So after a few days in perth i embarked on another tour down south. I wasnt sure whether to do another tour but glad i did as had an amazing time and met some really lovely people. Got on the bus and on the way hardly anybody spoke - it was q funny but we were all tired as an early start! On the bus were 3 japanese girls, 1 japanese guy, (cant remember their names - one of the girls was called yoki), 1 brit girl - kirstie, a scotish couple - matthew and clare, a brazilain girl - ingrid, a maltese guy - john and a swiss girl - nicole. Anyway our first stop of the day was a dog cemetery - q amusing. One guy, in the towns, dog died and he needed somewhere to bury him so asked the councila nd they designated him with a plot - anyway some after other dogs were dying so they wanted a plot too so now there is an actually cemetery for dogs - q sweet really. Next was Wave Rock which dont get me wrong was great to see but not as spectacular as i had imagined - you see people come all the way out there 4hrs from perth for the day just to see the rock - waste of time i think. Next was hippo's yawn which was another rock funnily enough in the shape of a hippo's mouth as if he were yawning! It was a long day of driving for us and we finally made it to Esperance (french name as they french came along and founded it - then the british got hold of this news and built the near-by Albany which is bigger and better - does this type of behaviour sound familiar to anyone of you that did france and africa with me??) So we stopped off at the bottle now i was on a no alcohol for 1 week to help rejuvenation of the liver so thats why 5mins later people saw me walking out of the bottle shop with a 6pack of strongbow under my arm - im weak what more can i say!!! The next day we spent the day around esperance checking out all the local highpoints. We saw cape le grand national park and saw lucky bay - a beautiful bay crystal waters! Next was the challenge of the day - the hike up frenchman peak - oh my god what a climb - it was almost vertical (okay another exaggerration there) but wait til you see the photos then you can say otherwise!! After all that sweating a nice cool off was needed so went to Hellfire's bay - now regardless of the name this was the most beautiful thing ive seen in the whole of australia - pure waters that i could see the ends of my feet so clearly and a lovely turquoise colour - i could move there in a flash!! In the arvo we had a drive and saw twilight bay, blue bay and the pink lake which is no longer pink but it used to be because of a type of alagea that grew in there. On the way back we stopped off at the jetty to see a sealion. We heard that there was a sealion that hangs around there so we went to check it out. So in the distance we saw a thing swimming around and thought that was it and realized that it wasnt that freindly but no alas how we were wrong. This animal was just like my cat - you give it one bit of attention and it wont leave you alone - it came up onto the beach and started posing for our cameras and wiggled its bum and just lapped up all the attention - such a character!! Next day i met Mr Bean - those that do the 3 day tour join us on the 3rd day for the rest of the tour. Anyway a guy who joined us was like mr bean - he was crazy and we are not sure how he got thru immigration - i mean he wouldnt eat for 2 days as he annoyed with himself for not doing the 5 day tour - seriuosly mentally unstable! Anyway we met the other group and after some wine tasting headed up castle rock (that wasnt a good order of things - luckily i didnt drink much) the climb was def easier than the one yesterday but the view was pretty something. Then we went swimming at Little Bay - another beautiful spot but not as good as the one yesterday. So in the afternoon we had to hear about chris' "funny" encounters with prostitues thinking they were homeless - he did say he gave her money so you never know! Once we reached Albany our afternoon with mr bean was too much so me, nicole, vince and clare headed straight for the bottle shop!! So on the saturday we went to greens pool and denmark (not the country of course) and saw the natural bridge which is a bridge that looks natuarl of course!! And waited at the blowholes for the wind to shoot the sea up thru the gaps but it didnt! After the drive through the valley of the giants (big trees) we stopped at a place where you could go along a platform thing at the height of the trees - v cool but it did sway alot (mum you wouldve hated it). Next was the Bicentennial tree which is a 75m climb up to the top using just the metal spikes that protrude from it - oh with a tiny net around that would do absoluetly nothing if you fall so obviously with my fear of doing that sort of thing and the fact that death was at hand with one slip - i decided to CLIMB the tree - what was i thinking!!!! Anyway about half way thru after a few dizzy spells i was about to give up - but im stubborn incase noone knew that so i climbed to the top!! When i got down again i was ready for a stiff drink thats for sure! So that night we stayed at a farmstay 10km out of pemberton. Thats when mr bean started telling me about his short stories and that they are about a love triangle but he assured me it was ok as the girl always dies in the end - i was like great get this freak away from me - then he asked me and only me for my email so he could send me the stories - obviously i gave him the wrong one. Now you're probably thinking i was a bit harsh but he was a stalker! Our last day was spent getting back to perth stopping at a few sights on the way. One of which was a cave tour. We were given helmets and torches - it reminded me of those cave diggers from fraggle rock! We had to split up into 2 groups and before you ask yes i did get stuck with my stalker!! For our lunch we stopped off at margaret river - would have liked longer here but at least its something to do if i go back. The last stop of the day was at busseeton jetty - th longest in the southern hemisphere - we didnt have time to walk it - so just strolled along the sand instead - again another lovely area that i would love to visit again. We got back to perth in the evening and i stayed with wade and janet again as fly out tomo back to melbourne for my last days in oz - sob sob..... love to all nikki xxx