The Bibbulmun Track



My Trusty Guidebook

 What is the Bibbulmun track? In short, its a trail hike that goes from Perth all the way to Albany that goes for a daunting 963km. Clearly I don't time to do the whole thing but I decided I owed it to myself to do a chunk. So last Friday I took a Bus to North Bannister which is 137km out and started my trek. Approximately every 10km you have a campsite that is set up in order to help trekkers along.

 As you can see from the sunset video below rain water is collected from the roof of each campsite building in huge tanks. The days are so incredible hot that you need to drink insane amounts of water. Everyday I would drink about 8 litres of water (That's a lot even for me). To top it off, your location is so remote there are no grocery stores so I had to carry all my food for 6 days. The cuisine was bland and consisted of powder milk, muesli, instant noodles, pita bread, and sardines. Of course, you have no garbage cans along the way so you also have to carry your waste along the way. Finally, because water is so scarce showers are just not possible. Let's just say that first shower when I got back was a long wonderful experience.

Since its off season I actually didn't run into anybody along the trail for 6 days. It actually felt very strange to talk to another person once I was done. You begin to to feel quite comfortable with your own thoughts and being alone (can anyone say Cast Away?lol). All jokes aside, its a great way to clear your mind.

The animal life is literally all around you. Everything from lizards, spiders, snakes and even kangaroos. You really do feels closer to your roots. Once upon a time, we were hunting those Kangaroos to survive.


Tiny Lizard in the Middle of the Picture

Spider



Snake Trail



Sap on a tree that definitely looks like Blood

I would definitely recommend the Bibbulmun Trail to anybody willing to get off the beaten track in order to see a wonderful secluded part of WA. But traveller beware, you need to be willing to rough it (as you can tell by my filthy feet, ahah).

My Filthy Feet



Rain in the distance on my last night

 

A Wonderful Sunset on my Last Night

Me at the Finish Line


Until next time wonderful world,
Jonathan

Australia: Perth and the Southern West Coast



The Reid's

Hello world,

I have been in Western Australia (WA) just under two weeks and it has been so jam packed that I haven't had the chance to blog. To your right is a picture of the wonderful family I have been staying with. This pictures is from last night just before a costume party we all attended. I met the parents (Susan and Phil) on the Camino de Santiago 7 months ago when I had just started my trip.

Here is a list of just a few fun expressions your likely to hear in WA:

sweatshirt = jumper
sunglasses = sunnies
barbecue = barbie
bathing suit = swimmers/bathers
...and my personal favourite... speedo = buggy smuggler..Ha!

Fisk Creek

Fish Creek

Here are two pictures from Fish Creek, likely one of the most beautiful places I will ever see. The area is extremely remote and only accessible with a four wheel drive. Absolutely beautiful.



Fish Creek has some good fishing. Here is our catch...We even cooked them up on the barbie, Yum!





A Kangaroo with her Joey on the side of the road

Australian Football League(AFL) is the sport of choice in WA. It has to be one of the quickest and most explosive games around. The West Coast Eagles (dark) ended up beating Hawthorn (light). It was good fun and very entertaining.

March 6th I will be flying to Darwin.
I feel like I have been living like a true Australian. It's official, WA is officially my favorite coast.
-Jonathan

Thailand: Chiang Mai & Ayutthaya

Chiang Mai, the wonderful north of Thailand gives a completely different vibe from it's southern counterpart. Our first day Dom & I decided to go for an authentic Thai cooking course. We learned how to prepare everything from pad Thai, fried noodles, and even made our own green, red and yellow curry from scratch. Needless to say we ate way to much and even left with dogie bags, yum! Thankfully, you also leave with little cookbooks so that you don't have to remember everything they show you. For the next three days we followed it up with some light trekking. After all, I think everything seems light after Nepal,lol. Our last day in town we visited CrossFit Chiang Mai. It was great, we did Helen and even got T-shirts to boot.

Helen (Here is what it looks like, but I'm way slower,lol) 
3 Rounds for time:
-400m run
-21 Kettlebell Swings
-12 Pullups

For our last stop, Dom & I stayed in Ayutthaya for a day. This small quaint town was much more enjoyable then I would have thought. The temple ruins in this town are absolutely wonderful. There are 3 major temples that are worth seeing. The audio guides make this completely worth it. It does an excellent job of painting a picture of what those temples used to look like. Based on the history it really seems like the city should be the capital of Thailand. The dynasty came to crashing end due to the Burmese army who dismantled everything. Overall, It was a perfect end to a wonderful Thai trip.

Now I am just killing a couple days in Bangkok until I leave for Perth Australia. I will be meeting up with some great friends (Su and Phil) that I met on the Camino. Onto the land down under.

-Jonathan