Mike posing in front of his beachfront hotel, an hour after arriving in Perth after 3 airplane flights totalling 18 hours and elapsing about 26 hours. My room wasn't ready yet so I rented a boogie board and just splashed around in the warm ocean for a while.
The Perth skyline, from the south shore of the River Swan, near the Perth Zoo, which was Mike's first sightseeing stop the next morning.
Dennis Conner said Perth was the most isolated city in the world. Mike and Dave at breakfast at the Rendezvous Observation City Hotel Perth. Looking out over the Australian Pines and the endless Indian Ocean, you really do feel you are at the end of the world.
Dave tries Vegemite, an Australian breakfast tradition. Vegemite is a yeast extract that Aussie moms consider rich in nutrients. Vegemite has the consistency of peanut butter and is quite salty. Reports indicate that "30 jars are sold in Australia for every one exported": one taste and you'll know why :-).
Here are what Australian coins look like: the reverse of the 50-cent piece (upper
right corner) has a kangaroo and emu.
From Perth, we drove south to the scenic Margaret River area where we spent one night.
These kangaroos had invaded a farmer's cattle and chicken enclosure in the town of
Margaret River.
Dave silhouetted against the sunset at the seacoast near Margaret River.
Dave and Mike abseiling
(rapelling, some would call it) at the Williabrup Sea Cliffs,
the Indian Ocean coast near Margaret River.
Some surfers will do anything to get to that secret break!
The sun setting over the Indian Ocean, from back in Perth.
From Perth we flew north 3 hours on a Fokker turboprop to Exmouth, on the remote
Northwest Cape of Australia.
The Cape is tropical desert (latitude 22 degrees south).
The town (population 2200)
has
a post office with a friendly woman who patiently helps you find colorful stamps,
two bakeries, two supermarkets,
a charming visitor center,
five restaurants,
a wonderfully-staffed pharmacy/one-hour-photo shop,
and several dive shops, surf shops, clothing, jewelry, and souvenir stores.
Mike and Dave outdoors at the "Fancy Fish"; Mike is spraying vinegar
on the chips (french fries).
The fish sandwiches there are excellent (and Aussie-sized!), be sure to ask
for the shredded carrots.
As far as I know, Dave ate nothing but fish'n'chips and "rock cakes" (apricot-and-raisin scones)
from the Exmouth Bakery
the whole six days on the Northwest Cape.
Dave at one of the enormous termite mounds that dot the Northwest Cape.
Dave and Mike at Turquoise Bay, with the breakers over the
Ningaloo Reef
just visible in the picture at the far left.
The bay is about a 45-minute drive from the town of Exmouth.
We went snorkelling or SCUBA diving on the Ningaloo Reef every day we were on the Cape.
It's hard to get decent pictures with simple cameras, but these should give
you a feel for the beauty of the reef, which starts only 20 or 30 feet from
the beach.
We spotted this echidna waddling across the road north of Turquoise Bay at twilight.
It was about the size of a (US) football but
almost all quills. The platypus is its closest living relative; both are
monotreme mammals.
Some people in Australia I've talked to since were surprised (and pleased)
we saw the echidna, they are apparently not too often seen. It was just
good luck it was crossing the road as echidnas are well-camouflaged and
would be just about impossible to spot in the brush.
Exmouth astronomer Alex Liu lent us equipment and treated us to viewing the kangaroo babies ("joeys") he cares for in his home. These are orphans, mostly from collisions with cars at night.
The sign is for real, right next to a warning about kangaroos.
We drove very slowly and carefully when we were forced to drive after dark, the "roos"
hovering by the side of the road seemingly waiting to jump in front of us.
Mike trying to take a video of a roadside emu.
The emus would let you get about 8 feet from them, then run away.
I was glad I didn't know too much about Australia before I
went; for example, I did not know that herds of emu still ranged around
the rural countryside, and even (though I didn't get a snapshot)
strolled around the small shopping mall and grocery store front in
Exmouth. As far as I knew, emus were as scarce in the bush as, say,
mountain lions are in the US and not likely to be seen by tourists.
Yep, this is how (some of) the kangaroos end up... as pet food.
Apparently, here is how (some of) the emus end up, but we didn't try any.
Mike and Dave enjoy supper at their Exmouth hotel, the Potshot, the evening
before the meteor shower.
Fish'n'chips again, Dave?
The Learmonth Solar Observatory, near Exmouth, where we were invited to observe the
Leonid Meteor Shower by chief John Kennewell.
Mike and Dave reflected in a mirrored sphere at the observatory.
Mike and Dave on their observing lounges, with shortwave radio and camera gear posed behind.
Mike took still pictures with a Vivitar 28mm f/2 wide-angle lens on an Olympus camera body
and a 17mm f/3.5 ultra-wide-angle lens on a Nikon camera body, both shooting ASA 1600
Fuji print film. Dave took still pictures with a Canon 24mm f/2.8 very-wide-angle lens on
ASA 400 Kodak print film. Mike attempted videos with a Sony camcorder with a 0.3x
wide-angle auxiliary lens, using a 1/4 second shutter speed. This video setup
captured about 3 or 4 meteors per hour, at least as a first review of the tapes shows.
Mike's 28mm lens caught this Leonid with the dish silhouetted against
the Southern Cross and the southern Milky Way.
The exposure was about 3 1/2 minutes (as measured by the angle of the star trails).
Dave Glackin's 24mm lens aimed at the radiant caught this shot.
We saw many meteors; Dave counted 1012 in 3 hours,
click here for John Kennewell's and Dave's full report including meteor radar data,
or click here for
gallery of world-wide Leonid 2001 meteor photos.
We admit that
many US observers saw as many (or more) meteors this year, but we point out they saw
zero echidnas, emus, and kangaroos!
And the horizon-to-horizon sky-crossing earth-grazers were spectacular:
as John Kennewell put it, "it looked
like the scene in the movies just before all the dinosaurs die!".
Here are John and Dave preparing their reports about 8 AM that morning, and
Dave with his clicker-counter.
Thanks to the One Hour Photo in Exmouth, we were looking at our pictures the very
next afternoon by the pool at our hotel.
After the meteor shower (early Monday morning), we stayed in Exmouth a few more days for SCUBA lessons (photos later) then flew back to Perth Wednesday and to Sydney Thursday.
Our bed and breakfast hotel in Sydney was above a pub and brewery.
Dave with his boomerang waiting for the taxi to the airport.
On Friday, 23 November, Dave returned to his home in Los Angeles and Mike went to visit friends in Salt Lake City.
