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It’s been a great week since leaving Santiago

Our adventure out of the city starts with our first Chilean bus journey. We were expecting chaos but all was calm at the Terminus Alameda. Our Condor bus with semi-cama (half reclining) seats was clean, comfortable, air conditioned and left on time. We had great seats – top deck front – the best to admire the countryside views. The road – nearly all motorway/dual carriage way – was good and traveled mostly through a verdant, agricultural plain: fields of wheat, corn, fruit trees (mostly apple and pear we think), other crops we could not identify and some vines. Plenty of Road side fruit stalls, many laden with oranges and lemons. Mountains in the not-too-far-distance. The time passes easily

We change buses at Talca, leaving the smart Condor inter urbano for a local one, we have nearly two hours to wait, not much happening in Talca or the bus station so we amuse ourselves watching random people and dogs and with a sustaining snack (!!) of coke and chips . . .

The local bus to our destination in Vilches Montes was our first (and to date only) non-charming encounter. I showed the driver the stop we needed, as provided by the host of the place we are staying, and he didn’t know it, couldn’t understand it. Appeared reluctant to let us on! The problem was partially resolved by phoning the Hosteria host, Marion, and passing our phone to the driver so she could talk with him. She later explained he was new, first day on that route, didn’t know the area or her hosteria which everyone else does and that he was not nice – and most un-Chilean. We managed to get off at the correct bus stop though by means of Marion’s conversation, google maps and another passenger who pointed out “La Maravilla” to the driver. I think maybe he was just panic stricken having to deal with two foreigners his first day on the job!

La Maravilla is in a very rural setting, rolling hills, very lush, beautiful garden, swimming pool, star gazing terrace, great dog. Very basic room but all good. Marion is a German who has owned and run the place (three rooms, several cabins) since 2014 after a long spell as an “on-the-ground” rep for a German travel agency running Chilean tours. Warm, hospitable, with lovely staff and much useful local knowledge it is a great stay

We have two full days to explore and at Marion’s suggestion spend the first walking two trails in the forest to the western edge of the national park which has brought us to Vilches. It is glorious: lofty trees, dappled shade, great vistas at the end of each trail. We see a few people but not many; hear lots of bird song and spot a few but they are very camera shy! Waiting for the bus we discover a great cafe/bar with outside terrace serving cold beers and empanadas. Bliss

The following day we walk a trail in Riserva Nacional Altos de Lircay. The bus takes us to a spot 2.3k from the park entrance – we wonder why but the answer becomes apparent – the paved road runs out and the unmade road is very rough. The staff at the park entrance are delightful, and surprised that we are from the UK, this is a park little known outside Chile it seems. We deal with formalities of route and payment and set off. Our destination is “Punto 6” – a linear walk along the side of the valley which opens up to a magnificent vista at “Punto 4” – but 6 is the recommended end point because it has picnic tables, fresh drinking water to replenish our bottles and toilet facilities. About six hours there and back we are told

Well, it was a hard slog, especially in contrast to the previous day! More route march than hike: worried about the time constraints of the last bus back (we caught the first bus there) we did not spend as much time stopping and viewing the scenery and looking for wildlife as we usually would. The ascents were steep and the trail – clear and well marked – was nearly all stone from boulder to pebble in size and a constant trip hazard. I found I spent way more time looking where I was putting my feet than at the landscape, frustrating! The light was challenging too: the trees along the trail were shorter and denser than those encountered the previous day and created areas of deep shade followed by areas of bright light where the trees thinned out. Sunglasses constantly on and off!

It was beautiful, and we had some great wildlife spots: a glitzy patterned lizard and a colourful bird, both apparently delighted to pose for our cameras; and two Magellanic woodpeckers knocking seven bells out of a tree, a magnificent sight and sound, but the last couple of Ks – outside the park, back to the paved road, were really hard

It was a big walk and as it transpired we could have spent a little longer as we made it back in time for the penultimate bus (an hour before the last one) – although taking it did mean Andy had a very rushed end of walk beer and I didn’t get mine til we were back at La Maravilla but the call of a swim, shower and dinner outweighed a beer on the cafe terrace, no matter how delightful . . . .

The following morning saw us retrace our steps to Talca by local bus, a couple of hours wait (this time we occupy ourselves with beer, bread and pebre) and our inter urbano Turbus to Villarrica. Extensive internet research suggested the journey would be five hours but it was actually seven and a half. Great views along the way including of Volcán Villarrica. We are staying in an hosteria just out of town, La Colina, run by an American woman Chantel and her Chilean partner Rodriguo, both young, both charming. It is properly night-time dark when we arrive so we do not appreciate fully the view but enjoy a pisco sour on the terrace followed by a glass of wine and a tabla of meats and cheeses

We have three full days and use them by exploring the towns Villarrica and Pučon which both sit on the shores of Lagos Villarrica and then nearby Lican Rey and Coñaripe which both sit on nearby Lagos Calafquén, travelling by local bus

Day one we explore Villarrica, dominated by its volcano, a low key seaside – more accurately lakeshore – town; then a bus to Pučon which is bigger, livelier, with a marina and lots of shopping – well known names in outdoor gear in particular. Both have a very relaxed, holiday vibe

Day two is a bus to Lican Rey and a glorious wooded peninsula walk through a Mapuche natural reserve: great views of the lake, beautiful trees and lunch in the central Mapuche cultural village (well, four cafes . . .). The seaside vibe is even more obvious in this town than at Villarrica and Pučon and the black volcanic sand covered beaches on the lakeshore are packed with holiday makers

Day three and another bus, to Coñaripe and private transfer to “Termas Geometricas” – an astonishing complex of 20 geyser fed hot baths and one cold waterfall fed one – connected by a 500 meter wooden walkway in what what previously a ravine with no access. The scenery is beautiful and the pools range in temperatures from 36 C – pretty tepid – to 45 C – and a couple were closed as too hot. We found any above 41 C way too hot and only managed knee deep in the cold pool at 9 C (that’s seaside Folkestone winter temperature, we haven’t cracked this cold water open water swimming!)

Volcán Villarrica: also known as Rucapillán is apparently Chile’s most active; there is an monitoring system and since 6th January 2023 the exclusion zone has been increased from 500m to 1,000m after some “activity”. It sends smoke into the sky all the days we are there and despite its roiling lava is still snow clad on its high slopes. We read that the last fatalities were after an eruption in 2015: 15 people die from noxious gas inhalation after moving back too quickly after an evacuation. Life appears to carry on all around it without any fears or concerns!

We have loved exploring lush, verdant, green lakeside Chile. We think it will be a great contrast to Chile part II which starts in the northern,high desert of Atacama, but more of that later

Until next time, adios amigos
ALISON

Impressions of Santiago de Chile

Fairly fleeting impressions it has to be said as we have only spent an evening and one full day: impressions garnered from three sources: our taxi ride from the airport and hotel check-in; our evening explore; our full day hitting the streets of small areas of Santiago

From the airport: charming cab driver; relatively quiet multi lane highways and underpasses, but the driving did not feel frenetic, nothing like India or even Rome! We did not spot any colonial style buildings other than a few dilapidated ones and the architecture along the route was, I would suggest, brutalist modern. Lots and lots of graffiti, lots of litter, lots of disrepair. What appeared to be a colony of people sleeping rough in one park we passed. The hotel staff are charming and the area seems pleasant. After lunch and a siesta (it sounds so much better than a nap!) we walk the few hundred metres to Plaza des Armas, intending to get cash from an ATM and buy a local SIM. We are too late, all the shops and malls are closed or closing (it is approaching 8pm) and we are somewhat discomfited by the streets – every shop front closed off with metal shutters or metal sheets, evidence of lots of missing glass hoarded up, and so, so much graffiti. No available ATM because presumably they are all internal. We sit in a cafe on the edge of Plaza des Armas. There are people sitting at tables in the square playing chess and draughts, that looks good. We almost come unstuck because the menu has to be scanned and we have no functioning mobile but the charming waitress provides us with a hot spot to her personal wifi. Fed and watered we walked back to the hotel thinking Santiago has not got us hooked

The next morning, clear blue skies, hot sun (around 30 C) and low humidity sees us retracing our steps from the previous evening and what a transformation. Shops un-shuttered and open, pavements full of street traders, (really full, as many people trading from street stalls as shops); people out and about. There is still graffiti, and still lots of hoarded glass, but the city (this bit of it) feels alive and welcoming. More charming people at the mobile shop (the local SIM an absolute bargain at US$8 for 100 gb, for 30 days, Chile and Argentina) and at the cafe where we sit, for longer than I care to think about, getting the SIMs to work with ancient, potentially sacrificial phones we brought for that purpose. We re-visit Plaza de Armas and look into the very grand cathedral. We walk north to find the river (why???), the fish market – full and fascinating, and retreat fairly hastily back to our “our” side – Lastarria, put off venturing further afield into Bella Vista because it was so dirty, dilapidated and we were approached twice by women telling us to be careful, the area was full of thieves and pickpockets and we had to have eyes everywhere. Even with our barely-there Spanish with their mimes the meaning was clear!

That said the location of our hotel in Lastarria is delightful. Two nearby parks, interesting buildings and so much cleaner than other parts we visited. After an early evening walk through Cerro Santa Lucio, a park on an extinct volcano with many steps and great views of the city, we walk a few more streets into the self-styled Barrio Gastronomique, buzzing with life: restaurants, bars, street sellers the latter of whom all appear to be in their early 20s creating, repurposing and up cycling accessories, clothes and art. A huge buzz in the area and also a fabulous dinner

After a shaky start, Santiago has grown on us enormously and we are looking forward to another day here in a week’s time before we fly to Buenos Aires

But, before our pictures, have you noticed? Charming. Whilst I admit I need to interrogate the thesaurus without exception, everyone in Chile with whom we have interacted so far has been polite, helpful, courteous, accommodating of our execrable (or non-existent) Spanish, really just very – nice. So, for now at least, charming

Until next time, adios amigos

Alison

Our journey from La Pavona takes us through the capital of San Jose via a good, tarmac highway which climbs and climbs until our ears pop. From glimpses we think the views must be stunning, forested hill-and-mountain-sides, but they are obscured by cloud until we reach San Jose. After that, another good tarmac highway with tolls but very slow moving traffic: nowhere is the speed limit higher than 80 ks an hour and progress feels slow, if more scenic as the clouds clear and the sun comes out, and we drive through high rolling hills towards the pacific coast

We stop in Tarcoles at the famous “crocodile bridge” to peer into the murky depths of Rio Grande de Tarcoles below, and spot a couple of whoppers in the water, easily as big as their Australian cousins seen in Kakadu last August, and a few smaller ones sunning themselves on the bank

Our guide book says that feeding the crocodiles is strictly prohibited but locals keep them in this area – to support tours by boat and shops on the bridge selling souvenirs – by throwing them frozen chicken. This is a highly credible story from their size!

The standout moment on Tarcoles bridge however is two scarlet macaws flying between a couple of trees, screeching their presence. We are headed to a hotel on the edge of Carara National Park specifically to see these magnificent birds so we are very excited!

Our accommodation, a “luxury villa” in a hotel complex of a very few cabins/villas, is a delight, with a private pool and magnificent decks from which to watch wildlife. The effervescent owner Patricia, from Colombia but a local of 20 years, is an equal delight and tells us macaws are nesting behind the villa but she cannot point out where as she is “no good about birds”

The villa is up a steep hill, a good distance on foot from any restaurants, and has excellent facilities so we decide to self cater at least tonight. A supermarket shop and an evening of cooking, eating, drinking, swimming and star watching follows. It’s a good life!

The national park opens at 7 a.m. Caroline and Simon decide not to join us on a guided tour but rather check out the wildlife from the villa decks. Andy and I head off and as we pull up at the park gate six, then four, then two red macaws fly overhead looking magnificent in the early morning light against a deep blue sky – too quick for us to even attempt to photograph, but a great memory

We meet (perhaps more accurately are accosted by) a local guide, Maurice and agree to engage him to guide us through the park for a couple of hours. Our fabulous experience with Elberth has reinforced how helpful local knowledge is in showing us things we would not normally see. In fact we see no more macaws but what we do see, including bats, Mot Mot, woodpecker are all fascinating

Maurice in his past lived in Newcastle for eight moths and still supports the Magpies. He and Andy chat about their recent performance and exchange greetings in Geordie. Maurice is almost Julio Geordio . . . (with thanks to Paul Whitehouse for the original)

We return to our villa and meet Caroline and Simon carrying our breakfast up the hill, thoughtfully organized by Patricia as we were at the park during service. A beautifully indolent day sees us do little more than swim and have binoculars to our eyes, watching some howler monkeys in the canopy. Simon and Caroline saw macaws when they were first up but there are no further sightings

It is our 6th/36th anniversary so we have a celebratory meal at a fish restaurant on a nearby beach, with a magnificent sunset (thanks for driving Simon!)

The following morning Andy is woken by scarlet macaws screeching and sure enough there are two pairs who seem to be in nests (in tree-holes) outside the window of our bedroom. We wake Simon and Caroline and all watch them from the bedroom deck and then the living room deck as they fly round to the side of the villa from the rear. They are stunning and we are all captivated

While we are packing up howler monkeys – who knows if they are the same ones we saw yesterday – are in the tree tops near the villa

We head south along the coastal road, a few kilometres beyond Uvita, to an AirBnB house which is home for the next three nights.

It is an extraordinary place, the front elevation has glazing but its sides and rear are only netted above wooden walls of about three feet. There is one bedroom on the upper floor reached by a bridge from a mezzanine floor which provides two other huge, if public, sleeping areas. The photographs probably do not do it justice but give you some idea

It is located off a rough, unpaved road, with one other rental property and the caretaker’s house in an area of trees and has a boardwalk to the beach

Again, quite distant from eateries and in such a splendid location we self cater all three nights. Caroline is pretty much responsible for the excellent meals, Andy and I prep and cook a few bits; Simon clears up. It is great, eating on the terrace breakfast, lunch and dinner

We have variable weather, our arrival and first full day are hot and sunny but after dinner drinking on the terrace is interrupted by torrential and sudden rain and we rush to bring everything under cover

Our second full day and the morning we leave are overcast. But we read, walk, wildlife watch. We see many squadrons of pelicans flying over, watch frigate birds and herons, swim in the sea (or at least bob in the waves) every day

The beach is a magnificent sweep of sea and sand, the house is protected by a high pebble retaining wall which runs for a few hundred meters

At the northern end of “our” beach is a forested promontory and a footpath through it leads to the southernmost beach within the Ballena marine national park. The landscape is very different – the beach is backed by towering cliffs. There is a stark beauty to it. At other times of the year you can see whales migrating north

Francisco, the caretaker, calls in daily, we think because he so enjoys having Caroline and her excellent Spanish to ease his communications. I do not know how but we seem to get in a scriptures/saints/Catholicism loop. Simon and I disengage leaving Caroline and Andy to it . . . . It reminds me of Sanpath’s desire to educate us in the way of Buddha and Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Ah but of course, I haven’t yet shared that trip with you!

We have all grown fond of the beach house and could happily spend a few more days here but we need to move on, to San Jose as Caroline and Simon are leaving from there

We retrace our steps towards San Jose, stopping off in Manuel Antonio, really checking it out for a future visit (young, vibrant, surfy, full of bars and restaurants and home to many sloths which fail to reveal themselves to us) and then picnic on last night’s leftovers

The sun is out and the road still scenic, good and slow. We are staying in a charming low level small hotel in a district on the edge of the city: Escazu. The hotel terrace and pool overlook the city and as dusk falls it begins to twinkle. It is a good view

The security at the hotel is big: locked iron gates, bars on every window, a night watchman. And as we drive to it, Simon points out that every garden/compound/enclosure is ringed with substantial iron fencing/panels and razor wire. How bad is crime in this city?

A consultation with the evening receptionist, Ivan, leads us to dinner at a highly recommended local restaurant via Uber, which is alive and well in San Jose if not elsewhere in Costa Rica and is incredibly cheap. Dinner – and cocktails – are good and substantial (a doggy bag is taken for the hotel’s dog) but we are surprised wine is only available by airline – style individual bottles each of a glass’ worth. It is clearly not the local drink of choice

The following morning we Uber into the centre of San Jose, Caroline in the front seat conversing with the driver until the absence of control pedals renders her silent. There is a lot of loose lane-observance, cutting in and no-one seems clear about priorities at junctions (there are no give way signs) but we arrive unscathed. we have a juice and coffee at the cafe in the Teatro Nacional, one of San Jose’s most important historic buildings- based on the Paris Opera House. A group of men at the adjacent table were discussing and occasionally singing tango

After a mooch round the artisanal craft market we Uber back to the hotel for Caroline and Simon to prepare for their journey home to Downton, Wiltshire (not the one of the TV series)

It starts pouring with rain as they leave for the airport, our taxi service rendered redundant by Al, the day time receptionist, driving them there for $15, saving us a 90+ minute round trip through crazy drivers. We are sad to see them go, but happy not to be leaving with them

Until next time, hasta luego 

ALISON

PS: this map shows our route from Arenal to San Jose, the subject of this and the preceding blog

And now we are are four

We bid farewell to Colin & Annabelle, who return home to Broadway, Somerset (via a waterfall and a night in Liberia) after their trip to New Orleans and Costa Rica. We will miss you on our next adventures!

The rest of us pack up carefully – including still damp clothing from our dousing / not yet dry washing – because at the end of our drive today is a boat trip. We are heading for La Pavona, the embarcation point for a boat to Tortuguero on the Caribbean coast where we are spending three nights. It is a town built on a strip of land, sea one side, tidal river the other. 

The drive is uneventful, the scenery changes from mountain rain forest to lowland banana plantations, and other agricultural crops we cannot identify. We stop three times to try and load up with cash (our guide book says most places in Tortuguero don’t take cards and that its ATM is frequently out of notes or broken). We fail miserably at the first two stops and are able to withdraw some colones at the third, but not many and no dollars. We assume we will manage!

La Pavona is slickly organised: $10 a day to leave the car in a secure compound; a cafe and restaurant to wait for the next departing boat. A beer is in order

The boat arrives, effectively a metal rib with a big on-board engine. All seats are filled and we leave half an hour ahead of the scheduled departure time. We travel at speed, the boat sits low in the water, the water is brown and murky. No crocs right? We are told not, maybe some caimans but it is not the right season. Reassured? Our boatman is clearly experienced, slowing and accelerating for the bends and shallows and avoiding fallen branches. The journey takes just over an hour and it is fascinating rushing through the tropical rain forest

We are met off the boat to be guided to our very centrally located hostal, beach side. The town looks feels very different to any we have experienced so far. Low lying, ramshackle, a mish-mash of single story buildings. It has a very Carribean vibe, regaeton blaring from a few bars, a gathering of men slapping their dominoes as they play

Our guide explains that the previous day Tortuguero received an unseasonably long and extremely heavy rainfall which combined with a high tide had flooded much of the town. Including the access to and garden of our hostal which are both muddy and dishevelled!! We are a little surprised at quite how small, dark and inadequately ventilated and lit our rooms are, but the larger airier ones on the first floor are occupied and there is no choice. It will be fine . . . and the entire hostal – ignoring the muddy garden – is spotlessly clean. We have found this everywhere so far visited/stayed: accommodation is sparkling clean, no litter lines the roads. Everything is pristine. Pura Vida!!

A sundowner on the deck of a bar on the lagoon side followed by an excellent dinner at Taylor’s Place, a lovely restaurant – where Ray, his wife and niece cook and serve all diners – means we barely notice the torrential rain on the way back to our hostal, escorted most of the way there by Ray who leads us through some back alleys as a short cut to try and stop us getting drenched. Another thing we have so far noticed: very friendly and keen to help locals

Tortuguero is famous for nesting/hatching turtles (wrong season for us) and its eponymous national park, much of which consists of river and canals and is best explored by kayak or canoe. We book a 6 am tour and after a degree of hanging around at the dock, a walk to the park entrance, and a queue to pay the park entrance fee we finally board the canoe with our guide and paddler, Mr Hooker

The waterway is reasonably busy with other tours and most other guides/paddlers know Mr Hooker who is acclaimed as a maestro, and frequently greeted. It is very humid, and we keep to the river rather than the small canals we have read about (which surprises us) but we see lots of birds, hear and spot howler monkeys, a couple of nearly submerged caiman, and iguana. Green macaws screech and fly overhead

After a couple of hours on the water Mr Hooker says it is time to head back and as we do, you’ve guessed it, the heavens open and at the end of the 15 or so minute return journey (Andy and Simon helping to paddle for speed) we are again soaked to our skin

It is hot and the rain stops and we steam gently on the walk back from the park entrance, stopping for breakfast at a local bakery

A change of clothes, and we explore the town, stopping for lunch at another lagoon side cafe

Restored, we return to the national park entrance and walk “the jaguar trail” – it is late afternoon, we heed our guide book advice to hire wellingtons and are very glad we did. The path is largely underwater

We don’t see a jaguar but do see some monkeys and a few more  birds, and admire the crashing waves as the park joins the ocean

After dinner we stop for a cocoloco night cap from a cart vendor we resisted earlier: a healthy dose of Nicaraguan rum (he claims it is better than any from Costa Rica) and a strange tasting mix of pre-prepared pressed pineapple poured into a green coconut. What’s not to like!

A lazier start to our next day and breakfast in the hostal garden – the place is growing on us after we have acclimatised to our rooms and its location on the beach is very charming

We walk – along the beach and back along an inland path, spot frigates, pelicans, toucans and an iguana. We admire the busy leaf cutter ants

After lunch overlooking the sea we are all tired, and it is very hot and humid, so we head back for a rest and Simon and I claim the two hammocks in the hostal garden

We leave Tortuguero the next morning, after another night of heavy rain, retracing our steps with a return boat trip to La Pavona where we are pleased to find the car intact. We wait out another rainstorm before driving towards the pacific coast and our next adventures

Until next time, hasta luego 

ALISON

Well its called rain forest for a reason

But before regaling you with tales of extreme wet – and with huge sadness as I type that I cannot send rain to Australia to assist in quelling the raging bush fires devastating the country, its people, flora and fauna – I will share the sunny views from the two lookouts at our Monteverde airbnb

Our next stop is Arenal, in the hamlet of El Castillo, perched on a hill overlooking the lake and with a magnificent view of the Arenal volcano, active last as recently as 2010

The drive, skirting the north side of the lake, is mostly in sunshine. We stop for views of the lake and volcano, coffee, a picnic lunch by the damn and – on the run in to the damn – were very excited by our first good Coati sighting. It’s a regular tourist route and it seems as if he is coming to the car to beg (we resist!)

As we approach the hotel the clouds thicken and the top of the volcano is obscured. The hotel is a little more tired, and the infinity pool smaller, than they appear on-line but the location cannot be faulted and we all take in sunset from the pool, admiring the views, soaring hawks and vultures, hummingbirds in the hedge

We have two full days to explore the area and are trying to plan according to a weather forecast but give up on that, it is far too variable and basically we count on rain! We start with a trip to a butterfly conservancy. Not sure what to expect, worried it will be too cheesy, we are all captivated. From the jewel chrysalis cases to the magnificent Morpho, the national butterfly, everything is exquisitely curated and visible. We are all also very taken by the frogs – benign and venomous. And the diverse, local, flora on display. For anyone interested, the video clips posted with this blog are of the three butterflies shown below

A rainforest walk within the conservancy sees splendid vegetation and trees and a family of howler monkeys in the canopy. No sighting of the volcano, shrouded in cloud all morning

A walk to a waterfall during the afternoon. We take swimming stuff as there is a pool at the bottom of the fall good for swimming. In fact we decide not to swim: it has a hazardous looking, rock-strewn base, the fall is abundant and its beginning to rain. And it continues to rain – fairly consistently and on occasion extremely heavily for the next couple of hours. We are quite literally soaked to the skin

We debate at some length whether to take the next day a much vaunted raft trip on the river, Penas Blancas. Not white water rafting but a float to see wildlife: sloths and birds. The reason for our reluctance: the prospect of sitting in a raft for two hours in torrential rain and seeing nothing. We meet for an early breakfast and drive to La Fortuna. The weather looks reasonably settled and we book – and because it is last minute the tour company operating the raft very sweetly undertake some quick logistics to on-board their van with a second raft and extra life jackets and our paddler/guide, Jonathan. He is a local from Tortuguero, on the Caribbean side, but he uses his anglicised name. The rain pours on the 20 minute van ride to the river, but then stops. We board and start floating, the river is brown but it is not caiman season (!) – the raft sits quite low in the water. Jonathan paddles, strenuously at times, and spots iguana, birds, monkeys and – hooray – a sloth! Jonathan jumps in the river to pull us back under the sloth. We watch for a good while and see him indulge in a good scratch

The morning concludes with juice, coffee and a snack of fried plantain, bread made from cassava and cheese – all grown/ made on the farm we are at. They also have a well visited bird table which gives us a chance to see close up some of the gorgeous birds previously seen only at a distance high in the canopy. It also rains torrentially so we feel blessed our rafting trip was dry, we have barely dried out from yesterday!

Our afternoon activities see us split: Colin, Annabelle and Andy head for the volcano and a guided canopy walk which involves seven hanging bridges. My vertigo precludes that and I chose an afternoon of indolence at a complex of eight inter-connecting thermal pools, keen to try them before leaving this volcanic region. Simon and Caroline join me and we have the place entirely to ourselves, the occasional heavy rain downpour cools us off comfortably, as does the cold spring waterfall. And the barman delivering a mojito improves the experience of course

Arenal disappointingly remains shrouded in cloud all but we know it is is there, watching over us

Until next time, hasta luego 

ALISON

This shows are approximate journey since landing at Liberia:

OK: I will get the excuses/apologies over first and quickly. Blogs for the the remainder of Australia (end of the WA road trip, our amazing five subsequent weeks in and around Bowral, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide); for Japan and for Hong Kong are all yet to be completed. I was and have been too busy since the end of the road trip but do intend to complete and post them this calendar year 

We are now in Costa Rica, a relatively short trip of four weeks (!!), and so far (this is me writing on day three), so extremely lovely

After a night at an hotel near the airport in Liberia we drive and rendezvous with great friends Colin & Annabelle and Caroline & Simon, respectively already in the country for nine and five nights. We meet at an airbnb house perched high on a hill in the region of Monteverde, it is a wooden delight with a wrap around veranda the longest elevation of which faces the pacific and the Nicoya Peninsula. The temperature dropped from 31C to 24C to 19C on the drive up the hill and the wind is strong but the air is clear. The caretaker/manager Walter is charming and oh so knowledgable and his absence of English not at all a problem due to Caroline’s excellent Spanish. Walter walks us through much of the extensive hillside garden, planted with coffee, bananas, oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit. The views are fabulous and the sunset breathtaking

The following morning is a slow start and then an expedition to Santa Helena Cloud Forest Reserve. The temperature is around 20C and this wind is big, making everything a little cooler. The cloud forest is lush, green, full of moss covered trees, lianas, ferns. It feels very Indiana Jones-esque. We spot some colourful birds and a large Howler monkey, walking high in the tree canopy with her baby wrapped around her, leisurely grazing on fruits and seeds

Today sees us with a 4.45 a.m. alarm to leave at 5.15 a.m. for a 6.00 a.m. start to a guided bird tour. We all feel undercooked and hope we are going to see some birds, the cloud forest yesterday was not teeming . . . . 

Our guide Elberth, the youngest of Los Hermanos Fuentes, is an enthusiastic, knowledgeable, charming, dynamo. He arrives armed with binoculars and a telescope on a tripod. Before we even leave the meeting point – a kilometre from the reserve we are to visit – he has spotted and pointed out to us a good selection of birds including the most beautiful Mot-Mot. He repeatedly moves at speed to set up the ‘scope and encourages us all to get to it quickly to see his finds

After a very welcome coffee – its good here – we head to Curi-Cancha Reserve. It’s still a coolish 19C and the wind is still strong. It is less dense forest and not nearly as mossy, fern filled or damp  as Santa Helena yesterday. There are mango and avocado trees, huge ficus, soft cedar wood. We are repeatedly amazed by Elberth’s skill at spotting birds and enabling us all to see them, by naked eye, binoculars, and telescope. And we realise we must have missed lots yesterday. We see a splendid selection of birds including the most prized of all, the Resplendant Quetzal. We are all very happy!

Elberth is also great at taking photographs for us with our various telephones and cameras, including through the lens of the telescope, which we hugely appreciate

On the last leg of our guided tour Elberth spots two Pit vipers, we could not believe he saw the first, the second had been in the same spot the day before so he thought it might still be there. It is slightly worrying that these poisonous snakes could so easily be just above our heads, invisible to our uneducated eyes

Within the reserve there is an area where several nectar feeders have been erected for humming birds. They are many, and many types, and it is enthralling and to be able to stand so close and watch them fly, hover and feed. They were too quick for my camera skills but I will send independently of this blog  a couple of video clips and now include a couple of stills from them

It was a truly fabulous outing which concluded with the obligatory group shot, taken by Elberth and then a selfie with him

As we left the reserve the weather improved: the wind dropped, the sky became intensely blue and the sun warm, warm enough to tempt us into the spring fed swimming pool at the house

Until next time, hasta luego 

ALISON

PS: due to technical difficulties, namely Andy with a borrowed camera as his has been mislaid by the camera shop after a repair was completed, and no transfer lead being provided with it, I am missing some of his photos, in particular the Mot-Mots . . . .maybe I can do an edit after we are home

We made a decision in planning this trip that we will reduce the distances to (Australian!) bite size chunks, allowing ourselves just over seven weeks, trying not to spend more than four hours in the car on any day, whether getting between places we stay or visiting things we want to see from each stay-stop. This is not entirely achievable and our first big car day is the trip from Port Hedland to Broome: just over 600 Ks, an estimated 6 hrs and 20 minutes. Great Northern Highway all the way, another flat straight road. The landscape and vegetation much as up the coast (low scrub, few trees, no humans, few vehicles) enlivened by a few fences, cattle and – for the first time – birds we think are bush turkey or the Australian Bustard 

We also drive through our first bush fire, flames and smoke but not over a large area. No photographs of that though!

We break our journey at Eighty Mile Beach for a walk and a coffee (the only cafe is at the caravan park which borders the one part of the beach where the access track to it is). The sea is spectacularly colourful, the sand white and, despite lots of parked 4WD for “local” fishermen (they must drive for miles and miles to get here), pristine. The water looks tempting but no-one is swimming. Roberto chats to one of the fishermen – bull sharks frequent these waters and were seen the day before. We watch in disbelief as one woman ventures in but she is unscathed – and doesn’t stay in for long

We arrive in Broome without incident, enjoy another truly spectacular sunset and dinner at a lively beach side restaurant – it is a holiday town

We are up well before dawn the next morning and get ourselves to the airport hangar of Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures by 5.30. We have booked a tour and are looking forward to the promised adventure. The first leg is by seaplane to the falls. Alison M gets to sit alongside the pilot. We are all slightly underwhelmed by the journey however: the interior of the plane is cramped, it looks shabby, the pilot appears to have had a charisma by-pass and when he deigns to provide any information about what we are flying over he has a faulty PA and is largely unintelligible. That said, we cruise at 8,000 feet, visibility is good and landing on water is a thrill

Our base for this first part of the tour is a floating hotel (it is possible to stay overnight and some groups spend 3/4 days)

With barely time to draw breath we are whisked off by high speed motorboat to the horizontal falls. What to tell you about the falls? Described by David Attenborough as “one of the greatest wonders of the natural world” the horizontal nature of the falls is created as seawater builds up and exits faster one side of two gaps in the cliff ranges than the other. Am I making any sense yet? There are two gaps in the cliffs, the most seaward facing one is of approx. 20m and the inward/inland sea facing one is of approx. 12m

Our first approach is towards the end of low tide. The phenomenon we witness is that the water cannot flow out of the inland sea through the narrow gap as quickly as it flows out through the large gap; the consequence is a “fall” (today) at the narrow gap of about 4m. Our boat skipper puts us through the wide gap and its whirlpools several times, at speed. It is soooo exhilarating. He approaches the narrow gap and we see the fall. He explains that attempting to go through it would cause the boat to overturn – despite its 4 x 300 hp engines it cannot climb a 4m wall of water! 

Back to the floating hotel for breakfast and then to witness shark feeding. The staff have regularly fed sharks during the dry season (it is closed in the wet) over several years and they apparently have visitors most days. We meet three of the regulars, all tawny nurse sharks: old boy Bruce travelling with tiny golden trevally, senior Steve, who is grabbed by his fins to demonstrate his equable nature (!!) and familiarity with those who feed him, and finally junior Jack who is grabbed and turned over to display his claspers – in response to a question about how sharks are sexed. The staff member doing all this is careful and relaxed, advises that these tawnys could inflict a serious bite but generally don’t, and wouldn’t kill. We didn’t meet Ellie, the resident bull shark who, we are told, will happily eat us. No-one swims here . . . We are fascinated by the giant trevalley who also appear and, quick as anything, torpedo in and pinch the shark food, tasty chunks of snapper, right under the sharks’ noses

Next up, a sedate cruise along Cyclone Creek. Great cliffs, mangroves, rocks, visible diverse tide lines, cliff-face clinging trees and our first crocodile

And then, back to the falls, just as the tide turns. At the narrow gap the water is now flat rather than falling; there are whirlpools aplenty and we are taken through at huge speed. At the large gap the water is racing and again we are taken through at huge speed. Our skipper’s skill is great and he has all the chat and banter we have come to expect (unlike the pilot). It is all tremendous

A brief pause at the floating hotel and we are airborne again, taking off from the water was as smooth and quiet as landing on it had been. We fly across the Buccaneer Archipelago at 3,000 feet and it looks beautiful but so, so remote

The landing strip is red dirt at One Arm Point. Again, surprisingly smooth. We are then loaded on to a 4WD bus and taken to Cygnet Bay and have a tour of a pearl farm. It is, to me surprisingly, fascinating. A complete mix of low key and high tech, some lovely baubles at the end of the process and in a fabulous setting. We learn how pearls are graded, the five virtues: size, shape, colour, surface and lustre

A thoroughly enjoyable barramundi lunch (the pearl farm also has a caravan/camp site and restaurant) and its back on the bus. Next stop: Cape Leveque. Another astonishingly beautiful, hot, rugged, windswept, empty stretch of pristine beach. And no swimming – such a shame

The final stop on the way back to Broome is Beagle Bay, named in 1838 by a captain of HMS Beagle on a surveying trip of Australia’s northwest coast (a few years after the ship’s first voyage with Darwin). It is on the tourist map because of its church and, more especially the church interior. The history of Christianity in the very indigenous region is Victorian-era missionary driven and with mixed success. But Beagle Bay was the site of internment of all Germans in this corner of Australia during WWI and, history has it, they decided to build a durable church modelled on a photograph of a country parish church from Germany. The interior is decorated with shells, mostly mother of pearl. It is incongruous in its setting but appealing and well visited

The trip back to Broome from Cygnet Bay by the 4WD bus is, including the two stops, four hours of bone shaking, filling loosening rattling over unmade road. Our driver Cob – another great character – takes most of it at a lively 110 Ks an hour. It is dusty and feels long but is a good experience of this remote part of WA. What a day is has been

A gentle day in Broome follows. Roberto and I want to have a sunset camel ride on Cable Beach but all camels are booked and we are thwarted in our wish. Pearl shopping occurs. We eat, drink and relax while readying ourselves for the next, and possibly most adventurous leg, of our road trip. But that is for another time

Until then, g’day to you all

ALISON 

PS: the two maps below show our route from Port Hedland to Broome via Eighty Mile Beach and then, as much as I could persuade Google maps to do so, our tour to the Horizontal Falls and beyond . . . 

We retrace our steps south from Exmouth and turn left – heading slightly south and east, our destination Karijini National Park. From the left turn the vegetation and landscape changes slightly: the earth much redder, gum trees trees, an occasional rolling hill on the horizon. The crests of the hills are marked by a single line of trees, in the distance they remind me of the walls of Rajasthani hill forts

We stop overnight at Cheela Plains. Our first station stay. It used to be a major cattle ranch but is now run mostly for tourism, although it was very low key with a few cabins and pitches. The staff are all delightful. One explains to Alison M that they are looking at eco, astro and geo tourism for the future. It seems a no-brainer – what stars, what rocks. But they need to get the word out and presumably provide guided star gazing and rock hunting . . .  We have dinner with a handful of other travellers and two young guys out surveying for a company called GRAVITY, who provide services to mine companies prospecting for metals/minerals. Their main piece of equipment was a Canadian quartz spring (at a cost of US $200,000) which was used to measure density of the rocks and identify different minerals. Complex (and probably badly explained here) but fascinating. Mining is huge business in WA

Before dinner we walk up sunset hill. Again a small hillock of a few metres but the views are excellent: big terrain, big sky, big red. Andy does the same walk to watch the sunrise

The next day we notice an increase in and change of traffic: we are heading towards mining country

Before Karijini we stop and stock up at Tom Price – the town (and it seems originally the mine and mountain – of which more below) is named after Thomas Moore Price, the vice-president of the giant United States steel company Kaiser Steel. Price was one of the main supporters of the opening of the Pilbara region for mining iron ore. The reason for our stop: we are staying four nights at Karijini and need to be self sufficient. Dales Campground is within the park and run by Australian Parks and Wildlife with pitches, bush toilets and no other services: no water, showers, power, shop. We set up camp in the late afternoon. It is red, red, red. No grass in the pitches – or anywhere, except native spinifex, and the bedrock is a challenge to our tent pegs and lack of a lump hammer. One of our grey-nomad neighbours takes pity on us and lends us a lump hammer (although most pegs are replaced/reinforced by rocks and logs) and, later, gives us a gas ignition wand when our repeated efforts to light the gas for our camping stove by matches are thwarted by the stiff breeze. We are such novices!

The stars are amazing, a complete dome, horizon to horizon. We see the Milky Way (but cannot photograph it)

Next morning after breakfast we set off walking:  Dales Gorge, first the lookout, then steps down to the gorge (how and who carved those out of this unyielding rock?)

As the sun becomes hot we swim at circular pool (seriously cold, but we have no showers), and walk along the gorge, awestruck by the vast walls, their colour and textures. There is evidence of water although apart from the pools the gorge is dry – there are trees and reeds and occasionally verdant landscapes 

A heads-up: this gorge – and the other Karijini sights – are full of stunning rocks, all irresistibly  photogenic, but this means a lorra, lorra rock pictures (RIP Cilla)

We lunch and swim at Fortescue Falls: warmer and more people, walk to Fern pool (apparently the warmest but we do not indulge a third time)

The return to camp is the Gorge Rim walk – which gives us a a different perspective 

Another chilly evening, dinner under the stars and the Milky Way highly visible again

The next morning Roberto collapses the roof-top tent and we drive across the park to Kalamina Gorge. Charlie, one of the camp hosts, tells us the gorge rocks “look as if they have been spread by a butter knife” and he is right. Beautifully smooth, variously coloured rocks make for relatively easy walking and the gorge was lush, not much evidence of the river above ground but plenty of trees, shrubs and rushes. The gorge ends at a pool: dramatic rocks, an arch and cold clear water. We all swim – who needs showers!

That evening we go to an astronomy experience. A natural planetarium, inky sky, jewel bright stars, an entertaining as well as informative talk about planets, stars, space. Impossible-to-grasp-statistics, three telescopes to peer through. It was brilliant – and I can now confidently pick out the Southern Cross and (possibly) find due south using it

After two days of sublime gorge walking we head to the edge of the park to walk Mt Bruce and overlook a vast iron ore mine operated by Rio Tinto. A very different landscape, scared in one direction by the Marandoo mine: opencast from 1964; mining below the water table from 2012. It looks impossibly large. We video a goods train pulling out the ore and lose count of carriages: it ran and ran (and the video is pretty boring!); information on the mine discloses the trains are 2 Ks long, of 200 cars each carrying 100 tonnes of ore

The walk up the mountain is hot; I give up as the path becomes vertiginous; Alison M gives up as the path becomes a lateral cliff face with a guiding chain; Andy and Roberto give up where to continue \they are required to free climb up a 1:10 rock face. We reunite for our picnic lunch under a tree providing some small shade and chat to youngsters on the descent: there is apparently another hour of difficult path to the summit after Andy and Roberto stopped. We are not sad not to have made it!

We ready ourselves for breaking camp the next morning and before we leave Andy photographs the enormous termite mound close to our pitch and the galahs – the most frequently spotted bird life – we are still amazed at how little wildlife we see

We head north to Port Hedland, slightly more traffic than encountered so far but a lot of it road trains and huge loaders carrying mining equipment. It is a feature of driving these roads that these abnormal loads, preceded by a car with warning lights, require users temporarily to vacate them. 

Port Hedland has a poor reputation as an unattractive, industrial town with nothing to redeem it (but it is as far as we want to travel with a big drive the following day). In fact we found it rather charming: salt pans and an enormous salt mountain, a renovated rather old hotel where we had a drink, yet another fabulous sunset 

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We also have a motel room with fierce and hot showers. We and everything we are travelling with and in have a thoroughly embedded red dirt patina which on us is barely addressed by those showers . . .

Until next time, g’day to you all

ALISON 

PS: map below shows our route from Exmouth to Port Hedland via Karijini

Ningaloo Reef. I knew nothing of it until reading about WA in preparation for this trip. Mostly hard coral. Mostly close to shore. Mostly shallow. Alive and healthy. Teeming with marine life. Home of eco-tourism. Is this too good to be true?

Our journey is a long day’s drive: first retracing our steps back past Hamelin Pool, to the junction with the North West Coastal Highway. a fuel and food-stop at The Overlander Roadhouse, excellent pies and sausage rolls, such traditional roadhouse fare. Then a lot of kilometres on a long, straight road with low scrub and bush but wildflowers, mostly white, are now occasionally visible. We drive past and startle the most enormous black bird of prey, trying to lift a ‘roo carcass. It must have had a wing span approaching two metres! Later identified as a Wedge-Tailed Eagle we look out for them for the rest of the trip

A brief stop at Carnarvon (food and beverage shopping) and we pass the space museum, a relay station for Gemini and Apollo, the last station to receive a signal as the spacecraft leaves earth’s orbit and the first to receive a signal on re-entry. It seems vey appropriate for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing

Our first stop on the reef is Coral Bay. A settlement (according to Google and the 2016 census) with a population of 190 swelling to 6,500 during peak tourist season. As we arrive at dusk we see nothing resembling permanent housing but rather four huge camping/caravan parks and a low rise shopping centre

We settle into the Ningaloo Reef Bay View Caravan and Camping Park and immediately notice (a) a complete absence of bay view and (b) that the place is full of families with school-age children, what is all that about – the two week winter school holidays end today – surely. They should all be home by now (we are subsequently told that private schools have three weeks holiday but it still seems like a lot of kids!!)

There is a pub, restaurant and bottle shop next to the shopping centre so the evening passes pleasantly: Roberto immediately identifies an Argentinian barman and the conversation and mojitos flow . . . .

We venture to the beach the next morning and wow – what a glorious, extended arc of turquoise and navy water, white sand and red rock it is. The sun feels burning hot for the first time and we walk, seeking some shade to sit and watch the view. We swim – cold but so clear and the reef is right here! Time to dig out Andy’s Go-Pro and get some snorkels

It becomes apparent why the place is a huge draw for families, the tide is large but even when low there is a big expanse of shallow, sandy bottomed sea with no waves, extremely safe paddling and swimming, the coral reef is extremely visible in clear shallow waters: huge cabbage corals we have never seen before with some stag and brain corals which are more familiar

We spend three days mucking about on the beach, walking, swimming, snorkelling. Alison M and Roberto hire a kayak and dolphins swim alongside them. The weather is mixed: the wind can be cool, there is some cloud and even a little rain but it is still generally warm, and the colours everywhere are splendid. We are not disheartened by reports of the heatwave in south east England!

On our fourth day we take a tour: swimming with manta rays. Out on a boat all day, four snorkel stops in all. We are immediately impressed by the crew: all female except Ollie the trainee and Sam the photographer. Enthusiastic, knowledgeable, funny and very professional. We snorkel inside the reef and spot colourful fish, astonishing corals, a few grey reef sharks. Our ability to swim and snorkel is quietly assessed by our snorkel guides Bernie and Liv as to swim with a manta ray requires a degree of competence. It takes place in deeper water outside the reef with a “live” drop off and pick up – so stepping off the back of the idling (rather than anchored) boat when instructed, watching for the crew member acting as snorkel guide to point out the ray and then swimming alongside/above it, when the ray has moved out of swimming range waiting in a group for the boat to return and swimming back to board while it is idling. The first manta swim is not hugely successful: it is low visibility, the ray is swimming fast and we are stopped quickly and collected back on the boat because someone is struggling. The second manta swim however is excellent: the ray swims serenely just off the sea bed and we swim along-side, visibility is good. Sam takes lots of photographs (the crew all collect data fed back to Australian Parks & Wildlife on the rays and health of the corral, the rays are identifiable by spots on their bellies and resident ones are known and named). Back inside the reef we cruise the turquoise waters and see dugongs – hooray – and a couple of large turtles. The last snorkel of the day is at “coral canyons” – different corals, deeper, fewer colourful fish but still stunning. It is fascinating to watch Bernie free dive – so graceful

All these photographs are from Sam, the tour professional:

And a couple of ours to finish:

We ask Bernie, Liv and skipper Ellen about life in Coral Bay. They work for the season and move on during the summer months. All staff live in a caravan park which they call Kenya: it looks like a shanty town and “ken ya hack it?” This must account for the permanent population of 190 we guess

Four days without moving the car, fantastic sea swimming, good food, cocktails and wine, an evening catching up with one of Alison M and Roberto’s friends from Bowral, Hock Jarvis (no relation!), an experienced grey-nomad, hearing his stories. Overall a blissful interlude

Next stop Exmouth, at the northern end of Ningaloo peninsula. The journey is another long, straight road with low scrub (mulga and spinifex) and few other vehicles. There are some  wildflowers and huge numbers of termite hills. This is the first time they have been visible in such numbers

Travellers we meet tell us of a quaint town with emu dads and their chicks wandering through the centre of it, historic buildings. We find the reality somewhat different. Very few historic buildings, lots of new, very modern housing around a marina. A small centre with a few shops, supermarkets, cafes and no emus!

We explore on foot as we have arranged via the hire company to leave our truck for a couple of repairs: front windscreen washers have never worked and, after the 4WD at Francois Peron, an alert came up requiring a dealer assessment 

The town is on the eastern side of the peninsula, and grew up around an Australian naval base and American naval and airforce base, the area was tactically important and remains an important communications base. It is distant from the beach but still a popular tourist spot because of great hiking, whale watching and – the reason we are here – the chance of swimming with a whale shark

Whale sharks migrate northwards off the western coast of Australia May – July. Earlier in the season it is possible to swim with these enormous fish off Coral Bay but by mid July tours only run out of Exmouth at the northern end of Ningaloo Reef. We are right at the end of July and hoping we will not be too late

Our tour starts with a bus ride of about 30 minutes to the boat yard on the western side of the peninsula. Ri, who is one of the swim guides, tells us about the history of Exmouth, the control and licensing of the whale shark tours, the data collection that the boat tour crews feed into. Again, we are impressed by her knowledge, enthusiasm and professionalism. The driver, Daisy, who is also the tour photographer, is a Brit who managed to get residency via sponsorship after a working holiday (much like Alison M back in 1986) and loves it. The crew is completed by skipper Mitch who turns out to be eagle eyed, deck hand Tom (a dolphin fanatic) and swim leader Kate who is responsible for explaining how the swim works as well as checking we are all sufficiently competent snorkellers and swimmers

The swim adheres to strict regulations: no more than 10 in the water at a time, we swim in a formation dictated by the placement of the whale shark in the water and a required number of metres to its sides and rear (never in front). We will be guided into formation and the right location set up by Ri – the scout in the water –  and Katie – last off the boat. Again, it is a “live” drop off and collection and we need to be quick on and off the boat as we are a group of 20, divided into two for the whale shark swims, and their are three other boat tours. It sounds a lot to remember and vaguely terrifying, quite apart from being in the water with such a large creature – anything between 3 and 6 metres

Everything is prefaced with “if we find a whale shark, fingers crossed”. The fish are generally located by spotter plane, and we see two in the sky from about 11 a.m. We are happy enough cruising around in a lovely boat, watching distant wales breach. After some time we are told a whale shark has been spotted, swimming happily high in the water column (so near the surface) but about 90 minutes away. We set off and then, remarkably, skipper Mitch spots one in the water right next to us. Great hurry to get us in the water for our first swim. For me it all passed in a bit of a blur – I saw the whale shark but briefly and through mucky water (apparently visibility was so poor because the sea was full of all the plankton and microcosms that whale shark feed on!). The second was much better, clearer water and a long swim beside this amazing creature which seemed suspended rather than moving (although I had to fin pretty hard to keep up). It was wonderful

These are Daisy’s photographs:

After the two swims the whale shark dived deep and although the boat headed for the one the spotter plane had located the message came back that it too had dived deep. We were the only boat whose guests swam with a whale shark that day, how very lucky!

However our luck did not end there. We witnessed, close up, the most spectacular display of mother and calf humpback whale breaches, with the calf doing a whole series on its own after a few with its ma. It was amazing. Then frolicking and mating dolphins. Another snorkel ended a fabulous day on a boat and in the water

At the recommendation of the boat crew we had supper at The Whalebone: a great big yard with a few industrial buildings and containers on the edge of Exmouth; one houses a brewery, one a wood fired pizza oven, a container is cut to make a stage (a country and western duo, of course). It was busy with a lively crowd and was a fun way to conclude our escapades on the Ningaloo reef

Next: we head inland but that is for another time. Until then, g’day to you all

ALISON 

PS: map below shows our route from Hamelin Pool to Exmouth