The Early Morning Knock and Chasing the Sun ( My Life in Australia)

This weekend Vitaliy and I had all intentions to invite our friend Scott over and hang out with Uncle Joe while having a Grand Final party and watching St. Kilda versus Hawthorne battle it out for the top title.  But… early Saturday morning Uncle Joe came knocking on our door around 8:30 A.M. and said “we’re heading North to where the sunshine is!”  Not really knowing what to expect, we packed an over-night bag and started driving up the Western coast!

We soon found out that we were headed to Dongara, a small coastal town about 6 hours north of Perth.  On the way to Dongara we stopped to eat lunch in a cute little town called Gingin (pronounced Jenn-Jenn) and ate at a quaint little café called Eliza’s.  Gingin is your typical small town with a nice park area, a few small shops, cafés, and a quaint country feeling.  While we were eating at Eliza’s there was a beautiful outdoor wedding going on in the park next to the café.

After finishing up at Eliza’s we hit the road again and guess what!?!?  We totally passed a whole field of kangaroos!!!!!!!!  Yes, real-life bouncing-pouches-with-joeys kangaroos!  Vitaliy just about had a heart-attack in the back seat and I couldn’t believe that we were actually seeing real-live kangaroos.  This was quite a change from the dead ones that we kept seeing along the side of the road.  Apparently kangaroos are really dumb and like to run in the middle of the road like deer, so…to combat this problem people but giant metal grills on the front of their car just incase they hit a kangaroo.  Classy and functional!

                     

Our next stop was absolutely amazing!  We made a stop at The Pinnacles.  The Pinnacles is a national park that is basically a million large rocks coming up from the ground that were once at the bottom of the ocean.  Over time they have slowly appeared from the ground as the sand in the area has shifted.  It looked like we were walking through the scene of a science-fiction movie as we were exploring.  Slowly Uncle Joe maneuvered his trusty CR-V through the millions of rocks protruding from the ground.  We parked the car to walk around for a bit and Vitaliy got so excited because she thought she saw a giant lizard lying on a Pinnacle.  The Steve Irwin inside of her starting blurting out “crickey!” left and right.  This might be a surprise to you but there wasn’t actually a giant lizard there, it was a tree root.  Nonetheless it was pretty hilarious.

After adventuring around The Pinnacles for a bit we continued on our drive and arrived in Dongara.  We tried to find a place to stay but apparently everyone that lives in Dongara decided to get married this weekend and on top of the footy grand final the sleepy town of Dongara turned into a bustling place to hang out for the weekend.  We eventually found a place to stay at The Priory which used to be a nunnery.  To come to the conclusion that “nunnery” was an actual term took a 15 minute long conversation that concluded with the fact that there was a difference between a “nunnery” and a “convent”.  (F.Y.I.: A nunnery is a building or group of buildings for nuns whereas a convent is a community of persons devoted to religious life under a superior… thank you dictionary.com!).After checking into the nunnery we headed to get some dinner and went to a great seafood restaurant right down the road (which I guess everything in Dongara could be considered right down the road…).  The footy crowd was still there and you could definitely tell which team had won and which had lost.  Some of the poor St. Kilda Saints fans were laying their heads on the bar while clenching a pint in the other hand, whereas the Hawthorne Hawks fans were singing, dancing, and having a great time basking in their glory.

Our hotel was quite the place to be in Dongara!  There was a live band, the bar was packed, and everyone was having a great time enjoying the evening.  Uncle Joe, Vitaliy, and I had a drink and then went out to where there were no lights at all to look at the stars.  The sky was absolutely breathtaking!  I felt like we were in a planetarium gazing up at the Milky Way, the Southern Cross, distant planets, and billions upon billions of stars.  The Milky Way was quite possibly one of the coolest things I have ever seen!  I would definitely advise everyone to take a moment out of their busy lives to take a drive and just look up in the sky; it really puts everything in perspective.

The following morning we checked out of the nunnery and stopped at a small café for breakfast before heading down to the beach.  The trek to the beach was down a small trail that led straight to the ocean.  All three of us were wearing our Australian outback hats looking like locals as we walked around a bit looking for shells, whales, dolphins, and other sea creatures.  After getting our ocean fix for the hour we hopped in the car and headed out of town heading back to Perth.

Heading back South along the coastline we stopped for lunch in Lancelin at a great ocean side restaurant that had a guy singing, great views of the ocean, surfers, and fishing boats, as well as a great atmosphere.  There were families picnicking and little kids running all over the place as well as locals getting their drink on.  After wining and dining we walked down a few steps to one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen!  The water was the most beautiful mixture of blue and green colors I have ever seen with the warm sun creating a beautiful pearl effect on top of the water’s perfect surface.  It seemed as if I could see the bottom of the ocean because the water was so picturesque.

From Lancelin Uncle Joe entrusted me to drive the rest of the way home, but before getting home we made one last stop along our whirlwind tour at Yanchep National Park.  This place was amazing!  There was an area that had a bunch of koalas hanging around in trees and they were fully protected from predators and humans.  When the sun began to go down, like magic kangaroos were coming out of the surrounding forest to graze on the grass, they weren’t afraid of the people that were practically touching them as they were eating.  It was the craziest thing!  It was so cool to finally see koalas and kangaroos up close!

Finally we got back home, unpacked the car, and chilled for the rest of the evening.  Tomorrow is the Queen’s birthday which is a national holiday in Australia so lots of people have work off and most kids don’t have to go to school.  Check back for all of my Queen’s birthday festivities!

                

 Thanks for reading!