We are now heading south, for the most part seeing the rear-view image of what we saw on the way up, but taking time to check out what we had missed, such as a magnificent view from Eagle Cliff, which one may not see as such on paper, but in reality it can leave you breathless. The shallow water is home to sharks, dolphin, gudongs and myriads of fish. I am told that with binoculars you feel like you are swimming with them. I’ll have to take their word, because the binoculars are back home in Berkley.
You probably know that Australia is home to some of the most dangerous creatures on the planet. Out in the bush we are encountering all sorts of fellas, like this long slitherer. Australia, according to writer Bill Bryson is home to the eight most venomous snakes in the world, and let’s not talk about spiders.
But it is also home to other magnificent animal life. I can’t get over the abundancy of parrots and cockatoos. We found a tree with hundreds of them on its bare branches. Eric says this country must own the record for having the loudest birds. Even crows here sound melodic; they let out a prolonged musical lament as if they are love-torn from having lost the mate of their dreams.
We did alter the route back somewhat, in order to take in different sights and make stops in places with fascinating names such as Dongarra, Eneabba and Badgingarra.
Linking these places, the landscape has eased much, offering pleasing pastoral views of farmland temporarily turned over to pastureland during these hot months of the Austral winter.
In Dongarra we took in a local market; one of the stalls was selling authentic dog food treats, such as kangaroo shoulders and other delicacies...
...in Eneabba we had an amusing conversation about coffee with the gas station clerk and in Badgingarra we watched a serious game of bocce, here called bowling, between the teams of Badgingarra and Jurien.
Here we also walked a short trail, which was quite interesting. This is Australia's wildflower country, and Badgingarra is the ultimate national park, when in bloom. With this heat, however there are few colorful displays, but lots of interesting, cute little signs.
We picked the town of Moora as our destination for the day. 1,600 souls inhabit this arid place, and at first glance you would think it a ghost town. The campground is unmanned. A sign invites you to place your fee in an envelope (provided) and slide it in the slot on the door. Not a soul is walking the streets, only the squawking of birds fills the air. But then we catch a couple of aboriginal kids playing, and an occasional shopper at the local supermarket; we stop at the Drovers Hotel, a rather imposing century-old building and discover the bar to be quite active. I detect an accent in the barmaid and ask where she is from, anticipating the answer. Italy, she says. I smiled and asked what the hell is a girl from Italy doing in a place like Moora? She never gave me a real answer, other than she has traveled a lot in her life. She did say that she “felt liberated” to have been able to speak her native language with someone after such a long time, and yes, she did confirm that since she has been there, I was the first Italian to have crossed the property’s threshold.
I might be that in Moora, but certainly not elsewhere in Western Australia, as we have run into a few during our travels, as we have French, German, Swiss, Dutch, English and other European visitors on months-long visits. What you don’t run into are Americans. When people inquire where we are from, we are greeted with surprise when we say Boston and then are told that, as a nationality, we are a rare site in these parts. When discussing this point with Eric, he simply says That’s because in America, we work.
And we discovered that Moora also has a racetrack, and lo-and-behold, a meet was taking place from 6PM to 10 PM. We couldn’t miss the chance, so, after taking a couple of pics of yet another incredibly beautiful sunset, off we went to cap the day’s activities at the races, and we had a great time. The vehicle driven by Vanzetti won by a long margin.
Have a wonderful day, friends, and thanks for following our travels.
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