Kembara Perth and the Western Australia - Part 1(Wilson, Perth - Pinnacles, Cervantes)

Hi,

Agak excited untuk update entry kali ini. Entry pertaining to my journey exploring the south-western part of Australia. From Perth, we went to the north up to cervantes and to the south down to Augusta. yups, we had a great wonderful time on the road trip!

4th August 2010

4th august was a hectic day. i was still in Perlis that morning thou. I was in Perlis since 1st August attending a meeting which i cant get excused with. And the meeting supposed to finished on afternoon, the 4th.

Walaubagaimanapun, since my outbound travel plan was confirmed prior to the meeting date,  boss telah memberi green light for me to leave meeting earlier in the morning (Many thanks to her!).

So dalam pukul 7 pagi, aku amek cab dari kangar putra palace hotel terus ke airport Alor Setar. Sampai airport ngam ngam dalam pukul 8.10am and terus check in flight. Flight departured on 8.55am dan touch down KLIA dalam kol 10am.

Sesampai di KLIA, settle luggage segale and terus amek ERL ke KL Sentral and arrived dalam kol 11am. Dari sana, aku amek cab dan sampai ke rumah dalam kol 12.00pm.

Sgt penat bile sampai rumah actually. However, kene do the packing dulu. Seb baik dah wat checklist ape yg nk dibawa, so masuk jea segala barang yang diperlukan from clothes-toiletteris-electronic equipments. Habis packing segale baru brani taking a nap zzzzz.

Dapat tido dalam 2 jam dan bangun bersiap utk ke KL Sentral. Adikku hantar ke sana dan kami bertolak dr umah kol 4.30pm. Sebab jalan agak jammed  ke sana (mmg dah agak dah sebab weekday, org balik koje), kami sampai KL Sentral dalam kol 5.30pm. Janji dgn Emmy, Akil dan Nazura jumpe di sane kol 5.45pm sbb nk amek skybus kol 6.00pm.

Aw yeah, Emmy dan Nazura adalah kawan aku sejak 1997, member nakal semasa skolah di smakl dolu dan masih rapat and gossipping sampai hari ini. and Akil adalah husband kepada Emmy.

Back to the story> tunggu punya tunggu member2 x sampai-sampai lagi. Diorang pun sangkut kat traffic jam dari menjalara, kepong. Sambil menunggu, ingat nk ke booth Air Asia utk print itinerary tiket tp que punya la panjang..kene tunggu dalam 100 org lagi. Adus, menyesal sungguh tertinggal itinerary kat opis. Terpakse burn duit nak naik skybus nanti.

Tunggu punya tunggu (yes..penungguan satu penyeksaan), aku sempat solat n makan kt McD, last2 aku amek bas dulu kol 7pm utk standby que check in kt lcct nanti. The rest sbb lmbat sampai, diorang amek bas kol 7.15pm.

Sampai LCCT dalam kol 8.10am. Counter check in bukak dalam kol 9.30pm. Mase check in, Air Asia informed that flight will be delayed for 2 and half hour. so our new departure time would be on 5th August, 2.30am. Adus..mmg tensen sungguh. dah la memasing excited dah utk berangkat, delay pule. Utk mengubat duke kelewatan, air asia kasi voucher makan McD rm10. haih..sabo jea la...terpaksa adjust travel plan for the next day..

5th August 2010

Flight take off LCCT dalam kol 2.30am. Lps isi perut dengan nasik lemak air asia, we sleep like a baby..Beberapa kali gak la terjage sepanjang 5 jam setengah tue. standard la..krusi tido pun gitu2 jea. bayor murah, itu le pun yg dapatnya. We booked the flight with return tickets onli cost rm1K. if you r lucky, u can get down to rm700-800 for the ticket. mmg murah air asia nie. x sabo nk tunggu air asia sampai New Zealand..mesti lagi panjang kakiku menjelajah..

We arrived Perth Airport approximately on 8am++. Temperature on the ground dalam 5 degree of celcius. Fuhh mmg sejuk..Teringat mase kat atas gunung kinabalu..lagi sejuk dari tue kot.. Dah la sweater lupe nk masuk dlm hand luggage. seb baik bawak sarung tangan. ok sket..

Mase nk scan barang masuk perth tue yang agak berdebar sket. Maklumla..byk gak stok makanan yang dibawa. tapi mmg declare bawak makanan. Masa dia check bag ada 2 barang kami yang x lepas : Milo 3 in 1 and our Old Town White Coffee 3 in 1. Sebabnya, its a dairy product.. so pasrah jea la.. Naseb baik barang makanan yang lain lepas, all de sardine, maggies, brahim's etc. Kalo tak kene beli la utk makan kendian.

Dalam kol 9am, segala urusan immigration dapat settle dengan lancarnya. Then kami tunggu Kak Ara (kakak kepada Emmy) untuk jemput kitorang di airport. Tp cuaca di sana waktu pagi mmg sejuk. however, matahari masih terik memancar. very sunny!

 Naju, me and Emmy @ Perth Airport

Kak Ara dan ashaari (husband kepada kak ara) bersama cutey Aishah (anak diorang) datang dengan 2 kereta menjemput kami di airport. Salah satunya adalah kereta sewa kami, Toyota Corolla Hatch (Auto) yang akan kami lenjan sepanjang kembara kami di bumi Australia. Kami sewa utk 7 hari dengan pakej termasuk GPS dan Insurance, unlimited KM etc dengan cost AUD 320 dari company car rental, Bayswater 'no bird' . Reputasi Bayswater nie mmg bagus dan diantara yg murah gak la kalo nk compare dgn Hertz. Deposit kene bayor dalam AUD 300 dan akan lesap jika terjadi ape-ape pada kereta.

check this website if interested : http://www.bayswatercarrental.com.au/ratesWA.aspx  


Kami sampai rumah kak ara di Fern Court, Wilson dalam kol 10.00am kot. Sampai sana rehat2, lepas rindu dendam dgn Aishah, tido for couple of hours, packing baju barang utk perjalanan seterusnya ke Cervantes.

'Putri' Aishah kesayangan semua!

Seterusnya dalam pukul 2pm, kami berangkat ke Nambung National Park, Cervantes utk menikmati Pinacles di waktu sunset. Perjalanan ke sana mengambil masa dalam 3 jam setengah dari Wilson.

Bergambar sebelum start road trip

Sepanjang perjalanan, permandangan mmg cantik. Kami melalui beberapa National Park yang terbentang luas dengan padang rumput yg menghijau.Pokok Wild flowers berwarna kuning ade jea sepanjang perjalanan kami. Tp sayang, mase kami pergi nie musim winter, kesemua winery area, pokok anggurnya tinggal batang jea tanpa daun..So kempunanla nk bergambar dengan ladang anggur yg rimbun..

inilah ladang pokok anggur yg tinggal batang jea..

Nampak Wind Farm tapi tak singgah sebab nk kejor Sunset di Pinnacles.

Kami sampai di Pinnacles, Nambung Natioanal Park around 5.15pm. Sampai2 orang yang jaga entrance counter dah takde. Kami pun confuse juga dah tutup ke untuk ke Pinnacles Drive. Tak lama kemudian, ada sorang aunty datang utk tunjuk cara nak bayor entry fees ke sana. Rupa2nya, dekat situ ada satu peti dan sampul surat utk bayor sendiri. Masukkan duit dalam sampul dan masuk ke dalam peti yang disediakan. Disebabkan memasing duit yg ade dapat purse besor2, takde la plak 11 dolar. Yang ade cuma AUD10. yg lain sumer note 50. So aunty tue kate takpe kitorang bayor jea AUD10. kira halal la..hehehe bole la plak cenggitu. ;)

Then, kitorang pun masuk la utk menikmati kejadian busut-busut pasir yg unik di situ.

Some Wikipedia info about Pinnacle's Formation:

The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier epoch rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime rich sands which were blown inland to form high mobile dunes. This represented the raw material for the formation the Pinnacles....
The mechanisms through which the Pinnacles were formed from this raw material are the subject of some controversy, with three possible mechanisms having been proposed:

1. The Pinnacles were formed from lime leaching from the aeolian sand (wind-blown sand) and by rain cementing the lower levels of the dune into a soft limestone. Vegetation forms an acidic layer of soil and humus. A hard cap of calcrete develops above the softer limestone. Cracks in the calcrete are exploited by plant roots. The softer limestone continues to dissolve and quartz sand fills the channels that form. Vegetation dies and winds blow away the sand covering the eroded limestone, thus revealing the Pinnacles. 
2. The Pinnacles were formed through the preservation of casts of trees buried in coastal aeolianites where roots became groundwater conduits, resulting in precipitation of indurated (hard) calcrete. Subsequent wind erosion of the aeolianite would then expose the calcrete pillars.^[1]
3. On the basis of the mechanism of formation of smaller “root casts” occurring in other parts of the world, it has been proposed that plants played an active role in the creation of the Pinnacles, rather than the rather passive role detailed in 1 and 2 above. The proposal is that as transpiration draws water through the soil to the roots, nutrients and other dissolved minerals flow toward the root. This process is termed "mass-flow" and can result in the accumulation of nutrients at the surface of the root, if the nutrients arrive in quantities greater than needed for plant growth. In coastal aeolian sands which have large amounts of Ca (derived from marine shells) the movement of water to the roots would drive the flow of Ca to the root surface. This Ca accumulates at high concentrations around the roots and over time is converted into a calcrete. When the roots die, the space occupied by the root is subsequently also filled with a carbonate material derived from the Ca in the former tissue of the roots and possibly also from water leaching through the structures. Although evidence has been provided for this mechanism in the formation of root casts in South Africa, evidence is still required for its role in the formation of the Pinnacles.

Bundance of information, isnt it? :)

Setelah puas bermain hide and seek di pinnacles dan hari semakin gelap, kami bertolak ke Pekan Cervantes dengan tujuan mencari tempat utk bermalam. Backpackers lodge menjadi pilihan utama tp kalo dapat harga motel yang same lebih kurang dengan hostel, kami prefer ke motel. Sampai di pekan, kami terus try masuk ke Pinnacles Motel. Harga bilik yang mempunyai dua katil single(bole muat dua org setiap satu), with clean toilet and bathroom plus cosy environment adalah lebih kurang AUD120. So kami terus memilih utk stay di situ semalam.

Setelah membersihkan diri segale, kami pun buatla maggi utk makan malam. Memasing dah kebulor dan maggi amat mengenyangkan di saat2 sebegitu. Di samping maggi, bekalan roti juge kami bawak utk makanan tambahan. and of course all de jajan SMITH!

Dalam kol 10pm, kami tido!

check it out our room @ pinnacles motel : 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux8LA3WYjEY

and our pinnacles drive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a43hK1VQYRo