P&A GoGoGo

NZ Working Holiday Visa for Malaysian~~

2013-01-01T18:40:00.001+08:00

After we have done a loop around south island and part of north island of NZ, we have some time to work out this blog in Auckland where we celebrated our 2012 new year eve yesterday night. After that, we will travel to Mountain Tongariro National Park and Northland before heading back to Malaysia, our lovely homeland.

One of the only 2 countries in the world that issues Working Holiday Visa for Malaysians, besides Australia. We had applied this visa online in January 2012 when we were in Australia for our working holiday there. Actually if you are planning to go to both countries for working holiday, it is actually more convenient to apply for the Aus's visa first then NZ because for Aus visa, we have to apply personally at the Australian High Commission @ KL and much more hassle, look at Australia Working Holiday Visa. Then when you are done in Aus, can apply online for NZ visa, but remember to apply early of the year since it is becoming more and MORE popular! (That is how we do it).

NZ online application is so easy, and does not need any supporting documents. Everything you need to know about applying online for NZ working holiday visa is HERE:

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/workingholiday/malaysiaworkingholidayscheme.htm

Too easy... ! The quota for Malaysians begins every January. So create a login ID and password at the NZ immi first and go through the online form so you know what to fill in when the application opens! Ooh, also need to pay online using a credit card under your own name when applying. Then after few days/ a week of submitting the application, go online and check your app status. Congratulations you will be planning your NZ Trip!!! *Provided you have meet their requirements*

So Exciting!

We went to NZ in September 2012 after a year in AUssie and it can never get BETTER! We LOVE NZ!

Most of our AUSSIE and NZ adventures are here--> pagogogo2.blogspot.com

Adelaide City~ Day 4

2012-03-26T12:12:00.002+08:00

Port Adelaide

We met Taiwanese couple Jim and Winnie at the caravan park in Adelaide. They are such an amazing couple, riding bicycle travelling from Brisbane to Adelaide for 5 months already. They are the first Asian people we saw travelling OZ on push bike. It was great meeting other travellers, sharing experiences and travel tips. So on our last day in adelaide, we invited them to join us to the Adelaide Port and Glenelg beach.

We had our breakfast at Ikea, heading to the bistro to get the 50cents hotdog (saturday special). Hehe. Harbour Town is very near to Ikea, so we went shopping after that. We really need to buy thicker clothes for autumn and winter, and Tasmania is really cold in those season. We have been sleeping in the tent for one month now, but still freezing cold at night even though it's summer!

There are many branded cheap stuff for grabs in Harbour Town, for us it is much more suitable to shop at than Rundle St. Angie found her winter suit at Espirit for $45 and Peter got his at JT Surf shop for $55. Oh great we'll be warm enough now :)

We headed to Port Adelaide*** with empty pockets. There is a Sunday market, which by the name of it only opens on Sunday (Peter can't seem to get the idea =P). So just a walk around the foreshore.

The replica ship of Endeavour at Port Adelaide. The original ship was used by Captain James Cook on his first voyage to Australia and New Zealand between year 1769 to 1771.

Next on the itinerary, Glenelg Beach****. This is by far the most touristy beach P&A had seen. Cause we are travelling from WA to SA. Winnie said, wait till you get to east coast. More tourists! It's a beautiful town, with cafes and shops catering for tourists. Can't resist a cuppa with cheesecake at Cibo again :) the sunset at the beach is beautiful, especially with the clouds.

Back at the caravan park, P&A made salami pizza with pita bread. It is so delicous! For dessert, caramel pudding from Jim&Winnie. Yums!

Our journey in OZ continues here : Hahndoft German Village & Journey to GOR

Adelaide City~ Day 3

2012-03-25T13:05:00.000+08:00

We start of our day with a SWEET breakfast~ Using pita bread again, Banana Choc Strawberry and Banana Peanut Butter Wrap! Taste great!

We went to the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, but the exhibition was closed for renovation. Instead of visiting the Tandanya, going to the South Australia Museum is more than enough because it has lots of information about the indigenous culture of Australia.

We joined the South Australia Museum***** free guided tour which starts at 11am daily. There are different volunteer guide conducting the tour everyday, which is a good way to see the whole museum in a short time, about 1 hour duration. After the tour, we spent a bit more time, taking photographs. The museum provides lots of information about the Aboriginals culture and living, wildlife, and geology of SA. It’s really interesting, and we get to know many animals name which we have taken photos of earlier.

The unique paintings of the Aboriginal dreams on the school doors.

That night, we went to The Astor Pub$, which offer chicken schnitzel for $10 on Friday nights. The schnitzel is average but our yearning for scotch fillet couldn’t be satisfied though, not much taste. Maybe because it only costs $23 for the fillet? Haha. . .

Adelaide City~ Day 2

2012-03-24T13:20:00.001+08:00

Second day in the city, we spent a lot of time in Rundle St and its malls. It is Adelaide’s shopping street, Angie got her backpack from Cheap as Chips store for only $12. Slazenger brand. Cheap as Chips is like reject shop but has variety of products.

Saw this old style lolly shop, so tempted to get in. =P So we bought a $2 irish cream choc fudge, taste great =) Another temptation for us, Chatime! Gosh, we can’t resist this now. Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea for $4.70 regular size, if you don’t convert into MYR it’s cheaper than Malaysia lor. Hehe.

Taking a stroll in the Botanic Garden****. It has many types of big trees, bamboo trees and some flower gardens. Not too big, but we easily spent about 1 and half hours here until it closes at 6.30pm. There’s free guided walk around the garden at 10.30am daily.

"Why are u looking at us?"

Doesn't it look like banana bunches hanging on it? =P

Peter took this picture outside a hospital.

There is an old man that wearing pajamas and an old nurse that having a cigarette break.

Our dinner that day, Chicken Pita with salad and roasted capsicum salsa sauce. YUMS!

Adelaide City~

2012-03-23T23:43:00.000+08:00

Arriving Adelaide, we had mixture of feelings. Excited and happy, but also frustrated with the traffic. We are just not used the traffic now. LOL. We found the cheaper caravan park, about 7kms out of the city. Brownhill Creek Caravan Park. Costs $25 for unpowered site. It has good facilities, and if you are lucky maybe able to see koalas on the big trees. The caravan park in the city is more costly, $38 per night but near to the city.

We planned to stay 6 days in Adelaide, trying to update our blog and also enjoy the city life. About 700m walk from the caravan park, there’s bus stop no.17 which leads to city. Bus fare from 9am to 3pm is $2.90 for regular rate like us. Student rate is so much cheaper. After 3pm, the fee will be a whopping $4.60! Gosh, it’s really expensive. But we think it is still cheaper than staying in the city hostel or caravan park, even driving to city is costly due to parking fees. There’s a 10 trips bus ticket which you can purchase from the public transport office in the city. It costs $30.90 for the 10 trips, meaning about $3.09 per trip. It’s more economic, if you plan to use it 10 times.

First point of interest for us, the national library =) Well, they offer free wifi and pc for public use, and their connection is so fast. Then we went to the famous Adelaide Central Market*****. It’s a must go place for us. We walked from the library to the market, took about 15mins. There is free bus service in Adelaide CBD, bus no.99C which runs a loop. So it will stop nearby Central Market. That’s of course easier than walking.

It was so nice walking in the market, all sorts of fresh fruits and veggies, cafes and Asian restaurants. We bought some veggies and pita bread (only $1.50). There’s Coles supermarket in this central market, but it’s more expensive than the stall vendors. We stopped by at a restaurant, Malacca Corner$, which is owned by our friend, Andrea’s foster mother. We tried their famous Rendang Chicken with rice. It tasted good, quite big portion too =) There’s a food court inside the market with so many stalls offering Asian food. Remember to check the opening times of the market as it varies. It closes on Wednesday, so during Tues, around the end of business hours, the veggies vendors will sell their products at discount. That is the best time to get cheap food =)

Gouger St***** (just next to central market), is the Chinatown precinct of Adelaide, offering so many options. Walking along this street, we were attracted by the coffee aroma from Cibo Espresso. In we go! Their cakes and nibbles look so tasty. So we tried their Cibocinno (hazelnut cappuccino) and Torta al Formaggio (Italian Apricot cheesecake). It was absolutely delicious!!! We’ll go back there again for sure. Cibo Espresso is everywhere in Adelaide, it is an Italian concept coffee house.

Thanks to Andrea’s recommendation, we head on to Fortune Duck Restaurant at Gouger St to savor the roast duck! This is what we call roast duck, unlike the one we ate at Port Lincoln. LOL. Half duck costs $16.80, and their rice is $2 per person. We ordered 2 servings of rice, but it seems like 4 people can eat it. Too much. . . Erm, we manage to finish it eventually.. HAhaha. . .

Yorke Peninsular 'Boot Leg'

2012-03-22T13:00:00.000+08:00

From Melrose, we plan to travel to the ‘boot leg’ of South Australia, which is Yorke Peninsular. From the map, it really looks like a boot. We passed by Stone Hut. We stopped at the Hickory’s Run Olive Grove & Cafe which offer free tasting. The owner was really nice, serving us although their café is yet to open at 10am. They offered us free olive tasting. We liked their Extra virgin, garlic and lime flavored olive oil very much. We learned that the olives, once harvested around March will be put in brine for five years to get rid of the bitterness. Gosh, that’s a very long time. There’s a famous bakery called the Old Bakery Stone Hut which is known for its pies and cakes with very old cottage style ambience. Unfortunately they were close till March.

Olive oil tasting with the shop’s specialty, Cinnamon Chai Latte. The coffee tasted really good.

Yorke Peninsular is a famous fishing spot. With the hopes to get some free fish, we travel to Port Julia after doing grocery shopping at Ardrossan’s Foodland supermarket. Port Julia has no shops or caravan parks. But it has a camp ground with only toilet facility for $5 per person. It has a jetty, which is famous to get squids from it. So in the afternoon, we try to get some fish. Hours went by . . . NONE. Giving up, we went back to our camps. Just hanging around and cook dinner. Then a friendly neighbor approached us and gave us some squid. Woohoo, that is so nice. Plus it is a clean squid. No black inks!

Crumbed salt and pepper squid =)

Port Julia

Back to Ardrossan again the next morning to do crabbing. It’s a crab town, we should be able to get some crabs gua. We caught many! But they are the little ones. It must measure more than 11cm from end to end of its shell tip. So at the end of the three hours there, we caught four crabs. That’s good enough for dinner. So happily, we head to Adelaide!

Golden Crab porridge =))

Mount Remarkable

2012-03-21T12:25:00.000+08:00

Arkaroo Rock**** Not too far from Wilpena Pound, there’s a walking trail to Arkaroo Rock to see Aboriginal Cave Painting. Takes 2 hours return hike. It is a relatively easy hike, can view the beautiful valleys.

The Narrow Gorge @ Mt Remarkable National Park

Mount Remarkable is a completely different type of national park we see. It’s a very high mountain; the access road into the NP is very steep. So it is not suitable for caravans. It feels like going to Cameron Highland again, driving on this road.

The highlight of the park is Alligator’s Gorge*****. It’s a big gorge, where you can take a 2 hours walking trail, a loop inside the gorge. It’s named the alligator gorge because there’s a kind of lizard living here that looks like an alligator. The narrow gorge must not be missed. It’s spectacular, with two high cliffs surrounding you as you venture deeper. Many other wildlife such as the Falcon and Flame Robin lives here.

Flame Robin

There are some campgrounds in this NP. Some are backpack camps, which are not open during the fire danger season (which is normally nov-april). So we camped at a showground in Melrose (nearby town). It is just about 10min drive south from Mt Remarkable. A showground is like a sports ground around the town. They do allow campers and caravans to stay, cheaper than the caravan parks. For unpowered site is only $5 per person. Facilities include hot showers and laundry only.

Brachina Gorge

2012-03-21T12:12:00.000+08:00

Bunyeroo Valley

Razorback Lookout

Brachina Gorge***** is a must go. Around the hills here, if you’re lucky you’ll get to see the yellow footed rock wallabies. They are active around dawn and dusk time.

Yellow footed rock Wallaby

We had been chasing these wallabies up and down the hill and finally just before it gets dark we managed to capture this one! They are very afraid of humans, usually very small in size. They have yellow and orange patches on their body as well as their striped tail.

Flinders Ranges - Wilpena Pound & Surrounding

2012-03-03T15:00:00.001+08:00

Wilpena Pound***** It’s the centre piece of Flinder Ranges National Park. Looks like a large crater, measuring 8 by 17kms.The stones around Flinders Ranges dates back 530 million years ago, when it used to be part of the ocean floor. Wilpena Pound itself is thought to be the bodies of two serpents, Akurra, according to the aboriginals.

There is a privately owned Wilpena Pound Resort situated in the area which has caravan and campground facility. So after paying $9 for the NP entry, we just proceed to pay the camping fees at the resort’s information centre.

Costs $21 for unpowered site for the both of us, this is by far the most natural ‘caravan park’ we’ve ever stayed. The park is really big, and we camped among big tall trees. Greeted by many bird species and kangaroos and wallabies =) There is toilet, hot shower, bbq and laundry facilities.

Delicious dinner, BBQ eggplant + Bulgogi Beef

The next morning we woke up early to take on one of the hardest hiking trail around Wilpena Pound, St Mary Peak Hike. The map says it takes about 6 hours return hike for the 14.6km route. Well, we started at 7.30am and reach the peak at 12noon! We stop for pictures now and then and to admire the beautiful scenery. It was a tough hike for the last 2kms, very steep inclines and broken rocks all over. When we finally made it, the view was just breathtaking! Up 1170 meters above sea level, we can see the pound and the many surrounding hills. Even the largest salt lake in Australia can be seen, Lake Eyre.

Hiking up Up UP . . .

There are scenic flights operated by the Wilpena resort, but they are too expensive, can’t be bothered to look at the prices. So climbing this peak is another way to see the ‘whole thing’. The hike is really exhaustive for us. The way back is still alright, took us 2 ½ hours descending and back to the camp.

Lunchbox for the both of us, which was not quite enough for the extreme hike =.=

Finally~~

cute bird, pecking upside down

Panorama view of Wilpena Pound

Since we can’t move our legs after the hike, we stayed for another night at the campground
=P

Port Augusta - the crossroads of Australia

2012-03-03T13:01:00.001+08:00

The Red Cliffs

Known as the crossroad of Australia, it’s the interception of the major highways, Eyre Highway (from Western Australia), Stuart Highway (towards East and Northern Territory) and the Lincoln Highway (from Port Lincoln). We stayed at the Shoreline Caravan Park, unpowered for $24 (double). The other caravan park, Big4 is really expensive, $34 for unpowered site. Shoreline facility is still good, just that it looks a bit old, the entire park and caravans there look really old. Don’t know why =P It has a good camp kitchen, tv room, swimming pool, laundry and shower facility.

South Australia's Floral Emblem : Sturts Desert Pea

The place we always look for in a city, Visitor Information Centre, Coles, and Public Library. The next day we went to the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden to see the Red Cliffs. Entrance is free, but the red cliff isn’t that red in the morning. There are guided walking tours departing from the garden’s visitor centre every morning at 10am.

We were also told at PA info centre that the garden’s café has some interesting native bush food offering. So we tried their scones with Quandong (a kind of wild fruit) jam and cream for $5.50. The scones all soggy, and only tiny little jam on it. Maybe some other things like the bush flavoured ice cream might taste better =)

We didn't spend much time in Port Augusta, as we need to go to the famous Flinders Ranges ~ ~ ~

Lincoln National Park

2012-03-03T12:41:00.004+08:00

Donnington Lighthouse

About 15km from Port Lincoln is the Lincoln National Park****, entrance fee is $10, camping per night per car is $7. There are few walking trails for visitors. We took a short walk along Surfleet Cove, nothing spectacular. We chose to camp at September Beach, with has toilet facility and picnic table. It’s a wide sandy beach, perfect for swimming.

From September beach, there’s a walking trail to Donnington lighthouse which takes about 15minutes. The lighthouse is not the highlight, but the small Donnington Island opposite it! On the island, there are many black and white spots, using a binocular or camera you can see that it’s all Pied Cormorant bird. How cute, looks just like a colony of penguins on the island. We spend quite some time taking picture of the birds, and it was indeed rewarding.

Few sealions swam by to say hello, performing few jumps right in front of us~! It was just amazing! After a while, we saw pods of dolphins swimming by. It’s a great place to observe these cuties. . . Back to the camp, when we look back at the bird pictures, zoomed in, we can clearly see few sealions lying on the island rocks! It’s like, they came to us purposely to see what we’re up to.

Our dinner from our catch, squid and tommies =)

September Beach

The biggest rainbow we have ever seen! Can you find Angie in this picture?

Stamford Hill hike is wonderful, about 45 min return hike to the hilltop where a monument for Matthew Flinders (the explorer of SA) was erected. From the peak, we can see the Port Lincoln and NP clearly.

2 in 1 butterflies?

Ant colony. Feel itchy just by the look of it. . .

The next day we went to Taylors Landing beach. From there we took the hike towards Memory Cove Wilderness Protection Area (one of the best place to camp in SA) which is a protected area and allows only 15 vehicles. Seems like a mysterious place. Unfortunately it is 4wd accessible only. It was a long hike and we couldn’t get to the cove.

Superb Fairy Wren / Blue Wren. Love the colour of this bird! Bird fact: Superb blue wren males have enormous testes, up to 10% of their body weight. By comparison, this would give an average man testes weighing 9 kgs!!!

Squid dinner again! LOL cause the squid is so big, this time we just stir fry it with garlic.

FRESH~

Baby emus feeding

Port Lincoln

2012-03-03T09:07:00.002+08:00

Twilight @ Lincoln Cove

Port Lincoln ***** The seafood and aquaculture capital of SA. It’s the first considered ‘big’ city we arrive from Madura. With Coles supermarket! And a couple of Chinese restaurant. Even Vodafone has reception here after so long!

With the recommendation from the visitor centre, we eagerly went to Ming Inn Chinese restaurant for our dinner. It’s Chinese New Year and we wanted to eat some Chinese food desperately. Wrong decision, half roast duck $17 and fried rice $8, tasteless! Maybe we should just wait till Adelaide. . .

Port Lincoln is famous for the tour packages like Swim with Tuna (even hand feed them) and cage diving with great white Sharks! Swimming with great white sounds interesting, but Peter said we musn’t try, else we’ll scared ourselves out when we go diving at Great Barrier Reef! Okay okay, forget the sharks then. So just some peaceful fishing off the town’s jetty for the whole morning. Got one tommy ruff herring. That’s it?

Our campsite at Port Lincoln Tourist Park

We stayed at Port Lincoln Tourist Park for one night. Unpowered site costs us $23 per night with the same basic facility, camp kitchen, shower and laundry. One night stay eventually extended to three nights cause Peter got his first cheap fishing rod for $39 at a shop. And the caravan park we stayed has free sausage sizzle for that weekend. Also, the jetty off the caravan park is famous for catching squids. So more fishing!

Finally on the third day of fishing, Peter got his first catch from the rod, tommy ruffs again! After some time, he got a garfish (long fish with spear like mouth). When we were almost finish for the day, a couple nearby caught three calamari squids. So we quickly throw in our squid jig! YES!!! At last, we manage to catch a squid, a BIG one! That's the garfish he's holding up there~

Slimy squidddddd

Met Tino, the german backpacker who actually did the whole round of OZ! Well done, hopefully we can do the same =)

Coffin Bay National Park

2012-03-03T08:53:00.002+08:00

Coffin Bay National Park**** Coffin Bay is famous for it yummylicious OYSTERS! The famous Coffin Bay National Park is just nearby the town. There’s a small general store in the town where you can get supplies and also fishing baits.

The park costs $9 for entrance fee. Few parts of the park is 4wd accessible. We did drive around to look at the small islands surrounding this bay. Camped at Yangie Bay, which has compost toilet. There are many bird species seen around our camp site by dusk and kangaroos hopping around to find food. It is a good place close to nature =)

Golden Island Lookout

Australian Fairy Terns

Yangie Lookout Walk - a short climb with views overlooking Yangie Bay and Marble Ranges, as well as Yangie Island. 1km return, 20mins.

The Red Wattlebird, one of Australia’s largest honeyeater.

New Holland Honeyeater

Bits of info: Australia was originally called 'New Holland". This name was applied in OZ in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman as Nova Hollandia, naming it after the Dutch province of Holland and remained in use for 180 years.

Next morning we had a walk along the Long Beach and saw this Sooty Oystercatcher. Well we followed the track of this bird to look for oysters, unfortunately to no avail. It is still the spawning season of oysters in jan and feb. They’ll get fattened up then in March, right into peoples’ stomach.

Still searching on the name for this bird:)

Gawler Ranges National Park

2012-03-03T08:31:00.001+08:00

After paying the national park entrance fee of $9, we pack drinking water and lunch. We were hoping to get a lift from anyone entering the Organ Pipes. Just as we wished, a couple on 4WD drove by. They actually offered us a lift after they knew of our intention to walk. It was good chat with Caroline and Kim. After 8 km of bumpy road, we reach the main entrance and just some hike in, there stands the wonderful rock formations.

Peter playing the ‘organ’

With Caroline and Kim, the kind couple

We spend about four hours here, hiking up the rocks. Since the couple had left, we walked out the 8km under the hot sun. It took us 2 and half hours to walk back out. Luckily we had enough water =) It was still worth the walk, cause the scenery is really beautiful. But that’s the only part of the park we can go, other area are 4wd only and too far to walk. By the end of that walk, we felt so grateful to Caroline and Kim, if not for them, we’ll have a really hard time doing the 16km walk =)

Venus Bay ~ Our first fish here! & Mt Wudinna

2012-03-03T08:26:00.001+08:00

Further south from Baird Bay, we reach the small fishing town of Venus Bay*****. There are many people on the jetty. We like this place immediately. The smell of sea, beautiful jetty and this place looks like there is abundant of fish! Look at this picture; the pelicans seemed to be queuing to eat the fish guts thrown out by the fisherman.

For sure we have to try a hand to fish off this jetty. We bought the simple fishing hand line from Ceduna for $6 so it is time to try fishing for the first time. Off the jetty, as the water is quite clear, we can see some fishes swimming around our squid bait. Angie almost got one tommy ruff herring, but was stolen by a sealion when retrieving the line! Gosh there’s sealion even here at the jetty. . . and it’s so cheeky! Why did we pay $140 for the sealion tour again?? Hahaha. . . Just about that later, a pod of dolphins swam by far at the sea. Erm. . . the question again. Well, the tour protects you from the shark. We have heard of many shark biting cases in Australia from the news when we work at Madura. So better be safe than sorry. Anyway, the tour almost guarantees swimming with the animals.

At the end of the day, Angie caught her first fish, a Silver Trevally. Then, the second trevally. A family was showing us how to use the fishing rod to catch fish. Peter had a go with it and managed to catch a tommy ruff herring too. It was great experience, learning fishing step by step. Really glad that there are helpful Australians teaching us along the way =)

The lookout from Venus Bay hill.

We stayed at the only caravan park there, paying $23 for unpowered site. It has good camp kitchen and rainwater which is drinkable. We used the oven to cook the trevally, end up it’s like steam fish using the oven, with tomato, garlic and ginger sauce. And just pan fried the tommies. Both tasted real good!

From Venus Bay, we did a detour further south to see the Talia Caves. That's the Woolshed Cave above.

Honestly there isn’t much to see around Talia. So we go back north, heading to Gawler Ranges National Park.

The Gawler Ranges is quite big, and the major towns leading there are Minnipa, Wudinna and Kimba. We stayed a night at Minnipa’s Pildappa Rock***** which has free camping and compost toilet. We planned to drive to Gawler NP the next morning then take a walk to the famous Organ Pipes since the roads into this highlight is for 4WD only. It will be an 8km hike in, 16km return. Probably that’s the reason many people haven’t heard of Gawler Ranges NP, it is not easily accessible and a lot of dirt road.

Pildappa Rock

Sunset @ Pildappa Rock

Swim with Sealions at Baird Bay

2012-02-17T14:01:00.003+08:00

About 50kms from Streaky Bay is the Baird Bay, small town with just few houses and a camp ground. It is famous for the 'Swim with Sealions and Dolphins' tour. Operated by the locals here. That's the purpose we are here!

Camp ground with compose toilet and bbq facility. Camp fee is honesty system too.

Sunset walk along the beach

Saw these two cute kangaroos (probably looking at the sunset) as we take a bush walk.

The Baird Bay Eco Ocean Experience departs twice daily to see the dolphins and sealions. These animals have settled in Baird Bay for quite some time so it is always easy to see them. Following the tour is easier, as they provide snorkelling equipments, wet suits, and shark protection. It's $140 per pax for the tour, lasts about 4 hours. It's better to make a booking before coming to Baird Bay as they may not have a tour in bad weather.

It's really once in a lifetime experience, swimming so closely with these cute sea animals. The dolphins are quite shy, though they came to see and swim a while but did not stay long. But the sealions are really playful, they will come close and even kiss you on the hand!

A: The water is freezing~~~

The tour offers some hot drinks and biscuits on the boat as well.

Dont miss this video - swim with sealion!!! but be patient cause it is a 4 mins video and it worth to see.

They are AMAZING and PLAYFUL!!

Bits of info about Australian Sea Lions and Bottlenose Dolphins

Sea lions: are the ‘eared seals’. They have tiny external ears and can lift their bodies off the ground with their four flippers. They are the fastest seals and can swim up to 40km/h.

Unlike other seals, their gestation is up to 18 months and not 12 months, as most others are. Females come ashore at breeding sites, mother usually returning to their place of birth to give birth themselves. Mature sea lions live on average for 20 years.

Dolphins: forehead is distinctly curved and houses the ‘melon’ that is used to emit sonar clicks into the water. They can swim up to 30km/h. Inshore dolphins will often work together to herd schooling fish and have been known to chase fish onto sandbanks and to beach themselves temporarily to catch them. In captivity dolphins can live as long as 40 years, in the wild they only live 25 to 30 years. Dolphins have a special sense called ‘echo location’ which is used for navigation and to find food. Echo locate on involves the production of sound in the naval sacs. The sound is focused by the ‘melon’ and then projected towards the object in the water. Sounds that strike any object are reflected back and received by the lower jaw, where they are passed to the brain. Dolphins can form sound pictures of objects based on the difference between the density of the object and the density of surrounding water. Their colour vision is limited, have no sense of smell, but have excellent sense of taste.

Streaky Bay

2012-02-17T13:21:00.001+08:00

Streaky Bay Jetty

Streaky Bay is a good base for exploring the coastline or the inland of national park (Flinders Ranges). It also has few supermarkets for stocking up before you go into the outback. We tried some fishing off this jetty too, but to no avail. A kind family gave us some crabs and tommy ruff herring they caught~ So good, now we don't have to worry about our dinner =P

There are few scenic drives recommended around this town which are really good. We started with the Cape Bauer Drive which takes about two hours.

Cape Bauer*****

The Westall Way Loop***** is the more interesting drive in our opinion. But if you have time, both is a must do. There are camping grounds in both drives, fee is applicable but works on the honesty system. So. . . up to you if you want to pay =)

The Granites - The rock looks like some kind of animal

The Smooth Pool***** which is very good for swimming as it is protected by the reefs so that sharks could not swim in! It's also good for snorkelling, too bad we haven't bought the snorkelling equipments!

We chose to camp at Speed Point (cause its 'free'). No facilities there at all, just sandy grounds so we had to bring our own water. Some hike down the hills brings us to this beach. Not a single person here =)

Campfire at night, aahhh... so warm~~

Point Labatt Sealion Colony*****

It's a long way in, about 12kms of dirt road. But still accessible by 2wd. This picture is actually taken from a hilltop view about 50m high. So it is quite far from the colony, best to bring a binocular to observe them.

Ceduna, crabs and oysters~

2012-02-17T12:45:00.004+08:00

Ceduna was the first town we arrive from the Nullabor. It is the quarantine checkpoint of fruits and vegetables for travelers towards South OZ. That means anyone travelling into Ceduna from Western OZ must not bring any fruit or veggies.

The town attracts many tourists to stop over with its beautiful fishing and crabbing jetty, has two supermarkets, camping and fishing specialty shop (which is not that expensive, at least cheaper than Streaky Bay) and handful of caravan parks. It attracted us to stay for 3 days at the Foreshore Caravan Park mainly due to the shopping we need to do (buying camping and fishing equipments) and the easy crabbing opportunity.

The caravan park is not big, but well managed and has good facilities like fish cleaning station (equipped with big pots for people to cook crabs), camp kitchen with gas BBQ, and sells bait as well. They also lease crab nets for free, the catch is that you just have to buy crab bait from them for $7. The camp & fishing shop beside Foodland supermarket sells crab net for $12 if you want to do crabbing very often =)

The caravan park manager said it’s really easy to catch crabs, just put the bait in the net (secured by a steel), chuck it into the water then pull out every 10mins. And you’ll have crabs!

We were so delighted when we heard that. We went crabbing in the morning, around 8.30am when the tide is still high. About half an hour later, still no crabs. Then slowly you will see the blue reflections, moving towards the net. Those are blue swimmer crabs. It’s really interesting as you can see them get into the net, and you pull the string up!

We managed to get five crabs~ That’s enough for our lunch now =PP

White Southern Hairy Wombat – Cute little fella

After the crabbing, we went to Ceduna Wombat Rescue Homestead to see the rare White Wombat. The homestead is privately owned, and they put so much effort into rescuing and nurturing problematic wombats (such as bowel disorder or physical injuries caused by cars) back to normal. Then bring them back to zoos. There are three types of wombat: Common wombat, southern hairy wombat and the rare northern hairy nose wombat.They sleep in dark boxes in the homestead because they are used to live in burrows in the wild. The wombats will be let out to dig holes and play around in the garden certain time of the day.

One of the native animals of Australia, the wombats are like the koalas, sleeping about three quarter of its time a day. Their teeth look like squirrel.

The homestead is open for public visiting from 10.30am to 11.30am daily and receives voluntary donations.

The freshest crab we ever had, boil in seawater.

Our dinner – Catch of the day Porridge with egg and ginger. YUMS~~

The day we left Ceduna, we took a stroll along the beach. We saw so many oyster shells on the beach~ Suspecting that it might be the right time for oyster season, we begin to hunt for the oysters~! We walk and walk, and finally manage to find one growing on the rocks. The oyster really disguised within the rocks and we have to look really carefully. Another hard part is to remove it from the rocks. Gosh. . . Luckily we bought an oyster chucker, makes it bit easier. Sometimes we can only open the top shell, so the only way is to eat it right away, from the rocks with seawater in it! Eventually we got these . . .

A group of aboriginals past by and were curious on what we are doing (trying to open the shells). They offer to help out. They did open the oyster but then dropped it onto the floor >.< Then one of them who knows how to speak Mandarin (Ni hao ma? ) asked for two dollars, to buy some drinks. Eventually we give it to them. =.=

That two dollars = a picture with the aboriginals from Yalata Community.

Enjoyed them with Tabasco sauce and squeezed lemon =)

SO FRESH

Head of Bight, Penong, Cactus Beach

2012-02-17T12:28:00.003+08:00

From About 12kms east of Nullabor rdhse is the Head of Bight*****. This park is famous for whale watching during May to September. But it is open during off peak season as well for a cheaper entrance fee of $5. Opening time is 9am till 4pm. It is a good walk around the park with two observation platform to see the whales . . . When they are here. . .

The cliffs at Head of Bight

From Head of Bight, we stopped at Penong for some snacks then proceed to its world class surfing beach, Cactus Beach*****. Although it is well known, there are no signboards leading the way to it. Just make a turn into the primary school then continue south of Penong for 20 kms of dirt road. The road is very bumpy, but still accessible by 2wd. The journey into the beach is so nice, with Lake Mcdonnell (the pink salt lake) as an eye opener. Then the various bird species around some small lakes and lastly the big Blue Lake.

First time seeing a Pink Lake~! It is so beautiful, its colour best seen on a hot sunny day!

Wikipedia: Pink Lake is a result of the green alga Dunaliella salina and the halobacterium Halobacteria cutirubrum. Once the lake water reaches a salinity level greater than that of sea water, the temperature is high enough and adequate light conditions are provided, the alga begins to accumulate the red pigment beta carotene. The pink halobacteria grow in the salt crust at the bottom of the lake and the colour of the lake is a result of the balance between D. salina and H. cutirubrum

You can see the different colours of the lake on both sides =)

There is only bush camping facility in Point Sinclair beside Cactus Beach, privately owned, costs $10 per pax. With toilet, outdoor shower and dishwashing/ laundry basin. The beach itself is good for surfing, not that good for swimming cause it’s full of small rocks.

Sunset is simply beautiful here

360 ̊of starry night at the bush camp

There is a walking trail around the coast of the beach, up the cliffs then the gorge and back to the camp which takes us 3 hours return. We saw many wildlife along the walk, among them the rock crabs, pied cormorant birds, slow moving bobtail lizard, sooty oystercatcher bird. It was a good and tiring walk =)

Rock Crabs

Pied Cormorants hanging around the cliffs

The gorge of Point Sinclair

The nearby Le Hunte Jetty, good for swimming

Across the Nullabor

2012-02-17T12:00:00.006+08:00

Half way through the Nullabor for 3 months working in Madura, we finally get to move on~~ Much appreciation to Madura Roadhouse for the 3 months we were there, so much happened and experienced, good times mostly =) It felt good to earn enough money and travel again. This time, we won’t need to think too much about the costly exchange rate from MYR to AUD anymore!

Border Village – Border of South Australia and Western Australia

The travelling across Nullabor is very expensive, because transportation of goods is very limited. Petrol is so deary, $2.00 per litre when we leave Madura around end January 2012. Travelers often comment that Madura roadhouse and Nullabor roadhouse are the most expensive ones! We stayed the first night at Nullabor roadhouse, unpowered site for 2 ppl $20. Shower costs $1.00 for 5 minutes. . . sweat~~ No camp kitchen.

Bunda Cliffs

Along the road from Border Village to Nullabor roadhse, there are several lookout points for Bunda Cliffs*****. There are cracks on the cliff so we have to be careful and not go out of the pathway.

Our Hong Kong style Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner

SET P&A : Instant noodle with egg & luncheon meat + Ice Lemon Tea

This is the first time ever, P&A ate such reunion dinner. It tastes so GOOD ~ ~ ~

2011 X'mas and new year at Madura~

2012-02-16T14:38:00.006+08:00

The bar . . . Angie's workplace. . .

Xmas table . . . with P&A's helping hand in decor =)

The coffee counter, and the only computer with internet access on the right, charging $3 for 12 minutes!!!!

The restaurant, Angie's workplace again. . .

The bar, with really old pool table

Snack bar menu of Madura . . the most expensive across the Nullabor =P

The chef, Wazza with his snake apron

Shane, the manager of the roadhouse . . . more interestingly is the glazed leg ham!

The staff room, where we normally eat our meals. . .

The kitchen, Peter's workplace as the morning cook!

Service station, fuel station shop.

The signature postcard photo in Madura

Nearest town will be Norseman (529kms) away. How 'near' . . .

Santa Kelly

Our very first Australian Xmas Dinner

Turkey, leg ham, roast veggies, salad, yorkshire pudding

Finally, Xmas dinner on the table~ Can't wait . . .

Xmas dessert, Trifle (sponge soaked in Kahlua, rasberry jelly base, brandy cream top)

Our X'mas prezzies, thank you Shane and Kelly

Fireworks display on X'mas night~

From left, Angie, Monia, Wazza, Laura & Martin, Malcolm and Peter.

The New Year Eve with cards, beers and laughter...

BIG big spider where you can find when you go to the walking trail

The old Madura roadhouse. Now full of old old cars. . .

From left, Richard, Peter, Rico, Nicole and Monia. Very happy to have met them before we leave Madura. Sharing travelling experiences and funny stories among these backpackers =)

Frankie, our second chef = the Italian chef~

We miss your food so much~

Working Life in Madura

2012-02-16T14:17:00.003+08:00

Taking a ride in this truck to the bush, where a caravan and drum set + loud music on set!

PArty time~~ Meet the two funniest people in Madura, Sophie and fat Tim. Lovely couple. . .

'Luan Ta' =P

Oops, small accident leads to burning truck . . .

The lookout point, to see the roe plain

Clay art night... get your hands dirty!!!

Full Moon on 11/11/2011

Have a swing at the World's Longest Golf Course =)

Eh, macam mau masuk. . .

Budgies

The pet sheep, Leme aka Rusty

Curious Major Mitchell Cockatoos

Norseman to Madura Pass

2012-02-15T08:50:00.006+08:00

Norseman is a small historical gold mining town. It is the second richest goldfield in WA. Nothing much here. We went to the Beacon Hill Lookout**, which is a few minutes drive from the caravan park. Nothing spectacular, but it’s a good place for morning walk and have a look of the mining area =)

Along the Eyre Highway to Madura, there are few roadhouses which provide accommodation, food and fuel. Among them, Balladonia is worth stopping because it has a little museum in the roadhouse. There are a lot of information on the highway itself and American Skylab (spaceship) which dropped from its orbit where some debris ended up in Balladonia.

Australia

’s Longest Straight Road – Caiguna

There is a tree nearby this sign which is covered with shoes or sandals hanging on it! The first traveler who starts this ‘shoe hanging’ must be saying “I have been here”! How thoughtful~ But we wouldn’t sacrifice our Nike shoes though. . .

Really cannot stand driving on this road, so straight! Not much things to see~

Finally!

It took us five hours drive from Norseman to Madura. Madura station was settled in 1876 and bred horses for the British Army (India). Wow, we were glad the roadhouse is much bigger than the others we have seen on this highway so far, with bar, restaurant, motel and service station. Whew~~

We get to stay in the staff quarters room, which has a double bed, toilet, fridge and television in it. $70 for a week is really worth it then! And most surprising is the dinner we get here. . .
Have a look, our first meal in Madura. . . Oh dear. . .

Our room for 3 months

The roadhouse

Esperance, beautiful beaches

2012-02-15T08:42:00.005+08:00

Right after the cave, we head on to Esperance. It was about 4.5 hours drive. As we go further on to the south, it started to rain non-stop. Esperance is known for its beautiful white beaches and national park. Pls pls rain go away. . .

Lucky Bay***** - The whitest beach in OZ!

When we reached Esperance, went into the tourist info to get some details on how to go Cape Le Grand National Park. It is always useful to go into these information centers because they have the most updated information. While on our way to Esperance, we passed by Ravensthorpe info center. We wish to camp at Fitzgerald National Park which has an access road from Hopetoun. We were told that the park’s access road was closed from the Hopetoun route due to bacterial infection in the park, especially when it is raining. Fitzgerald park has many viewpoints for whales and scenery camping sites. Too bad we can’t go there. But we got to Cape Le Grand, which is just as fascinating!

That evening when we reach Cape Le Grand National Park*****(50km south east of Esperance), it was raining the whole night. There are two caravan and camping sites, one at Lucky Bay, the other at Le Grand Beach. Lucky Bay has more camping sites, with camp kitchen, BBQ, toilets and shower facilities. And even wild kangaroos as companion for dinner =) Entrance to the park costs $11 per vehicle and $9 camping per person.

When we woke up 4.45am in the morning, freezing cold, the sun had rise already. So early! It was entirely a different park we see now, without the rain and gloomy weather. How beautiful! Our first stop is Frenchmen Peak Lookout*****, to view the entire park up above. It is a 3km return hike, 2hours hard walking. Just a look at the Peak from the bottom, Angie said: Wow is that possible to hike up at all?? In fact it was alright on the way up, just that the granite rocks are really steep; Angie had a hard time descending it =P But we made it!

Superb view from the peak, the park's coastline clearly visible

Back to Lucky Bay . . .

When you see such beautiful beach like this one, the greatest sorrow is that you can’t jump in it! Cause it was so cooold =.=

Our Signature Collection in Lucky Bay with hopping kangaroo

Thistle Cove

Frenchman Peak

Cape Le Grand Beach

We make our back to Esperance, and took the 40km Great Ocean Drive around the coastline. Along the way, we passed by many beaches.

Salmon Beach

Among the famous one is Twilight Beach. It looks like a sleeping dinosaur skull in the middle of the sea.

If you’re lucky, may spot whales at the Rotary Lookout. Not lucky day for us though. We also passed by the Pink Lake, which was really pink 5 or 6 years ago. Not now, the information center said it might become pink again maybe in another 5 years. LOL

That night we camped at Norseman. About two hours drive from Esperance. We miss Malaysian Chinese food, so we cooked fried meehoon (rice noodles) and have it in our tent. And it is extremely delicious!!

Trip to Madura Pass: Wave Rock, Hyden

2012-02-03T12:05:00.017+08:00

Thanks to thejobshop.com.au, we found ourselves a job in a roadhouse 1250kms east of Perth. The place is called Madura Pass, which is a stopover for travelers along the Eyre Highway for petrol, food and accommodation. It was a good option for us, cause we get to work together. And the pay is award wage, Saturday & Sunday pay is higher than weekdays. It seemed like a good place to save some travel money, as we only need to pay $70 for board (accom & food) per week. Basically, we will have nothing to spend on except internet, liquor and snacks.

After two weeks in Perth and a week in strawberry farm, we happily accepted the job offer! Finally found the better job now! Hopefully =)

To get there, we planned for a 4 days driving trip. There are normally two routes to go east from Perth. One is through Kalgoorlie (mining town) then Norseman, then Eyre Highway. We decided to take the other route, stopping at the Wave Rock (Hyden), Esperance, Norseman and finally Madura Pass. Kalgoorlie sounds interesting as well, where you can take a tour and join in the underground mining world. Well, we only have 5 days to get to Madura. Can’t go everywhere in Australia.

Along the highway, we saw this wheat belt field. All golden across the never ending fields.

A dog cemetery in Corrigin. How thoughtful… =)

Wave Rock***** This beautiful rock formation might look long, but it is only 110metres long. In fact it is the highest and longest flared slope in Australia, winning the Ayers Rock and others. The colorful lines of black algal emphasizes the waves (granite slope). It is formed by water weathering the rocks.

Peter on the Wave Rock!

The park area is quite big, there are few trails to walk on. We spent about 2 hours walking around the park, enjoying the sunset colouring the rocks slowly. A trail leads to the ‘Hippo Yawn’, which is a big stone resembling a Hippo yawning.

Beautiful flowers, fairyland??

Our first time camping in Australia, beside the tent side is our newly bought car, we named it ‘KoALa’. The sky turned pink during sunset, incredibly beautiful!

Camping experience is really good. We camped at the Wave Rock Caravan Park, which has good facilities and even electric BBQ. Cost $28 for two people inclusive of the entrance fee to the park which is $7.

The next morning, we went to Mulka’s Cave****, about 18km from the Wave Rock. Though just a small cave, it has an interesting legend within. The legend holds that Mulka (the aboriginal illegitimate son) who was born with crossed eyes, couldn’t aim properly and failed as a hunter. Then he turns into a children eating terror who lived in the cave, and killed his own mother. OMG. He was then killed by his tribe and his body was left to the ants as a warning to anyone who breaks the law.

Mulka’s fingerprint can be seen in the caves. This cave contains the largest collection of Aboriginal paintings in south west WA.

The creative constructions of exhibits, showing Hyden’s historic transportation and its transformation to a town.