Monday 27 May 2013

Giddy up!

The real reason why we went to Australia was to visit Hipster Dufus' family. And these are by far the best pictures of the trip. Here his adorable nieces and nephew have come up with two great games. First there was 1,2,3 jump on uncle hipster! And the second was that their uncle was a horse and needed to carry them through the house. Let's just say he got absolutely no rest. 


Saturday 25 May 2013

From Dusk to Night

Dusk and night time is yet another excuse to relax and chill out, and where else? The beach of course. After a full day's cooking we all headed out to the beach tables and chairs in tow. The best thing about this part of the world is that there is no light pollution so the night's sky is incredibly clear. It was my first time ever seeing a shooting star. The downside being that I became so obsessed that I spent the rest of the time with my head up desperate to see another.


The very next night it was off to another beach (yes, the whole place is just beaches). This time it was to watch the a Broome phenomenon of the 'Staircase to the Moon'. At certain times of the year the moon doesn't just appear in the sky it rises like the sun. You can literally see it coming up bit by bit. It then leaves a reflection on the water that looks like stairs, leading up to the moon. It's such a celebration that they had a night market in place for while you waited. I got the impression that it might be quite well known as all I could hear on the beach was german and spanish. It was amazing, and I've never seen anything like it before.


As you can see my picture is awful so I would advise you to look at these google images for an idea of how breathtaking it actually was.

Thursday 23 May 2013

Sun Pictures

Is this not just the cutest cinema you've ever seen? Sun Pictures in Broome is the world's oldest outdoor cinema still in operation. It's just the most gorgeous experience ever (completely rose tinted here as I'm ignoring the inevitable inclusion of mosquitos and bats). We went on a gorgeously warm night to watch the film 'I give it a year', which was actually hilarious. Outdoor cinemas always have this really magical quality to them, and this one even more so if only because of the history behind it. It's just such a shame that Broome is quite out of the way as it would definitely be a recommendation.

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Pre Historic

While in Broome we took a very long trip up to Geikie Gorge for a boat trip with a lot of history. Carved out by the waters of the Fitzroy River, traveling through feels like taking a trip back through time. Or as one tourist site put it 'show glimpses of life before reptiles or mammals evolved'. 

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Pearling Around

By far my most favourite thing that we got up to this holiday was spending an afternoon on an old pearl lugger. It was even more poignant as this is the field that Hipster Dufus's father specializes in, having started off as a marine biologist. He later became a pioneer in his field, even receiving an Order of Australia recently. This vintage beauty was from way before his time of course, although updated to include a mini museum inside showing the history of pearl diving. The boat tour took off in the early afternoon and sailed around until sunset. Nibbles were passed around throughout the tour and there was even the option to jump into the sea for a swim. Just such a wonderful experience.

Monday 20 May 2013

Boome colors

From beautiful wine country to deep dark magical caves, it was then off to Broome. I am completely obsessed with the natural colours of western Australia. The crisp blue skies, the green foliage and then the rich red dirt. Totally unique, unlike anything I've seen. This beach so typically showed these typical colours that I went snap crazy.

Sunday 19 May 2013

Dragons and darkness

During our road trip we ventured down into the depths of the earth. Literally. Down some 300 or more steps it was all fun and games on the way down. I've never seen caves before so I was mesmerized if not a little scared. We went to Lake Cave, one of many at Margaret River. It was amazing and hearing about the history was so interesting. It was incredible to think that in the 1900's a little girl decided that it was a good idea to travel into dark caves to see what was in there. Her bravery back then worked to my benefit. I also like the idea that no cave is complete without a dragon, which this cave had. See if you can spot it in my pictures. Then we had to climb back up the stairs. That was NOT fun.


Wednesday 15 May 2013

Wine Country

Frist stop on our visit to Australia was down south of Perth to Margaret River. As Perth is so small we wanted to see something new and Hipster Dufus wanted to show me where he holidayed when he was a young boy. The only sad thing about it was that this is the second time we've travelled to a wine region where Hipster Dufus can not fully enjoy the benefit of the experience. While I would make the perfect designated driver (I don't drink wine) I don't know how to drive. Nevertheless we survived, picking up a few bottles along the way and bringing them back to New York with us.