Days 93 - 96 Saturday 16th July - Tuesday 19th july

Day 93    Saturday 16^th July

We caught the bus once again and went to Burswood Theatre to watch the matinee session of “Wicked”. It was great. I really enjoyed it and would love to see it again. (It is always better the second time around.)

After the show we went to the Casino where I won $20 and Doug won $60. We had tea there and caught the bus back to the caravan park. It was a great way to complete our trip to Perth.

Day 94  Sunday 17^th July

We left Perth just after 8.30 and travelled to Margaret River. The countryside was quite beautiful, with lots of trees and lots of green grass. We passed through Harvey where there were lots of cows and oranges. This is where WA’s milk and orange juice comes from and is called Harvey Fresh.

We had morning tea near Bunbury which seemed to be an industrial town. There were alumina refineries inland from here.

We went to Busselton to see the Busselton jetty. Here we caught a train along the jetty which was almost 2 kilometres long.

We then went to Margaret River which seems like a great place. It has lots of wineries as well as other boutique products.

Distance travelled today  284 kms

Total distance travelled  13958 kms

Day 95 Monday 18^th July

Happy Birthday Mick

We went down town this morning and went through the shops in the main street. There were some very interesting gift shops and chocolate shops, and of course we had to buy some samples.  This place must be humming in summer.

After lunch we went to Prevelly Park Beach which is about 10 kms away. The waves were fantastic. This is where the Margaret River flows into the ocean. It was beautiful. The surf was huge and there were a few surfers out surfing.

Day 96  Tuesday 19^th July

When we awoke this morning the sky was quite overcast but it fined up during the day. We set out at about 9.00 to drive to Augusta. The countryside was beautiful with lots of green grassy hills and trees along the highway.

First we went to Mammoth Cave which is one of the limestone caves along the way. We had headsets for a self guided tour. It was quite amazing to see such a large cave with so many stalagmites and stalactites. There were many steps inside the cave and 106 steps to get out of the cave.

After we left the cave we drove through the Boranup Karri Forest. The trees were huge and there were so many of them. They were fantastic.

We called into the Boranup campground to have morning tea. It was a beautiful national park camp area  and after we were organised some little wrens came to check us out.

We then called in to Hamelin Bay which was a lovely beach site where people were fishing.

After this we continued on to Augusta and then to Cape Leeuwin where we saw the lighthouse on the south western most tip of Australia. This point is where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. The lighthouse was built in 1896 and still has most of the original parts in it. It was 176 steps  to the top and it is 56 metres tall. Whew!

We then had lunch at the lighthouse. Our drive home went along the highway where we stopped at Karridale to see the store Christmas in Karridale. Then we went to the Blackwood Meadery where we bought some honey and some Boysenberry Mead. We then made our way to the berry Farm where we bought some jams. We crossed the Blackwood River which flowed out to the sea at Augusta.

Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean

Days 91&92 Thursday 14th July & Friday 15th July

We caught the bus into town again today and then went across the river on the ferry to the Perth Zoo. Whilst we were crossing the river we saw a group of dolphins swimming there.

After lunch we went into the zoo and decided to see the African and Asian animals. It was very well set out with space for the animals and lots of playthings to keep them occupied. We saw elephants, lions, tigers, cheetahs, rhinos, hyenas, otters, monkeys of many types, meerkats, sun bears, red pandas and many others.

Otters

Orangutang

Cheetah (Hyena actually!!! Thanks Nan - good to see you are checking blog.)

Day 92 Friday 15^th July

The weather has changed again. We had rain all night and there has been rain most of the time today. It is not as cold as previously but the rain certainly changes the effect. We went to “Freo” (Fremantle) today. It is a lovely city with many beautiful buildings which are obviously very old.

First we went to the Maritime Museum where we went through a submarine, the Ovens, which was docked next door. The tour guide was excellent as he told us all about the submarine and how it worked. It was very tight down there and you wouldn’t want to be claustrophobic.

The rest of the museum had a number of boats in it , including Australia II which won the America’s Cup in 1983.

Then we went to the Shipwrecks Museum which has the remains of some of the early Dutch ships travelling to Batavia or the Spice Islands. The Batavia, the Duyfken, The Zuitdorp and a few others were in there. Some of the things they carried were amazing.

We had fish and chips on the wharf and then went to the shed Markets. We found the Fremantle markets but it was pouring rain so we left and came home.

World Map 1606

Inside submarine

Batavia wreck

Dirk Hartog pewter

Fremantle wharf

Day 89 - 90 Tuesday 12th July & Wednesday 13th July

We caught the bus into the city area of Perth this morning. We went on a double decker sight seeing bus which took us around the main city sites. There are a lot of park lands in the city and the Swan River is huge. It is a lovely looking city with some old buildings from the early days. There aren’t many tall buildings and there is plenty of space.

One of the lane ways was called London Court and was built in 1937. It was very quaint.

The Bell Tower, in Barrack Square, is one of the largest musical instruments in the world. The bells of St Martin in the Fields, dating back to 1550, are in this tower.

Day 90  Wednesday 13^th July

Today we went on a Swan River Wineries Tour. We hopped on a boat in town and travelled down the Swan River to a place called Water’s Edge. The Swan River is lovely with so many parks along the way. We saw cormorants, shags, pelicans, swans, and lots of other birds along the way. The river is very wide and there are some beautiful homes along the way.

On the boat we had 4 different wines to taste. After we arrived we hopped on a bus and went to Pinelli’s winery and then Houghton’s winery where we had lunch. Then we went to Jarrah Ridge, Charlie’s winery and nougat, Elmar’s brewery and the chocolate factory. Some wines were good and some not so good. Chocolate was great.

By the time we got home it was about 6.30. Once again we were exhausted.

Days 87 - 88 Sunday 10th July & Monday 11th July

We left Cervantes this morning in windy, cold weather. We drove cross country to New Norcia, which is a town run by the Benedictine Monks and was settled by them in 1858.
On the way we saw the Emu Downs Wind Farm. There were 48 windmills generating electricity run by Stanwell.
By this stage it was raining and very windy and cold. We went through the museum which had many artefacts from the early days of Dom Salvado as he settled here to start a monastery and school. The school has closed but it is now used for school groups as camps. There are only 8 monks living here and their motto is still PAX (peace) They are self-sufficient as they have olive groves, sheep, citrus fruit, grapes and wine
and tourism.

We stayed at a free camp site (well almost – paid $7 to the monks) beside the oval. It was very cold and it rained most of the night. Fortunately we were snug and warm in our van.
Distance travelled today 178kms
Total distance travelled 13417 kms

Day 88 Monday 11th July
It was still raining this morning as we left New Norcia and headed to Perth. We have reached a city. We went to the sushi train for lunch, the first one since Darwin.
Distance travelled today 133 kms
Total distance travelled 13550 kms

Days 85 - 86 Friday 8th July & Saturday 9th July

Day 85  Friday 8^th July

Today we drove out to Greenough Village, which is an historic town site about 17km south of Geraldton. There were about 11 buildings  from the early settlement built between 1857 and 1890. People had lived in them prior to them being taken over by the National trust. There was a school house, a Catholic church and convent, an Anglican church, a police and gaol and some homes. Inside these they had some of the old implements used by these people.

After we left we went to the Greenough River where it entered the sea. This appears to be the surf beach.

Then we bought some rock lobsters for tea. Looking forward to them.

Day 86  Saturday 9^th July

We left Geraldton at about 8.30. It was quite cold (about 10 degrees) and very windy. We went to Jurien bay where we had morning tea and then on to Cervantes. After booking into the caravan park we headed out to the Pinnacles in the Nambung National Park. The Pinnacles are limestone rocks jutting up into the air and surrounded by sand. There were so many of them. We drove around them for 4 ½ kms.

Then we headed out to Lake Thetis and the stromatolites which were very different to the ones at Hamelin Pool. There were very few here. Then we went to Hansen Bay Lookout to view the beautiful water and bay area. We drove back into town and had a quick look around. The rock lobster industry seems to be the most important in the town.

Distance travelled today 230 kms

Total distance travelled 13189 km

Stromatolite (again!)