South Western Australia was our next destination. Once landed at Perth airport we were straight into the hire car for a 2.5 hour drive south to reach Peppermint Grove Beach. This would have been much less tiring if we hadn’t had been delayed by 4 hours in Changi airport due to technical problems with the plane. But that’s the hand we were dealt, and there are worse airports in the world to be stuck! We finally arrived at the house at 1.30 am after dodging 3 kangaroos in the pitch black who were skipping along on the road, we were completely shattered and ready for bed.
Awesome!
There was another reason we were needed in Perth. Namely our interview with Annabel Hennessy from the Perth Sunday Times. She is a young roving reporter, an Australian Lois Lane, and was eager to break a story about home swapping and the sharing economy. She had heard about our travels through the Lovehomeswap website and contacted us to set up a meeting. She interviewed us in the park just next to the bell tower in Perth city. We sat on the grass and chatted informally for about an hour. A great first time experience with the press! Read the article by clicking here!
She also arranged for their photographer to meet us the next day at the house for a photo shoot. Dan (the photographer) was a true gent and gave us some great info about the area and where we should explore. He also took some great family shots which was great fun and most appreciated. That’s now two professional photographers that we have the privilege of being photographed by whilst we have been on our travels.
After researching snakes indigenous to the area and comparing pictures, it was clear the snake was an adult Dugite, and yes, they are venomous! The owners of the house, who informed us that they have never seen a snake in the 20 years that they have owned the house, kindly tried to arrange for a park ranger to come and remove it. But the snake was long gone soon after our meeting anyway. We were just really lucky to see such a great specimen in the flesh, and of course not to have disturbed it too much!
Shanty came up to check us all out. She would pop up and blow through her hole to say hi, gently gliding along just in front of us. She swam up and down the line like this for 30 minutes before she finally said goodbye and headed back to her pod. It was a great experience to see such a wonderful animal at such close quarters in her environment.
The beach at Peppermint Grove is beautiful, soft white sand meets a calm turquoise ocean and whilst we were there, a constant breeze kept us cool whilst enjoying the sunshine. We would walk here most days and chat to the fisherman during the afternoon. We saw a pod of wild dolphins swimming just 100 metres away and on one occasion a large stingray majestically swam along in the shallows as we walked along the water’s edge, it’s a beautiful place.
Western Australia lived up to all expectations and more. The people were so friendly and always willing to chat and point us in the right direction. The weather was exceptional and we loved the open countryside, food, wildlife, lifestyle and of course the awesome beaches!
Goodbye for now WA, we will be back!