Cape Le Grand to Eucla

From Cape Le Grand we headed up Permango Road, not always easy to navigate (photo), on a four wheel drive track to Belladonia. We visited a couple of historic homesteads along the way which highlighted the harsh environments and living conditions that the early settlers endured trying to establish a life in the remote, unforgiving and infertile soils of the far south west.  (photo). The cold wind and occasional rain dictated a sheltered overnight stop which was conveniently facilitated by an old shed off the Eyre Highway on our journey to cross the Nullabor to fulfill one of Sue's dreams (photo).
Tonight we are at Eucla where Sue is viewed surveying the runs of the old telegraph station during the afternoon (photo) before we booked in to the caravan park for a long, long hot, hot shower and a bottle of red and a steak and salad dinner.

Cape Le Grand

From Stokes Inlet we went on to Esperance where we stocked up the supplies, especially the strawberries and chocolate dipping sauce, and headed off to Cape Le Grand, another of those spectacular locations that make Australia so unique. Striking granite monoliths outlined by stunning blue ocean waters and pure white sands, claimed to be the whitest in the world, that are simply breathtaking (photo). Here we had a very private and protected campsite in the national park at Cape Le grand Beach and enjoyed some fabulous walks through magnificent groves of coastal wildflower to rugged coastal bays and beautiful white beaches with crystal clear, and chilly, waters (photo). We also scaled the shear rock face of Frenchman's Peak, definitely not for the faint-hearted or unfit (photo), and here is the spectacular scene we enjoyed at the peak (photo).

Stokes Inlet

Albany threw a nasty little squall at us as we packed up to leave. But we did anyway! We intended traveling to Fitzgerald River National Park, but the roads were closed!! We talked to National Parks who recommended Stokes Inlet which turned out to be a delightful waterway at the conjunction of the Lort and Young Rivers which only breaks out into the ocean every few years after heavy rains. This is a beautiful area but the weather left a little to be desired with temperature near zero, rain and blustery winds bringing out the thermals, jumpers and wool socks on the first night (photo). The next day wasn't so bad and we went down to investigate a walk around the shores of the inlet to the ocean, about 3.5 klms, but the weather was still not good. We spent some time talking with a local commercial fisherman who had some great tales to tell and some interesting history. He gave us some fresh black bream from his overnight catch which we cooked up that night. In the afternoon the weather fined up and we completed the hike out to the ocean which was most picturesque (photo). The ocean was very busy as a result of the windy conditions. We found the decomposing remains of a huge humpback whale on the ocean side of the sandbar separating the inlet from the sea (photo).

Albany

Albany, while cold and windy, is a beautiful place. We are staying in a great little caravan park beside the beach at Emu Beach and walked around to a fish shop last night for a feed of snapper, salt and pepper calamari and chips for two for the princely sum of $ 28. Today has been jam packed with sightseeing, first to the Whaling station where we spent several hours (photo of old whaling vessel), before visiting the memorial to the light horsemen of WW1 (photo). I thought you might be interested in this, Mum. The monument is on the top of Mt Clarence which looks out over Albany with Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound in the background. It is quite impressive, standing over 10 metres high. Then we took in some coastal sites including the natural arch (photo).

The wildflowers  are still prolific even in these windswept coastal areas (photo), and the coastal views are also intriguing (photo).

Margaret River

From Perth we traveled to Margaret River trying to escape the showers, wind and cold cold temperatures that were starting to become unpleasant. Surprisingly the weather improved a little, and we started to acclimatise to the lower temperatures. The coldest and windiest part of the year down here is September/ October, lucky us having spent so much time in the warmer climes up north.

Margaret River is a lush green farmland interspersed with tall timber forests and carpets of wildflower. There are magnificent vineyards wall to wall, interspersed with delightful stopovers such as the chocolate factory, the cheese factory and the chocolate factory, etc.
 We met up with Linda {Sue's sister) and Ben for a few nights. We had a great time touring the wineries and sampling their wares, and  enjoyed some wonderful sidesplitting times spurred on by Ben,s wicked sense of humour which only improved after Geelong's success on Saturday (photo). Funnily enough, he was watching tele, in one of the luxury cabins at the caravan park because the TV in his didn't work,while the rest of us climbed the lighthouse at Cape Leuwin (see photo).

Spurred on by deteriorating weather we then hurried down to Albany where the weather was not too bad as long as you had a singlet, tee shirt, three jumpers and anorak to ward off the cold. A Hot chocolate for Sue and a flat white for myself were in order as we communicated with the working class back home.This was taken while he was talking to you Cathy!!! (photo).

Green Head to Perth

We stopped off at Green Head to break up our trip to Perth. This is an interesting stretch of coastline with myriads of fishermen's huts lining the coastline. How you could return to the city from these glorious locations is beyond comprehension. We walked and explored some of the local beaches such as Window Rock where we cooked up some snags and onion sandwiches one afternoon after visiting Lesueur National Park(photo).
One of the the proprietors of the caravan park, where we stayed, provided us with a mud map of this park guiding us to the locations of various orchards that she had located several days earlier. She has made a hobby of photographing the wild flowers, particularly the orchids. We spent a fascinating day searching through the magnificent wildflowers for which this park is so famous, successfully locating and admiring many of these rare and beautiful flowers (photo - spider orchid). We have been so lucky to be in Western Australia for one of the best wild flower exhibitions in many years, with the display of wild orchids enhanced by recent bush fires that has stimulated the blooming of these intriguing flower, which explains why we returned to the caravan park looking like chimney sweeps.
On the morning that we where scheduled to leave for Perth, with the water heating for a cup of tea, the stormy night erupted into a serious squall that ripped the annex from it's moorings causing pandemonium. We retrieved all the canvas, guy ropes and tent pegs, undamaged but wet and muddied, abandoned the concept of preparing breakfast and packed up and drove off to find a cafe down the road for a hot chocolate and scrambled egg breakfast.
The freezing  gale force winds whisked us down to Perth where we have seen the sights of Kings Park, Fremantle and a wind swept Cottesloe Beach (photo), enjoying the wonderful West Australian Aquarium, highly recommended, visiting the Maritime Museum, and doing the acclaimed tour of the Fremantle Prison, an absolutely a horrendous experience to be avoided at all costs. We enjoyed the sights at Kings Park, as well as great food, coffee and chai latte at the restaurant. We also found a great seafood shop when we got completely lost driving around the suburbs and dined on fresh prawns and oyster in the camp kitchen that evening, to the consternation of other caravan park inhabitants lusting over our lucky find.
We caught up with Linda & Ben (Sue's sister & brother-in-law, who are completing a lap of the park on the tar) while in Perth, and plan to spend a couple of days with them at Margaret River, which is where we are off to tomorrow to stock up our wine supplies and continue our journey, hopefully leaving the wet & windy weather of Perth behind us..

Kalbarri continued

Today we went on a walking and canoeing trip through the gorge with Davo, a down to earth Aussie with a dry wit and wonderful personality. We were still a liitle stiff from a three hour hike the day before but soon worked that off with a walk to a lookout to view where the river has formed a Z pattern following fault lines in the bedrock. See a photo of the two of us to prove we are on the same holiday.
After walking down into the gorge and having lunch we canoed down the gorge (photo) before climbing back out to the four wheel drive bus for the return trip over a tortuous rocky track.

We completed the day with a glass of wine with cheese and bickies contemplating the sunset over the inlet which seems somewhat reminiscent of the Alaskan waterways, as we imagine them, minus the snow (photo).