Questo Diario di Viaggio è stato tenuto da Ann Julie che, essendo inglese, ha preferito scriverlo nella sua lingua madre. Per non perdere il vero senso delle sue parole, preferiamo pubblicarlo senza tradurlo.

After being met at Perth Airport by Dundee’s mother who was very helpful and showed the good services given to tourists even at 2am. The week described before in letter was the one spent with my brother Ron and his Ladies (4) at Sorrento Resort north of Perth. Marisa could have spent the whole holiday here as in Italy she, Sara and Aaron have a great problem with the sun and the beach, suffer from a type of erythema more an allergy than sunburn, so to be able to stay in the sun and get a tan without suffering was out of this world for her. Daphne was horrified at this as in the southern hemisphere there is a lot of skin cancer. You see one can’t win but couldn’t spoil Marisa’s enjoyment lovely free beaches and no immediate skin problem. I told you about the changes we saw on Rottnest Island from our visit in’93 and this one; we took the ferry from Hillary Boat Harbour (Sorrento) Last att. pic sent.

On the 21/12/08, Ron and Family dropped us at the car rental office and we were off on our discovery of South/western Australia. Even with the Tom-Tom that we had brought with us from Italy it took us sometime to get out of Perth due to the new motorway they are building as the roads are not registered on the machine. Our first stop was at Preston, the start of the Geographe Region, there are big inlets which are a mark of the Australian coastline, Pine trees which I didn’t think very Australian at this stage but had to change my mind later on as they are full of them, so much so that they could go into competition with the Black Forests of Germany in some areas. There were also the Black Swans the emblem of WA, at Australind, we walked around then off to Bunbury where Ron and Daph lived for a few years where we saw a campsite ‘Liguria’, there are a lot of Italian names.

Little Beach

Every zone in Australia is a Shire, at Busselton we had lunch and I realized that this was going to be a flash Gordon tour so I would not be able to amble as I like too but had to be like Gino mark out A-B and so on. Next stop Cowanamup Bay a small bay with a placard that described the big biodiversity, limestone/granite coastal cliffs, Jarrah Marri forest, and Karri lined brook. Sheltered Bays with sea grass beds and reef ecosystems, giant humpback, south right whales. Home to the Wardandi people or Noongar hunter/gathers this was the start of Leeuwin Park which covers from the north to south cape. (It reminded me of the Indian Ocean cape zone of SA) My camera got over heated, thought that the batteries had run out but when I changed them still didn’t work, will tell you the out come of this later on, but it meant that I have no photos from a lizard at the bay until we got to Pemberton.

We spent our first night at Margaret River and don’t think that the famous chocolate factory is there, it is miles north so we didn’t have the chocolate fondue that we had planned. Next morning went to Prevelly Park were there were a lot of old surfers, to think that it was Xmas week there weren’t many people about. The Caves on the way down to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse are fantastic; we went to the Lake Cave. It is a drop to walk down, don’t know how many stairs but well worth it as they have formations that you don’t see in the Grotto (Caves) of Italy as the earthquakes break them. We also learnt about the Bussell’s and the Brockman Families who owned all this land between the two Capes & Fanny Brockman nee Bussell discovered this cave. The lady wasn’t impressed with me as I pointed out that there was no sign with regard to the level of difficulty. As here in Italy they cover themselves with regard to visitors having problems, only the Mammoth Cave seems able to take people with physical problems. There was a Japanese Lady who was worried that she wouldn’t make it back up…she did.

We had a picnic lunch near the lighthouse with a breathtaking view and watched the whales while eating. Went off the track a bit to Molloy island, we didn’t go onto it as it is a private one with a ferry to take you there, and our first introduction to this dog and cat’s not allowed or only those of the residents. Back to Margaret River by the same road that we would use the next day to leave that zone. The whole area of the Capes besides the coastal/beach area is taken up with wineries, golf courses, Spa Retreats but it still has a beautiful wildness which I hope it keeps as it is a big attraction. Now there is no need to exploit the land for tourism which was late coming to the zone, there are a lot of farms for sale which could be converted and the ‘Greens’ seemed to have protected it more than in other areas of Australia. At Alexandra Bridge they still have protest banners up.

On our way up to Nannup there was a kangaroo on the side of the road who gave the impression of passing the morning watching the cars travelling by. Nannup seems to be a great logging area with a big factory and miles and miles of pine trees but seems that they are also do eucalyptus plantation which seem more natural to the environment but don’t know if they can chips them as they do with the pine to export all around the world. Then down to Manjimup, the countryside changes and reminds one of the Marché and Toscana in Italy and as I said before parts of Germany. The names on the map don’t give the true impression of the size of the towns. Some are mentioned and even looking out for them they aren’t there, not a house. There again you have small name printed and a town is to be seen rather than a village. We were told to keep the petrol above the half tank mark and it is a good rule. At this stage I had to replace the camera, Kodak are for people like me very easy to use and I found out also the most costly in their range, asked for the girl to do it so that it was ready for use and it didn’t work. I said lets try mine again and low and behold it worked, bought a memory card, as I had to buy something seeing that they had opened the box. It is something to do with the connect with the battery, it happened again as it had happened in London, so after a nights rest and playing with the batteries it starts to work normally.

Walk to Glocester Tree

Arrived at Pemberton and thought to do some sight seeing before going to the hotel/motel but the golf link road was closed. When we got to the hotel they told us about the big storm that they had had on the 20th the swimming pool had just been reopened as the tree had fallen over it and rubble into it. Walked to the Gloucester Tree, the bush is lovely. We slept very well, rather cool so that we wonder about this Australian Summer. 24/12 went down to Point D’Entrecasteaux on the way we saw the damage that had been done, thankfully it had happened days before we arrived so that the roads were now open after the huge Karri tree had fallen and blocked them. At Salmon Beach, breathtaking is an understatement, the rock formations, the mile long white beaches and the two or three people that you meet up with. Going to the Point noticed that the entire bush was burnt, as far as the eye could see. (I thought that maybe this was like in Italy before where they used to burn everything hoping that they could then build.)

I met two ladies who they explained the reason for this burning, which was later proved in Victoria when the fires get out of hand. There is a seal colony at the Point and we were also very luck to see more than one school of whales. On the way back to Pemberton we stopped by to see the bicentennial tree. Walked around the town the tourist tram was just leaving for Northcliffe, we had passed there that morning. Went to The swimming pool which is nested in the river, we were unable to go on any of the bush paths around it as they still had to be remade. The midnight mass was at Manjimup needless to say we didn’t go as there is no driving at night in a rented car but as a fish dish Marisa had marron which we all had again on Kangaroo Island will explain then.

We went to Christmas Mass at the Anglican Church – Walpole, it seems that all Churches have open tables for communion, as they go in turn as there aren’t enough people for each church to do a morning mass. Marisa found all this bewildering as in Italy all/most churches are RC. and with the last Pope it went back to none RC are unable to take communion anymore. With it being Xmas needless to say everything was closed so we were unable to do the famous Valley of the Giants tree top walk. But we went down to Ocean Beach south of Denmark and saw the first of the tan rivers going into the sea. They coloured tan from the trees. Then on to Albany, was one of the first settlements of Australia, It has lovely old buildings but at the moment it is without a beachfront so I am unsure how that will turn out. There is a lovely drive to the Vancouver Peninsula needless to say how the area got its name.

Australian Road

26th Just outside Albany is the main sandalwood factory, even though it wasn’t fully open we were able to have a good look round and buy a few things. I hadn’t realized that it was such a silly little tree and a parasite at that. Said nicely they need hosting trees and the oil comes from its root. Anyway now they have very large plantations far away from Albany but seeing that it was the first factory when bought out, the contract states that, the factory has to remain in Albany. Now on too the beach of every child’s dream housed in the Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve ‘Little beach’ where we had our picnic as still everything was closed (marron farm) except for the information centre run by voluntary workers. The rock formation here reminds me of the matopos (Byo). Walking from the car park to Two Peoples Bay through the bush there was a beehive that was in a tree trunk for everyone to see fascinating showing that they had no natural predator.

Coming up to the beach it was full of people, the most that we had seen up until then, having their picnic, playing cricket, relaxing and then on the beach boats and people waterskiing and then further along miles of white beach with just one fisherman and a pelican. This was our last day in the south so tried to take everything in. Here to I was able to read the sign regarding the poisoning area, remember the thing about cats and dogs as it seems that they have to cull foxes and wild cats hence domestic animals are not allowed to run free or to go in certain areas. If there is anyone interested there is a walking track from Perth to Albany, they put groups together so you don’t get lost.

5.30am wakeup as we really had miles to do so that we got back to Perth in time, 1pm, to give the car back in town instead of the airport. No need to ask where the grain basket in WA is, we kept passing trucks taking the grain down to Albany, as in one part they harvested the fields and emptied straight into the trucks, otherwise you had these huge deposits and sometimes just stack on the ground and covered. This drive reminded me of Rhodesia, open spaces and rather boring different to the drive down along the coast. We spent the rest of the day riding the free buses around Perth so we were able to have a good relaxing look around, as Kings Park we had done with Ron. Then the normal walk round of the city centre and dinner.

Our last day in Western Australia we went back to Fremantle where we had also been with Ron to the market but this time had a good walk all around the town, found their small beach left of the round house and then had lunch at the beer garden. Did think to ride the buses there as well but decided not too and spent an hour chatting to a lady from Bunbury, everyone has their family problems. We went back to the hotel in Perth then I took the washing to one of the back packer’s laundry so that we had all clean clothing to arrive in Adelaide. The people that we met and came across in our travels were very pleasant and helpful even though a few thought they may have been on candid camera as certain things I don’t know anymore with not living in Anglo-Saxon country.

Kangaroo Island

New Year was seen in on Kangaroo Island. We were up early to drive down to Cape Jervis from Adelaide to catch the ferry to the island. The motorway was being worked on, so we had to take a secondary road and were able to see all the countryside on the way down. It is lovely, very like the Howick zone of Natal SA. While waiting to board the ferry, Marisa and I were very lucky, to see the small penguins it seemed that they had swam over from the Penneshaw reserve as they weren’t there on our return, so Gino didn’t see them as he drove the car onto the ferry. We sat at a table with an Italian originally from Sulmona in the Abruzzi. He left when he was 7, went back when 20 & returned at the age of 27. A builder by trade he is now building his own house at Penneshaw.

Sea Lions

When we arrived on the island we went to Cape Willoughby first, it brought back childhood memories of a trip to Nyasaland with the corrugated roads. We didn’t go to visit the penguin colony there, On the return trip took the Wilson River Road which passes by the vineyard which originally was started by the lighthouse keeper and his aboriginal wife, obviously they aren’t still around, but their estate is one of the best kept that I’ve seen and we drank the wine, it too was very good. At this stage Gino had had enough of the unseal roads. Drove to American River which is on the mouth of the lagoon where we saw black swans and pelicans and had a picnic with pies which we had got at the local shop, they were very tasty. We then went to Kingscote thinking that the hotel was there but it was on the other side of the Island, thankfully we did that before going to Seal Bay. All the reserves you pay to go to and they are worth they money as besides having the view, it helps for the up keep of the centres. At Seal Bay you go onto the beach where there are colonies of sea lions. The males fatten themselves up for 3mths before they have the weight to go after the female and my goodness can they move at a speed, that is why you go in small groups and with a guide. We then drove on to Kangaroo Island retreat where we were to spend the two nights.

The place was new, lovely and well lay out. The owner is a bushman so the walks are fantastic and well marked, they also had night tours but his lady friend was new to running a resort but I am sure that they will get it right. Most of their staff were overseas students. There were family’s that worked in Singapore that were spending their holidays on the Island so I caught up with the American expat. Situation, now with the economic problems, it wasn’t good for the families.

Remarkable Rock

31st we went down to the Remarkable Rocks and they are! After having a good look at them we went on to the Admirals Arch where there are other seal colonies. On Kangaroo Island all the fertile land has been farmed but the western part which forms the Flinders Chase National Park is out of this world, even got Gino to go on the unseal road again to go to Snake Lagoon. To get to the lagoon there is a 3km, walk first through the bush then along the river which has a rock bed hence it forms rock pools.

Remarkable Rock

This day I also gave in to taking pictures of the flowers, as I had started to try and limit myself with regard to photo’s as there are just so many things that cry out to be photographed. This day we had also seen an Echidna and a goanna or could it have been a Perentie (wishful thinking), at dinner our waiter, who was an Israeli chap, said it just wasn’t fair as he had been there longer and hadn’t seen them…yet.
The first day of 2009 we took the north main road to fetch the ferry, with the lunch stop at Andermel Marron Farm; even with an unsealed road Gino was not going to miss out on these fresh water crayfish. They are very delicate, so if not handled correctly in their transfer from one pool to the next they die.

The lunch and wine (remember watch the alcohol level for driving) was well worth the road. With the horrible situation of not enough time unless you watch the minute hand, we decided to see if we could catch the earlier ferry which would get us back to Adelaide before nightfall so we were able to have another look around before we had to leave to carry on our trip. One could spend a holiday of a week on the Island without getting bored, we were unable to see it all but enough to taste the flavour, that remained in our memory.

Gino, Ann Julie e Luisa
ginven@tin.it

Luna di Miele in Australia

Alessandra

Da quando io e Paolo abbiamo iniziato la nostra storia abbiamo sempre parlato di quanto ci sarebbe piaciuto andare in Australia, cosi quando abbiamo deciso di sposarci ci siamo detti che non c’era occasione migliore per fare questo viaggio. Una volta deciso che saremmo voluti andare in Australia per la nostra Luna di Miele mi sono prima documentata sulle cose che potevamo vedere, poi ho incominciato a cercare (su internet) un’agenzia specializzata sull’Oceania ed alla fine ho trovato Meraviglia Viaggi ovvero Walter. Lui ci ha messo a punto un programma proprio per noi, ci ha consigliato cosa vedere e cosa, volendo, si poteva anche evitare dato che avevamo “solo” 3 settimane e l’Australia si sa che è enorme.

Paolo

Alla fine abbiamo bloccato il nostro bel viaggio, partenza il 31/12/2008 rientro il 21/01/2009. Il nostro viaggio di nozze è iniziato il 31/12/08 con la partenza da Roma Fiumicino per Francoforte (durata del volo 2 ore) e poi da li alle 00:00 siamo decollati per Singapore (durata del volo ben 11:45 ore). Come avrete potuto capire abbiamo festeggiato l’arrivo del nuovo anno sull’aereo ed è stata davvero un’esperienza del tutto particolare (da provare) abbiamo visto i fuochi d’artificio dall’alto sorseggiando champagne e urlando “Happy New Year”. Abbiamo poi proseguito il viaggio da Singapore ad Adelaide (durata del volo “solo” 6:50 ore). (Ahm piccolo appunto l’aeroporto di Singapore è spettacolare ed iper tecnologico). Dopo venti ore di aereo e circa ventisette di viaggio abbiamo finalmente messo piede in Australia e precisamente ad Adelaide. Non ci credevamo, finalmente eravamo in Australia!!!

Kangaroo Island

Appena arrivati ad Adelaide, alle 7:30, siamo andati in albergo ci siamo fatti una bella doccia e siamo subito andati in giro alla scoperta della città. Insomma, a differenza di tante altre persone, siamo riusciti a sostenere bene il fuso orario, merito soprattutto del consiglio di prendere due giorni prima della partenza la melatonina… (grande bazza!!!) Torniamo al nostro viaggio, dicevo abbiamo fatto un giro ad Adelaide una città tranquillissima e molto, molto ricca di parchi. La sosta, di un giorno, in questa città ci serviva solo per andare il giorno seguente a Kangaroo Island, un’isola troppo carina. Pensate quest’isola è enorme ed è popolata da pochissime persone ma da tantissimi animali, tutti si conoscono e tutti sono sorridenti e felici… un’immagine davvero surreale. Abbiamo visto tante fattorie, dato da mangiare ai canguri, visto ed accarezzato i koala (troppo belli), abbiamo visto i pellicani ed infine pernottato in un fantastico albergo fronte oceano.

Dopo siamo tornati ad Adelaide ed il giorno seguente siamo partiti per un tour sulla Great Ocean Road, tour che sinceramente non volevamo fare ma che Walter ci aveva consigliato di fare assolutamente. Effettivamente abbiamo visto delle cose spettacolari, come i Dodici Apostoli e fatto cose entusiasmanti, come scalare i Grampians, ma, purtroppo, a causa di un imprevisto non siamo riusciti a goderci questo tour, nonostante tutta la buona volontà di Walter di risolvere il problema. Il viaggio è continuato con Melbourne, una città molto bella piena di immigrati italiani; qui siamo stati benissimo, abbiamo visitato la città muniti della mitica Lonely Planet.

Monti Olags (Kata Tjuta)

Dopo Melbourne siamo partiti per il posto che, sinceramente, ci ha colpiti di più, il Deserto Rosso… Alice Spring. Quest’ultima è una città davvero suggestiva, sembra una città fantasma e francamente mette anche un po’ di paura. Per la città si incontrano gli aborigeni “più civilizzati, sembrano degli zombi che vagano senza una meta, loro stanno tutto il giorno senza far nulla girovagano per la città e si siedono sotto gli alberi dove cercano di vendere le loro tele (stupende) ai turisti. E’ stato in questa città che abbiamo assaggiato la carne di canguro (lo so, cosi potrebbe fare un po’ impressione, ma dato che eravamo lì non volevamo perderci niente) e devo dire che è buonissima.

Dopo aver visto Alice Springs siamo partiti per un tour verso Ayers Rock… in una parola, SPETTACOLARE! Abbiamo ammirato il tramonto sui Monti Olgas (Kata Tjuta) sorseggiando champagne e mangiando noccioline, poi abbiamo fatto una cena barbeque sotto le stelle, in mezzo al deserto, dove ad un certo punto hanno spento le poche luci che c’erano e ci hanno dato spiegazioni sulla spettacolare volta stellata che si gode da qui, l’assenza di umidità rende questo cielo pieno di stelle e… credetemi, mi vengono i brividi anche solo a scriverlo ed a ricordarlo. Il giorno seguente siamo andati a Kings Canyon ma sinceramente, dopo aver fatto la Great Ocean Road da Adelaide A Melbourne, non ci è sembrato cosi bello. L’indomani ci siamo “svegliati” (in realtà non siamo proprio andati a dormire) alle 03:15 perché siamo andati ad ammirare l’alba su Uluru. Anche qui l’emozione non si può descrivere, uno spettacolo stupendo che era reso ancora più bello dalla professionalità della nostra guida. Questo tour è stato davvero bellissimo ed anche l’albergo in cui alloggiavamo era in pieno stile deserto.

Sydney

Dopo il deserto c’è stata la meravigliosa Sydney. Tutti i miei amici che ci erano stati mi avevano raccontato di quanto fosse magica questa città ma finché non ci sei stato non ne hai la vera percezione. Sydney è una metropoli troppo particolare perché è molto strano vedere una città cosi grande estendersi sull’oceano. Noi abbiamo fatto il primo giorno una gita guidata, grazie alla quale abbiamo potuto vedere la famosissima Bondi Beach, la spiaggia dei surfisti. La città offre tantissimi divertimenti e poi ci sono dei ristoranti che fanno del pesce buonissimo e che noi abbiamo naturalmente provato seguendo delle dritte che Walter ci aveva dato. Abbiamo visto le Blue Montains, bellissime ma niente in confronto ai Grampians, ed il Wildlife Park dove abbiamo potuto ammirare tutti i tipici animali australiani: koala, canguri, dingo, diavoli della Tasmania e tanti altri. In tutta l’Australia, ed in particolare a Sydney, ci sono un sacco di parchi dove le famiglie fanno pic-nic e dove ci sono dei barbeque pubblici che tutti possono utilizzare a condizione che venga pulito proprio come lo si trova… fantastico!

Tartarughine a Heron Island

Dopo Sydney sentivamo già un’aria di tristezza perché il nostro viaggio stava volgendo al termine però non potevamo non goderci al massimo l’ultima tappa: Heron Island. Si tratta di un’isola della Grande Barriera Corallina australiana, una meraviglia della natura, un’isola dove l’unica cosa che puoi fare è goderti il mare, il sole e tantissimo relax. Heron è sede di una stazione di ricerca dell’Università del Queensland, difatti molti erano gli studenti che erano sull’isola a fare delle ricerche. Abbiamo anche visto nascere le tartarughe marine, perché le mamme vengono a depositare le uova all’alba e poi praticamente ogni sera, verso le 19, le uova si schiudono. Si tratta di uno spettacolo incredibile, perché è davvero strano vedere che non appena nate queste tartarughe vanno subito verso il mare… ahhh… la natura è davvero incredibile; purtroppo soltanto pochissime raggiungono il largo, la maggior parte viene mangiata dai gabbiani (li abbiamo visti che si appostavano verso le 19 per poter fare il loro spuntino).

Heron Island dall'elicottero

Sull’isola abbiamo fatto molto snorkeling, era come nuotare in una piscina naturale in mezzo a pesci colorati e piante bellissime. Ci siamo rilassati molto anche perché venivamo da 2 settimane di tour molto intenso. Nelle camere non c’era né tv né telefono perché lo scopo dell’isola è quello di farti staccare completamente dalla vita stressante di ogni giorno e devo dire che lo scopo per noi è stato pienamente raggiunto. Per concludere questa stupenda vacanza Walter aveva organizzato il rientro sulla terraferma (dove dovevamo prendere tutti i vari aerei) in elicottero per ammirare la barriera corallina dall’alto. Wouuu… ragazzi, altra grandissima esperienza aver potuto provare l’ebbrezza dell’elicottero e vedere dall’alto in quale posto INCANTEVOLE eravamo.

Dopo siamo rientrati in Italia con tanta tristezza perché è difficile lasciare un posto dove si è stati benissimo ma con la convinzione che è giusto che le cose belle finiscano altrimenti non si apprezzerebbero come tali. Abbiamo fatto proprio il viaggio che sognavamo, senza farci mancare nulla dai trasferimenti organizzati agli hotel a 4 stelle; proprio in relazione agli hotel volevo fare un’ultima e breve considerazione, sono stati scelti da Meraviglia Viaggi tutti hotel centralissimi che ci consentivano di girare la città benissimo ed a piedi.

Alessandra e Paolo
lexale81@yahoo.it