Albany Part 1

 It was colder than we have had in our whole trip so far, only 18 deg at 4pm!!!

It was too cold to swim but fishing was ok, no fish though!!!

We only stayed 1 night at Torbay as it was rather gloomy and drove on to a place called cosy corner which was right by the beach and you can stay free for 7 days. It is about 20kms out of Albany so that works for day trips into Albany and there are other places nearby to visit too.

Cosy corner

Pemberton,Walpole, Denmark

We left Margaret River on Sunday morning and drove down the south west coast passing through the towns of Pemberton on to Walpole and it was late by the time we got to Denmark so we went on towards Albany to a camping place about 30 kms out at Torbay Inlet.

Pemberton Hotel

The drive was through what is called the Southern Forests as there are huge Karri and Marri trees which are a type of eucalyptus tree. The area also does have quite a few vineyards but they were mostly closed as they were all at the Gourmet Escape.

Karri and Marri Forests

Margaret River Gourmet Escape Nov 22

We had booked into the caravan park in Margaret River on Friday and spent some time in the village looking at the shops and information centre.Obviously because of the gourmet escape weekend it was very busy and we did see Rick Stein in a local shop as well.
The gates opened at 11am and we got our booked bus outside the park at 10.30am. We had looked at walking as they information centre said it was less than 5kms but when we drove to check it out we discovered it was 8kms, a bit too far to walk !!!! even before all the wine tasting little lone afterwards.
As we had brought our tickets online we had to queue up to collect them which took far too long, many people were moaning and saying that they should have learnt from last year. Anyway we were soon on our way into the Leeuwin Wine Estate which is one of the oldest wineries in the region.
We went straight to the chefs stage to see Heston and he was on stage for about 45 mins, very interesting.

Heston

The format for the day was you buy GEMs for $7 and these would be used to buy a food dish or glass of wine as well as produce. There were so many stalls,wine,food etc. We thought that we would have to buy a glass of wine to try all the different ones but they gave free tastings, some were very generous and so you only bought a glass of wine if you really liked it. It was great going around trying everything but the time went so quickly as there was so much to see and taste!!!The good queues were very long however so we only bought 1 plate full of food just because of the long wait and that wasn't really very sensible. We enjoyed Rich Steins cooking class and did intend to do more but before we knew it the day had speed by. We did buy some Western Australian truffle oil which Heston commented his restaurant now uses instead of  French, it was so well priced and tasted devine.

We really did enjoy ourselves but would have opted to go for the 2 days as you could not get around everything in just 1 day. As we had to leave our caravan park this was not an option for us, never mind maybe next time.

Near the end of a busy day

One of the many stalls

Laurance Wines of Margaret River

The wishing well 

As we drove down the coast we were spoilt for choice with vineyards to visit.
So I did what any trusty traveller does these days and used first Wikicamps and then Trip Advisor and decided on lunch at Laurance Wines.
Well I have to say we made a great choice as not only was the wine good and the grounds and building spectacular but we had a wonderful lunch too. The staff were so friendly and helpful which so important when doing a wine tasting,  her being Irish and us Kiwis also added to the whole experience. A great way to spend an afternoon.

The gardens were amazing

And the inside did not disappoint!!!They had great artwork which you can't see!

Cape Naturaliste and Canal Rocks Nov 20

We love the fact we can leave the caravan and go exploring in the Land Cruiser. Today we drove out to Cape Naturaliste and did some of the walks around the lighthouse. We really enjoyed this and were thankful that that big notice regarding the snakes was not an issue for us, evidently they are very active at the moment.

Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse

The canal rocks as the water comes through them like a canals

The coastline down on this coast is famous as a surfing and wine destination. It has a Mediterranean climate which in the summer rarely goes above 32 deg  and in winter although wetter stays around 16deg during the day. There are numerous vineyards all down the coast from the Cape to Augusta which of course includes the famous Margaret River area.

Canal Rocks

Bunbury and Busselton Nov 18

Bunbury is the 3rd largest city in Western Australia and is 175kms from Perth. We arrived and had a look around,it seemed a pleasant place.
We continued on to Busselton which has a very long jetty of 1.8 kms and found a reasonable camp by the beach just out of the town. It seemed a good place to base ourselves for a few days and be able to explore the surrounding area. Many holiday makers from Perth visit this area in the summer.
We enjoyed our stay here even though Lloyd complained about how cold it was, it reached about 22deg and was rather cloudy as you can see in the photos.

If you look you can see the end of the Busselton jetty,it curves around!

The tower by the jetty on the foreshore

Leschenault Penninsula Conservation Park- Belvidere Beach

We decided that we had been in the city long enough, it takes some adjusting after being in the outback for over 3 months. So we drove down the coast about 100kms to a conservation park camp.

Fishing on the crowded beach !!!!!!!

We were the only ones there and after getting sorted we went to the nearby beach of Belvidere which had lovely white sand on the Indian Ocean and it went all the way down to the city of Bunbury.

The area has great walks and lots of birds and kangaroos, we also enjoyed a campfire with wood provided by the park. Many years ago there was a commune at Belevidere and it operated for many years, it had the 3 no Ds, no dogs, no drugs, no dole. The area was brought by the government in the 1990s and made into a conservation park. On one side of the 14km peninsula is a huge inlet again with many birds.

Belevidere Beach with Bunbury in the distance

Visitors right by our caravan

Freemantle Nov 15

We loved this bronze statue of the many new immigrant children that came here after the war

Our first stop in Fremantle was the Maritime Museum which was right on the wharf.It was really well done in a new building that only opened a few years ago. There was so much information on historic things maritime as well as modern day.They had a great exhibition hall dedicated to the Americas Cup. It had the Australia boat winner Australia 11 from 1983 and then a model of every Americas Cup boat challenger and its defender since the beginning in the 1850s.

Round House

Fremantle is a great town to walk around and we loved the old buildings. The Round House on Arthur Head is now a museum and it was the first permanent building to be built in the Swan River Colony. Built in 1831as a prison it is the oldest building standing in Western Australia. We had a lovely time wondering around the town and found a great cafe for lunch, there were so many to chose from. We then headed back to the wharf to catch the ferry back to Perth at 3.45pm, It was a nice trip back as the weather was still great.It was Saturday night and we saw so many charter boats going out full of party goers, I guess many would have been Christmas parties.It reminded us of Auckland Harbour at this time of the year.

Fremantle Hotel

The view from the Round House

Perth- Boat trip to Fremantle

We decided it would be good to take a boat trip on the Swan to Fremantle on Saturday as the weather was so good.
 We thought we would again get the train into town but on arriving at the station we discovered the trains weren't running so had to drive into downtown Perth. Luckily we had given ourselves enough time and we made the ferry by 9.45am. The journey down the Swan River took over an hour and we had a commentary as well. It was beautiful sunny weather and we really enjoyed the cruise.

One of the 15 marinas in Perth. This is the Duyfken replica of the first European ship to reach Australia in 1606

Looking back to the Perth skyline

Perth -Part 1 Kings Park

We had been told of a good caravan park in Perth which was near the airport. It is a large shady park owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church and is near a bus and train station.
Our first day we got the train into the city and then the free CAT bus which took us near Kings Park.The free buses circle the inner city every 10 mins and are constantly full.
Kings Park is one of the worlds largest inner city parks and it opened in 1895 and was called Perth Park until 1901 when it was renamed Kings Park to honour the new King Edward V11.

Lloyd on the walkway

Marri walk

We walked through the park to the Botanical Gardens which has and a great walkway with views of the Swan River.Also through the Memorial path, the Marri walk which has plaques with names of fallen soldiers from both World Wars.
It was a lovely sunny day after being rather cold in the morning hence the jeans which we were not used too.
The park also has 2 great areas for children which give a variety of different experiences.

A boab tree in Kings Park with Swan River in background

Jurien Bay, Cervantes and Pinnacles

It was time to move on again, so we continued our drive down the Indian Ocean Highway.
It is one of the few roads that often you can have a view of the sea. Unfortunately in Australia the road is more often than not miles away from the sea, I was disappointed when driving in the Sunshine Coast as you couldn't be by the sea most of the way.
Thats why the Ocean Road out of Melbourne is so famous as like many of our NZ drives it actually follows the coastline.
The seaside town of Jurien Bay was a tourist spot and we had lunch at Cervantes which is the town know for its lobster fishing. We did stop at the Lobster Shack and bought a nice size uncooked cray for the bbq for $40.

The view from the beach in Cervantes

The next stop was the Namburg National Park which contains the Pinnacles Desert. The Pinnacles are limestone formations that rise out of yellow sand dunes. The formations were 1000s of years ago buried underground and covered with sand which then eroded away over time. They were mainly unknown until the 1960s when the National Park was formed and the area opened up. You can drive through them but we opted to do the 1.8km walk around them which great. They are pretty amazing and you do feel though you are in the middle of a desert miles from anywhere.

Cliff Head Nov 9

Beach camping again!

Beach fossicing

After leaving Port Dennison we drove to Cliff Head which is a free camp place on the coast off the Indian Ocean Highway. It is a very pleasant place with camp spots right on the beach. We can stay here 3 days which we will do and enjoy. We can see the Cliff head Oil field platform which is 11km off shore from the caravan, it looks a bit like a whale tail in the distance.

Cliff Head Oil Platform,look closely!

These pink flowers are all over the sand dunes and look spectacular

Sea Eagle

On the Road Again

We never cease to be surprised at the names of Australian small towns. Today we stopped at Walkaway before we got to the coast. We came past the first wind farm set among the wheat fields we have seen, which is surprising considering the huge amount of wind they get in this area.

We had morning tea here at Port Dennison.We are surprised at the lack of places to but fresh fish, the supermarket fish looks really old and it is so expensive.Salmon was $45 per kilo and the cheapest Australian fish is $35 plus.They don't seem to have fresh fish shops like we have at home. Maybe in perth will will find some.

Wildlife

One of things we really enjoy about travelling is observing the wildlife.Obviously here in Australia you have to be more alert as to where you are walking but we often have all sorts of creatures come near our camp for us to photograph. Here are a few we've seen lately.

Crested Dragon or
Racehorse Lizard. It runs on its hind legs and is very fast.

A ring neck parrot very near our caravan

Shingleback lizard,we've seen lots of these

Ellendale Pool Nov 7

Ellendale Pool is about 30kms inland and sounded like a nice spot to visit. We arrived to see only 2 other vans so there was plenty of room for us. We were able to kayak in the pool thanks to a lovely family who were happy to share there kayak. It is a stunning waterhole hole naturally formed along the Greenough River which you can kayak up for about 1 km. We walked along the river among the gum trees but very mindful of snakes as we had been told that there were plenty about. However we didn't see any luckily!

Lloyd kayaking

The only problem we found here were the pesky Flies!!! But we found a solution that meant we could sit outside. We did end up staying here for 3 days, the weather was still warm in the day about 25deg but only about 15deg at night. We were quite protected from the wind here too.

Our great campsite

They can't get us now!

Greenough

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Geraldton but thought it time to move on. Not before I had to visit the local hospital to get my eye checked out as it had flared up again. The were very thorough and decided that it was nothing more than an inflammatory problem which is easily fixed with drops.
We drove to the very small town of Greenough which has a few heritage buildings, it is in the middle of the wheat growing area.

We actually have clouds too for the first time in months

The other interesting sight was a horizontal tree. It is a river gum and due to the strong southerly winds in the region it has grown this way. The trunk is strong but it has weak branches causing it to grow this way.