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 avoid the busy rush of people heading into Perth for work. We turned onto the Mitchell Freeway, which took us past the city and across the Swan River. The further south we went, the more clouds appeared, and after passing the Mandurah turnoff, we experienced light rain that became heavier around the turnoff to Bunbury. As we approached the bypass road at Busselton, the rain cleared, and the sky brightened with patches of blue.
We passed through Cowaramup before driving through Margaret River and turning onto Rosa Brook Road, which we followed for 7 km before turning onto a dirt track for the last 2 km 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 km. 

 

 

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, firstly 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 with light rain falling. The rain had started in the early hours of the morning, and the weather forecast suggests it will continue throughout the rest 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 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.

Then we headed to Busselton, which lies on Geographe Bay and has a population of 25,000. We came here to see the famous jetty and the underwater observatory. The jetty extends 1.8 km into the bay and is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it at its best due to the rain and overcast skies. We each bought a $28.00 ticket to take the tram ride 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 were unable to appreciate the beauty of the area due to the cloud cover and constant rain.

We continued south on Caves Road but ultimately gave up due to the rain and returned to our campsite. Distance today: 185 km.
 
October 20:
Eleven degrees inside the van at 7:00 this morning before turning on the heater. It rained throughout the night, and when we woke, there were patches of blue sky, though these appeared and disappeared just as quickly. This morning, we visited the Margaret River Nougat Factory, the Dairy Factory, the Chocolate Factory, and Miller's Ice Cream Farm Shop. After lunch, we visited the Colonial Brewery, where we sampled seven of their beers. 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 raised the temperature to a reasonable seventeen degrees by 8:15. We drove into Margaret River to buy more of those Wagyu burgers before heading south and passing through Karridale and then Augusta. We were on our way to see the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse that sits at the very south-west corner of Western Australia. The sky remained cloudy, and the wind was quite cool, but thankfully there was no rain. The lighthouse stands at the point where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet and protects ships from the many reefs and small islands nearby. After taking photos and doing the audio tour, we stopped for lunch in the café of one of the old caretaker's cottages.

 

  It was then onto viewing the water wheel, which, over time, has become encrusted with calcified lime. The wheel was built in 1895 to supply water for the builders of the lighthouse. The water originates from a natural spring and continues to flow today.

 We then travelled to Hamelin Bay to see 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 forests around Boranup and Karridale. As the demand shifted to Jarrah instead of Karri, the jetty was abandoned and fell into disrepair. Distance today: 139 km.