What a trip covering 1400km in two and a half days!!
Any advice to give as a traveller make sure you know who you are going away with as this can seriously effect the kind of trip you have.
Started off in Perth following the costal road south, the sights are ever changing and no place looked the same. Although we drove for hours and hours (nothing unusual for an ozzie) it didnt seem long really.
Bunbury was the first stop and what a beautiful little town. A lot of money here. You should see the size of the houses near the harbour and houses that had access to water to keep there boats outside. Pretty amazing to be able to live like this!
Busselton which has the longest jetty was a lovely place really pretty. It was a whistle stop tour as we wanted to get to Margaret River before sunset so we could enjoy seeing it there = )
Along the way we stopped at Simmos Icecreamery in Dunsborough, it wasnt as inpressive as I thought it would be as I was expecting to see icecream being made. It was like an icecream shop in the middle of no where. However the icecream was awesome and so many flavours to choose from. We also called into the Margaret River Chocolate Factory. There was so much to choose from and you could sample a few delights = ) We didnt stop anywhere else as time was ticking by I didnt want to be driving in the dark.
All along the coast there are places of interest and if I could do it again I would spend longer getting down or try not to do as much but it had to be and I am so glad I have seen it. We arrived in Margaret River a small but busy place especially as it is considered winter here in Australia right now. I should imagine in summer time its absolutely packed. We checked into the Margaret River Resort a beautiful place and really nice staff. Once we got the keys we headed off to Prevelly Beach to watch the sunset. It was great so many people out to watch it and with there wine they probably got that day from one of the 90 wineries!!!! There were plenty of surfers catching waves in the sunset and it was amazing to see it was such a beautiful place to be and I loved every second. My pictures dont do it justice it was a good place to be. So many surfers I wished I was out there with them!
We went out for dinner to a place called Waves on the main street. It was bring your own booze and the toilet was outside round the back of the building which I found a bit strange but I have found not many shops etc have a toilet inside if at all. The food was brilliant and really reasonable to. After dinner we went to The Margaret River Hotel, all places to hang out and drink seem to be called 'Hotels'. Its was a really nice place friendly and everyone was having a great time with a live band on who must of been in there mid 60's getting the place rocking. I met a scottish couple and the girl was called Irene - just like my mom and shes scottish too so it was great for me. We had a great lauch, she looked like Cat Deeley!! After a few beers and kicking out time it was home to bed ready for another big day of driving.
Breakfast took AGES to come out so we didnt leave til about 10ish. It was worth the wait tho = )
We checked out and headed to see the Caves. We stopped at Lake Cave known locally as the 'girlie cave' or the 'pretty cave'. Inside the cave a tranquil lake reflects delicate formations that will take your breath away. We went down a staircase, gazing up at towering karri trees from a primeval lost world, before entering one of the most beautiful caves in WA. There are two other caves to see but due to time we chose to see one and this one seemed the most inviting. It was stunning.
For lunch we headed to a wineary as reccommended by the hotel. Hamelin Bay Wines. The scenery there was gorgeous and such a lovely setting for a ploghmans lunch all the produce locally made. I didnt have any wine as I was the designated driver for the afternoon. We popped into Fox Glass Studio which was basically a christmas shop it was ACE!!
After lunch we went to see some beaches. Hamelin bay was really lovely and wished I could of spent the day chilling out there taking it all in. There are soooooooo many fabulous beaches here in Australia and as they are so big you often find there is hardly anyone on them - well I can only speak for the west coast in winter right now = )
We were told to go and see Cosy Corner which has a very interesting peice of track leading to it. It was red earth and bumpy as hell and very interesting when the back end of the car would slide! a pretty cool journey though and lots of fun!! It was worth it and the water was so clear. There is lots of National Park land on the west coast and it was a really lovely drive. We headed to Augusta to go to Cape Leeuwin to see the two oceans meet, The Indian and the Southern Oceans. There is a stunning lighthouse and in the distance you could see dolphins playing around. I love dolphins and have seen quite a few wild ones since being over here its amazing. We soon took off and headed towards Albany, we didnt realsie how far places were from each other and thought we would get further than we could. As it was getting dark we were coming up to Pemberton so devided to stay there for the night. This is another beautiful place. Full of Hills and huge trees. It reminded me of being in the alps or somewhere like that a ski resort without the snow. It was freezing here though but I imagine its because the trees block out a lot of light. After a much needed roast beef dinner - food is awesome at the Pemberton Hotel - had an early night ready for a BIG day tomorrow as we had a lot of miles to cover to get back to Perth.
We got up and out by 730am and the mist was hovering above the ground with the tops of the hills pocking out the top. Just beautiful to see. I loved every second of this trip with so many pretty views to appreciate.
We stopped of to view a lookout spot and didnt read the signs properly as half asleep and ended up walking 40 mins through woods to eventually arrive at a map which looked pretty daunting and showing the trail we were on wasnt going back towards the car! So we walked back the way we came well that was enough excersise for the day = )
Just make sure you read signs properly and always go back the way you came its a definate route back, better than trying to second guess a quicker way!!
The drive was mad and it was like being on a roller coaster always going up and down hills like postman pat in his red van = )
We went to Valley Of The Giants, somewhere I really wanted to explore. It was great. Australia's most famous forest of gigantic tingle trees. They can only be seen in the forests surrounding the Tree Top Walk. This world-renowned attraction soars gently upwards, 40 meters into the tingle foliage before descending to the Ancient Empire Walk. The trees here are HUGE just ace to see and loved it.
After seeing this it was full on to Albany. This is a beautiful place and would of liked more time here. We had lunch and swapped drivers. I drove from here back to Perth along the Albany Highway, getting us back in 4 hours but got lost getting into the city! It took a good hour and a half to get to where I am staying. I arrived home to a cooked dinner and Kaz and Rob to fill them in on my adventures.
I am so happy to have done what I did in the short space of time. I think everyone needs to visit WA it has so much to offer.
