[WA] Bunbury,Margaret River,Augusta, Bridgetown,Pemberton,Denmark,Albany, Ravensthorpe,Esperance,Norseman,Fraser Range Station,Cocklebiddy

It’s been a while since our last blog post, so this is a long one! Monday 30 August we left Fremantle and hit the road for Bunbury (via Rockingham and Mandurah). We checked into Koombana Bay Holiday Park and then wanted to stretch our legs so did a 5km walk on the nearby boardwalk through parks and mangroves. Spent the next day looking around Bunbury town, had a picnic lunch by the water, looked through the art gallery, then climbed 92 steps up the lookout tower for 360 degree views. Over the two days, the weather was cold, windy and showery with a few sunny breaks.

Our next drive was to the long-awaited Margaret River, where we settled ourselves into the very comfortable Quarterdeck Apartment at Gnarabup on the coast about 9km from Margaret River town centre. It was so nice to have a bit (ok, a lot) of room to spread ourselves out and soak up the beautiful ocean views. Over the next five days we did our morning walks around the hilly streets and down to the beach. We visited Grace Town to the site of the recent surfer shark attack. One day we did a wine tour where we visited the home of famous cartoonist Paul Rigby, then onto Leeuwin Estate winery, Watershed winery, Cowaramup Brewery for lunch, a cheese factory, chocolate factory, then Evans & Tate winery, Lenton Brae winery, Olio Bello olive oils and the Venison Farm to finish off the day. On the Saturday we did the Lake Cave tour where we descended 350 steps into a giant doline which was so interesting and beautiful. We then visited the cellar doors of Vasse Felix and Voyagers wineries. Next day we had a lazy Sunday morning reading the newspaper and then went to Voyagers for a magnificent lunch - with wine of course! Whilst we didn’t have the best of weather at Margaret River, it was still a real highlight – the area has so much to offer – beautiful beaches, over 130 wineries, top quality restaurants, caves, beautiful countryside, and so many accommodation options.

Monday 6 September we left Margaret River and drove to Augusta (via a quick look at Hamelin Bay), and went to see the historic Cape Leeuwin water wheel built in 1895 which supplied fresh water to the lighthouse builders and dwellers, then on to see the tallest lighthouse in Australia - 172 winding steps to the top of the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. We had a personalised tour guide as we were the only ones climbing at that time, and our guide took a photo of us at the top and commented that we were “oceans apart” ha, ha! It was absolutely freezing cold and blowing a gale that day.

Next day we drove to Nannup to see a small tulip farm which was at the end of its season unfortunately. Then on to Bridgetown in heavy rain, stopping at the pub in town for lunch. Checked into a caravan park and then drove out to The Cidery for some cider tastings and came out with a tasty six-pack variety! Had a very cold and wet night at Bridgetown, so no dinner that night – luckily we’d had a hot lunch.

Drove through Manjimup and arrived in Pemberton on Wednesday 8 September, then drove out to Beedelup National Park where we walked in the drizzly rain to see the cascades, the tall Karri trees, the swing bridge and the hole in the tree. We also stopped off at Gloucester National Park to see the Gloucester Tree Lookout – a 60m climb to the top, which is used as a bush fire lookout. Another very cold and wet night. Next day we did the Pemberton Tramway ride out past the timber mill, over several bridges, cascades, through Karri forests and saw a tree which had been hit by lightning and its lower trunk was burnt out but the tree is still alive.

On Friday 10 September we drove to Walpole via Northcliffe, did the amazing Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk and the Ancient Empire Walk between Walpole and Denmark. Also stopped to look at beautiful Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks. We then drove into Denmark and secured a site at the Denmark Ocean Beach Holiday Park – very nice, modern park with fantastic facilities, including a huge fully enclosed campers kitchen with a big flat screen TV and a heater – yahoo! We had the next day in Denmark as well, just having a look at local surf beaches and around the town shops and catching up on washing, a bit of cooking and relaxation!

22m Pygmy Blue Whale skeleton

On Sunday we drove to Albany and secured our site at Middleton Beach caravan park, a lovely beach location. We then visited Whale World – Albany’s historic whaling station, the last in Australia, which came to an end in 1978. Our visit included a guided tour and over 20 exhibits to explore, including a look over the Cheynes IV Whalechaser boat - all very interesting, even on yet again another freezing cold windy day. The next morning we saw some whales about 100m from the shore as we walked along the beach at the front of the caravan park!

Tuesday 14 September we drove 295kms to the very small town of Ravensthorpe, did the five second tour around town and checked out the local wild flowers display. We have been seeing some beautiful wild flowers all along the roadside as we drive between towns, gorgeous vibrant colours everywhere. We stayed that night in a fairly average caravan park, and it was so cold I asked Paulie to fill up the hot water bottle for me as my feet were like blocks of ice! Following the coastline, our next stop was for a couple of days at Esperance – a lovely beachside town with a very famous seal called Sammy, who hangs around the local jetty. The day we saw him he was laying low in the dry bed of seaweed to keep warm – that will tell you how cold the wind was – it was arctic! By this stage I felt it was time to purchase a pair of long-johns and some wool socks which I have been sleeping in ever since!

We then headed north 203kms to Norseman to start making our way towards the Nullarbor. Not a lot to do in Norseman but we took a drive up to the lookout which gives you a 360 degree view over the town and the local gold mining area – Australia’s longest continuously running gold mining operation. The town of Norseman was named after a prospector’s horse “Hardy Norseman” who pawed up a piece of gold whilst tied to a tree in 1894. Another bitterly cold night, but I was lovin’ the new long-johns! Saturday 18 September our next stop was a cattle and sheep property called Fraser Range Station, and also has one of the golf holes in the 18-hole Nullarbor Golf Challenge. We took a walk over the property up the hill to the water tanks and to the Par 3 golf hole. This property has some beautiful old original stone buildings – homestead and shearers quarters etc - a great country stopover for the night. Oh, and did I mention … it was really cold?!!

Sunday’s 346km drive was to Cocklebiddy Roadhouse, which consisted of the longest straight stretch of road in Australia – 146kms of it. We arrived around lunchtime (gaining 45 mins due to time change), and being the first campers there, we had the pick of the sites. Looking around at the barren landscape, we figured it didn’t really matter where we camped because they are all close to the generator which runs 24/7! Paulie then went over to the roadhouse looking for a Sunday newspaper, only to be informed that it would probably get here in three days time – by which time we will be in another State (SA)! There was another Nullarbor Golf Challenge hole here (a Par 4) so we went for a bit of a walk and checked that out – no, we are not partaking in this golf challenge! Still cold and windy.