From Perth to Augusta and all the best spots in between

Busselton Jetty - the longest in the southern hemisphere - 1.8 metres



Me and Him at a cafe Busselton Jetty



Alan and Charlie going for a spin along the canals in Busselton

Busselton sunset

Free camped in the Ludlow Tuart forest Busselton

Dunsborough beach

"Unco" Jane - yes he's still heavier than me but only just!!

The bark of the Tuart tree

Stirling cottage - May Gibbs cottage in Harvey

Alan and Margaret having coffee at Stirling Cottage

The river at Stirling Cottage

Heritage Bush totem poles at Waroona

Gracetown beach

Tree of Life sculpture at Laurance Wineries Margaret River

Charlie with (from left) Laura, Isaac and Colleen - we stayed on their property at Yallingup

Margaret River bridge

One of the historical buildings in Margaret River

Charlie having coffee in the quaint quirky bakery in Margaret River (yes it was good coffee thank goodness!!)

Beach at Yallingup

Blackwood River near Augusta where we camped

Fun on the Blackwood River

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse - the tallest in the southern hemisphere

Charlie trying to spot where the 2 oceans meet - the Southern and Indian Oceans

Here 'tis - or so they say!!

The old calcified water wheel at Cape Leeuwin

Charlie outside Jewel Cave at Augusta

The "camel" formation inside the cave

Stalactites or stalagmites - I can never remember

It looked like a winter wonderland

Mmmm Charlie reckons this looks like him - He's got a good memory!!

The "Ghost" in the cave

Lump of crystal

Yummy fish and chips on the foreshore at Augusta

Pelicans waiting to be fed by the fishermen at Augusta

Augusta foreshore

Well as we are coming up to 10 months into this trip I thought it was time to reflect.  Every day has been an adventure and we've done approximately 19,000 ks spending as much as $2.10 a litre for fuel in some of the remote places we've been but there's not been a single bad day or regret.  We are living the great Australian dream of a "trip around the block".  We have seen places we've only read about and have enjoyed and are still enjoying the vastness of this huge contrasting country.  We've travelled huge distances sometimes without even seeing a car, or a bird or any living thing.

The Kimberley reds, the blue west coast water and white sands - our photos don't do it justice.

We have met some wonderful people all doing the same thing on limited budgets but limitless time and hopefully as we say goodbye to the West in a couple of weeks and head to SA, we will meet more friends.  But enough of that I will now describe our latest adventure.

We left Perth and travelled down towards Busselton and decided to go inland a bit travelling through the farmland and orchard country, stopping at some of the lovely little villages.  Harvey was a typical one and we had some lovely coffee and cake at Stirling Cottage which was the home of May Gibbs the creator of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.  We also stopped at Waroona which have a forest of fascinating heritage bush poles with carvings of all things important to the people of Waroona.

We spent a few days in Busselton with our friends Alan and Margaret and helped them move from their holiday town house to their holiday house on the canals.  A beautiful home with direct canal access and Charlie had some fun fishing off their jetty and also a little spin in the boat.  Busselton is a premier seaside resort located in the beautiful Geographe Bay.  It has the longest timber-piled jetty in the southern hemisphere and you can either jump on a little train to do the return trip or walk it which we did.  Its 1.8 metres so we had a good walk that day.  There is an underwater observatory at the end of the jetty where you can look out on the amazing underwater garden.

We said goodbye to Alan and Margaret as they were getting ready to head off on the Queen Mary II and we were heading south.  We free camped for one night in the Ludlow Tuart forest  which is the only natural stand of tuart trees left in the world so we were pleased we could stay there and walk amongst them.

 We then headed towards Yallingup where we stayed on some people's property who we met in September of last year bobbing around in Zebedee Springs, El Questro in the Northern Territory. They said when we get to this area, to look them up and park on their acreage so that's exactly what we did.  They made us very welcome and it was good.  From their place we explored, Dunsborough, Yallingup, Margaret River and lots of wineries, chocolate factories, cheese factories bakeries, olive farms etc.  I refuse to get on the scales and of course the camera always puts a few kilos on you doesn't it?

Margaret River is a lovely place, very touristy with a lovely quirky bakery where you can sit on the breezy balcony overlooking the Margaret River and have, yes of course, coffee and cake. This is WA's largest premium wine producing area and some of the wineries are magnificant.  We also went and visited Gabriel chocolates, the only bean to chocolate factory in WA.  The chocolate is yummy and they also make chocolate soap for the tragic chocoholic who has everything - I can think of one of those straight away Dilly!!!

We then headed off towards Augusta and stayed at a lovely camp right by the Blackwood River called Alexandra Bridge and from there we did a few days trips.  We visited the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse in the Cape Leeuwin Naturaliste national park.  This is mainland Australia's tallest lighthouse and its also where two oceans meet, the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean.  The lighthouse gaurds one of the world's busiest and most important shipping lanes and remains an important historical and meteorological weather station.  Apparently the flashing warning light can be seen from over 47 km away.The scenery around the lighthouse is spectacular but the coastline is rugged and treacherous.  We also visited the old water wheel which was built in the late 1800's to supply water to the lighthouse cottages.  It is quite fascinating as it was originally built of timber but over the years it has calcified and gives the appearance of being built of stone.

Then we went off to the Jewel Cave which has an abundance of limestone formations and is one of the most decorated caves in Australia.  It was eerie down there, 300 odd steps down (and back of course - I was huffing and puffing) but was well worth it.  Some of the formations looked like a winter wonderland. 

Went and poked around the little town of Augusta which is situated at the south western tip of Australia.  The beautiful Blackwood River and Hardy Inlet meet the Southern Ocean here.  We went for a lovely walk along the foreshore and had some yummy fish and chips sat on the grass.  Saw lots of pelicans hoping to be fed the scraps from the lucky fishermen.

We've had lots of visit to all the naughty places which make you put on weight during this segment of the journey so we will have to be good from now on - but hey why? you only live once.  Scrap that last comment!!  Well Charlie and I after all this time, in our home on wheels, are still talking to each other and still like one another so that has to be a bonus. 

We left Alexandra Bridge camping area and headed off towards Esperance through the great Southern Forests but that will be another blog.  So until then its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.

Fremantle

Hillarys Boat Harbour

Families enjoying themselves at Hillarys Boat Harbour beach

Shops and restaurants at Hillarys

Charlie with a tray of mangoes from the Fremantle Market

Coffee and a chat at the markets

The lovely old market building in Fremantle

Fremantle fishing boat harbour

Charlie's  best catch yet

Fremantle Prison

What a soul-less place - gave me the shudders

Cell blocks

The execution chamber

The Roundhouse - before the prison was built

Perth city as seen from a cruise on the Swan River

Some of the exclusive waterfront properties on Swan River

The best caravan park yet - parked on friend's 10 acre property in the Perth Hills

We stayed at a lovely caravan park right on the beach at Coogee which is just 7 km from the wonderful old city of Fremantle which is the oldest city in WA.  It has some beautiful old buildings and once again the marvellous CAT bus system which enabled us to leave the car and jump on the bus and all for free!!

We visited Hillarys Boat Harbour which is actually a bit of a drive from where we were staying (about 60 ks) but it was a lovely spot and is very popular with families as there is a safe swimming beach, waterslides and fun park for the children.  Of course it was very busy being school holidays but the atmosphere was great and there are lots of shops and cafes all around the waterfront so we were happy and yes you guessed it another yummy lunch and glass of wine or beer and we were happy.

We visited the famous Fremantle markets which were good but much the same as any other market although the food and fruit and vegies were lovely and it was so nice to be able to buy nice fresh stuff once again - sometimes some of the fruit and vegies we were buying up north in the supermarkets looked a bit sad!!    Being mango season we bought a couple of trays and are now "mangoed" out" if that's possible.

We went to the Shipwrecked maritime museum and spent a good couple of hours looking around and then went down to the fishing boat harbour which was vibrating as it was a Sunday so there were lots of people, music and a mexican festival.  We had some yummy fish and chips from Kailis and sat on the wharf watching the fishing boats, listening to the music and generally relaxing.

We also visited the Fremantle Prison which was very interesting - we did two tours - "Doing Time" and "The Great Escapes".  The guide we had was very informative and made it quite fun.  Such a soul-less place though - just the sound of the doors clanking and the keys turning would be anough to reform me in a flash.  They also offer night tunnel tours where you kyak through the underground tunnels of the Prison but we weren't up for that!!

We had some lovely cups of coffee along Cappucinno Strip which is a vibrant strip of cafes and shops - good coffee in Perth.  We also did a Swan River lunch cruise with Bev and Lee some friends we met on the road and had a great 3 hours cruising from Fremantle to Perth and return with a yummy lunch and yes you've guessed it an inclusive bottle of wine.  We saw some lovely exclusive properties - where does the money come from?

Charlie had been trying to contact some friends of his who used to live in Adelaide but now lived in Perth and whom he hadn't seen for 34 years - he didn't know where they lived but after a search in the phone book we found someone with the same name and initials and left a message on the answering machine.  We didn't hear anything so thought it must be the wrong people and then the day before we were due to leave Fremantle we had a phone call from them and they came down to see us and we had a lovely day - it was the first time I had met them.  They invited us to stay on their 10 acre property in the Perth Hills if we wanted to rather than move on, so that's where we are now and busy catching up on news over the last 34 years.  We are off tomorrow to their holiday home to the resort town of Busseltown about 220 ks from Perth and will stay about a week and then back here.  We will probably stay here for at least another couple of weeks before we move on again.

So its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.

Perth and surrounds (and Christmas in between)

A lovely boutique winery in the Swan Valley

Getting the music set up for a lazy Sunday winery lunch

Charlie outside the Feral Pig Brewing Company - Mmmmmm

London Court shopping arcade Perth city

Portcullis and all!!

Mock Tudor building in London Court

Christmas decorations and busy, busy, busy

Perth's bell tower housing the Swan Bells

Me having a go ringing one of the bells - look at the muscles (or flab) on those arms!!!

Charlie in the simulator helicopter at the Sci-Tech museum

New Norcia - Benedictine Monastery Town - the only one in Australia

The Priory - off limits to tourists, where the Monks live and pray

Another beautiful building at New Norcia

Altar and part of the beautifully painted dome ceiling

The hotel at New Norcia - originally built as accommodation for Queen Isabella of Spain

Charlie enjoying an Abbey Ale - 6.9%!!

Me in Kings Park with the Swan River in the background

Air walk in Kings Park

One of the beautiful trees in Kings Park

The sisterhood fountain in Kings Park

Memorial Kings Park

Charlie enjoying a beer at The Lucky Shag waterfront bar

Mmmmm Noah in the "naughty corner"

Little Miss Cool

Goodies for Santa and Rudolph - Noah wanted some as well

Brrrm, brmm - lucky boy

Lexi is happy!!!

Well its been a long time between blogs - so much has happened and its going to be hard trying to remember it all but I will give it a good go. 

We arrived in the beautiful Swan Valley and stayed in a lovely caravan park amongst the vineyards and had lots of lovely days exploring the area and visiting the wineries, Margaret River chocolate factory where we had lots and lots of samples and cheese and coffee factories.  After all that we still found that we had room for a lovely lunch in one of the boutique wineries and wined and dined the afternoon away whilst listening to some live music.  What a wonderful life!!

We had a good look around Perth city and found it so easy to get around as the public transport system is so easy and being Seniors we had cheap/free travel.  There are free buses which go all around the city called CAT buses and we made good use of them, jumping off and on to see the major sites.  We went to the Bell Tower which holds the Swan Bells. The towering glass spire seems to dominate the vibrant Barrack Square where Perth meets the Swan River.  A bit of history for you - The Bell Tower includes the twelve bells of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (one of Englands most famous churches in London) which are recorded as being in existence from before the 14th century.  They are one of the few sets of royal bells and are the only ones known to have left England so it was good to see them and also to have a go at ringing them!!

We also had a good look at the London Court shopping arcade which is modelled on old England Tudor buildings.  Its a bit of a step back in time and is quite quaint.  It has lovely souvenir shops but they are all a bit pricey but its a nice place to sit and have coffee and lunch and people watch.

We also paid a visit to the Benedictine monastery town of New Norcia which is the only one in Australia.  We had a guided tour of the town which is totally owned by the Benedictine monks and self funded.  We found it very interesting but unfortunately didn't meet one of the monks that day - they must all have been praying or maybe they are just not a tourist attraction!!  We made sure we went into the hotel which was originally built as accommodation for Queen Isabella of Spain in the 1800's when she was due to visit as patron of the town but in the end due to ill health she didn't make it.  It was licenced in the 1950's - we had a lovely lunch there and tasted the Abbey Ale which is made by the monks and also their wine.  We also bought some lovely New Norcia bread which was yummy.

We paid a visit to the beautiful Kings Park which is 400.6 hectares and located adjacent to the Swan River and only about 1.5 km from Perth.  Nearly two thirds is bushland and there are lovely recreational areas, cultivated gardens, birds galore (feathered and human kind).  We had a lovely day there just wandering around, doing the interpretive walk, walking along the tree top walk and finally collapsing exhausted in the lovely restaurant for another beautiful lunch and glass of wine.

Christmas was then fast approaching and we had made arrangements to store the car and caravan at a caravan park in Perth suburbs and flew to Adelaide to spend time with 2 of our lovely grandchildren and their mum and dad.  We had a lovely time there and got caught up with the excitement of Christmas as seen through the eyes of small children.  Unfortunately all of us were sick at varying times over the Christmas period so it was a bit subdued but at least we all spent it together.  We also skyped the grandchildren in England and we saw our gorgeous new grandson Sam for the first time - he was just 11 days old.

After 12 days in Adelaide we flew back to Perth, picked up the car and caravan and tootled off down to Coogee Beach near Fremantle to spend some time at the beach so Charlie could get back to what he loves doing most - fishing, but will leave that for a separate blog so for now its

Adieu from The Wandering 2s.