Back to work
If you talk about contrasts then this is a big one. After leaving our dream holiday place we headed to Carnarvon. By this time we were already in the subtropics. Carnarvon is WA’s fruit and veggie garden, so we were deperately hoping to find some farm work. Believe it or not: after 45 min. we found a farm where we could start the next day for a period of one week. All cash in hand and a little bit dodgy. It turned out to be a Vietnamese family and nobody was barely able to speak some English. Hilarious and confusing at the same time. What the hell did we need to do? And how? Our first 2 days were picking beans. Freaking beans are green, so hard to detect in the bushy plants. And hell yeah, what a nice tan I got! After 17 hours of picking beans I got green eyes, so I was glad that the next days were tomatoe pick days. At least tomatoes are easier to detect and easier to pick. After a while the tomatoes where flying into the crates and slowly filling up the big container. The more full, the more money and with that more exhausted. Sometimes the woman came to check how things were going. The some Vietnamese-English blabla came out of her vocal cords. Slowing down our work instead of speeding it up. Honestly she was very friendly. She told us that we could sleep in the caravan and were free to use the shower. She even came to our basecamp to tell we could even use all the soap in the shower. That basecamp I set up with a Dutchie I met on the farm, Daniel. He had his tent and hammock already there, so I joined with my tent. Completing it with a fire place. The final day we finished with my ‘favourite’ beans. Despite not liking it, ironically I made the better money with picking these green bastards. The farm woman was dissapointed to hear us leaving, but we’re alway welcome to come back. Cashed up and ready to go I left our basecamp. Before we left we picked some tomatoes, beans, and mandarins. At the neighbours we sneeked into the widespread banana plantation where we got 2 nice bunches of bananas.
Snorkel till you drop… sink
In my lifetime I haven’t had a better snorkel place that felt safe, was shallow, and was packed with the most exciting marine life I came across. Point Quobba is where the magic takes place and what was our most western point of Australia. Nudibranches (9 mm long colourful coral snails), black tip reef sharks and many ‘Nemo fish’. I spent littarellu hours to look for this amazing life in the ocean. Every single spot was different and seemed to host a variety of fish species and coral, such as the beautiful staghorn coral and parrot fish. Then the coral snake, and again some energy to continue snorkeling. On some moment I was so cold that I had to leave the water. Normally the coast is very rough here, but this bay is secluded and not many people now this place. I finished this wonderful day at the blow holes where the ocean pushes through holes in the limestone cliffs. The blows were up to 15m high and made this frightening noise. I was glad to stay safe on the cliffs and enjoy mother nature’s powers.
We finished our second part: The Shark Bay Coast! With Coral Bay and Exmouth getting closer this is going to be the Coral Coast.
Next time more snorkel news, park news, updates of the plants and animals I’ve seen, and Couchsurfers I’ve met.
Hasta la vista,
Amar