Travelling with my overseas visitors - Margaret River (I)

After our short visit to Augusta, it was time to drive about 40km to the town of Margaret River where we would stay another 3 days.

By the time we arrived the office had closed, but they had left a message on my mobile from where to pick the keys. 
It took a few tries before I retrieved them from the correct locker, as at first I kept entering the wrong "Resort" and then when I got the keys I couldn't find the correct house! I was trying the keys in an apartment belonging to one Resort, when we actually had a privatelly owned little villa in the other Resort!  How silly of me!!
We were actually surprised at the nice little house, although the furnishings could have done with a bit of upgrading, as it all looked a bit dark for a holiday home. On the upside it was close to town and quiet.

The front of the villa

The back had a nice outdoor area with a garden area running along all the other villas

While sitting outside for our first lunch my Dad saw a black "lizard" coming close to the house. He cut up a little bit of steak and threw it to him. Out of the bushes came another one! If we got closer they would run into the bushes again.

Anyway, my Mom was petrified of the lizards - King's skink and worried that they might start coming into the house searching for food, so we had to keep the patio doors closed most of the time...

The skink eating the piece of meat

Two is a crowd!

Margaret River is located in a wine producing region (mainly boutique wines), is well know for it's great produce and great food. Not far away are stalactite and stalagmite caves to be explored, as well as beautiful beaches, some of them well known to the surfing crowd.

The Main road, near the Hotel

The skate park in the Youth Plaza

 We drove around visiting some of the beaches, still a bit too cold to swim...

Prevelly Beach

Smith's Beach

Canal Rocks is great for fishing

Another view of the bridge over the rocks at Canal Rocks

Hope you enjoyed getting to know the Margaret River area.

Next post -  Wineries and surrounding areas of Margaret River.

Travelling with my overseas visitors - Pemberton and Augusta

After spending 6 days around the Denmark region it was time to drive 320 km north to our next destination in Margaret River.
After driving 185km we stopped in Pemberton for a quick lunch break.
Pemberton, a pretty quiet country town, lives from logging and is surrounded by karri forests.
We stopped at a park on the main road (Vasse Highway) and once again we encountered a few Anzac memorials.

After lunch we drove on for about another 120km until coming to a bifurcation where you turn right to Margaret River. I turned left to go to Augusta (about 20km either side) for a quick visit.  The town was named in honour of Princess Augusta Sophia, (second daughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte) by Captain James Stirling in 1830.

Augusta is the most South-westerly point of Australia, established in 1830 making it the third oldest settlement in Western Australia. It's also where Australia's tallest mainland lighthouse - Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse -  sits atop a rugged coastline where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet creating very strong currents.
Before the lighthouse was built there were 22 shipwrecks in this area, but only one after its construction.

Between May to August this spot is also the ideal place to watch Humpback and Southern right Whales, who have left the freezing Antarctic waters to mate and breed in the warmer waters off the Western Australian coast.

Lighthouse in the distance

The entry to the grounds and the lighthouse costs $20 per adult, but we chose not to visit it.

Just before reaching the lighthouse grounds is a wooden water wheel built in 1895 to supply water to the cottages of the builders of the lighthouse. After all these years it has become encrusted with limestone and is now frozen in rock.





We then drove via the coast to the centre of Augusta stopping by a beach (corner Albany Terrace and Loch Street) where the "Landing Place" memorial was erected.

This was the spot where on the 2nd of May 1830 the first white settlers came ashore from the sailing vessel "Emily Taylor" under the command of Captain James McDermott.
This monument was erected on the 2nd May 1980 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Augusta's settlement.

Another beach closer to town centre

Turner street Jetty (to the left of previous photo)

It was time to drive to our rented cottage in Margaret River and retrieve the keys before the office closed...
See you in Margaret River soon.

Map of the South West of WA with towns we visited - Albany, Denmark, Walpole (Valley of the Giants), Pemberton, Augusta and then Margaret River)

Monday Mural - The Sacred Tree

This mural located in Denmark, south-west of Perth, behind The Sacred Tree - a small shop with gifts and books for mind, body and spirit.
It was painted in 2014 by the talented artists from Denmark's Youth Group "Tha House".

The owl being the symbol of knowledge and wisdom suits the shop's theme.

For more murals around the world click here.

Travelling with my overseas visitors - Wonders of the Valley of the Giants

About 50km from Denmark and just 20km from Walpole is one of Western Australia's most popular attractions - the Valley of the Giants within the Walpole-Nornalup National Park.

And this is where it all started - The giant tree surrounding this old Holden was a much loved tree int he South-West. At 24 metres wide, people would drive their cars through the hollow trunk to take that must have photo. Eventually from old age and the compaction of the soil around it's shallow roots, the tree fell down.

This spurred the development of the Tree Top Walk and Ancient Empire boardwalk in 1996, where visitors can now enjoy the tingle forest with minimal impact.

This is where it all started... - myself, our friend and my Mom behind the fake Holden

An entry fee of $19 ($13,50 for pensioners, overseas pensioners not included) gives you access to the Discovery Centre with displays and information and a gift shop, the Tree Top Walk - a 600mt long metal walkway , 40 metres above the tingle and karri tree canopies, and as you leave the Tree top walk you can wander through the Ancient Empire, via a trail across the forest floor between red tingle trees that are over 400 years old. 

One of the spans of the Tree top walk

The Tree Top Walk was designed to complement the tingle forest, made with weather resistant steel and the pylons blend into the forest. The whole structure only occupies 4 square metres of forest floor. 

The highest point

 When you exit the walkway you walk into the Ancient Empire - plant life in this forest is unique to the South-West of WA. Some plants can be traced millions of years back to the continent of Gondwana when Australia was joined to what is now Africa, India, Antarctic and South America.

The boardwalk is well set out protected with chicken wire so you don't slip in wet weather, plenty of seating along the way so you can contemplate nature, a few lookouts - all beautifully done!

You can see an elevated lookout above this giant root

Stretched side by side in the hollow of an ancient tree - me , my Mom and our friend

My Dad, our friend and my Mom inside another giant tree

Another bench to observe nature

Just outside this area we came across a plaque for the Bibbulmun track - this is Australia's only long distance walking trail, 963 km long,  starting in Kalamunda, a suburb in the "hills" of Perth, running along the Southern Ocean at Walpole, and following the coast until it ends in Albany, 120kms away from Walpole.

It is named after an Aboriginal language group, the Bibbulmun, who inhabited some of the areas on the south coast. The track is marked with a stylised image of a rainbow serpent.

Anyone brave enough to walk this trail?

Hope you enjoyed the Valley of the Giants!

Monday Mural - travelling bus

Another mural I saw while holidaying with my family in the South of Western Australia during December.

This lively mural of a VW bus carrying surfboards was painted on the wall of the Surf shop in the lovely town of Denmark. 

Painted by a group of young artists that belong to "Tha House" youth group in Denmark.

To see more murals around the world click here.