Sunsets in WA

Perth, a western coastal city of Australia is rather similar to Kota Kinabalu where I reside. While Perth faces the great Indian Ocean, KK faces the South China Sea, a contentious ocean, a large part which is claimed by China as its territory but ruled otherwise by the the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in the Hague recently.

In our recent trip to Perth, we decided to visit some of the WA western towns to see first hand the sunset scenery. We were indeed not disappointed and Western Australia does offer spectacular sunset views. Even Perth this time around experiences unusual cold winter, we braved ourselves to enjoy the beautiful scenery until the sun finally disappeared in the horizon.

Our first stop was Rockingham, a town just 46 Km south of Perth city. We took the train to Rockingham and by the time we got off from the bus which dropped us at the sea side from the train station, we barely had 15 minutes left to enjoy the twilight and the fast disappearing sun. The beauty of the sunset coastline in Rockingham was amplified by the silhouette of people, trees and man-made structures.

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We rented a car and drove northward from Perth and spent three days exploring some of the places we had not visited. We stopped to spend a night in Jurien Bay which is 225 Km north of Perth city. With the knowledge gained from Rockingham concerning the timing of the sunset, we approached the seafront of Jurien Bay just before 5pm and spent the next 30 minutes looking at the sun moving slowly toward the horizon and finally disappeared below the line. We had another spectacular view of sunset in WA. We spent some time at the jetty enjoying the sunset and looking at people fishing. Then with a bit of patience and good fortune, a split second moment of the silhouette of a man casting his fishing line was captured!

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After Jurien Bay, we drove another 200Km north to Geraldton, a much larger town compared to Jurien Bay. Sunset was equally spectacular, but it lacks the man-made structures to enhance its beauty. Still, scenes captured with the silhouette of trees and bushes are equally captivating.

Immediately after leaving the seafront, we drove to the top of the tallest hill in Geraldton where the HMAS Sydney II Memorial is built to view the sunset and the town. We were again not disappointed! Even though we had visited the hill earlier in the afternoon, we would have stayed much longer to enjoy the view had the weather been kinder to us!