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.

Add caption

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.