Ngili Cave, Augusta, Albany, Wave Rock, Esperance Oh My!

G'day all!

I got back from my 5 day tour today (at night really) and I'm resting up in Perth before my next tour of Western Australia.

The tour was bumpy in the beginning--I guess it's the fear of the unknown that made me a little worried and hence act a bit "un-suzanne"ish. I was pretty timid and quiet in the beginning and I haven't been like that since I've started this trip. I've learned how to put myself out there and introduce myself to others and start conversations with people--BUT if the people you are talking to barely know english then it's another story, right? My first tour group was predominately german--around 15/21 ppl were german! Then there was one muslim girl from the UK, me, and one korean dude named Ching ho (i think...). It took a while to get to know everyone because the europeans became clique and I decided to be friends w/the korean dude cuz no one was talking to him. It turned out to be good cuz we learned a bit from each other and he took cool pictures of me. After the 3 day mark, we all became closer because the group got divided into two--the three day tour ppl and the 5 day tour ppl. There was one irritating dude who is german and is younger than me-christian was his name. He doesn't shut up and acts like a walking encyclopedia BUT he doesn't know anything! just a bunch of trivial crap. I wanted to slap him once too--like at the point when I was trying to climb this scary as hell rock mountain thing and couldn't cuz i was worried about how i'd get down and his answer was: roll down. you have no idea how much i wanted to go all "suzanne" on his ass! i swear to god, i would've tackled him and bashed his head into the rock...well not bash...just slam a couple of times :P oh boy, i'm sleeepy! lol

Today there was a 12 hr drive back into Perth, which started at 6am which meant we were up at 445am and ate at 5am. It was disgusting. I didn't "wake up" till around 10...sad really sad. Everyone was like: what is wrong with you? lol

I'm glad I went on this tour--as bumpy and weird as it was at times-->like one of the guides was really into showing us random trees so we'd stop for 10 mins to stare at trees...lol tres boring! and we would stop in dinky towns where only 500 people lived there and it was so strange, i've never been in a situation like that before! there was one fun bit--I was walking around at a grocery store when i saw a really cute aussie dude who had the awesomest thick blonde hair and suuupppper cute face! and to my crazy luck, he checked me out! i was like whaaaaaa? lol it was funny. and it gets better--we totally flirted! lol i know, i'm such a dork, i don't care! he was cuuuuute!

On this tour I conquered one of my fears--climbing the highest peak in SW Australia (at least I think that's what it is...). As we drove up to the peak, Frenchman's Peak, I looked at it and thought there is no way in hell i'm going to climb that. But what did i do? I went for it and tried. Real hard. It was terrifying. You know you're scared of heights when you're climbing a mountain and don't even turn around to enjoy the view. Finally I just had it and decided to stop and wait till everyone else was done going to the top and then I'd go back down with them. As I waited I had time to enjoy the view, sitting down and holding onto the rocks real hard! lol and that's when the old man guide showed up. By this point, i didn't really like him because it seemed like he didn't care about the job but sitting with him and having him share his stories with me, I learned not to take people for face value. There's more to life than what meets the eye! And to make things better, he helped me down by holding my hand, distracting me from my fears and just being really supportive. Totally unexpected, but thankful it happened. That changed my tour experience and trip outlook immensely. He told me it's ok if i can't do everything, we're not all superman. don't compare yourselves to other people, you do what's right for you! i'm very grateful for that :)

After looking at all the pictures, I've realized I really did have alot of fun on this tour--it's quite the adventure and I know for a fact i'll never do something like this again :) One of the downsides of the tour was the long bus rides so my knee injury is kind of restarting...it's hard to stretch out--especially with the lack of yoga studios around here, so i may have to redo my travel schedule somehow...i dunno, take it day by day.

One of the highlights on this trip has to be going to Esperance--the town with Australia's best beaches! NO JOKE! Sydney beaches don't hold a candle to these baby! These beaches were secluded, with gorgeous blue waters and beautiful sand that kind of crunched under your feet like snow! While walking along Lucky Bay I realized I may have found the secluded beach I want to get married at...now all I need is a willing man :P lol I also had time to reflect on my trip so far and re-align my desires and goals about the trip :) It was a great time. I know I'm not like all the other backpackers over here who use their trip to party--if that's what they want, that's great, it's just not for me. I'm here to take a break and figure out where I am and what I want from life. Sounds cheesy but who cares!

Oh ya, in Albany (i think) I saw the dark opera house, Western Australia's answer to the fantastic opera house in sydney! just a random fact for you all.

also another random fact: internet is crap on this side of the country...actually it's crap everywhere really. so as far as posting pictures goes, you will all have to wait till i get back to sydney! sorry :(

alright folks, i'm sleepy and even though everyone is still awake in my room :( i'm gonna try to sleep! night night everyone