Epic Round The World Trip Adventures! Stunning Photos & Articles - A fascinating gap year travel journal covering every stop of their journey.

Bunbury - West Australia
Gap Year Travel Journal

Text By Jo and Pix By Mike

(15th - 16th March) Bunbury
Lonely Planet really doesn't do Bunbury justice and makes it out to be very industrial but it isn't and we loved it! On top of that we checked into the campsite at Koombana Bay and were treated to the best campervan ensuite set up we have ever seen! Not only did we have a toilet and shower but also a kitchen with a big sink and enough room that we could have slept in there too!! Oh the simple pleasures in life! Oh almost forgot to mention that we were camping right on the inlet shoreline too. Mikey did manage to windsurf on the Leschenault Inlet - apparently there are only a dozen local windsurfers here. It wasn't anything to rave about windsurfing wise but it's a lovely spot and we did see a fantastic sun set here (see photo with Jo writing up her journal) although this is the first place in Australia we have found the public toilets locked! Mikey was sailing past huge rays about a metre wide and being attacked by killer crabs. The following morning we were up at 7am and on the beach by 7.30 as the sun rose. We sat by the Dolphin Discover Centre in search of dolphins - apparently they have regular visits here and they have an interaction zone but they don't feed them like at Monkey Mia so they are not as predictable. By 10am we still hadn't seen one so we booked to go on a boat trip dolphin watching instead. And no, we haven't seen enough dolphins yet! We never tire of seeing them - it's always such a privilege. We were more than rewarded on this trip when we saw huge pods of females with calves. The largest pod comprised around 15 dolphins. We idled along behind them for about an hour and a couple of times they buzzed the boat by swimming straight towards us so we could see all their little faces! These are common bottle-noses which are bigger than the Indo-Pacific ones at Monkey Mia. The water is really clear her so underwater views were great. Back on dry land we went to discover the delights of Bunbury town and it has quite a big shopping centre. We went for coffee on the tree-lined capuccino strip (photo with banner for Fete) and saw lots of lovely older style buildings - quite a rare sight in most towns as they are expanding so quickly.

Highlights of our gap year travel adventure:

Stop 1 - Capetown---> The City | Simonstown Penguins | Table Mountain Cable Car | The Waterfront Seals | Windsurf Action.
Stop 2 - West Australia---> Perth City | Perth Zoo | Cohunu Animal Park | Rottnest Island | Rockingham Penguins | Yanchep Park Koalas | Cervantes Pinnacles | Geraldton Windsurfing | Kalbarri Gorge | The Pink Lake | Coronation Beach Windsurfing | Gero Road to Cervantes | Carnarvon Jetty & Quobba Snorkel | Denham Lagoon | Monkey Mia Dolphins | Coral Bay Termite Hills | Coral Bay Quad Biking The Dunes | Exmouth Kangaroos | Mandurah Canals | Margaret River | Margaret River Wine Tour | Margs Windsurfing | Bunbury Windsurf | Bussleton Pier | Towns near Bussleton | Augusta Nature | Pemberton Camping | Pemberton Tall Trees | Cape D'Entrecasteaux | Walpole Tall Trees.
Stop 3 - East Australia---> Cairns Sky Rail Cable Car Over The Rainforest | Mossman Gorge | Cape Tribulation Rainforest | Port Douglas | Daintree Crocodiles | Captain Cook Highway | Beaches Near Cairns | Atherton Tablelands Fig Trees | Bowen Beaches | Airlie Beach | Whitsunday Islands Boat Tour | Great Barrier Reef Snorkel | Whitsunday Snorkelling | Town of 1770 History | Fraser Island Beach Driving | Tin Can Bay Dolphins | Noosa River | Australia Zoo Wombats | Sunshine Coast | Nanango Bush | Gold Coast Beaches | Byron Bay Beaches | Woolgoolga Beaches | Coffs Harbour | Port Macquarie Cafes | Forster Pelicans | Great Lakes | Nelson Bay Dolphins | Sydney By Day | Sydney By Night | Sydney's Manly Beach.
Stop 4 - New Zealand---> Auckland Revolving Restaurant | Rotorua Volcanic National Park | Lake Taupo & Waitomo Glow Worms.
Stop 5 - French Polynesia---> Tahiti Island Waterfalls | Moorea Island Water Bungalows | Moorea Shark Feeding | Bora Bora Island Buggying.
Stop 6 - Hawaii, Maui---> Maui Snorkel Videos | Maui Snorkel Photography | Maui Windsurfing | Maui East Coast Hana Highway | Maui North Beaches 1 | Maui North Beaches 2 | Maui West Coast Surfing | Maui South West Lava Fields | Haleakala Volcano.
Stop 7 - Hawaii, Oahu---> Kailua Beaches | Round Oahu Island Drive | Honolulu Pearl Harbour | Oahu Snorkel Videos.
Stop 8 - West USA---> Los Angeles City Tour | Venice Beach | Long Beach | Queen Mary Tour | San Onofre Surfing | Route 66 Drive | Las Vegas Casinos | Grand Canyon.
Stop 9 - East USA---> Miami Beach Art Deco.
Stop 10 - UK, HOME---> Back To Heathrow, Bringing To A Close Our Amazing Round The World Trip.