7th Day Western Australia trip

After an early start 4.30. We set off to film in The Pinnacles. We film all characters ( White, WhiteRed, WhitePurple and BlueCharacter still shot) . We then continue the long journey to Hyden. We estimated we'll arrive before sunset.

We arrive in Hyden and climb to the top of Wave Rock. There are so many flies it's unbelievable. Bruno brought with him a fly hat for all of us, though stupid looking they at worked a treat.

We went to the camp site red faced and the lady running the shop informed us that on top of Wave Rock at that time the temperature had reached 53 degrees. We set up camp at Hyden and to our amzement they had a small pool what a luxury.

We decide to film again very early in the next morning. Spaced out from the experience the crew slept under a carpet of stars in this very ancient and special place.

5th & 6th Day Of Western Australia Trip

We make the decision to film at Kalbarri Gorge instead of travelling even further North. If we head futher we'll never get back to Perth on time to deliver the 4WD back. This turns out to be a great decision. The Gorge is amazing. We shoot alot of footage here including landscape shots and the Blue Character's discovery walk, deep in the valley bed. The rock is perfect for the project.

This is our first taste of how hot Australia can be at this time of year. It is sweltering and there are many many flies. We film most of the day "mad dogs and english men go out in the midday sun"as the saying goes.

We then head back to Cervantes as a half way stop South. We planned a repeat shoot at the Pinnacles so this is perfect. Bruno films landscape material on the way, large vistres as the sun goes down. It takes hours to drive South so we stop at Jurien Bay and camp there.

The following day we decide to take time off and relax a little . It has been non-stop for those driving. Filming, trecking, performing and camping in the intense heat has taken it out of us. Ruth has heat stroke to cap it all so we stay put. In the afternoon we set off for Cervantes. We shoot some evening footage at The Pinnacles and decide on a 4.30 am start the following day.

4th Day of Western Australia Trip

We leave Port Gregoryand shoot the Blue Character by the Pink Lake in the morning.
Adam notices a tick on his body. Everyone freaks out. He pulls it out of his skin successfully and we set off calmly for Kalbarri.

Ruth and Bruno freak out in the passenger seats as another tick is found crawling around in the back of the van later in the journey. Much more to come on the scary creatures of Australia front. We were versed on snakes and spiders but not blood sucking ticks that can bury themselves into your skin.

We travelled around the lakeside to discover a sand paper factory much to the boys delight.
We continued through bush countryside to Red Bluff filming on the way.

We set up camp at Red Bluff and decided to shoot the Red and the Blue Characters amongst the red rock strata and unbelievably wild coastline. After we'd finished filming Tim found a tick in his knee grabbed the tweezers and pulled it out. Everyone was on tick alert that evening.

3rd Day Of Western Australia Trip

Early on Wednesday we buy provisions and pack the Eskie coolers. Adam & Tim buy a tent & we pack up camp and set off for Port Gregory.

At the begining of this journey we stop to view the Stromatolites just outside Cervantes and Bruno does some more filming for the landscape film.
We arrive in Port Gregory before sunset to witness the spectacular pink lake there. We set up camp and walk to the coast and watch a group of people fishing from the jetty out to sea. The Indian Ocean seems rough and the sky is a wonderful sight.

Stromatolites:

The Pink Lake:

1st 2 Days of Western Australia Trip

Adam arrives from Melbourne. The 4WD is collected from near to the airport and we set off for Cervantes.

We end up leaving Perth around 12pm, the van takes longer than anticipated to pack. We drive to Lancelin where Bruno does the first bit of filming on incredible white sand dunes. We head off for Cervantes and Pinnacles so we can set up camp before night fall.
The journey is beautiful passing through Nambung Park.
Arriving at the Pinnacles we do a location reccie for the following days filming.
Tim and Adam have to stay in the Motel in Cervantes as the Van Hire company forget to pack their tent poles.
We shoot some footage in the day and early evening we realise very quickly to film early from no on, before 9.30am and after 4.30pm for a more comfortable temperature and ofcourse the amazing light.
We end up staying in Cervantes another night after a whole days filming.

The beginning of the trip

Saturday evening a festival parade took place throughout the city. Here is just one group's last mintue practice before the big event.

Beloved Camera Shop

After arriving in Perth we realised we needed to buy more equipment for the trip.
Camera accessories were top on our list. Back in The UK our new tripod arrived minutes after we had already left so that was the first purchase. Lenses and various other bit & pieces needed were bought from................This shop proved to be somethingelse & housed everything you could imagine to do with photography equipment. A brilliant find.
We headed down to the tourist offices to plan the route and buy maps for the journey & National Park passes. Extra dye & sewing kits for the costumes, sunblock, medications, pens pencils and so on we're bought in town. We hired bikes for these two days to make the errands easier. It was a great way to see a bit of Perth too during our brief stay.

Hong Kong

Arrive in Hong Kong a little jet-lagged. Our mission tomorrow before flying to Perth is to buy a new video camera.