The coastal town of Broome was our next destination on our long roadtrip. We camped on a picturesque beach called Town Beach. It was a beautiful sight to wake up to every morning. Broome is such a quaint little town that I immediately fell in love with it.

We went to see a movie in the outdoor cinema build in the early 1900’s which was such a cool experience. A bit was strange though when a jet airliner flew across the screen!

The famous Cable beach is near the town and such a beautiful beach to spend the day on. The sand is white, the sea is blue and you can rent out boogie boards to surf the massive waves. I had such craic there!

We visited Gantheaume Point at the most southern end of Broome which has a lovely lighthouse and fabulous rock formations at the water’s edge. Apparently an Irish guy lived in the lighthouse in the 1900s. He built a pool in the rocks for his sick wife Anastacia which is still there. Near the point is the wharf which is a great place to eat some fresh fish and chips!

While in Broome we saw the ‘Staircase To The Moon’. At around 7.30pm the moon appeared on the horizon. It was an amazing orange/red colour. As it rose up it lit the sandbanks on the beach creating a stairway effect. It was truly startling to watch!

I also saw the biggest lizard ever in Broome I was so scared when this fella just strolled by as I set outside my tent!

We passed through Port Headland which is a massive ship port on our way to Exmouth nothing much to see there unless you want to see ships being loaded and unloaded.

Exmouth is located near the Ningaloo reef which is a massive coral reef that stretches for hundreds of kilometres down the west coast. We took a cruise on a glass bottom boat which gave us a great view of wonderful fish and coral along the reef. We also went whale watching where we followed a group of six bull humpbacks for the afternoon, they are such amazing animals.

Our next stop on the coast was Coral Bay. The water was freezing when we went snorkelling but seeing the fish and the coral made it worth the goose bumps! By boat we visited a turtle sanctuary where the water was so clear you could see the turtles swimming along side the boat!

On our last day in Coral Bay we walked along side some baby sharks! We were at a reef-shark breeding ground. You could walk knee deep into the water with the baby and juvenile sharks swam around your legs! They were 3 to 4 foot long. It was a surreal and scary experience.

Onward bound, our next stop was the beautiful coastal town of Denham. If you go to the nearby Monkey Mia resort early in the morning you can watch wild dolphins as they come to be fed. As well as watching the dolphins being fed, which was class, we also braved the water again, knee-deep, as the dolphins swam around us. They are such beautiful creature and they are so sociable. They definitely put on a show because they know they are the centre of attention.

On route to Kalbarri, we stopped off at Eagles Bluff- a walkway with a magnificent view of Shark Bay. The water was an amazing blue colour below and you could see sharks swimming around below.

We also visited Shell Beach, a beach that consists of billions and billions of tiny shells rather than sand. The tiny shells were so cute.

Closer to Kalbarri we visited the stromotolites. These are bacterial rock formations that are almost identical to organisms that lived and oxygenated the earth 1,900 million years ago. Long distant cousins!!

While in Kalbarri we rented bikes and cycled up to the cliffs. It’s a bit of a climb to get up there but it’s definitely worth it when you get up to the top. The views of the sea and the town from the cliffs were amazing.

Next stop the big city of Perth and the end of the 4000km journey!! Time to settle down for a while, I’ll keep you posted!!

Highlights of the road trip: Canoeing up Katherine Gorge, feeding the dolphins in Monkey Mia, whale watching in Exmouth, the scenic flight over Bungle Bungle, standing in the sea at Coral Bay with sharks swimming around my legs, driving on roads for 100’s of km without seeing so much as another car!!

Low points: Getting bitten alive by mosquitos and annoyed in general by flies, getting a flat tire on the way back from the croc farm in Wyndham, falling off a waterfall, seeing dead kangaroos on the roadside! Poor roos!!

A tip if you’re thinking of travelling from Darwin to Perth via road: Get a four wheel drive. Lots of the roads especially in the national parks are not accessible by two wheel drive vehicles.

First stop on the road trip to Perth was Litchfield National Park about 100km from Darwin. There we checked out the termite mounds. They look like and feel like rocks. It’s unbelievable to think that these huge structures (8 or 9 foot high) are built by termites!

As it was very hot day we stopped off at Buley rock holes. They are little rock pools connected by waterfalls that cascade down. We also visited the waterfalls Florence Falls and Wangi Falls, which were just amazing, straight out of paradise. You can climb up rocks beside the falls and dive straight into the plunge pool under the falls. However clumsy me slipped on a rock and received a few more bruises to add to my already impressive collection!!

Next on the agenda was the town of Katherine 100km further south. The nearby Katherine gorge is renowned for its beauty in the Northern Territory of Australia. It’s like a miniature Grand Canyon. Feeling fit and sporty, I decided to kayak up the gorge. The views were amazing but my arms did suffer! It was worth it. You can stop at cliffs along the gorge for a swim. However, freshwater crocodiles had laid eggs on some stretches of the gorge so we stayed clear of them.

After a few stops in smaller towns we crossed the border into Western Australia and stayed in Kununurra for a couple of days. The town was lovely, but there’s not much to see, so we drove to the nearby town of Wyndham to visit a crocodile farm.

There we saw salt and fresh water crocs getting fed - it was frightening! We held a baby croc and some baby dingoes. The dogs were so cute! Way cuter than the croc!

We stopped to take a photo of the area’s unusual Boab tree and heard a hissing noise. What I thought was a snake turned out to be a flat tire! Poor Mitsi! Changing a tire in the middle of the day in 40 degree heat was not fun but at least we had all the necessary equipment!

What I love about Australia is most towns have a swimming pool. Kununurra had a great one with a waterslide and diving board it was the perfect way to cool down after the tire incident!

We headed to Halls Creek from Kununurra. From there we got a scenic flight over Bungle Bungle National Park. Getting a flight is the only way to see these amazing stone formations as all the roads into the park are four-wheel drive only. The view from the plane was stunning. The flight was pricey it was worth every penny.

We’re heading for the coast now! Can’t wait to see some beaches that don’t have crocs in them!!

Leaving Bali wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be, because I missed my plane by 12 hours. Another classic moment where the security guards at the airport had a great laugh!

I was to fly to Perth in Western Australia but could not get another flight out. After 15 hours in the airport, we decide to fly to Darwin in the Northern Territory.

We had friends in Darwin but hadn't contacting before leaving Bali. In true Irish style we bumped into one friends outside our hotel!

We opted to drive to Perth, a mere 4,500 km down the road from Darwin. After a long search we bought a car off a guy called Jim, whose daughter was the Darwin rose in the Rose of Tralee contest a couple of years ago. After flaunting our Irishness he gave us a good deal!! I called the car Mitsi because it’s a Mitsubishi Magna! How original.

While in Darwin, we explored the city which is relatively small and right beside the sea. You can stroll along the esplanade and be in town in 30 seconds.

The only downside to the beautiful beaches in Darwin is that you can’t swim in them because of the saltwater crocodiles! It’s so strange to see signs “Beware of crocodiles”. They do pump water into Lake Alexander in East Point so you can still swim in the sea, kind of!!!

The sunsets in Darwin are unbelieveable. The sun goes this fabulous orange/red colour. It really is a treat to watch.

We went to the famous market on Mindil beach, which runs every Thursday and Sunday evening, where there is no better place to watch the sunset and get some grub (they have every kind of food imaginable). My personal favourite stand was Roadkill café which had the caption “You kill it we grill it” above it. They sold everything from crocodile to kangaroo and snake meat. I tasted the croc; a salty chewy chicken is the best way to describe it!

We took a trip to the Northern Territory Wildlife Park (about a half hour drive from Darwin). It’s a massive reserve with trains running between sections. I saw my first croc up close in the park. I couldn’t get over how huge he was!! I also saw my first kangaroo. G’day Skippy!! Very exciting!

In World War 2 Darwin was heavily bombed by the Japanese. You can visit the empty tunnels that were used to store oil supplies during the war.

Near the esplanade, you’ll find the Aquascene where fish feed at high tide. We stood in the sea with fish swimming around our feet and feed them. It was such a strange feeling to have fish swimming around your ankles. Locals started the fish feeding trend in the 1950s. Now catfish, bream and milkfish and lots of other types come in knowing they will get fed!

After seeing the massive croc in the Northern Territory Wildlife Park, I really wanted to see some out in the wild, so we took a crocodile cruise - a boat cruise up the Adelaide River to feed some wild crocs. Meat was held out over the boat on a rope and the crocs jumped up to snap the meat. They were savages! Birds of prey also swooped down from the sky to snatch meat that had been thrown off the side of the boat. It was amazing!

Darwin gets really warm from October onwards as the summer and monsoon season approaches. The heat and humidity build-up gets so bad that some people go a bit mad; the locals call it “going tropo”. I decided after 10 days in Darwin, it was time to hit the road before I went “tropo”! I’ll let you know how the road trip to Perth goes!