – the whole reason for my trip! I stayed in Kalbarri for the first part of the morning, since they do pelican feedings everyday at 8:45am. A man had started the tradition years ago and whenever he didn’t show up, there’d be a traffic jam that day because the pelicans would go to his door to figure out where he was! Now the feedings are done by volunteers, both of whom were 70+. Unfortunately, someone had their dog off-leash and the dog went chasing after the pelicans, so they wouldn’t come back up to the feeding area. Everyone then had to go down to the water to feed them, but I missed out on the commentary and information that the other volunteer was sharing on the hill. It was pretty neat to see pelicans so close, as we can usually only admire them from a distance in Saskatoon. I then started the trip to Monkey Mia, which I’ll save for the next post. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! Love always