Perth to Albany, Australia

Across the Far West of Australia


surfspotting
A group of friends follow the surf in the Indian Ocean below, near the Cape Naturaliste.
big decision
A verdant crossroads in the southern reaches of Australia.
blue seas, cold seas
The Little Beach of PN Two Peoples, one of the frigid and, for that reason, almost perfect beaches in the Albany region.
on the way to the swell
Surfer descends to Smiths Beach, a wild and sacred coastline to Australian surfers.
kite surfing gale
Two kite surfers almost tangle over the shallow turquoise sea of ​​a Gnarabup beach.
kangaroo colony
Kangaroos observe newly arrived humans in the vicinity of a large golden meadow.
Valley of the Giants
One of the elevated walkways in the Valley of the Giants, an ancient southern Australian giant eucalyptus forest located in the Nornalup area.
From Outback to Indian Ocean
Dirt road of the usual Australian outback tone leads to a large blue cove.
Bedtime Stories
Drive in drive in the vicinity of Busselton.
standing back
Herd of apprehensive cows in a meadow beside one of Margaret River's many vineyards.
elephant rocks
Rounded, elephant-toned rocks, a predominant geological attribute of William Bay National Park.
bathing games
Owner and dog on a beach near Yallingup.
saline forest
Dry vegetation on the banks of a river branch near Albany.
First impressions
Surfer contemplates Smiths Beach from a wooden gazebo.
golden ozzie
The sun sets and sets the silhouettes formed by towering eucalyptus, the dominant trees in the great south-west of Australia.
Few people worship evasion like the aussies. With southern summer in full swing and the weekend just around the corner, Perthians are taking refuge from the urban routine in the nation's southwest corner. For our part, without compromise, we explore endless Western Australia to its southern limit.

The heat gets tight but, come Friday, Perth he abstracts from the force and becomes free.

The escape space around is vast. It appears filled with a raw and resplendent nature, practically all that an Australian true blue you need to be happy, if we add to it, of course, the camaraderie, the company of the surfboard during the day and the favorite beer from the end of the afternoon.

Some residents make their way to the sand line that endows the Indian coast to the north and south of the mouth of the Swan River. Others flock to nearby Freemantle and its insular soul mate, Rottnest Island, Rotto, as intimate visitors prefer to abbreviate.

Still others venture into the depths of the endless province eager to breathe the pure combined airs of the Indian Ocean and the farthest Antarctic Ocean. After almost a month of delightful stay in the capital of Western Australia, we joined the evasion.

The first tens of kilometers of the route are divided between the surrounding streets and the motorways exiting the metropolis. With distance, the first summer refuges began to follow.

At the speed allowed, with no stops worth noting, at the end of the same afternoon we are in Bunbury. The village does not fill us with measures, so we just sleep there.

big decision

A verdant crossroads in the southern reaches of Australia.

Yallingup's Wild Coast and Surfer

We take the Bussel Highway towards Bunker Bay and Cape Naturaliste.

In the middle of the southern summer, forest fires are raging there and access remains blocked by the authorities. With no valid alternatives, we cut to Yallingup.

Owner and dog on a beach near Yallingup.

In the local Aboriginal Noongar dialect, Yallingup means “Place of Love”.

It doesn't hurt to see why the wealthiest Australians – including, we are told, several professional cricketers – have fallen in love with the place and have holiday homes there.

surfspotting

A group of friends follow the surf in the Indian Ocean below, near the Cape Naturaliste.

The road ends in a minimal car park.

When we got out of the rental car, we found Smiths Beach, a huge wild bay, lined with verdant coastal vegetation and an open sand that the blue-green Indian invades.

Taj Burrow: A Near-Myth of World Surfing

The setting is grand. It inspires an army of determined surfers as does the legendary figure and resident of Taj Burrow. Taj is the son of American parents.

In 1988, at age 17, he became the youngest competitor to qualify for the ASP World Tour, but he postponed his participation until the following year – when he re-qualified – because he felt too young to spend so much time on around the world.

Since then, he has triumphed in several renowned competitions and defeated much more highly rated competitors, such as the now eleven-time world champion Kelly Slater.

his disciples arrive in campervans and aged vans. We see them putting on their suits and preparing their boards to then walk along the long path that leads to the sea, in a hurry, as if they feared that it might disappear from one moment to the next.

Surfer descends to Smiths Beach, a wild and sacred coastline to Australian surfers.

We also see them from a distance, overcoming the first white break to reach the ideal waves that, fearless and sometimes unconscious, they share with sharks, including great whites.

Gnarabup, the beach that follows, has a sea too shallow for these portentous predators to approach but is despised by the surfing community.

Its waters run faster than conventional bathers, eager to relax in the idyllic setting before getting lost in the thousand and one flavors and aromas of Margaret River.

Margaret River: The Wine Capital of Western Australia

Mags – the affectionate nickname – is the quintessential wine and food town of southwestern Western Australia. In no other area is the large island so Mediterranean as there.

From the coast to the interior, along the eponymous river, the vegetation evolves from the cliffs on the cliffs on the beaches to pockets of cork oaks and eucalyptus trees that refer to the Portuguese south, even more when they make room for the famous vineyards of the region, for the pastures of Australian cattle and to your aussie cowboys.

Herd of apprehensive cows in a meadow beside one of Margaret River's many vineyards.

One hundred and forty wineries, most of them tiny, occupy about 5500 hectares and produce increasingly huge wines worldwide. Margaret River only guarantees about 3% of the Australian grape.

Even so, 20% of the country's Premium production comes from there, with emphasis on the Sauvignon Blanc which every year helps to attract one million visitors.

We leave Mags to its oenological and tourist maturation.

South from Cape Leeuwin. The Domain of the Great Australian Eucalyptus Forests

We continue down the long Bussel Highway passing through Karridale and Augusta. On these sides is the gateway to Cape Leeuwin, the western threshold of the Southwest, where the aussies they believe the Indian and Antarctic oceans collide.

We proceed to the region of the great Australian forests, a mystical and powerful realm that makes the ozzies more patriotic and sentimentalists, moved by the warm smell of the earth, surrendered to the imposingness of the gigantic trunks of the jar, husband e karri trees, the eucalyptus species that proliferate there.

For hundreds of kilometers, this majestic forest robs us of the open view of the sky and leaves us apprehensive. Australian distances are endless. We cannot go through them slowly.

Only, on those sides, the wallabies and larger kangaroos cross the road frequently.

The sun sets and sets the silhouettes formed by towering eucalyptus, the dominant trees in the great south-west of Australia.

Any collision could cause irreparable damage from both sides, even more serious in a domain that inveterate environmentalists hold as sacred.

“We Love Music” repeats, over and over, with an accent ozzy, the female voice in the ether. To make up for the monotony of the landscape and endless straights, we keep the radio tuned to Triple J, one of Australia's youngest and most irreverent stations.

At one point, we were treated to an interview with two members of Buraka Som Sistema who, at the time, animated one of the main Australian summer festivals to the sound of the contagious “wegue wegue” and other topics of your progressive kuduro.

As the miles and marsupials pass us by, we can't help but laugh at Lil John, Kalaf and DJ Riot's discussion of the musical virtues and perverseness of the ever-prepotent American Kanye West.

Almost an hour later, we remain subsumed in the forest and the unexpected sight of several canvases and protest posters confirms the latent presence of environmentalists.

Until recently, the region's trees – many of them secular – have fueled a thriving logging industry based in Nannup, Bridgetown, Pemberton and Northcliffe.

Pressure from environmentalists has never stopped increasing. As a result, the government limited slaughter to an essential minimum.

Discovering the Majestic Valley of the Giants

Today, these small villages seek to compensate for the cut in their old and easy livelihood with profits from newly twinned ecological activities.

Finally, we come to the Great Australian South. Still surrounded by trees and trees, we plan to stop at the Valley of the Giants, eager to trade in the car for the most impressive of these environmental tweaks.

Dirt road of the usual Australian outback tone leads to a large blue cove.

We pass through Walpole. After Nornalup, we flex inland until we reach the protected area that gives it its name.

Unique to this small region of Greater South Western Australia, the trees tingle tingle (eucalyptus jacksonii) that abound there can live for over 400 years and grow 60 meters while their trunks reach 16 meters in diameter at the bases.

For decades, nature-enthusiastic locals and visitors traveled the route that crosses the valley to see the vegetal “Old Empire” that had settled in that place long before the Europeans anchored in the great southern island.

Today, thanks to the ecological thinking of the population and the authorities, more than just admiring from the ground, we can walk along the top of the forest along a structure of about 600 meters.

The wind makes the crosswalks sway and aggravates a controlled vertigo, but the surrounding sea of ​​chlorophyll leaves us dazzled.

One of the elevated walkways in the Valley of the Giants, an ancient southern Australian giant eucalyptus forest located in the Nornalup area.

A Lost Denmark in Western Australia

Denmark is known as the village where that same seemingly endless forest meets the sea and the hippies meet each other.

Like so many villages across Western Australia, it proves to be a distinctly residential country retreat but filled with galleries and art shops fueled by the alternative lifestyles of many residents.

Contrary to what everyone and we might think, its name has little to do with the Nordic country. It was awarded to him in 1829 by the naval doctor Thomas Braidwood Wilson, the first white man to explore the area and who named the river that ran there with the nickname of one of his best friends, Dr. Alexander Denmark.

More than the town, it's the surroundings that attract us.

The eccentric coastline of PN William Bay appeals to us, in particular, full of perfect coves where the tides cover and discover curious rounded rocks – the Elephant Rocks – and natural pools with such icy water that only true masochists bathe in them.

Rounded, elephant-toned rocks, a predominant geological attribute of William Bay National Park.

We are already on the southern coast of Australia.

To the south on the map, only the Antarctica and, to match, there are furious winds that, in addition to lowering the temperature of the air and the ocean, seem to want to uproot the large granite boulders scattered along the beach.

South Coast Highway Away to Albany Final Destination

To the east, along the South Coast Highway, two types of extreme and pristine waterfront succeed each other, sometimes rocky and dramatic, sometimes dominated by verdant coastal vegetation and embellished by sands that look more like snow.

blue seas

The Little Beach of PN Two Peoples, one of the frigid and, for that reason, almost perfect beaches in the Albany region.

Even though it's only the sixth city in the state, with 34.000 inhabitants, Albany is the biggest we've visited since we left. Busselton, where we accompanied a sea swimming competition.

It is also Western Australia's oldest permanent colony, founded in 1826, three years before Perth. These days, it exhibits contrasting looks.

The one in the old historic center with its relatively well-preserved colonial buildings next to the waterfront and the one in the new zone that is clearly developing inland and increasing an Americanized extension of shopping centers and fast-food restaurants.

The charm of the old one pleases us. We stay between the streets and cafes of the center, the long promenade of Princess Royal Harbor and the renowned Middleton beach.

The sun sets and sets the silhouettes formed by towering eucalyptus, the dominant trees in the great south-west of Australia.

Nine days and 543 km after departing Perth, we had reached the final point of the itinerary.

Shortly thereafter, we took the Albany Highway and returned to the capital through the interior of the great south-west of Australia.

Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Great Ocean Road, Australia

Ocean Out, along the Great Australian South

One of the favorite escapes of the Australian state of Victoria, via B100 unveils a sublime coastline that the ocean has shaped. We only needed a few kilometers to understand why it was named The Great Ocean Road.
Discovering tassie, Part 1 - Hobart, Australia

Australia's Backdoor

Hobart, the capital of Tasmania and the southernmost of Australia, was colonized by thousands of convicts from England. Unsurprisingly, its population maintains a strong admiration for marginal ways of life.
Perth, Australia

the lonely city

More 2000km away from a worthy counterpart, Perth is considered the most remote city on the face of the Earth. Despite being isolated between the Indian Ocean and the vast Outback, few people complain.
Perth, Australia

The Oceania Cowboys

Texas is on the other side of the world, but there is no shortage of cowboys in the country of koalas and kangaroos. Outback rodeos recreate the original version and 8 seconds lasts no less in the Australian Western.
Perth, Australia

Australia Day: In Honor of the Foundation, Mourning for Invasion

26/1 is a controversial date in Australia. While British settlers celebrate it with barbecues and lots of beer, Aborigines celebrate the fact that they haven't been completely wiped out.
Discovering tassie, Part 4 - Devonport to Strahan, Australia

Through the Tasmanian Wild West

If the almost antipode tazzie is already a australian world apart, what about its inhospitable western region. Between Devonport and Strahan, dense forests, elusive rivers and a rugged coastline beaten by an almost Antarctic Indian ocean generate enigma and respect.
Discovering tassie, Part 3, Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania from Top to Bottom

The favorite victim of Australian anecdotes has long been the Tasmania never lost the pride in the way aussie ruder to be. Tassie remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism in a kind of hindquarters of the antipodes. In this article, we narrate the peculiar route from Hobart, the capital located in the unlikely south of the island to the north coast, the turn to the Australian continent.
Sydney, Australia

From the Exile of Criminals to an Exemplary City

The first of the Australian colonies was built by exiled inmates. Today, Sydney's Aussies boast former convicts of their family tree and pride themselves on the cosmopolitan prosperity of the megalopolis they inhabit.
Michaelmas Cay, Australia

Miles from Christmas (Part XNUMX)

In Australia, we live the most uncharacteristic of the 24th of December. We set sail for the Coral Sea and disembark on an idyllic islet that we share with orange-billed terns and other birds.
Atherton Tableland, Australia

Miles Away from Christmas (part XNUMX)

On December 25th, we explored the high, bucolic yet tropical interior of North Queensland. We ignore the whereabouts of most of the inhabitants and find the absolute absence of the Christmas season strange.
Melbourne, Australia

An "Asienated" Australia

Cultural capital aussie, Melbourne is also frequently voted the best quality of life city in the world. Nearly a million eastern emigrants took advantage of this immaculate welcome.
Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial
Safari
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Thorong La, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, photo for posterity
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit 13th: High camp - Thorong La - Muktinath, Nepal

At the height of the Annapurnas Circuit

At 5416m of altitude, the Thorong La Gorge is the great challenge and the main cause of anxiety on the itinerary. After having killed 2014 climbers in October 29, crossing it safely generates a relief worthy of double celebration.
Architecture & Design
Cemeteries

the last address

From the grandiose tombs of Novodevichy, in Moscow, to the boxed Mayan bones of Pomuch, in the Mexican province of Campeche, each people flaunts its own way of life. Even in death.
Adventure
Volcanoes

Mountains of Fire

More or less prominent ruptures in the earth's crust, volcanoes can prove to be as exuberant as they are capricious. Some of its eruptions are gentle, others prove annihilating.
Military Religious, Wailing Wall, IDF Flag Oath, Jerusalem, Israel
Ceremonies and Festivities
Jerusalem, Israel

A Festive Wailing Wall

The holiest place in Judaism is not only attended by prayers and prayers. Its ancient stones have witnessed the oath of new IDF recruits for decades and echo the euphoric screams that follow.
St. Augustine, City of Florida, USA, the Bridge of Lions
Cities
Saint Augustine, Florida, USA

Back to the Beginnings of Hispanic Florida

The dissemination of tourist attractions of questionable taste becomes superficial if we take into account the historical depth in question. This is the longest inhabited city in the contiguous US. Ever since Spanish explorers founded it in 1565, St. Augustine resists almost anything.
Cocoa, Chocolate, Sao Tome Principe, Agua Izé farm
Meal
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
Culture
Jok​ülsárlón Lagoon, Iceland

The Chant and the Ice

Created by water from the Arctic Ocean and the melting of Europe's largest glacier, Jokülsárlón forms a frigid and imposing domain. Icelanders revere her and pay her surprising tributes.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Sport
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
Mount Lamjung Kailas Himal, Nepal, altitude sickness, mountain prevent treat, travel
Traveling
Annapurna Circuit: 2nd - Chame to Upper BananaNepal

(I) Eminent Annapurnas

We woke up in Chame, still below 3000m. There we saw, for the first time, the snowy and highest peaks of the Himalayas. From there, we set off for another walk along the Annapurna Circuit through the foothills and slopes of the great mountain range. towards Upper Banana.
Women with long hair from Huang Luo, Guangxi, China
Ethnic
Longsheng, China

Huang Luo: the Chinese Village of the Longest Hairs

In a multi-ethnic region covered with terraced rice paddies, the women of Huang Luo have surrendered to the same hairy obsession. They let the longest hair in the world grow, years on end, to an average length of 170 to 200 cm. Oddly enough, to keep them beautiful and shiny, they only use water and rice.
sunlight photography, sun, lights
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 2)

One Sun, So Many Lights

Most travel photos are taken in sunlight. Sunlight and weather form a capricious interaction. Learn how to predict, detect and use at its best.
Casa Menezes Braganca, Chandor, Goa, India
History
Chandor, Goa, India

A True Goan-Portuguese House

A mansion with Portuguese architectural influence, Casa Menezes Bragança, stands out from the houses of Chandor, in Goa. It forms a legacy of one of the most powerful families in the former province. Both from its rise in a strategic alliance with the Portuguese administration and from the later Goan nationalism.
Santo Antão, Cape Verde, Porto Novo to Ribeira Grande, Morro do Tubarão
Islands
Santo Antão, Cape Verde

Porto Novo to Ribeira Grande the Seaside Way

Once settled in Porto Novo, Santo Antão, we soon notice two routes to the second largest village on the island. Once surrendered to the monumental up-and-down of Estrada da Corda, the volcanic and Atlantic drama of the coastal alternative dazzles us.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Winter White
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
shadow vs light
Literature
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Ponta de Sao Lourenco, Madeira, Portugal
Nature
Ponta de Sao Lourenco, Madeira, Portugal

The Eastern, Somehow Extraterrestrial Madeira Tip

Unusual, with ocher tones and raw earth, Ponta de São Lourenço is often the first sight of Madeira. When we walk through it, we are fascinated, above all, with what the most tropical of the Portuguese islands is not.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Faithful light candles, Milarepa Grotto temple, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Natural Parks
Annapurna Circuit: 9th Manang to Milarepa Cave, Nepal

A Walk between Acclimatization and Pilgrimage

In full Annapurna Circuit, we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). we still need acclimatize to the higher stretches that followed, we inaugurated an equally spiritual journey to a Nepalese cave of Milarepa (4000m), the refuge of a siddha (sage) and Buddhist saint.
San Juan, Old Town, Puerto Rico, Reggaeton, Flag on Gate
UNESCO World Heritage
San Juan, Puerto Rico (Part 2)

To the Rhythm of Reggaeton

Restless and inventive Puerto Ricans have made San Juan the reggaeton capital of the world. At the preferred beat of the nation, they filled their “Walled City” with other arts, color and life.
now from above ladder, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand
Characters
Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard

Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.
Jabula Beach, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
Beaches
Saint Lucia, South Africa

An Africa as Wild as Zulu

On the eminence of the coast of Mozambique, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is home to an unexpected South Africa. Deserted beaches full of dunes, vast estuarine swamps and hills covered with fog fill this wild land also bathed by the Indian Ocean. It is shared by the subjects of the always proud Zulu nation and one of the most prolific and diverse fauna on the African continent.
Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, Christian churches, priest with insensate
Religion
Holy Sepulcher Basilica, Jerusalem, Israel

The Supreme Temple of the Old Christian Churches

It was built by Emperor Constantine, on the site of Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection and an ancient temple of Venus. In its genesis, a Byzantine work, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher is, today, shared and disputed by various Christian denominations as the great unifying building of Christianity.
Chepe Express, Chihuahua Al Pacifico Railway
On Rails
Creel to Los Mochis, Mexico

The Barrancas del Cobre & the CHEPE Iron Horse

The Sierra Madre Occidental's relief turned the dream into a construction nightmare that lasted six decades. In 1961, at last, the prodigious Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad was opened. Its 643km cross some of the most dramatic scenery in Mexico.
Ijen Volcano, Slaves of Sulfur, Java, Indonesia
Society
Ijen volcano, Indonesia

The Ijen Volcano Sulphur Slaves

Hundreds of Javanese surrender to the Ijen volcano where they are consumed by poisonous gases and loads that deform their shoulders. Each turn earns them less than €30 but everyone is grateful for their martyrdom.
Busy intersection of Tokyo, Japan
Daily life
Tokyo, Japan

The Endless Night of the Rising Sun Capital

Say that Tokyo do not sleep is an understatement. In one of the largest and most sophisticated cities on the face of the Earth, twilight marks only the renewal of the frenetic daily life. And there are millions of souls that either find no place in the sun, or make more sense in the “dark” and obscure turns that follow.
Jeep crosses Damaraland, Namibia
Wildlife
damaraland, Namíbia

Namibia On the Rocks

Hundreds of kilometers north of Swakopmund, many more of Sossuvlei's iconic dunes, Damaraland is home to deserts interspersed with red rocky hills, the young nation's highest mountain and ancient rock art. the settlers South Africans they named this region after the Damara, one of the Namibian ethnic groups. Only these and other inhabitants prove that it remains on Earth.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
PT EN ES FR DE IT