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30-Day Project | Days 17 & 18

Day 18 | Footy!

We went to the West Coast Eagles vs. North Melbourne Kangaroos Australian Rules Football Game (footy) yesterday.  I don’t really know how to describe Aussie Rules Football besides comparing it to a combination of Soccer, Football, and Rugby (oh, and some of the fights from Ice Hockey).  Unfortunately, the stadium didn’t allow “professional” cameras inside, so I was stuck with a point and shoot camera.

WestCoastEagles vs. North Melbourne Kangaroos

Day 17 | Lots of Sand

On Saturday, we headed about 110km north of Perth to a town called Lancelin.  One of the features of Lancelin is its massive sand dunes.  What do you do on these sand dunes?  You go sandboarding!  It is a lot like snowboarding only snow melts when you fall and it gets in your pants… sand doesn’t really work that way.  The sand is also really fine and is a disaster for cameras so I didn’t take too many pictures.  Lancelin also has amazing powdery white sand beaches which we definitely checked out.

Sandboarding in Lancelin, Western Australia

 Lancelin, Western Australia

30-Day Project | Days 15 & 16

Day 16 | Fremantle Port

I was waiting for some friends to arrive on a Ferry into Fremantle– one of the major ports near Perth and took this quick shot.

Fremantle Port

Day 15 | Cottesloe Beach

I was kind of lazy today with my picture taking.  So, this is mainly a picture to make you a little jealous.  This is Cottesloe Beach in Perth.  It is definitely one of the more popular beaches in town and probably the most iconic.  Because he was from Perth, they even spread some of Heath Ledger’s ashes on this beach.

Cottesloe Beach Perth Australia

30-Day Project | Day 14 | Cute Overload

Ok, I did it… I took pictures of Kangaroos and Koalas… It is what everyone is expecting to see at some point, so I will just get it out of the way now.  Soak in all the cuteness, eat it up…

Kangaroos, Koalas, Cohunu Wildlife Park near Perth, Western Australia

Koala, Cohunu Wildlife Park

30-Day Project | Days 12 & 13

Day 13 | A Visit to London?

One of the more interesting shopping arcades in downtown Perth is the London Courtyard.  You walk off a city street onto a London Street.  But, the Australians wouldn’t want it to look too authentically British… They made sure to put the Australian flag above every shop.  Still, a random sight in the middle of an Australian city:

London Court, Downtown Perth, Western Australia

Day 12 | Kings Park

Kings Park is a huge park and botanical garden in the middle of Perth.  It has some of the most immaculate grass I have ever been on, but I suppose this picture doesn’t do that justice (think fairway grass at a fancy golf course).  It has lots of biking and walking trails and probably every plant known to Australia in it.  A place I could probably explore for a week.

Kings Park, Perth Australia

30-Day Project | Day 11 | We Climbed Some Stuff

After spending the night in Albany, Australia last night, we spent our Sunday driving along the southern coast of Western Australia.  To sum up the day:  We climbed a few things of various heights.  So, for my 30-day project posting, I will just show you the various things we ended up climbing.

We started out climbing on some huge rocks along Green Pool in William Bay National Park near Denmark, Australia.  The coastline of southwestern Australia, which runs along the Southern Ocean, is breathtaking.  I would say a good description would be the coastline of northern California with water that looks like the Caribbean.  We had to stop and see some of it:

Green Pool William Bay National park

After that, we headed to an area known as the “Valley of the Giants” near Walpole, Australia. It gets that name from the giant Tingle and Eucalyptus trees that grow there.  At times, I could swear I was in Costa Rica or Central America when I looked at the scenery.  Lots of trees, Lots of green.  Continuing our climbing theme, we did the Tree Top Walk through some old growth forest:

Valley of Giants Tree Top Walk

Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk

Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk

Then, we decided a tree top walk on simple platforms wasn’t scary enough.  We drove about 100km west to Warren National Park to climb the “Bicentennial Tree.” What is the Bicentennial Tree you might ask?  Well, it has to be the most dangerous tourist activity open to the public in Australia.  Literally, you climb a 246-foot tree on nothing but metal rebar that runs spirally up the tree.  There is a bit of flimsy fencing on the side, but nothing to keep you from falling in between the bars to your death.  We were the only ones there, nobody there supervising in the middle of a forest.  It was awesome:

Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree

To give you some sense of scale… Chelsea is a few levels below me and Jason is on the forest floor if you look closely

Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree

Probably wasn’t the best idea to climb in flip flops either…


30-Day Project | Day 10 | Bush Dance

One of the more random things I have done since arriving in Australia was Saturday night.  I was invited by a friend in Albany, Australia to go to a “Bush Dance” in Mt. Barker, about 4 hours south of Perth.  I guess the best way to describe a bush dance is a combination between a country music/square dance and a homecoming dance.  Basically, the entire small town shows up in flannel for a night of dancing.  Because our fellow Mizzou friend Jason and his sister Jess are in town visiting from New York, we thought it would be a good cultural experience.   Not the best lighting for pictures, but still an interesting experience.