Western Australia

• Mrsdp's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Margaret River

Trip Start May 07, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Jan 06, 2009 Next
Entry

  Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia
Friday, September 5, 2008

Hi everyone
 
Although this is called Western Oz blog, what it really covers is a short trip we made down the West coast, from Perth and back again. We didn't want to go straight from Perth to Adelaide without really exploring surrounding areas. It's the West of Australia, a place most Australians regard as a foreign country, we needed to give it a bit of time.
 
So, in our hire car we set off. Our first stop was Rockingham. 40mins away. It's a quiet seaside town with more 1-storey homes facing the Indian Ocean. (DON'T MENTION INDIA!!!!) Very quiet and very industrial. We stopped in a car park which had a rocky path leading up a hill called Peron Point. The path was bordered by miles of dense shrub and we meandered over the hill down to the beach, watching out all the time for those pesky super-deadly poisonous spiders, snakes, reptiles, kangaroos, wallabies..

Peron Point

. . All around us stretched the Indian Ocean which was absolutely flaming tear-inducing beauty. The colour of the water was just....well, think of the deepest, richest, gem-like turquoise and so clear so that in parts it was like a very light pastel green. All I did was shout, "LOOK AT THE WATER! LOOK AT IT! OH GOD! GOD!!" I was rooted to the spot with love. The beach was just a stretch of golden sand, soft like cotton wool and the waves swished towards you so gently. There was a big rock near to the shore which looked like a massive mushroom rising up from the seabed! Very near to here was Shoalwater Marine Park where you could go dolphin and whale-watching. The place was a visual intoxication of blue hues. Stunning. On our walk back along the rocky path, we detoured and discovered a gun implacement - there were several ruinous brick built army bunkers among the shrubland overlooking the ocean which were now obviously used for shagging and drinking beer! (David: Make love, not war - in action.)
 
We drove down the west coast cruising through local towns which was interesting but not particularly blog-important! We got to Margaret River and decided to stay the night here. Margaret River is beautiful. It's THE place to go if you want to surf, trek, and cycle - but mostly it's THE place if you want to get pissed at one of the many vineyards. Again, with nowhere to stay, we went straight to a Lonely Planet recommendation and found a last-minute reduced-rate room in a National Trust property

Mushroom Rock

. It was stunning! Basildene Manor was a private home in 1912 to the local lighthouse owner and his family (David: The Australian idea of local: The lighthouse is 50 kilometres away!). Inside, the place thronged with sepia ancestral photos, sumptuous sofas and natural wood. Lovely. The manor is stone-built and set amidst a vast sweeping garden with a tennis court, pond, forest and flagstone terrace. Exquisite. We got a standard ground floor double room with breakfast incl. for the price of a travel inn in UK! Love Australia. Love last-minute bookings!
 
Just before dinner, we drove down Cape Leeuwin to see the lighthouse. Wow! This is also where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. And ALSO the most south-westerly point of Australia and the wind blew us about as if we were tissues. The moon was starting to come out and the waves were smashing their froth against the rocks under a dusky pink sky. Very French Lieutenant's Woman!!!
 
The next day we drove to another local beach and watched in awe as a crowd of surfers rode 3 metre waves torpedoing towards the shore. Absolutely incredible. I was screaming into the wind with amazement!! (David: Luckily my ears still hadn't popped back to normal from our last flight. So, I was protected.)
 
Back in our hire car, we headed towards our next port of call: Albany

Cape Leeuwin

. Suddenly, we pulled up in a woody clearing and I saw my first real kangaroo!!! There were a field of them and they were very timid, like deer...or it could have been my groans of "WOW! WOW!" that made them boing off absolutely petrified!! They were beautiful.
 
We headed to Walpole to "Valley of the Giants" or the Tree Top Walk. Walpole is a tiny hamlet completely embedded within the Walpole National Forest covering 180sq km. Stunning surroundings. The Tree Top Walk is flaming amazing. Basically you walk on a swaying engineering feat of a bridge 40m above the ground, meandering amidst the soaring Tingle Trees. These trees are absolutely massive. We're not sure what's taller though: Tingle Trees or Redwood Trees. This magnificent steel suspension bridge is strung between a series of poles and has been designed to sway gently as though you are literally atop a tree. It's scary at first but then the views of flapping multicoloured birds around your head and the distant pastoral calm completely distracts you. It was just incredible to walk along at tree top level, as though you really were a giant looking down on this tiny forest. Brilliant.
 
Albany was interesting. It was a Saturday night and the place was like a ghost town. Albany is known as the 'City with two tales': the old peeling colonial part and the new modern shopping frenzy side

Kangas

. The old buildings were beautiful but stood tall like lonely, sad figures of yesteryear. Albany is a bit like Bognor Regis. Enough said. We stayed in a Motel which was simple, basic but clean and where they serve you breakfast through a hatch by the side of your door. Like being in prison! Come 8am the hatch opens and a tray comes through with tea and bacon and eggs and the hatch slams shut!! It was ok. Come 9am we were let out on parole for good behaviour...
 
The next day we drove to Wave Rock in Hyden. This is absolutely extraordinary. It's a 15m high 110m long multicoloured granite rock that looks just like a towering wave that's about to break. Beautiful. Formed 60million years ago by water and weather conditions. Just above it you can walk on the wasteground next to the reservoir. This waste ground elevates you to the most breathtaking vista of the surrounding hazy countryside, snaky rivers and vast fields of golden rape seed. Just so magnificent.
 
We then drove back to Perth for our flight the next day to Adelaide. Our drive around Western Australia was mainly in the Outback which was amazing. Some of the landscape was barren for miles with small bubbling quagmires of quick sand; some land was acres of prickly shrubs and rocky terrain: but most of the land was just like the lake district with acres of green fields, mirrored lakes and small isolated stone-built cottages

Tree Top Walk

. But, where in England you have fields everywhere with the odd wood, here you have forest... thick forest, with the odd field cut out of it. (David: just like it would have been when Robin Hood was vogue-ing in his green spanglies)
 
The one thing that never failed to astonish us was the loneliness of the drive. For the majority of our outback trip, we were the only car on the never-ending roads that stretch for miles before you. Actually, we timed it once and it was 25minutes before we saw another vehicle! Oddly though, there were some strange tyre marks for long stretches of road, as if the driver was swerving from side to side for miles - skidding all the time - until finally ending in a donut at a junction or something. We can only assume that there is little for teenagers to do out here except 'use' rubber. (David: Lois wouldn't let me try to add my own tyre marks to the rest - spoilsport!) The lonely distances are scary but there are lots of little shack shops and tiny one-man-band petrol stations where you can be reassured of the existence of Man.
 
We got back to Perth late on the third night after driving well over 1000 km.
 
Our next stop the following afternoon was Adelaide.
 
Love, us x

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Me stroking a Tingle Tree in the background...

Wave Rock

Slideshow Print this entry Share Margaret River hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry