Week 42 (10th - 14th January)

Yesterday, after we had “put the blog to bed”, we began reading our books until cabin fever sent us over the edge so we braced ourselves and took off into the wind to walk on the beach. On spotting a track into the dunes we took that thinking it would give us slightly more protection from the elements. A little fresh air became all the more intoxicating as we followed a wonderful trail that lured us further and further into the D’Entrecasteaux National Park past Cathedral Rock up to the lighthouse and the Point. We’d take cover under peppermint bushes (somewhat like a weeping willow) as each rain squall swept past, giggling helplessly over what would have been a ridiculous sight had anybody come across us. Damp and bedraggled we’d crawl out from the bushes and soon dry in the wind or sun as we were driven upwards and onwards in this wild and woolly weather. Wonderfully dense and protected thickets on either side of us and from within we could hear little birds creating merry hell with their twittering in the brief times of sun; boardwalks up to dune crests would give us lookouts across the rugged coastline and heaving Southern Ocean. Nearing the top of the headland the well made gravel track we’d been following became a tarred pathway to enable wheel chair access around D’Entrecasteaux Point. From below the modern lighthouse we cast our eyes around the Point only to be overwhelmed by the spirit and magnificence of this place and fully understood why CALM had made it accessible to all.

View from Point D'Entrecasteaux

Retracing the four kilometres we had come back to Windy Harbour we realised how enamoured we had become with the area. Definitely on our short list of favourites with its traditional sea-side village where holiday shacks are just that set amongst beautiful scenery.
Wind and rain continued to lash us as we pulled out of Windy Harbour on Wednesday making our way to Pemberton, a picturesque little timber town with the Gloucester Tree, the highest fire look-out tree in the world on its outskirts. We’d climbed it on our first visit and gave it a miss this time round. A backpacker’s lodge provided us with an internet connection for the blog, once on its way we decided to keep going and reached Alexandra Bridge campground by lunchtime. We were amazed to find just how popular and busy it was with campers in every nook and cranny on the banks of the beautiful Blackwood River. We took one of the last sites available and despite the informality and numbers were pleasantly surprised as 9.30pm approached how music and generators were steadily switched off. Half an hour later silence reigned until well after 8.00 the next morning.

We didn’t hang around and moved onto Augusta an attractive town with wide vistas across the Hardy Inlet (receiving the waters of the big Blackwood River) and Flinders Bay. Peering in at the different caravan parks we realised peak season was here. The “Cape to Cape” region has so much to offer holiday makers. When the weather is good - superb beaches; when the weather is bad – masses of wineries & gourmet restaurants, galleries and limestone caves; national parks line the coast while forests and farmlands continue to unfold around every other corner.
We couldn’t quite face trying to squeeze into a caravan park and drove through Augusta on its scenic drive to the first of the Capes. Picturesque Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, dating from 1895, stands on the most south westerly point of Australia and provides a vital link to the navigational and meteorological network of the country. Rather like South Africa’s Cape Point, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, here it is the Southern and Indian. Of course, there are tales of shipping tragedies from a freak king wave sweeping 10 naval seaman off to a watery grave, to the surprise of a very experienced ship’s Captain hitting a rock on a calm day!

Cape Leeuwin lighthouse

The most photographed tourist attraction is the old water wheel originally built from timber to supply water for the construction of the lighthouse and its cottages. Over the ensuing years the timber wheel has completely calcified giving the appearance of ancient stone work.
We returned to Augusta along the waterfront and checked out the Crafter’s Croft before moving on to Hamelin Bay in time for a late lunch. We barely recognised the place, with people camping cheek by jowl amongst the peppermint trees. As new immigrants we had spent a couple of nights in a static van here with Justine and Daniel (who’d just arrived from England to visit us) while George helped undertake a sediment survey in the Hardy Inlet. No room for us so we lunched in the boat trailer parking lot before moving on to check out the Leeuwin- Naturaliste National Park’s Conto’s Field campground. Quite the opposite story met us here – a widely spread out campsite on gently undulating ground dominated by the very pretty peppermint trees that combining to give a feeling of privacy along, plus very few people made it perfect for us. The grey skies had finally moved off by evening and in beautiful light we walked across the expansive campground towards the coast where we intercepted the Cape to Cape hiking trail. We couldn’t resist following it for a couple of kilometres. We met an orange hooded Japanese man with two ski poles plodding along the track having done 28km that day and heading for Conto’s Field. Later, two Spanish woman appeared who didn’t want to talk much as they were exhausted and couldn’t wait to get to the campground. What we saw of this trail’s seascape tempted us but we’d want someone to be waiting with our camping gear and dinner at the overnight stops!

Seascape on Cape to Cape hiking trail

Steeped in wineries, breweries, art galleries, boutiques and retreats Margaret River is the heart of the Cape to Cape region and to arrive on a Friday was courting refusal. No-one could give us a night or two until we reached Gracetown and even they could only squeeze us in for a night. At least we could have a good scrub up and get the laundry done. We popped down to the beach, a few kms away, to look around. The name Gracetown triggered a memory of a tragedy involving school children killed after a limestone cliff collapsed on them around the time we first arrived in Australia, sending coastal Shires into a fear of litigation frenzy. Lea empathised for the teachers in charge having to deal with this horrific incident. Above the surfing beach we came across the simple memorial, a beautiful sandstone slab with a wrought iron wave breaking above it able to hold nine candles to the memory of the four children and five adults lost in September 1996. We arrived in April 1997 so our impression of a school outing with lots of children being involved was incorrect.
That afternoon we set off to see some of the attractions of Margaret River. MR Chocolate Company where we could barely move for the crowd; MR Nuts and Cereal, a newly opened venture by South Africans (her Pretoria accent gave it away); MR Venison, where George’s accent gave him away resulting in us being offered some biltong! It appears there are many Southern African people in this neck of the woods that he has a butcher making deer biltong and boerewors for him and the taste for it is rapidly spreading amongst Australians. The little village of Cowaramup is committed to maintaining its character. Many of the shops had a cow theme with an assortment of cow ornaments even the sweet shop was called “Candy Cow”. On the outskirts plenty of Frieslands grazing with bags of cow manure for sale alongside the road!

No cancellations, so we had to move on. The owners had kindly located a farm caravan park with a space for us mid way between the Capes. Shortly after moving in we left for Cape Naturaliste and Geographe Bay. En route we stopped in at Yallingup. Throughout our journey along the south coast Lea had been trying to recall a place Daniel and Justine had once taken us to breakfast (Daniel always knows where to find the best breakfast). On arrival at Yallingup recognition was instant although the breakfast barn has gone. With such magnificent weather surfers were out in full force and the beaches were crowded. Parking at a premium, not helped by construction going on, we continued to the Lighthouse on the second of the two Capes.
The Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, built of limestone quarried from nearby Bunker Bay, opened in 1904. In spite of the lighthouse being set on a high promontory at the southern end of Geographe Bay, we could see very little of it from the vantage points available due to screening by vegetation and local topography. We took one of the sandy walking trails that led to a whale lookout on the edge of the Bay and there found a young couple from Europe (a French man and German girl) who were peering through a pair of horrible cheap binoculars at what they were convinced was a dolphin just offshore. It turned out to be a large seal, periodically surfacing and shaking its head. Once again, we had missed the chance of seeing the whales that visit the Bay whilst moving south in September to November … one these days we’ll be in the right spot at the right time!
Out of the wind and overlooking the azure blue waters of Bunker Bay we set up our picnic table and chairs in the shade of a gnarled old cypress tree and spent a leisurely few hours reading. While we were there the couple we’d run into at the whale lookout pitched up and we learnt that while up north they had rolled their campervan (near Exmouth) and written it off. Now reduced to travelling, and sleeping, in a tiny car we couldn’t help admiring their pluck in continuing their trip.

Picnic at Bunker Bay

The spectacular beaches and clear, aquamarine waters of Eagle Bay and Meelup, just around the corner from Bunker Bay, must be one Geogaphe’s Bay’s best kept secrets. Having never been there before we came away astounded by their appeal and the provision made by the Shire to open up numerous small picnic spots for the general public. We were similarly impressed by the tranquil seas on the Dunsborough beachfront and feeling pretty warm by then, simply couldn’t resist wading into the shallows before heading for ‘home’.

Cooling off on Dunsborough beach

The Sunday markets that are held in the Town Square of Margaret River kept us entertained on our last day in this truly picturesque region. Tomorrow we move on and hope to send this from Busselton.