Back to my origins

Handmilking the fibreglass cow in Cowaramup. Beautiful countryside near Margaret River.

Very large trees

Today was the Phil Burgess highlights tour of the very large trees of the Southern Forests. The trees were indeed very large. Charlie and I managed to climb one which was very scary.

We toured around for a while and saw several very large trees.

Gradually, like our tour of the Bridges of Madison County with Margie Weir some years ago , we no longer needed to see anymore trees. Then it was time for Devonshire Tea. A very nice day all around.

Green again

After almost five months of red dirt and tropical coast , we have hit grass again.

 Of course the appearance of grass has coincided with a significant drop in temperature and conditions suitable for windsurfing and kite surfing. Yes, people were telling the truth when they suggested that WA stands for Windy Always. However, the wind , the cooler temps and the more productive agricultural land has been a welcome change on the whole. We are probably feeling a bit more at home.

Speaking of home , we will be home in less than two months which is starting to feel pretty real. The only concern I have is that we aren't much more than half way around from a distance point of view so there is still a bit of driving to do yet.

Working our way down the coast since Exmouth has felt more like general sightseeing than our previous adventures. We have moved along a bit quicker than before and as I said , things are starting to feel a bit more familiar and comfortable.

We managed a few days in the fishing , snorkelling town of Coral Bay which was pretty relaxed with everything at your doorstep.

Carnarvon was our next stop and we only managed one night there as there was not a lot to inspire us. What made matters worse was that we had decided to go out for a rare treat of fish and chips and couldn't find any despite the harbour being full of commercial and recreational fishing boats. What do they do with it all? Do they even catch any? Furthermore, none of the pubs 

I explored would put the Rugby League semi- finals on. Something to do with Freemantle fever in the AFL. 

Enjoying the wind on the one- mile jetty Carnarvon.

I would like to have explored the rugged coast between Coral Bay and Carnarvon as it has some of the best surfing, snorkelling and fishing around but I think it is best done as a blokes trip as a boat is crucial and toilets are not in great supply. I did not have a lot of support for that area from my people.

Stinky liked the look of the rugged coastline.

Monkey Mia was the next feature on our agenda and I don't like to speak ill of a place as everyone has a different experience. However, Monkey Mia did not meet our expectations. We did enjoy a very pleasant day at the Monkey Mia resort and found the Shark Bay area to be beautiful but the dolphin feeding itself was underwhelming. Surfing with a large pod of dolphins at Jake's Point in Kalbarri a couple of days later was much more to my liking as they were truly on the loose and within a few metres of me at times. I will admit to being a bit freaked out when they first appeared and the waves were pretty scary too, especially as it was my first surf for about six months.

Kalbarri was a lovely little coastal village and has some amazing scenery with farmland bordering the massive sand dunes and cliffs. Geraldton was our next port of call and we enjoyed a few days of pleasant sightseeing in this somewhat industrial port town.

We have since spent a few days in Perth where we did a driving orientation day along the beaches and into the city. Now that is an affluent looking city. Really beautiful and we all agreed it is one of our favourite cities at first glance. Kings Park is one of the most beautiful parks I have ever been to.

We are now south of Perth where we are exploring some beautiful countryside. Rolling hills, enormous trees and extremely productive looking land. Very quaint towns with lots of second hand stores and cafes. Not unlike the NSW South Coast. We plan to spend a week around Margaret River then a week in Fremantle before heading down to Albany and Esperance which we have heard are pretty fancy.