Comfort Inn Albany

... the outside to stop you falling sideways but absolutely nothing to stop you falling down!!! so i made it to the 25 metre platform .. the next one was the top at 75 metres .. i decided i had gone far enough! and by the time i climbed down my hands ached from holding on so tightly! (and my lungs still hurt to breath and i was losing my breath too easily still!!)<br><br>Then we started to drive to our next destination and we ...

... only brewery, but it was nice to try a few ales and see the working process) and also the beaches and harbours around Emu Point (which were beautiful- crystal clear waters, white sandy beaches and we were even lucky enough to catch a rainbow forming over the bay).<br>In the evening we went to a locals joint called the Squid Shack, which is ...

... couch surf and be sure of a dry night's sleep. Esperance is beautiful and we were lucky because the sun did come out long enough for us to enjoy the views. The town is set in a bay that is populated with tonnes of little islands and stacks and there are boat tours that take you out among them for the day. We could see that on a better day, we could have happily spent the day on the fantastic beaches - the water was a mixture of aquamarine and inky blue, depending ...

... can be reached by climbing the metal bars which spiral up the trunk. Only a quarter of the people who visit the tree actually make it to the top and we were determined to be in that minority. Julie went first, slowly and very, very carefully making her way up past the lower branches, into the canopy and finally onto the lookout platform. Everything on the ground looked very small and the view across the surrounding forest was pretty amazing. Then came the inevitable downward climb ...

Driving up in a chill morning air we were worried that Mount Barker would be cold but by midday the temperature had risen to a sweaty high necessitating a few stops to sample the local brew... reisling round here. Picture the Porongurups rocky outcrops rising out of the eternally flat plains of Australia and behind the Stirling range, a complete take on the Cullins! The weather here has changed now and we are ...

... flat when he wakes up! Wonder why?... the bad weather keeps us inside so the blog gets up to date at last! We catch the bus into town ( only 3 km away but its quite hilly so we don't want to walk) - the last bus of the day and its only 1.30pm! hungry jacks for lunch and then a bit of shopping - in the few shops still open... another Saturday early closing in w.a! We pick up a tray of sirloin steaks for ...

... our way down south. And I really was having school days flashbacks on this trip - I was asked to sit up front next to teacher so I could read the map and keep teacher awake! Obviously, two of my strongest skills - map reading and entertaining. Sarah, the guide, turned out to be pretty nice in the end. She was a bit cranky at first, but I put that down to the fact that every single tour guide I've met in Australia wants to do something else and is just tour ...

... with the view improving with each opening in the karri forest, before ascending the top of the range. Seeing kangaroos in the wild (two went bouncing past us at the top), really topped it off, but it was a bit of a worry! We were down in time to see the sun set over the range, and get dinner...nowhere. Maybe there were places 20km back in Mount Barker, but we couldn't be ...

... back to the camper and even managed to convince Silvio to join me. We jogged along the beautiful white sandy beach for 20 minutes, then headed back. On the way I told Silvio a couple times I saw whales, but he seemed to think they were rocks, as they seemed to stay at the surface for so long. Just at the end, though, saw some "rocks" by the surfers which has definitely not been there when we ran by the first time. Two whales, just off shore. We stopped and ...