Back from the outback (the country not the steak-house)

       3,100 km, 30 towns, 18 days, 16 backpackers, a dozen kangaroos, 6 Emus and 3 Koala bears later, we are back in Jakarta. That's right the vacation I had been waiting for for so long has come to an end... and what a trip it was. 

Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Western Australia is Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world. It has 2.2 million inhabitants (10% of the national total), 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state. Wikipedia

   2.2 million people in the entire state. In Jakarta we have 5 times the population.. in one city. Driving for miles and miles without seeing a single soul was exactly what we needed. 

Pinnacles desert

    Our initial plan was to drive up to Broome from Perth, explore the North West outback and fly back to Perth for New Year's. However after enjoying our first week cruising at sunset through the Pinnacles desert, eating Cervantes famous lobster, descending into Kalbarri spectacular gorges and witnessing a world heritage site in Shark Bay ... we had to turn around. 

Kalbarri National Park

Indeed the roads up North had been hit by a recent cyclone and were closed until further notice. Although we were sad to miss out on Nigaloo Reef national park,  we quickly made up our minds and decided to drive south and hit the Aussie wineries. :) 

Hay Shed Hill Winery

             The South West is one of Australia's most attractive regions.  The mediterranean type forests, the eucalyptus trees woodlands and stunning wineries are gorgeous. We spent Xmas eve in Bunbury on the coast and travelled our way up to Margaret River on Boxing day. We sipped on glasses of wine during the whole following day and scrupulously elected 2009 hay Shed Hill Botrytis Riesling  favorite bottle of our trip. :)

Our tent with the outdoor kitchen

    On our way back to Perth we took the inland route and arrived in a beautiful small town on the blackwood river called Nannup.  We looked for the local budget accommodation and were delighted to book into the Black Cockatoo hotel. The place was set in a wild garden and strangely reminded me of the Oregon Country Fair with its crazy fairytale objects hidden all around the trees and tents. All tents were furnished with real individual beds, fine linen as well as a private outdoor kitchen... which made it our most comfortable nights of the whole trip. Both our days in Nannup were spent hiking to beautiful natural pools on the Timberline trail and indulging in delicious red wine and ginger beers in the evenings.

  

We ended our trip in the neighborhood of North bridge in Perth and spent New Year's eve bar hopping and had a blast. Thank you to Fanny for being an amazing trip partner and for making this trip so much fun.  Now, back to work. 

Love- C