25.12.2008 Christmas Day - Canal Rocks, SWA

The limestone shorelines are inhabited by some wonderful aliens, such as abalones, limpets and chitons (below) that share a common survival strategy - all these hard-shelled molluscs attach to the coastal rocks perfectly seamlessly. Our caving instructor, Mick, being a part-time abalone fisher and a part-time everything, said that if you encounter an, ummm, unsuspecting abalone in the ocean, you need the stealth of a ninja to grab it, and if you miss it on the first try, it's game over: once the abalone manages to cling onto the bottom, only a pickaxe or a piece of dynamite would get it off.

24.12.2008 Christmas Eve - Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, SWA

The peninsula is penetrated by hundreds of caves like a Swiss cheese. The ceilings of the show caves like Calgardup Cave (below) reminded me of one of the treasure hunts of Uncle McScrooge, Donald Duck and the nephews...

It's been a long while since I felt as childishly thrilled as on the Christmas Eve abseiling, climbing and squirming trip, seventy meters down to Dingo's Cave.

23.12.2008 Tuesday - Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, SWA

Conto Campground, swarming with black-boys, provided a handy base for exploring the southwesternmost tip of Australia.

The whole region and Margaret River at its heart in particular are suffering from a serious winery and microbrewery infestation: they're all over the place and apparently multiply mitotically. Admittedly, it's a good idea to watch your speed after a round or two of free tastings, but I still feel that this speed limit was a bit on the overcautious side.

22.12.2008 Monday - Busselton Jetty, South Western Australia

Australia is the Texas of the world in the sense that all man-made constructions and many natural wonders here are advertised to be "the largest/longest/deepest/highest on the Southern Hemisphere!" The phrase is used without hesitation to describe any construction that was the largest/longest/whatnot from 1886 to 1889 (but isn't anymore), and numerous entities that never were. Having said that, the two-kilometer-long Busselton Jetty may, in fact, be the longest timber jetty in the world. (It is nowhere near the longest all in all.) Nevertheless, the sealife living underneath it and/or attached to its pillars is absolutely stunning, and includes, but is not limited to, nudibranches, squids, octopodes, and dolphins.

21.12.2008 Sunday - HMAS Swan, Geographe Bay, South Western Australia

The wreck of HMAS Swan off the coast of Dunsborough was quite a bit more impressive than that of HMAS Brisbane - if for no other reason, because of the superior visibility. We penetrated the ship on both dives, on the latter dive in total darkness at 27 meters' depth. That was intense, to say the least.

19.12.2008 Friday - International airspace above Western Australia

The desert core of Australia will not stop amazing me, because 1) it is not featureless at all, and 2) there is so much of it.