Sam's Diary in Oz

We got to Perth central bus station at 7.30am to pick up our tour bus only to learn that Esperance had severe flooding after a tournado had ripped through the area and the main roads in to the area were cut off. All the other tours leaving that morning were either cancelled or decided to go to other areas of the West Coast.

Our tour company made the decision to go to Esparence regardless and turn back if necessary. So off we went, 17 of us on the bus. A real mix of people, a few ozzies, an irish couple, an english couple, a japanese guy who didn't speak english (Mr Y) and a few others. Our tour guide Pete was from Adelaide and seemed alright.

By 11am we had reached Bunbury. This is where I stood thigh deep in the sea and a wild dolphin swam passed, he was so near I could have touched him but you're not aloud to. The volunteer workers at Bunbury want to limit the interaction between the dolphins and people to keep them wild. They don't feed them or encourage the dolphins in anyway, it's just the dolphins curiosity that keeps them coming back. It really was surreal, this dolphin being curious about me, and loads of these tiny little fish all around my legs while he swam back and forth.

Onwards to Busselton, this was a small coastal town. Just a few young families on the beach. The towns claim to fame is it's jetty. It is the longest in the southern hemisphere at 2km. We stopped here for a picnic lunch and onwards again to Ngilgi cave. The cave was fairly small compared to the caves in the Blue Mountains but impressive all the same. It only took about 30 minutes to walk through but went very deep and as there is only one way in/out the oxygen levels get pretty low and everyone is huffing and puffing and it gets quite hot down there too. I was quite pleased to get back out, it's certainly not made with tall people in mind and it got quite claustrophobic down there, spending most of the walk bent over, and trying to navigate narrow stair cases.

On again to the Margaret River. This is the wine making region of the West Coast. We stopped for a spot of wine tasting at Sandalford Vineyard. Lucky for me Rowena doesn't much care for wine, so I doubled up! The scenery in this area is lush and green, a stark contrast to everything I've seen in Australia so far.

Next on to the Margaret River surf beach where international surfing competitions are held. Finally we arrived at Pemberton in the Margaret River area where we spent the night in a log cabin in what felt like the middle of nowhere. Everyone chipped in to prepare dinner, I made the coldslaw. We all sat on the verandah and watched the sunset over the green woodland and hills with a cold beer.

Dolphin swimming past me at Bunbury

Busselton