South West WA

January 21st 2014 to March 8th 2014

We stayed at a great campsite called Herron Point, only 22 kilometres south of Mandurah for one week. This camp is on a great water way south of the Peel Inlet called Harvey Estuary. The water is really shallow for a fair distance, so it took a bit of paddling the kayak before we could put the pedals to use. It is a very popular fishing area and great for blue swimmers, however we didn’t have any luck. We caught one of a good size but no more, not enough for a feed so we put him back. The locals seem to know the area really well and caught more than their share of Blue Swimmers. Every Wednesday night from 4.30pm until midnight, netting is allowed and hundreds of people come to take part in this experience. We have never seen anything like it; nets are allowed to be 50 metres long and must be hand held. They can net anything over 2.5cm long except for Blue Swimmers and whiting. Talk about raping the sea, this was the best effort I have seen at doing that. Whatever happened to taking what you need? Apart from no luck with the fish or the Blue Swimmers we had a nice peaceful time here. It was enhanced by a surprise visit from thee of the four French brothers we met in 2011 in Emerald, QLD. Yann, Herve and Alain arrived back in Australia at Perth during the week we were here and drove down to visit with us. They stayed for our last three nights there and it was so good to see them again. They will be in Australia for the next year and hopefully we’ll catch up with them again somewhere.

Mandurah nearby, is a pretty seaside town with beautiful waterways.  It has an aquatic fun park on the Dolphin Quay and lovely stretches of beaches.  The spectacular Venetian style canals are worth a look to see the million dollar vessels and beautiful townhouses. We found our future house for when we win a few million; at a lazy eight million dollars it is amazing, with eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a theatre, bowling alley, indoor pool, just to name a few features. Oh well it doesn’t cost anything to dream. I really liked Mandurah, the infrastructure and the nice climate would make it easy to live there. North East of Mandurah is the Serpentine National Park and we spent a day here with our friends, Ellen and Bob, for a picnic lunch and a swim beneath the Serpentine falls in a gorgeous emerald coloured pool; a  perfect way to wile away a beautiful sunny day.

Dolphin Bay Mandurah

Anzac Memorial Mandurah

Part of the canals Mandurah

Canals again

Us and our French sons

View from campsite Herron Point

Serpentine Falls and pool

Serpentine Pool

Serpentine Dam

Sunset at Herron Point

 

We went to Bunbury and spent three days in the Caravan Park on the Leschenault Inlet. It was easy access for us to put the Hobie in and have a paddle through the inlet and then out into Koombana Bay.  We climbed up to the Marlston Hill Lookout and were rewarded with 360 degree views of Bunbury and surrounds. The Ocean drive is really worthwhile, with the highlight being the Basalt Rocks at Rocky Point. The basalt rock formation was created by flowing lava and is really eye catching. There are beautiful ly landscaped and well maintained picnic areas right along this ocean drive. It is a worthwhile trip.

Bunbury from Leschenault Inlet

Part of the harbour from the lookout

Basalt Rocks

 

From Bunbury we drove to Wellington National Park, near the town of Collie, and set up camp at Potters Gorge on the shore of the gorgeous Wellington Dam. We stayed for almost two weeks and absolutely loved it. The weather was perfect the whole time and we took the Hobie out nearly every day.  In and around the park are some pretty features which are worth a drive to look at. Close by is the Wellington Dam, we drove to and also paddled to it. There is a nice loop drive you can take which passes by the Rapids, Big Rock and Little Rock, which are all natural features and great spots for a picnic. Honeymoon Pool further on, is another beautiful camping area (no caravans allowed) with a gorgeous and refreshing swimming hole. These campsites within the park are extremely popular and every weekend invaded by locals from Bunbury and Perth. We took the 4WD pipeline track one day and although it was challenging, steep and very rutted in spots, it was good fun and we completed it successfully.

Collie is a small town with a surprisingly good infrastructure. Although there are only 9000 residents, it certainly has everything you need.  They have a number of lakes and dams in the region which are all close by (including Potters Gorge), and all very popular for camping and water sports.  The Collie River meanders through this little town and you have to cross it numerous when you journey through. There is a beautiful natural swimming hole on the Collie River, close to the town called Minninup Pool, which is a very pretty and popular spot. We really enjoyed our stay in this area.

Wellington Dam reflections

Wellington Dam

The dam wall from the Hobie

A beautiful blue wren

Dam wall

Dam wall

The rapids

Little Rock

Honeymoon Pool

Full moon at Potters Gorge

Full moon and us

Minninup Pool Collie

 

From Potters Gorge it was time to go to Balingup to commit to a three week house sit we had organised in January. The home owner, Sue, is travelling to the USA and Canada to visit with her children and needed someone to look after her Border Collie JC. Balingup is a charming little town which offers boutique shops, local gourmet food and beautiful natural surrounds. We are into our last week and have done a bit of touring around. Using Balingup as a base and needing to be home each night for the dog offered us an opportunity to get out explore this beautiful part of the south west.

We drove across to Busselton and had a look at the famous Busselton Jetty. This jetty extends almost two kilometres over Geographe Bay and is the longest timber piled -jetty in the Southern hemisphere.  The foreshore at Busselton is very pretty and enjoyable for a walk. We drove to Dunsborough for lunch then followed the Cape Naturaliste Road to the very pretty Meelup Beach. Past the lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste we stopped at Sugarloaf Rock where the views of the rugged coastline are amazing. Further down the coast is the little seaside town of Yallingup, which is very popular with surfers and kite surfers. Nearby is the amazing Canal Rocks which have been formed by years of wind and surf pounding waters and as the name suggests has formed a series of canals. Part of the bridged walkway was unfortunately closed due to storm damage, but we were able to get a reasonable look at this natural canal system.

Meelup Beach

Sugarloaf Rocks

Yalingup Beach

 

Canal Rocks

 

Canal Rocks

Canal Rocks

Our next journey took us over the beautiful wine district of Margaret River. The town itself is bustling with many visitors, but it is the surrounding district that is worth the visit. Just north of Margaret River is the little township of Cowaramup, a quirky little bovine themed town. Cows reign supreme with life sized cows lining the streets and the names of the shops taking up the cow theme. We had a nice morning tea here and also a look in the famous Candy Cow lolly shop.

 We stopped at some wineries and had a taste and bought what we came for; a beautiful fortified white wine and an even better fortified chocolate white wine from the Gralyn Estate. Yum can’t wait to devour them.  This whole area is rich with wine tasting, galleries of all descriptions and plenty of cheese tasting, chocolate and fresh fruit, none of which is conducive to a small waistline. We drove down to the gorgeous Gracetown, which is renowned for its surfing and to the pretty Prevelly where the Margaret River meets the sea. There are a few caves along this road as well; we stopped and had a tour of Lake Cave. After descending the 385 stairs we were greeted with a beautiful cave, but much like any other cave we have been to. The climb back up the stairs was challenging.

We then drove further south to Augusta and admired the stunning views from the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean and enjoyed the fascinating history of the lighthouse. The nearby Water Wheel where the lighthouse keeper had to collect fresh water from was worth a look, although it is no longer working, it was a magnificent structure in beautiful surrounds.

Blackwood River Augusta

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

The Water Wheel

How it used to look

 

Cows at Cowaramup

Candy Cow

Gracetown

Gracetown

Lake Cave

Prevelly

 

Near Balingup is the unusual hamlet of Gnomesville, which is home to thousands of gnomes. What began as a silent protest against a roundabout has grown nto a quirky collection of garden gnomes. One resident placed a gnome on the side of the road to watch as the roundabout was built and by the time it was finished there were two teams of gnomes playing football in the centre of the roundabout. They were then moved to a hamlet beside the road and have existed for many years. Tourists come from all over and place gnomes there to make a wish. Some are scattered at random, some are in groups and communities and some are flying, gardening or having a lie down. Some people have been clever with ditties and some play on words such as ‘Gnome is where the heart is’. It is worth a detour just to see this very curious collection of gnomes.

Gnome bus

Me at Gnomesville

Those Gnomes again

Our next trip was to the very pretty town of Pemberton and the gorgeous karri forests that surround this town. First stop was Gloucester National Park and the famous Gloucester tree. This karri tree which was used as a fire lookout is very challenging to climb. At 58 metres tall it is not for the weak hearted or for me. I did climb a little way up, but panic set in and I retreated. Greg did the climb twice a number of years ago, so he didn’t attempt it this time either.  Due to the time of year and the lack of rain thus far, The Cascades weren’t flowing so we missed that spectacle.

Next we went to Beedelup National Park, a short drive from Pemberton, to see the Beedelup Falls, but again were disappointed due to lack of water, just a trickle for us to view. We took the walk along to and crossed suspension bridge, which would have been more spectacular had the water been gushing below as in the brochures. We then took a drive through D’entrecasteaux National Park to view the Yeagarup sand dunes that are slowly invading the forest. It is an amazing sight, that 10 kilometres inland from the beach are these huge sand dunes. So we let the tyre pressure down on the Cruiser and went for a drive over them. An exhilarating experience and all the more amazing when, after a couple of kilometres you are back in the forest for a while before coming across the dunes again.

On the way back to Balingup , we stopped at Manjimup, the main commercial hub of the region. Most famous for being the birthplace of the Pink Lady apple, it has a thriving fruit and vegetable industry. Some points of interest that we visited here was the Diamond Tree, another huge karri tree some 62 metres tall, that can be climbed by visitors. We also stopped to have a look at the beautiful Fonty’s Pool, which forms part of a caravan park; One Tree Bridge, which as its name suggests is a tree built from one tree; The Four Aces, a row of karri trees which are 300 years old; the pretty picnic spot of Glenoran Pool;, the King Jarrah, a 500 year old Jarrah tree and the historic Dingup Church, built in 1896 and used as a church and a school by the early settlers.

The top of Beedelup Fall (see how little water)

The suspension Bridge

Glenoran Pool

The Gloucester Tree

The start of the climb

Historic Church Manjimup

One tree bridge

Diamond Tree

Fonty's pool

Fonty's pool

Four Aces

We will be in Balingup until Saturday 15^th March, we are very excited that our friends from NSW, Marty and Michelle will be visiting us for a few days this week.  Next Saturday we will travel south to Denmark. After that we will be going to Albany, then Esperance, then Kalgoorlie and then across the Nullarbor to find a spot on the beautiful Murray River. We are looking forward to meeting up with our friends, Sue, Mick and James Rollason who will become our travelling companions for the remainder of the year. We also look forward to seeing my brother Peter and his wife Lynette who will be joining us in Broken Hill in late April. Lots to see and do between now and then so will keep you updated with another blog before that.

My next blog will also show you some photos of the pretty town of Balingup.

 

Cheers til next time