Well, I've done it again and waited forever to write something. But I did have a busy week last week. I haven't even taken time to share music in like 10 days. And it's been like 20 since I actually wrote something. But today I'll write something else. I'll finish writing about Australia.
It seems like so long ago, but here we go anyway. Last time I only wrote about Perth, but that was not the entire trip. We also went north from Perth to a region called the Coral Coast. As you may have guessed from the name, we went to see coral and do other oceany activities. We flew up to Learmonth, and then got a car and drove all the way down to this place called Shark's Bay, like 7 hours away. It is in the middle of nowhere. In a national park. And there is just one little town and one little resort called Monkey Mia. And people go there to see dolphins, which is why we went there. And it's also beautiful, in a weird, alien kind of way. This area is like the real Outback. Red sand, scrub forever, huge skies, and beautiful, blue oceans. But nothing else. Except dead kangaroos everywhere. So much kangaroo roadkill. We almost made more, also, when a huge guy decided to jump out onto the road in front of us late at night in the middle of the Shark's Bay National Park where there are no lights. But we didn't hit him and it was all good. So then we spent a night there and went kayaking with dolphins! It was a very long drive for a very short stay. Only 2 nights, with only one full day of activities, but the dolphins are great and you get super close, and we were in the middle of nowhere. Then we drove back up towards Learmonth to stop in a place called Coral Bay for, you guessed it, coral. We stayed right in front of the ocean and basically just went to the beach. Because when you're at the beach here, you just have to walk into the water about 30 feet and then it drops off a bit and there's coral and sealife everywhere. It is very impressive. So we basically just chilled out and went swimming a bunch. Plus we did do one day trip where they took us deeper into the water so Shuk-wah could dive while I snorkeled, but that was it. Just beaching and swimming and coraling. Pretty amazing. Then we flew back to Perth to get another car and go south.
South of Perth, the main things is Margaret River, which is the wine region. I wanted to do it after Shuk-wah left and spend more time up north, but she really wanted to get down south as well so we squished it all in. That meant we only had time for a couple nights in Margaret River - one night before and one night after our wine tour. We were on a wine tour with like 3 other people, this American guy about our age who quit his job to go traveling, and an older Australian couple from the east coast who were super sweet. It was a great day, cause they not only took us to like 4 wineries, but also to a coffee roastery and cheesemaker and a brewery and other local artisanal shops. We were specifically looking for something like that, not just trying to get wasted (although they did give us lots of wine and I was drunk by 10am). It's totally different down south, much more lush and foresty. Actually I wanted to spend more time after Shuk-wah left because it would have allowed me to go to Albany and see these giant trees they have. And I also found out they have these trees down there called Tuarts, which are apparently similar to redwoods and totally massive. But we didn't have time to see them. Well, we could have, but we decided to spend our extra time on the way back to Perth going to Penguin Island. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Although we only found 1 penguin, and only because Shuk-wah was able to really think like a penguin and find one hiding under a rock. So actually, it was not super exciting. Not like when I've seen penguins in other places. But still, penguins. Can't complain!
So that was pretty much the trip. Like in a tiny, little, itsy-bitsy nutshell. Just the highlights spread over a month of posts and taking me 3 months to write. Go me. Next I have to tell you about my sister moving here and also my trip to Dunhuang, which has been my top place to visit in China for over a decade. And I'm going to Japan tomorrow, so we'll have to add that. Oy.
But for now, we'll focus on music. Rhye released a new album. Like two months ago at this point, but you know. At least I'm telling you about it. Honestly, I would not have expected myself to tell you about it, because I was not a huge fan of their first album, Woman. But then the new album, Blood, is really good. Well, overall it's good, but there are some really good songs like Taste.
Nice one, right?? So I never paid attention on the first album (and I did go back and listen and still maintain that it is not very good), but rather just assumed that Rhye was a woman. Rhye is not a woman however. Rhye is a duo. And the singer is Milosh, who is a man. Weird times right? But now that you know, you can kind of hear it. Go ahead and give Phoenix a listen. This is the other one I really like.
It seems like so long ago, but here we go anyway. Last time I only wrote about Perth, but that was not the entire trip. We also went north from Perth to a region called the Coral Coast. As you may have guessed from the name, we went to see coral and do other oceany activities. We flew up to Learmonth, and then got a car and drove all the way down to this place called Shark's Bay, like 7 hours away. It is in the middle of nowhere. In a national park. And there is just one little town and one little resort called Monkey Mia. And people go there to see dolphins, which is why we went there. And it's also beautiful, in a weird, alien kind of way. This area is like the real Outback. Red sand, scrub forever, huge skies, and beautiful, blue oceans. But nothing else. Except dead kangaroos everywhere. So much kangaroo roadkill. We almost made more, also, when a huge guy decided to jump out onto the road in front of us late at night in the middle of the Shark's Bay National Park where there are no lights. But we didn't hit him and it was all good. So then we spent a night there and went kayaking with dolphins! It was a very long drive for a very short stay. Only 2 nights, with only one full day of activities, but the dolphins are great and you get super close, and we were in the middle of nowhere. Then we drove back up towards Learmonth to stop in a place called Coral Bay for, you guessed it, coral. We stayed right in front of the ocean and basically just went to the beach. Because when you're at the beach here, you just have to walk into the water about 30 feet and then it drops off a bit and there's coral and sealife everywhere. It is very impressive. So we basically just chilled out and went swimming a bunch. Plus we did do one day trip where they took us deeper into the water so Shuk-wah could dive while I snorkeled, but that was it. Just beaching and swimming and coraling. Pretty amazing. Then we flew back to Perth to get another car and go south.
South of Perth, the main things is Margaret River, which is the wine region. I wanted to do it after Shuk-wah left and spend more time up north, but she really wanted to get down south as well so we squished it all in. That meant we only had time for a couple nights in Margaret River - one night before and one night after our wine tour. We were on a wine tour with like 3 other people, this American guy about our age who quit his job to go traveling, and an older Australian couple from the east coast who were super sweet. It was a great day, cause they not only took us to like 4 wineries, but also to a coffee roastery and cheesemaker and a brewery and other local artisanal shops. We were specifically looking for something like that, not just trying to get wasted (although they did give us lots of wine and I was drunk by 10am). It's totally different down south, much more lush and foresty. Actually I wanted to spend more time after Shuk-wah left because it would have allowed me to go to Albany and see these giant trees they have. And I also found out they have these trees down there called Tuarts, which are apparently similar to redwoods and totally massive. But we didn't have time to see them. Well, we could have, but we decided to spend our extra time on the way back to Perth going to Penguin Island. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Although we only found 1 penguin, and only because Shuk-wah was able to really think like a penguin and find one hiding under a rock. So actually, it was not super exciting. Not like when I've seen penguins in other places. But still, penguins. Can't complain!
So that was pretty much the trip. Like in a tiny, little, itsy-bitsy nutshell. Just the highlights spread over a month of posts and taking me 3 months to write. Go me. Next I have to tell you about my sister moving here and also my trip to Dunhuang, which has been my top place to visit in China for over a decade. And I'm going to Japan tomorrow, so we'll have to add that. Oy.
But for now, we'll focus on music. Rhye released a new album. Like two months ago at this point, but you know. At least I'm telling you about it. Honestly, I would not have expected myself to tell you about it, because I was not a huge fan of their first album, Woman. But then the new album, Blood, is really good. Well, overall it's good, but there are some really good songs like Taste.
Nice one, right?? So I never paid attention on the first album (and I did go back and listen and still maintain that it is not very good), but rather just assumed that Rhye was a woman. Rhye is not a woman however. Rhye is a duo. And the singer is Milosh, who is a man. Weird times right? But now that you know, you can kind of hear it. Go ahead and give Phoenix a listen. This is the other one I really like.
And then, because it's been so long that I've been meaning to write about Rhye and I've amassed more songs to share, I'll give you one other. That other song is Falling Into Me, the latest single from the UK duo Let's Eat Grandma. I'm not sure if I heard their first album back in like 2015. I need to go listen and see. But they're working on a new one, and this single is great. So now you can listen to it.
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