Perth! Semester One. North to Exmouth and back.

The first thing I did at my new uni was to check out the Innocence Project, it was after all the main reason I decided on ECU.  The university was very new and quite large, with small to medium sized classes.  

For the first reading week, I headed North, making it all the way to Exmouth and back in Kombi. 

Traveling along the coast, I spent the first night camping with a few friends in Two Rocks before heading on to Lancelin the following day.  While in Lancelin, I tried sand boarding, walked along the sand dunes and parked on the beach for the night.  The following morning was Easter, I headed to Cervantes to see the pinnacles and then spent the day with some Australian travelers I met at Lancelin.  We had a huge bbq and they taught me how to play cricket.

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Sand Dunes in Lancelin.

Pinnacles,Cervantes

Brown Crab 

After a long day of touring around and socializing I drove Kombi further north towards Monkey Mia and parked on the beach for a relaxing nights sleep after cooking dinner while the sun set. 

Monkey Mia, is known for the dolphins, so I wondered about looking for them, went snorkeling and walked around the the village's pathway, before jumping back into Kombi and heading for Coral Bay.

Traffic up North in Western Australia

Coral Bay was gorgeous.  The snorkeling was excellent, with great visibility, warm water, a vast array of marine life, beautiful coral and a clean white beach.  If you are ever up this way, it is not a place to miss!  

I spent the entire afternoon and most of the following day at Coral Beach before wandering into Exmouth.  In Exmouth you can snorkel with Whale sharks and dive the Ningoloo Reef.  I also went for a couple of dives at Navy Pier.  One of Australia's best known dive sites.  It wasn't bad, I did see heaps of marine life, but for the visibility and price, I wouldn't rate Navy Pier nor Ningaloo, at least not for diving in April, which was the only time I have seen it.

Whale Shark, Exmouth

After three days of diving, I turned around for what was sadly the last part of my trip.  Stopping for the night at some random beach about 300 kms north of Perth, I parked next to a group of English travelers.  We had dinner, told travel stories and shared a few bottles of wine.  Marking the end of this great trip.  The following morning, I was Perth bound.

The rest of the semester flew by.  I began working with a lawyer from the Innocence Project on an unrelated people smuggling trial which ran for 10 weeks after at least a month's worth of preparation.  Began picking up odd jobs here and there through an agency and worked off and on with another criminal lawyer while I completed my exams and worked with the Innocence Project.

By the end of first semester, I was in search of a better suited school.  While ECU undoubtably offers a lot of opportunity, it was in many ways, not what I expected of a law school. 

After finishing the first semester with the Innocence Project, I remained on as a volunteer and transfered over to Notre Dame.  While it is a catholic university, it is otherwise quite nice.  The staff and students are very friendly, the campus is small and has beautiful old buildings, the teachers seem very helpful, it is a private school, so there are no international students fees and it is located in beautiful old Fremantle.  A suburb just south of Perth known for its arts, history and culture.

NSW, ACT, SA, WA!!; From East to West (Jan-Feb 2010)

Arriving back to Australia after my visit home over the Christmas break, I find myself in need of change once more!  

With my trusty Kombi and a Canadian/Irish friend Andrew,  I was on the road within days of reaching NSW, Perth bound!  New city, new side of the country and a new law school, changing things up once more!

Along the way (or as a side trip...) we stopped in Canberra,  I couldn't leave the east coast without making it to the Capital!  We toured around for the day, checking out the High Court, Parliament House and Old Parliament house before heading back out onto the open road!

With 1,600 km behind us, our next stop was Adelaide, a laid back town with various art scenes and a welcoming feel.  We toured around, spent Valentines day along the beach talking with other foreigners on the large jetty which is found on their most popular beach and spent the night at a local pub watching a live band play, before heading off once more!

A windmill blade/tourist attraction in Snowtown, a town with quite the history...worth looking up if you are interested in serial killers of Australia!

Before heading straight for the Nullabor, after Adelaide we decided to take one last side trip which led us to Port Lincoln and then Coffin Bay!  Coffin Bay was perhaps one of the best side trips we made.  Pulling in along the coast, we introduced ourselves to a group of Greek fisherman who take a few weeks off each year to travel to this location for fishing salmon.  After a long day of fishing they were cleaning their catch at the public fish cleaning bay and feeding the large pelicans which anxiously awaited for dinner.  It wasn't long before they invited us back to their cottage and later for a day of fishing!  It was incredible!  We drove 20 km over sand dunes to the coast where we reeled in a large salt water salmon with almost every cast!  After a beautiful dinner and a great night of story sharing, Andrew and I were Nullabor bound with enough salmon in the fridge to last us the trip!

The nullarbor was...well, exactly as it indicates...(means no trees)... as we drove the tree line quickly diminished to shrubs and then finally nothing... With one of the longest straight stretches in the world and the longest golf coarse in the Southern Hemisphere (built I am sure to break up the drive with a hole every 10 kms), we traveled along the nullarbor camping as we went and stopping at everything there was to see, including road houses and golf holes...

After reaching the end of the Nullarbor we spent a day in Kalgoolie before heading to the next place I will live for some time, Perth.  The most desolate city in the world! Kombi drove over 4,500 km to reach Perth, but with perhaps maybe a bit more character and alot of heart, she is ready for future adventures as we travel around this side of the country.  Arriving the night before classes began, we found a place to park, in anticipation of what this side might hold!