Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Giants Cave

This post is actually from two days ago, its taken me a few days to get a fast enough internet connection to upload this video... better late than never!

Yesterday afternoon, I rolled in to the quaint town of Dunsborough, which is currently packed with holiday tourists for the next week.  The climate here is interesting- it takes a little getting used to realizing that drive south in the southern hemisphere means going to cooler weather.  Not that its much cooler though, still in the mid 90’s and the nature here is much like that of Mammoth Lakes in the summer, but by the ocean.  Today I drove an hour south past Margaret River in search of a cold spring I had heard about.  I managed to get totally lost along the way and when I finally got there, I found out that the spring had since changed its course and now comes out under the ocean, making the water impossible to access.  But the kind park ranger let me fill up my bottles from her rain water resevoir.  Slightly disappointed by my failure to find spring water, I decided to take on a new adventure, turning off at a sign marked “Giants Cave.”  Caves are abundant in this region and I later learned that this one was the biggest of all as its name suggests.  The ranger set me up with a helmet and flashlight and sent me on my way… over an hour of working my way through vast caverns and tight passages climbing up and down rocks, stairs, and slippery metal ladders-what an adventure!  It was super dark, so not ideal for documenting, but I did the best I could to bring you with me- see the video and photos below! (Make sure its set to HD for best quality)










Saturday, December 25, 2010

A Midsummer's Christmas



I had a beautiful Christmas here in Mandurah, WA in the middle of summer, where temperatures reached 39 degrees yesterday (102 degrees Fahrenheit!)- definitely my hottest summer ever.  To escape the heat, David took his family and me out on the ocean on his 40’+ motorboat for a great day of relaxation, swimming, jet skiing, wakeboarding, and wakesurfing.  The water here is about 78 degrees F and perfect crystal clear blue!  On the way back in from the ocean, we cruised through the canals of Mandurah, which reminded me a lot of the famed canals of Venice, Italy, only a much more modern version.  Check out the short video below to see some dolphins cruising through the canals!  (Make sure to put it to full screen and change to resolution to HD to see them well.)  Today I bid farewell to David and Carol, the best hosts ever to drive 2.5 hours south to the town of Dunsborough, a town that is small in population (3,600 residents) but big on surf.  Waves are coming Wednesday, until then I’ll be exploring the trails and caves of Dunsborough and hunting down spring water- I can’t wait!

Thursday, December 23, 2010





Getting mobile

3 days into my trip and I finally bought a car- it feels great to be mobile.  Its interesting to see how different peoples tastes in cars are here- low rider trucks are considered by most everyone to be the epitome of style.  I always thought it would be impossible to get used to driving a manual right hand drive car, but already my mind has switched and it feels like driving the way we would in the US would be totally strange!  I'm staying with my new favorite people in the world, David and Carol, in their apartment overlooking the Mandurah Harbor.  The weather is hot and humid, though the crystal clear blue water is without any waves for the moment.  Originally, I was going to head south to the fabled surf town of Dunsborough as soon as I got a car, but I've decided to spend Christmas here with David and his family.  I'm learning more and more Aussie slang all the time.  See if you know what any of these mean- gidgie, ute, rubber jelly, quokka, and pom.  Stay tuned for pictures coming soon- I haven't used my camera much yet, but I'm planning a photo excursion for tomorrow to capture the beauty of Mandurah!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Chocolate is better than money

As I sit in the Sydney airport awaiting the second flight of my trip to Perth, I'm realizing that all nations should abandon their currencies and just use chocolate!  Being the chocolate lover that I am, I made tons of superfood chocolates to bring on the 16 hour flight from LA to Sydney and distributed them to the whole crew and use a few to trade my middle seat for a convenient aisle seat.  I had easy access to the aisle to do yoga as I pleased and the plane crew loved me!  (I didn't tell them until afterward that it was completely healthy superfood chocolate with medicinal herbs- they couldn't believe that something so healthy could be so delicious) Think about it- sometimes you can persuade people to do things or trade material items for money, but the bargaining power of chocolate is infinitely greater!  If only I had brought enough chocolate to trade for a car here!  Looks like I'll have to stick to travelers checks until I can make some more chocolate. :)