Margaret River

October 18:
Eighteen degrees inside the van at 7:00 this morning. Another lovely day with clear blue skies. We left the caravan park at Karrinyup at 9:30 hoping to miss the mad rush of people going into Perth for work. We turned onto the Mitchell Freeway that took us in past the city and across the Swan River. The further south we went the cloud increased and after passing the Mandurah turnoff we experienced light rain which turned heavier around the turnoff to Bunbury. As we approached the bypass road at Busselton the rain cleared and the sky improved with patches of blue.
We passed through Cowaramup before driving through Margaret River and turning onto Rosa Brook Road which we followed for 7kms before turning onto a dirt road for the last 2 kms to our camp. We are camping at the Big Valley Campground. It's surrounded by lovely green hills and is on a working sheep farm.
Distance today 318 kms. 

 

 

Their website is www.bigvalleymargaretriver.com.au and bookings are essential. There is power, a dump point showers and toilets. After setting up camp we drove back into Margaret River and wandered around the town before having a coffee then it was onto Margaret River Gourmet Meats in the main street. My Godson, Robert recommended that I go there, one because he knows them and secondly because they have the best meat especially their Wagyu burgers. Along with the burgers we purchased a leg of lamb, porterhouse and scotch fillet steaks, lamb cutlets and pork chops.
We cooked some of the burgers over the fire on our Oz Pig that night and they were so delicious that we will be returning for more before we leave.

October 19:
We woke to fourteen degrees inside the van and with light rain falling. The rain had started in the early hours of the morning and the weather prediction is that it will continue for the remainder of the day.  We drove north today back through Cowaramup. The town lies at the centre of the Margaret River wine region. There are life sized fibreglass cows all along the main streets and in the parks and it's not just any 'udder' town.

From here it was onto the Grove Liqueur Factory. We had sampled some of their liqueurs whilst in Perth and we were here to purchase. We tasted many, but finally agreed on the Turkish Delight and Butterscotch.

It was then onto Busselton which lies on Geographe Bay and has a population of 25,000. We were here to view the famous jetty and the underwater observatory. The jetty extends 1.8 kms into the bay and is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. It's just unfortunate that we were not seeing it at its best because of the rain and overcast skies. We purchased a $28.00 ticket each to take the tram ride out to the end of the jetty which also included a guided tour.

 

 

 

 

Later we had a nice lunch at the Equinox Cafe that overlooks the bay. From here we passed through Dunsborough to view the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse which is in Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. Unfortunately we did not get to appreciate the beauty of the area because of the cloud cover and constant rain.

We continued south on Caves Road but in the end just gave up because of the rain and headed back to our campsite.
Distance today 185 kms.

October 20:
Eleven degrees inside the van this morning at 7:00 before the heater was turned on. It rained all night and when we woke there were patches of blue sky but these continued to appear and disappear just as quickly.
This morning we visited the Margaret River Nougat Factory, the Dairy Factory, Chocolate Factory and Millers ice cream farm shop. After lunch we visited the Colonial Brewery where we sampled seven of their beers and we both agreed that the Pale Ale was our favourite.

 

 

 

October 21:
Another eleven degrees this morning at 7:00 with cloudy skies. The heater soon had the temperature up to a reasonable seventeen degrees by 8:15. We drove into Margaret River to purchase more of those Wagyu burgers before heading south and passing through Karridale and then Augusta. We were on our way to view the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse that sits at the very SW corner of Western Australia. The sky was still cloudy and the wind quite cool but thankfully no rain. The lighthouse sits at the point where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet and protects shipping from the many reefs and small islands in the vicinity. After taking photos and doing the audio tour we stopped for lunch in the cafe in one of the old caretaker's cottages.

 

 It was then onto view the water wheel that over time has become encrusted in calcified lime. The wheel was built in 1895 to supply water for the builders of the lighthouse. The water came from a natural spring and is still running today.

 It was then onto Hamelin Bay to view the jetty. It was once used to export timber to England, South Africa and India and many of the streets in London are still paved with Karri from the surrounding forests around Boranup and Karridale. With the demand for Jarrah instead of Karri the jetty was abandoned and fell into disrepair.
Distance today 139 kms.