Around the World and Back

So you want to visit Western Australia?  Bring a fat bankroll – its not cheap!  Especially in the Outback; the further you get from Perth, the more expensive it gets.  Perth is expensive enough on its own but when you get out to some of the small towns, things get downright expensive.  Here are some of the prices we paid for things on the Perth to Exmouth and back tour.  Above, you can see that the price for a candy bar is over $3.  At the time of writing, an Australian Dollar is on par with an American Dollar.  Below, you can see the price for a case of beer – and that was beer on sale!  I paid as much as $75 for a case of beer.  It seemed to me that beers were $4 for a single, $2 each for a six pack and a buck fifty if you got a case or more.

Ever paid $2 for a coke (outside of a restaurant)?  It seemed that EVERYTHING in the Outback cost two to four times what it costs elsewhere.  Some of the other prices I paid were $21 for a 750 gram bag of pistachios (1 1/2 pound bag), $18 for cashews (1 pound bag), $6 for a small can of peanuts and $1.10 for an apple.  Yes, ONE APPLE!

Add a lime slice to your beer?  Limes were selling for $1.80 a piece and lemons were just under a dollar.  Expect European prices for a tank of petrol.  The great equalizer on this trip was home cooked meals and camping (versus hotels).  I spent twice as much money in 2 months on this trip in Australia than I spent traveling 4 months on my Trans-Siberian tour in 2009.  You can get by on the cheap in Australia, but it isn’t easy.

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Our last designated stop on our Western Exposure Perth-Exmouth- Perth bus tour was at the Greenough Wildlife and Bird Park.  This unique wildlife park is completely non-profit and is supported solely by donations and visitor’s fees.  Entrance to the park is free but is supplemented by a donation/purchase of feed pellets that can be hand fed to designated animals.  The park is run by two wonderful women who have given up life in the corporate world to help animals.  All of the animals at this park are rescues; this isn’t just a petting zoo, its a place where injured and abandoned animals are cared for with love.

One of the most popular characters at the park is a little piggie whose animated character attracted our attention for quite a long time.  This little pig acted just like a puppy dog, wagging its tail as it reacted positively to ear scratches and attention.  Of course it wanted some food pellets but it was such an animated little creature that we spent a lot of time petting and talking to it.

The park is spread out with plenty of room and had a wide variety of animals including a huge salt water crocodile, cockatoos, peacocks, ducks and other birds and parrots, deer, dingo dogs, emus and of course, kangaroos.

The most popular exhibit at the park is the kangaroo petting area.  All of the different types of kangaroos are on exhibit here and our park guide explained the differences in size and color.  I noticed that the kangaroos looked a bit lethargic and it was explained to me that they are nocturnal animals, they prefer to sleep during the day and only were awake because we had some feed pellets.  In other words, they were “tolerating” our presence when really, they would prefer to be sleeping.  The roos were quite mellow and pleasant and nibbled the pellets from our hands gently.  We got to pet and touch them and it was quite a nice experience – especially after going for near a month having only seen one (live) kangaroo.

I made my way around all of the exhibits and I was impressed with the crocodile.  This guy was HUGE!  He must have measured 4 or 5 meters long.  He was sunning next to his pond with his eyes closed and as I approached he opened them and looked at me as if I was to be his next lunch.  I could see that, in the water, no human could stand a chance next to this croc.

Standing next to an Emu, I realized how tall they really are.  In one exhibit I saw a cockatoo that looked (to me at least) like a a regular cockatoo.  I read the description next to his cage and saw that he was born in 1945.  When I realized that he was 56 years old I couldn’t believe it.  He didn’t look older than a few years.  Incredible the longevity of these beautiful birds.

The second most popular exhibit at the park is the dingo pen.  For a fee of $5 you can go inside and play with and pose for photos with the dingo dogs.  A few in our party went into the pen to pose for a photo.  At the time, I didn’t want to get dirty as I’d just put on a new change of clothes but in hindsight, I wish I had gone into the dingo pen.  They were really good looking dogs and were surprisingly domesticated.

I really had a super time at the wildlife park.  The ladies that run the park are truly doing noble work by rescuing and caring for these animals.  If you are in Western Australia, try to stop by for a visit; not only is the park a wonderful place to see wildlife up close, it is also the last refuge for injured and abandoned animals.

Stories, posts, reports, photos, videos and all other content on this site is copyright protected © and is the property of Scott Traveler unless otherwise indicated, all rights reserved.  Content on this site may not be reproduced without permission from Scott Traveler.  My contact information can be found on the home page.

Back to home page: http://scotttraveler.com