As we left Bunbury, the weather
had changed so much becoming extremely cold, windy and raining. This was
noticeable as we made our way down to Augusta, all the farmlands were water
logged. As we arrived at Flinders Bay
Caravan park it was like a mini swimming pool, so water logged that we had to jump
over pools of water to just try and get the caravan connected to water and
electricity.
Some information about Augusta.
Augusta
is a town on the south-west coast of Western Australia, where the Blackwood
River emerges into Flinders Bay. It is the nearest town to Cape Leeuwin, on the
furthest southwest corner of the Australian continent
We booked at the caravan park
for three nights and had to dodge the rain drops and bad weather. However this
did not deter us too much, as we still had a drive to the quaint little town of
Margaret River and on another occasion, we visited the light house at Cape
Leeuwin and did some sightseeing of the area surrounding Augusta.
Below is a photo of an old
establishment in Margaret River that has been converted into a pub/hotel.
There is little to do in
Margaret River other than to visit the wineries of the region. We did however visit a botanical garden which
was nice.
No kidding it rained most of
the time that we were there. Shirley saw these beautiful flowers and had to take a photo.
We did not do much that day
other than to walk the dogs and have lunch in town.
Below is a photo of the small-town
centre
We came across these statues of
the Zygomaturus trilobus.
The following day we went to visit
thew Cape Leeuwin lighthouse and had the opportunity of exploring the region
and national park in the surrounding area. We visited the small settlement of Augusta
and the beaches as well as a new boat harbour that had just recently been
built.
Photos of railway
and sailing memorabilia at Augusta.
A casual stroll on the jetty
and surrounding beaches.
Looking back at the jetty
The view to the lighthouse and
surrounds from Augusta.
We stopped off at the historic
water wheel on the way to the lighthouse and found this piece of history most interesting
The rock pool near the
waterwheel
We then had a chance to visit
the Cape Leeuwin light house and took an audio guided tour for the afternoon.
The view from the grounds of
the lighthouse out to sea.
The accommodation and staff
members at the lighthouse and the generator station as well as store room.
The tallest lighthouse in
Australia
A memorial dedicated to the
men that lost their lives at sea close to the lighthouse.
The view of the treacherous
coast from the lighthouse.
Cape Leeuwin also marks the
spot where the Indian and the Southern Ocean meet.
On a clear and calm day, one
can see the demarcation line where the two oceans meet.
We had a great time at the
lighthouse even though the weather was not the greatest.
The following day we visited
the Jewel caves which is one of the three cave systems on the WA south Western
coast, the first being the Ngilgi cave (see previous blog), the second is the
mammoth cave where they found remains of the Zygomaturus trilobus and the Jewel
caves being the third.
Remains of the dog like creature found in the cave.
The cave was as astonishing as
the previous cave with more crystal formation which made the cave a little more
interesting.
The decent into the cave
Some stalactite formation in the cave
There are just too many photos
to post to show the beauty of this magnificent site.
We returned to our caravan and
had the opportunity while the weather was clearing to take a photo of the
pristine beach at the caravan park.
Map of this trip
Walpole
The following day being the 26th
of September, we moved further south east to a little town called Walpole. The
little town is quaint with only one main street and is well known for its tree
top walk.
The view from our caravan was
very nice, however the weather was not pleasant at all and the wind started to
pick up a bit and the rain made the ground soggy. On a clear day, this caravan site overlooking
the lake would be magnificent.
With the weather being so cold
and miserable the dogs had ample opportunity to relax.
When the weather cleared a
little we took the opportunity to visit the entrance to the estuary.
We had an opportunity to visit the small town of Walpole and took the opportunity while the weather was clear to do the tree walk.
This is a small natural art display that we came across in the middle of
a forest.
I have no idea what the
significance of this circle is or the reason for it being here.
We left this place a little
puzzled as to the reason for placing these objects in a forest. We went a little further down the road and
came to the Fernhook falls
Had a little look around and
drove on again
Some wild flowers that was
growing along the river bank.
A little further down the
road, we across this lookout with a beautiful view of the forest
The goose and I in the fog.
And the view of the forest.
We came to a Mount Franklin
and the stairway to heaven and did not realise the hell that we would go through
to get there. We had a serious climb to
the top of a rock lookout and were completely exhausted by the time that we got there, but the view
from the top was absolutely breathtaking.
Our walk up the steep incline
and the rock.
Finally, the view from the top
of the rock
One tired Frenchman looking forward to his well-deserved beer this afternoon.
And the long walk back.
That afternoon we relaxed on
the jetty by the lake and tried a little fishing. The fish that I caught all
had to go back as they were too small, however a young guy caught a nice bream
on a hand line to the dismay of all the older guys present there.
The view of the lake and jetty.
A picturesque photo of the
jetty and lake from our caravan. The
receptionist said that we got the best site at the caravan park and she was
absolutely right.
And one more photo of a
pelican on the lake.
A visit to Walpole is never
complete without having done the treetop walk, so we decided to do just that
the following day when the weather cleared a little.
The walk to the top of the
treetop walk
The view from the treetop
The walkway that we walked on.
Shirley at 40 meters above the
ground and the forest below.
We also had the opportunity to
visit the Red tingle wood forest and their hollowed out trunk which only grows
in this part of Australia.
On our way, back to the
caravan park we decided to visit the coastline and although there was a lot of
debris on the beach due to the high wind etc. the beaches are beautiful and
totally unspoilt.
Well that was our visit to
Augusta and Walpole and next we head east to Denmark and Albany.
