Weekend Trip in WA

By Beth Cook, University of Western Australia

Throughout the semester, it has continued to be normal to spend weekday afternoons at the beach, or have a brief lunch trip and have to race back to make it to a compulsory lecture. A Manchester study break walk around Platt Fields doesn’t quite compare! As a result of these impromptu trips, reading week was much required to prepare for some mid-semester quizzes; however, we managed to squeeze in a two day trip out of Perth.

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We left Perth on the Friday morning and stopped off in Lancelin for some breakfast and a wander to a beach with incredibly clear blue water, before going sandboarding. We rented boards and wax and attempted (with varying levels of success) to sand board down the dunes. Having never snowboarded or surfed I didn’t pick up much speed, and the walk back up the dune was embarrassingly difficult. We then attempted to form a ramp which was not the most stable thing ever!

After the apocalyptic sand dunes, we visited the alien-looking Pinnacles. They are limestone structures that have been exposed above the sand through years of erosion and weathering.

Finally, we reached our campsite at Green Head where we set up and had fish and chips by Dynamite Bay as the sun set. The camp was so cosy: we had fairy lights, played cards and ate Anzac cookies.

The next day we started with a sausage sandwich and hasty pack-up before heading to Lesueur National Park. The 6km walk was a great introduction to the Australian landscape, offering amazing views and different wildlife to what I was used to. After a brief coffee stop in Cervantes, we finished at Hangover Bay. We played some high stakes piggy-in-the-middle and had a swim just as a rainbow appeared – perfect end to a busy but excellent couple of days!

It was a great experience to finally see some more of WA and get out of the city. I’m yet to see some proper Australian animals out in the wild, but after hearing stories of friends who went further than us, I’m not sure I’m ready to get intimate with any emus or 2m kangaroos just yet. 

Since then I have been busy with coursework for my units, which is new compared to the structure of my course in Manchester. It has been a different challenge ensuring I am on top of deadlines in order to be prepared for quizzes, and complete written work during the semester. But the lecturers are all approachable, and having a smaller cohort removes anonymity, making it easy to reach out. But the improving weather does make studying look less attractive, despite the looming deadlines!