Monday, 31st May - Perth

Our last full day in Western Australia. Sue was having lunch with her cousins so Pete and Deborah went into Perth CBD on their own on the train from Stirling.

We got off the train at Perth and caught the blue CAT bus to Northbridge. There are three CAT buses doing different loop routes around Perth so we were able to see quite a lot of Perth CBD for free on the way. We got off at the Museum to see the Pompeii exhibition and persuaded them to let us in to the session which had just started. It began with a film in 3D that recreates the events of the day in AD79 when Mt Vesuvius erupted. Then we saw the exhibition, which was fascinating. There were some interactive computer programs (we had to fight off the school kids to play with them) showing a typical household of the time, and showing various sites around Pompeii. Then there were artefacts - pottery, bronzeware, frescos, statues, and household goods. I was fascinated to see lead pipes with bronze taps for controlling the flow of water, and portable pottery ovens, and keys, and sets of scales. The most moving part of the exhibition was the casts of people as they had died. The ashes fell around them, and solidified, and their bodies decayed leaving a space, and then archeologists were able to fill the empty space with plaster or resin to create a cast of their bodies. There was also a dog that had died, still chained up and unable to escape.

We had a quick look around the rest of the Museum (which used to be a gaol) and then walked down the street to the Vietnamese restaurant that Pete and Sue had been to on Friday. I had Vietnamese pancake, and had to ask the waitress how to eat it because it came with lettuce leaves. Apparently I put the pancake inside the lettuce leaf with mint leaves and then roll it up and eat it. It was very messy but delicious.

We caught another CAT bus up to Perth Mint and did the tour, which included an explanation of how the early miners lived and examples of the nuggets they found. Then we watched gold being poured into a mould. This is just done for tourists, it's not their normal process, but it was still very interesting. The gold is molten when it's poured, but solidifies very quickly. At Perth mint now they don't make ordinary coins for currency, they are all special mint coins to commemorate events. Their museum has an interesting collection of ingots and bars from around the world. There's a weighing machine that gives your weight as the dollar value of the equivalent weight of gold. Pete's worth about $3.6 million and Deborah's worth about $2.5 million.

Then we caught another CAT bus back to the city and explored the shopping malls and arcades without buying anything. It was starting to drizzle, so we caught the CAT to the Esplanade and went to the Lucky Shag so Pete could have beer while watching the sunset. Next to us was a table of men drinking beer with shots who Deborah thought were probably drug dealers as they were boasting about million dollar deals and talking about The Good Shepherd, the goat herders, and the dogs.

Pete realised the football was on in the middle of his second beer so we made a hasty departure and caught the train back to Stirling where Sue picked us up.

Deborah caught up on the blog while Pete watched football and Sue cooked an excellent dinner of silverside with white sauce and veges. Pete had to stir the white sauce while Sue watched MasterChef. Pete finished his beer and started on the white wine. And here we are, digesting.

Tomorrow we go home. Pete wants to check in early to the Virgin Blue gold lounge and have breakfast there - because he can.

Sunday, 30th May - Perth Beaches

While Pete checked his emails Sue took Deborah to see Herdsman's Lake which is quite a large lake near where she lives. There's a wildlife sanctuary with a board walk. In fact there are several lakes north of Perth and inland from the coast.

Then we picked up Pete and went for a drive up the coast. Perth is blessed with beautiful beaches all along the coast, and we stopped several times to admire the view. There were big tankers on the horizon, yachts with white sails that looked like paintings, jet skis, surfers, people walking on the beach, people jogging and riding bicycles, people walking dogs, people sunbathing. There's a scenic tourist drive up the coast and we followed it from Scarborough Beach up to Hilary's Marina, a big marina that's man made and has a seawall of big limestone rocks.

We came home for lunch and relaxed in the sun in the back yard. Sue showed Deborah her garden, which includes Cape Gooseberries, passionfruit vines, herbs, and pumpkins. Then we went to Cottesloe Beach which is one of Perth's well known beaches. There are expensive houses there, too. We headed to Kings Park through some expensive real estate with expensive views.

At Kings Park we found the Boardwalk which includes a Treetop Walk. It was very popular. Kings Park is beautiful - Deborah thinks it's the best botanic garden she's seen in any Australian capital city. There are fantastic views over the water, lush green lawns, and a wide variety of Australian and exotic plants.

We came home and had takeaway fish for dinner (fish, scallops, pineapple fritters, fishcake) with salad.

Deborah drank too much red wine and fell asleep in front of the television when Pete and Sue were watching Johnny Cash.

Saturday, 29th May - Fremantle

On Saturday we went to Fremantle. Sue had to write up a report on her meeting so Pete and Deborah caught the train to the Esplanade and then a ferry to Fremantle. The Esplanade has a Bell Tower which houses bells from St Martins in the Fields. There are also tiles in the pavement signed by schoolchildren from all around WA in 1999. The Esplanade has several wharves with different tour companies, cafes and souvenir shops. Our tour company is spruiking and seems like it will be quite entertaining. The man at the tour office gives us a Fremantle map and recommends some places to visit.

Our captain gives us a running commentary as we sail down the Swan River. Most of the stories are about developers vs conservationists - for example, a bridge that needed to be shifted to protect an historic mill building was a win for the conservationists. There are lots of very expensive houses overlooking the river. Rose Porteous couldn't sell the house she inherited from Lang Hancock, Prix d'Lamour, so she demolished the building and split the site up into separate building lots. Someone is building a replica of the Taj Mahal. There are a lot of yacht clubs.

Our ferry berths at a dock that's some distance from Fremantle, and Pete wants to beat the other passengers to the bus stop, so he doesn't want me to take a loo stop when we get off the ferry. In spite of that, we're there before anyone else ... and then I point out that we might as well walk up the hill to the Arts Centre instead of catching the bus.

The Fremantle Arts Centre was a lunatic asylum and it's a beautiful sandstone building. It has exhibitions as well as artists studios. The current exhibition is by someone whose name I can't remember but one of the exhibits is the Jungle Book cartoon with each character speaking in a different language. There's another room with a video of an empty room.

We catch the CAT bus (free bus, circular route around Fremantle tourist attractions) and get off at the old markets. They're very like Paddys Markets in Sydney, but smaller. There's an interesting shop where old 78 records have been made into handbags and book covers. Pete buys chilli macadamias and we share an organic doughnut.

We walk along the cappuchino strip to Kakula Sister which is a sister shop to Kakulas where Pete and Sue shopped on Friday. Then we walk back and catch the CAT again, which takes us to the Round House. This was a gaol, built on the cliff, with a tunnel underneath the cliff to let people moving between the whaling station at the base of the cliff and the town of Fremantle. We walk through the tunnel, admire the view, look at the remains of the whaling station, and walk up to the Round House.

A nice lady encourages Pete to try out the stocks in the gaol, but Deborah's camera card has run out of memory so she doesn't have a photo of this.

Then we walk to the Railway Station and wait for Sue to arrive on the train.

After Sue arrives we have lunch at the Salamanca Hotel in the main street. We sat outside in the mall, watching the world go by and listening to the buskers, and had goat curry for lunch. Someone inside was testing their sound system which was really annoying so Deborah couldn't wait to get away. Sue and Deborah went to Fremantle Gaol but Pete didn't want to go (he's seen the insides of too many gaols before) so we left him to continue his favorite pastime.

Fremantle Gaol was just up the hill. The Tunnel Tour was really expensive and anyway it was booked out, so we did the Day Tour. Fremantle Gaol was convict built and - unlike Port Arthur in Tasmania - it's still intact. Our guide took us into the reception area and explained the process when prisoners first arrive at the gaol. Then he showed us the cells in the various divisions, and the exercise yard. One of the yards, and some of the cells, have art work done by the convicts. We saw the chapel, which has the Lords Prayer and the Ten Commandments above the altar. (A chapel, unlike a church, is attached to another building.) It has a high arched ceiling that is supposed to be built on the same principles as Sydney's Town Hall, and lots of windows without bars, so it's full of light. Apparently it's very popular for weddings.

Then our guide took us to the punishment area. He showed us the wooden frame that convicts were lashed to when they were punished, and described in graphic detail the effects of a lashing. He showed us the solitary cells, where prisoners could be deprived of sound and light for long periods, and then the place where prisoners were hanged. Hanging is quite a science - the condemned man (or woman) had to be weighed and measured so that the rope could be set at the right height.

It was a fascinating tour, and thought provoking. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and I wish we'd had time to do the Tunnels Tour as well.

Afterwards we caught up with Pete, who'd been exploring Fremantle pubs, and met him in the beer garden of Rosie O'Gradys. We had tea and coffee and he had another beer. Then we caught the train home. The people who come out at night were starting to emerge and it was interesting to see some of the outfits the girls were wearing. There were a couple of drunks harassing a girl as we caught the escalators at Perth and Pete make rude remarks about the Perth locals.

We had pre dinner drinks and nibbles, and then Sue cooked noodles and chicken for dinner.

Friday, 27th May - Perth

Deborah is in Sydney. Sue has another meeting in town at 3 pm so Pete and Sue catch the bus into town in the morning. They walk to Northbridge and go to Kakulas (which is a bulk grocery store) and buy some goodies (turkish delight, sesame nut sweets, wasabi peas, quinoa, tapioca).

After Kakulas they find a great little Vietnamese restaurant in James Street called Little Saigon and have lunch (Sue doesn't get the Vietnamese pancake she wanted but Pete has a seven meats thingie). After Sue's meeting at the Holiday Inn they both feel like a drink so they head to the seafront. They go to the Lucky Shag Pub and sit on the deck and watch the sun set and the moon rise, which Pete says is very picturesque.

Pete coerced Sue into staying longer than she wanted (don't we know that feeling!) so they are a bit late picking Deborah up from the airport because it takes them ages to get home on the train and the bus, so they're still on the freeway when she phones to say she's arrived.

Thursday, 26th May - Perth

Sue has checked Fuel Watch and so on the way to dropping Sue at the train station we fill up the car. Sue is going into town for a shareholders meeting. Then Pete drives Deborah to the airport (with Deborah providing impeccable directions). Deborah is flying back to Sydney for a night because she has to use up an airfare, and has two meetings to go to.

Pete wants to explain about Fuel Watch. It's a website. At 2 pm each day all Perth and some country area servos must lock in tomorrow's prices for fuel. Most servos in the area wanted $1.30 per litre for regular unleaded. On Fuel Watch website we found it for $1.21 a litre. It's a great system but NSW decided we didn't need a system like this. Why? Vested interests, Pete says.

Anyway, Pete finds his way back to Sue's via the freeway. They spend the afternoon at Karrinyup Shopping Centre and Ikea (Pete loves shopping). They have nibbles at Sue's before dinner and then go to the Indian Ocean hotel at Scarborough Beach for dinner.

Wednesday, 25th May - Pemberton to Perth

Alas, we had to leave Pemberton. We could have spent more time there. We checked out of the Old Picture Theatre (actually, Reception was closed so we just left our keys in the room).

We had time to fill in before our trip on the Tramway so we drove out to Big Brook Dam. We managed to tune into the tourist radio channel and wish we'd done it sooner because it was really interesting. We heard about the history of timber logging in the area in the 1920s, and also saw some information on signposts around the dam. The dam is on the Warren River and is a water reservoir for Pemberton, but it's also a popular swimming spot - a very peaceful lake with no-one around when we went there. The dam was built in 1986 and also supplies a trout hatchery.

By 1930 2000 hectare of karri forest had been clear felled to produce logs for the Pemberton Mill but a spark from a steam locomotive started a fire which burned the remaining forest. This caused the remaining karri to drop their seeds on the ashbed from the fire, the seeds germinated and now 80 years later there's a new karri forest.

We drove through an arboretum of native and exotic trees and then headed back to Pemberton to the Tramway Depot. The railway was used to transport logs using steam locomotive, but now it's just a privately owned tourist attraction with a diesel engine powering the purpose built tram. It departed the depot at 10.45 am with 16 passengers. The driver has to manually turn the traffic lights on and off when we cross the main street of Pemberton. We go past the Pemberton Timber Mill, which is still in operation. On our left are some of the original timber workers cottages which are still inhabited, and one which has been converted to a chook house. Then the tram meanders through the karri forrest, crossing six bridges on the way. We stop at the cascades and finally at the Warren River Bridge before starting back. We get back to Pemberton at 12 noon.

There's supposed to be a cafe attached to a wood craft shop but we find the cafe closed down some years ago. The shop has some beautiful woodwork but it's way too expensive for us. Sue buys a leather fly swat.

We drive back to Manjimup and have lunch at a nice cafe, then keep driving back to Perth, mostly in the rain. Sue has done all the driving on this trip, Pete sits in the front passenger seat so he can stretch his legs, and Deborah sits in the back.

Sue lives in Doubleview in Perth near Scarborough Beach which is north of Perth. Pete watches the Rugby League State of Origin match and NSW lose to Queensland by 28 to 24 points.

Tuesday, 24th May - Windy Harbour

We decided we wanted to drive down to Windy Harbour which is a little seaside town on the coast near Point D'Entrecasteaux. It was well worth the drive. We called into the tourist centre at Northcliffe on the way.

At Windy Harbour we drove down to the boat ramp. There was an interesting composting system for fish offal using maggots and worms to decompose the offal. We walked a little way along the beach. The beach cabins were close together with no fences - it looked as if people had just built beach shacks wherever there was a spare bit of land.

We visited a few lookouts in D'Entrecasteaux National Park, with stunning beach views and rock formations at Salmon Beach (complete with fishermen), Tookalup, and Point D'Entrecasteaux. The cliffs are limestone and have been eroded into interesting formations, including at Point D'Entrecsteaux an arch with a view to the ocean below that was quite spectacular.

On the way home we climbed Mt Chudalup. Inland from the coast there are big sand dunes with low vegetation, and then further inland the vegetation changes quite suddenly to taller trees. Mt Chudalup is a single rock formation (monolith) that stands out from the surrounding low plains and wetland. It reminded me of Kakadu. There's a track to the top, but Pete couldn't do the last bit of the climb because it was too steep so Sue and I left him to wait for us while we climbed to the top and admired the 360 degree views of the coast and inland. When we came down he wasn't there, so we assumed he'd gone back to the car. We heard him cooee-ing as we went down the track. When we got back to the car he wasn't there either, and we got quite worried that he'd got lost or had an accident, so we started walking back up the track, cooee-ing and speculating on what might have happened to him. Well, we eventually found him coming back down - he'd taken a different track to see whether it was an alternative route to the top, and we were supposed to have understood this from his cooees.

(Pete says this is biased and his version is different.)

We had lunch - excellent home baked pies - at the Hollowbutt Cafe at Northcliffe and went for a loop walk in the bush near Northcliffe where there are twin karri trees. Then we drove through a marri forest.

On the way back to Pemberton we drove through Warren National Park and saw the Bicentennial Tree, the Marianne North tree (painted by a lady called Marianne North at the turn of the century) and followed 12 km of the heartbreak trail along the Warren River. We stopped at Drafty's Camp, the Warren Campsite, and the Warren Lookout. It's a pretty river with lots of good camping sites and swimming spots and must be very popular in summer.

Back at Pemberton we drove to see the Gloucester Tree. The Park Ranger wanted to charge us $11 to drive in and Pete thought this was too much so we drove out again, parked outside and walked in! The Gloucester Tree is also climbable but we decided we'd done enough tree climbing and went back to our Picture Theatre for rose and beer. Then we staggered up the hill to the Gloucester Motel for dinner at Sadies.

Monday, 24th May - Busselton and Pemberton

I feel obliged to note here that we're writing up the blog a week later because the attractions of red wine after a hard day sightseeing have won out over the joys of blogging. However, Pete has summarised for me what we did each day so any errors are his responsibility!

On Monday morning we checked out of the Gale Street Motel in Busselton where we stayed for four nights. Pete complained that we were rushing him, as Sue and I were ready to go and he was still packing. Sue uses the FuelWatch website to find out where the cheap petrol is each day, so we filled up on the way out of town. We took the long scenic route via Nannup to Balingup, following the Blackwood River. We stopped at Balingup, which is supposed to be an arts and crafts centre for the region, to look at a craft centre. It was a very big building and I have never seen so much unsaleable 'craft' - some of it looked like it had been there for years, gathering dust. But apparently there's another arts and craft centre that's better.

At Balingup we turned on to the South Western Highway and headed south to Greenbushes where we saw an open cut mine, mining for tin, lithium and tantalum. We parked near the primary school, walked up a path, and at the top there was this great hole in the ground that you'd never have guessed was there from the parking lot.

Further south at Bridgetown we called into the visitors centre which had a museum attached, and the Jigsaw Gallery. The museum included some marionettes created by a local retired couple. The Jigsaw Gallery had a collection of framed jigsaws donated by a local lady who ran a guesthouse. Some of them were 9,000 pieces.

Next stop south on the South Western Highway was Manjimup. We had lunch at the Timber Park Cafe and went for a walk about the Timber Park. They had an interesting collection of old buildings, relocated to the park: gaol, school room, post office, settler's cottage. We'd talked about finding accommodation here but decided against it as there didn't seem to be a lot to see in the local area.

We kept going south towards Pemberton. On the way we strayed off the highway to find the Wine and Truffle Co which offers truffle hunting tours with trained truffle hounds, but we'd missed the tour. Further along the same road was Fontys Pool and Caravan Park. The pool was a dammed creek around which the caravan park had developed - very quiet at this time of year so we kept driving. Further south we stopped at the Diamond Tree Fire Tower. It's a 90 metre Karri tree with spikes driven in a spiral pattern around the truck so that you can climb up to a platform at the top where people used to spend their day watching for bushfires. Deborah climbed about halfway and decided that was high enough, and Sue climbed up a little way as well.

When we got to Pemberton we called into the Pemberton Hotel which has Best Western motel units and had a look at the units - they were a bit depressing, so we went down to the Visitor Centre and asked for advice. They booked us into a two bedroom apartment at the Old Picture Theatre which was a real find. It's a converted picture theatre and beautifully refurbished as apartments. We stayed in the Dress Circle, which had a big kitchen, living area, and two bedrooms and a bathroom and separate toilet (which Pete very much approved of). We were the only guests for the first night, I think. They had a free washing machine and dryer in the laundry downstairs, and a spa which we contemplated getting into but decided it was too much hassle to get wet and then get dry again. Instead we snacked on some of our gourmet purchases and drank champagne and beer. We had dinner at the Pemberton Hotel.

Pete's notes based on the brochure say the picture theatre was built in 1929. It is the only purpose built timber picture theatre remaining in WA. It was in use until the 1970s and is now refurbished as 4 and a half star accommodation. It has many film posters adorning the apartment walls, polished jarrah floorboards, stained glass doors, jarrah wash stands, high ceilings with ceiling roses. We highly recommend it as a place to stay if you're ever in the area. Graham, who was the only staff we met, was really helpful.

Sunday, 23rd May - Augusta and Cape Leewin

On Sunday we explored the southern end of the South West, including the lighthouse at Cape Leeuwin.

Our first stop was Cowaramup where we stopped at the Tourist Bureau, which was also a regional wine centre. It was really just a bottle shop, so we didn't stay long. Across the road we visited a boutique deli with more local produce, and the candy store next door with a candy cow outside.

We cut across to the coast, to Gracetown. This is where two teachers and their students were killed when the cliff they were sheltering under fell down, and we saw their memorial above the beach. There were lots of surfers surfing off Huzzas Beach in what looked like dangerous waters, with rocks all around. Pete says the beach has left hand breaks (whatever that means).

Back to Caves Road, and further south, we detoured to the coast again at Prevelly Park (Pete says this is often referred to as Margaret River Beach) which is where the Margaret River reaches the ocean. We walked a little way up the river. There's a place that hires canoes and this is also where Bushtucker Tours runs their Canoe Tour from - Sue has done the tour and said it was great, but Pete wouldn't have been able to sit in a canoe so we didn't do it. From where we stood on the bank of the river we looked out across the beach to the ocean, and it seemed as if the waves were higher than the beach.

Back to Caves Road again and we headed south again. We turned off to visit Caveworks, which is a tourist centre above Lake Cave. To get to the cave we went down about 300 steps into a deep depression in the ground which was caused about 600-1000 years ago when the roof of a limestone cave fell in. They were able to date the event because of a huge old tree that now grows in the depression. There was another cow (black, with bat wings) suspended over the entrance to the cave.

The cave system has been modified for tourists with lighting and boardwalks. It's small but quite pretty, with pools of water reflecting the cave features. The most interesting formation was two columns and a base suspended above the water where the base had been eroded away.

It was a steep climb out of the caves (another 300 steps up). There are other caves in the area open to the public, but this is the only one we visited.

Back to Caves Road, again, and we turned off at Bonarup Drive to take a scenic drive through Bonarup Karri Forest and visited the lookout. The trees are tall and beautiful - straight white trunks going up and up.

We kept going south along Caves Road until it joined the Bussell Highway just before Augusta. At Augusta we found a cafe overlooking the inlet where Blackwood River runs into the Southern Ocean and had a late lunch.

Then we drove out to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse and were there in time for the 3 pm tour. There are three keepers cottages, and one has been turned into a giftshop and cafe; another into a small museum. Sue has been up the Lighthouse before and decided to wait for us in the cafe. Our guide described the early French exploration of the coast and the building of the lighthouse. We walked up the equivalent of ten storeys and were able to walk out on the deck at the top. It was very windy at the top. We were able to see where the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean meet, and the waves going in different directions. Our guide told us stories about a ghost that some visitors had seen (but they weren't very convincing).

At the base of the lighthouse there's a memorial to sailors who died (in a submarine?).

At the gift shop Pete bought a Cape Leeuwin polo shirt.

We went back to Augusta and had drinks in the lounge bar, overlooking the river, with a wood fire, and chatted with a couple who were caravanning.

Sue drove us all the way home to Busselton again up the Bussell Highway. We were back in Busselton in time for dinner but on Sunday night there wasn't much open so we ended up at Albie's Bar.

Saturday, 22nd May - Cape Leewin

It took me ages to get to sleep last night because of the caffeine in that pot of tea - usually I drink only herbal tea. And then There was a big storm at 5:30 am but I slept through it according to Pete. It's cloudy overhead with rain forecast.

Today we are heading west to Cape Naturaliste. We drive to Dunsborough but it's too early in the morning to stop at the bakery Brian recommended so we keep going to Meelup Beach where Castle Rock is - it's a big rock that looks like a castle. There were lots of fisherman - it's salmon season - standing in the surf and the rain.

We drove to Bunker Bay which is being developed. I was surprised to find residential development happening all along the coast except in the national park, but I guess this area is quite accessible from Perth on the highway and it's certainly beautiful country. It started to rain again so we went to the cafe on the beach for morning tea. It was lovely to sit inside and look out on the gardens and beach in the rain. The cafe's very popular - there's a resort further down the beach so I guess people walk along the beach to visit the cafe. Sue and I had Fejoa and plum cake which was moist and delicious, and we all had hot chocolate (and Pete had a berry and chocolate muffin).

Next port of call was Sugarloaf Rock which is a rock that looks like a sugarloaf (whatever that looks like). There's a famous surfing break (Pete says) called the three bears. People surf Papa Bear, Mama Bear or Baby Bear depending on the conditions. We didn't see any surfers on the waves but there were a few getting into their cars.

We drove to Cape Naturaliste which is where the lighthouse is. We walked a 2 km track that circles around the lighthouse and got caught in a shower of rain. Pete (who is still suffering from a cough and sore ribs) made it all the way around but felt too weak to do the lighthouse tour, so he sat in the museum waiting for me and Sue to do the tour. We had with us about five small children and that helped him to decide to stay behind. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the lighthouse which was built in 1903 and once had three lighthouse keepers living in the three identical cottages. It was the second last manned lighthouse in Australia, but now it runs automatically. The huge glass lens is the original lens, and now worth about $10 million according to Margaret, our guide. The 12 tonnes of lens floats on a base of mercury and we were horrified to hear that the lighthouse keepers had to strain it through chamois and wring out the chamois with their bare hands. It wasn't the isolation that sent them mad, it was mercury poisoning. When the lighthouse keepers were sick their wives had to stand in for them. (Is this sounding like a school essay after a field trip?) We climbed all the way to the top and there were fantastic 360 degree views of the Indian Ocean, Geographe Bay and the Cape. In February 2009 there was a bushfire here that burnt out all the vegetation and threatened the lighthouse. The lighthouse was saved because helicopters water bombed it. The vegetation is growing back but many of the trees look like they won't recover.

Our guide retired as head of a hospital in Perth to move down to Dunsborough. She's an artist, and her paintings of orchids and scenery are on sale in the museum.

We drove to Yallingup which is also being developed. Yallingup means 'place of love'. There's a Seashells Resort there, too, next door to Caves House which was originally built in 1905 and has been a popular honeymoon retreat for all that time. Pete had a beer (Coopers Pale Ale, $9) and we sat in the lounge overlooking the gardens and soaked up the sun.

We drove down to Canal Rocks which is an interesting rock formation on the coast where the waves rush in between parallel ridges of rock. There's a narrow bridge over the waves, and some dedicated fishermen on the rocks. Sue and I climbed up the hill to get a better view from above.

Further along the coast we looked at some more rock formations at the end of Wyadup Road but none of us can remember what they were (sorry, we're catching up on the blog a week later and it's all starting to blur).

Back to Caves Road again, and a bit further south, we saw the sign for the Natural Olive Oil Soap Factory. Their driveway was bordered by tall Karri trees either side of the road. They also had a cow - a red one eating strawberries. The Olive Oil factory started because the owners were looking for an alternative to ordinary soap products for their children who had dermatitis. Now they have a wide range of soaps, shampoos and moisturisers. Deborah bought some soap and shampoo. Their shop also had a gourmet food section with various flavours of olive oil, dukkah, tapenade and other goodies. Pete enjoyed the tastings and we made some purchases.

It was starting to rain, so we kept going south to Margaret River and ended up at the Margaret River Hotel for dinner. Pete was able to get draft Carlton Dry for $8.30 a pint. In the hotel entrance was Brahman the Barman, a fibreglass bull. Sue and Deborah had duck with lentils.

Sue drove us back to Busselton through the rain.

Friday, 21st May - Bushtucker Winery Tour

Our tour bus was scheduled to pick us up at 10 am so we walked down to the beach after breakfast. It's only a couple of blocks away. We're looking out across Geographe Bay to Cape Naturaliste. Place names here are often associated with early French explorer Nicolas Baudin who mapped this coast in 1801 in a scientific expedition. Geographe and Naturaliste were the ships they sailed on.

We walked along to the Jetty. It's nearly 2 km long, and has been a huge tourist attraction, but currently it's closed for renovations and is not expected to re-open until August 2010. When it does the underwater observatory at the end and the railtrack for those who can't walk the distance will also be re-opened. Some disconsolate tourists from Singapore were exploring a much smaller jetty instead.

We found some painted fibreglass cows, one of them fitted out like a ute with a tray at the back of the cow and exhaust pipes in its sides, the other painted like an aquarium. 'CowParade is an international public art exhibit that has been featured in major world cities. Fiberglass sculptures of cows are decorated by local artists, and distributed over the city centre, in public places such as train stations, important avenues, and parks. After the exhibition the cows are auctioned off and the proceeds donated to charity.' (Hurrah for Google and Wikepedia, which lets me check my facts while I'm blogging. I wish I could work out how to remove the hyperlinks, because right clicking doesn't offer that as an option in Firefox.)

There are a couple of interesting looking restaurants near the jetty. Equinox is one (great name for a quartet) and Goose is the other. Later our tour guide tells us Goose is excellent but expensive, and Equinox is also good and cheaper.

Busselton, like all the towns we've visited so far on this trip, is well laid out, beautifully landscaped and tidy, with no visible graffiti. We walked past Busselton Health Project last night and found out (on Google, again) that it's a long term health study in which the local population are screened for a variety of conditions. It was initiated by a local doctor and has been going since the sixties.

Back to our motel to wait for the bus. Just before it's due we remember to hand the washing out, and then Pete decides the washing should be outside instead of inside, and of course the Bushtucker Tours bus comes while he's moving the washing. We are the first passengers, and our driver is Brian. We pick up seven others: Nicole and Nathan from Perth, Carlo, Marisa and Greg from Wollongong, and Peter and Susan from Melbourne (celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary at a romantic bush retreat called Hidden Valley). It's a good way to see some of Busselton's other accommodation options - some of the resorts are luxurious five star affairs on the beach. Brian encourages us to introduce ourselves. He gives us a running commentary on the history of this Region as we head towards our first winery, and explains wine tasting etiquette.

Our first winery is Churchview. It's a small (100 acre) vineyard with a philosophy that quality begins in the vineyard. Brad is the winemaker and our host. He explains how to taste wine (hold the glass by the stem, admire the colour, inhale to assess intensity, swirl and inhale again, and then take a good mouthful and roll it around the mouth). There's a very dignified cat supervising proceedings. Brian pours generous tastes of each of a variety of wines, starting with white and finishing with red. I can't remember now which wines I bought, but I bought three bottles. Brian has provided a box in the back of the bus for each group to collect their wines and we're off to a good start.

Our next stop is a cheese factory. OH&S prevents a factory tour (and anyway on Friday they just do cleaning) but we are allowed one taste of each of four cheeses: two fetas, a baked ricotta, and a cheddar; and two yoghurts. They also sell icecream. Sue buys some baked ricotta.

The next winery is Harmans. They're a bigger concern (although by no means the biggest) and the hostess is Victoria. They make wine for a lot of the smaller wineries. Victoria lets us choose which wines we want to taste, and I skip most of the whites and go to the reds. I buy another three bottles here. It will be fun to go home and open the carton and find out what I bought.

Then we go to Willespie, which is my favorite of all the wineries we visit. Our hostess Sam is one of two winemakers, and she's still completing her winemaking course, but she's very knowledgeable and friendly. Brian has set out lunch on the verandah and we have roast beef, turkey and smoked kangaroo with assorted chutneys and relishes. The smoked kangaroo was delicious. There's a pale cream sauce that's based on witchetty grub and includes a few whole grubs. The sauce is quite bland, but I'm not game to eat the whole grub.

When we get to our last winery I check our wine box and realise I've left three bottles behind at Willespie, so Brian goes back and gets them for me - what a nice man! That leaves three spaces in the box, so I buy three more bottles (and by this time I have no idea what I bought or what the name of the winery was, but I'll find out when I get home to Sydney). [Pete says it's Sandalford.] Any winery will freight a box of mixed wines home for us, for a price, which is a great service - I certainly didn't want to take them home on the plane. I think it's Sandalford that had a flock of guinea fowl wandering across the path - pretty plumage, ugly faces.

Where next? Brian's saved the chocolate factory until the end, so that we don't spoil our palate. The chocolate factory, like the cheese factory, is not tourable but there's a glass window where we can watch the chocolate being made. The shop is quite big and there's also a small cafe. There are big bowls of milk and white chocolate pastilles for us to taste. I buy a giant white chocolate freckle, a bar of dark chocolate, and some Rocky Road.

Our last stop on the tour is Bootleg Brewery. Brian says this is for all the guys o the tour who have been patiently waiting for their wives to finish tasting wine, but I didn't notice any of the guys holding back. The Brewery is hosting a small wedding, and the bride is beautiful. They offer a tasting tray of 8 (small) beers for $12 or ordinary pints for $10 which Pete was not impressed by. He says it took about half a pint before he got used to the taste - it was a Wills Pils Czech style bitter but fruity beer - if that means anything to you. I had a pot of tea, which I desperately needed by that stage. Sue had hot chocolate.

Back on the bus, Brian drops us back at our hotels in reverse order so that we are the last to get off. It was a really good day but I drank far too much and I'm buggered. After a rest, Pete drags me down the street to buy Indian take away, and I categorically refuse to drop into the pub nearby where they are featuring Pom Pom dancing girls on Friday nights. Sue skips dinner altogether, she says 'enough is enough'. We were in bed by 9 pm - this tourist stuff is hard work.

Thursday, 20th May - Mandurah to Busselton

We had breakfast at the Dome in Mandurah this morning. We sat outside, and a woman at a nearby table was cuddling her dog on her lap, which made me miss my dogs.

Sue looked up cheap fuel prices on Fuelwatch so we topped up the tank on the way out of town at a Gull petrol station on Pinjarra Road. We took the inland route to Busselton, via Pinjarra and Harvey. At Harvey we stopped at the Tourist Information Centre and a very helpful man suggested some places to visit. We discovered that May Gibbs (Snugglepot and Cuddlepie) had lived there when she was a child for a few years. We looked at Harvey Dam, and then went out through Harvey to Harvey Fresh: a winery with a Big Orange. South of Harvey we visited Harvey Cheese and bought some OMG (triple cream) brie, garlic olives, chilli olives, and marinated fetta to have with drinks that night.

Further south down the South Western Highway we turned off at Brunswick and cut across to Australind to visit a wood factory. Although their stuff was beautifully made it was either incredibly expensive or remarkably tacky (in my humble opinion).

We drove up Cathedral Drive, where the paperbarks meet over the road to form an arch and there were mobs of kangaroos roaming the vacant blocks, and then cut back to the Highway to head south to Bunbury.

Bunbury is a large regional centre. We visited a lookout near the lighthouse with panoramic view of the Bunbury and the coastline north and south, and then had a late lunch at a cafe. We found the mangrove walk on the Leschenault Inlet peaceful although it was right next door to a sand mining operation.

I dozed in the back seat on the trip from Bunbury to Busselton, but remember waking up enough to see beautiful tall trees in the Tuart Forest.

In Busselton we checked into our connecting rooms at the Gale Street Motel. The views aren't as great as Seashells but they have everything we need and ae considerably less expensive. We booked ourselves on a winery tour for Friday, and then took wine, beer and nibbles down to the beach at the end of the street and sat and watched the sun set and the horizon turn from pink to a glorious deep orange red. None of us were very hungry after that, but we walked down to the main street and had soup at Albies. Pete was horrified by the price of beer ($8 for a pint!). We picked up the makings of breakfast at Woollies on the way home.

It's only 9 pm but we're all ready for bed - boring old farts!

Wednesday, 19th May in Mandurah, WA

Pete and Sue arrived this morning. They drove from Perth in Sue's car after cancelling the Hertz rental car Pete had arranged. I met them at the Mandurah Visitors Centre and we found our way to the Seashells Resort where I'd been staying. When we arrived at reception, Inese (who had been sharing an apartment with me) was waiting for the taxi to the airport to arrive, so we hugged goodbye one last time. I called our accommodation in Busselton to see if we could cancel our current booking for separate rooms and have a 2 bedroom apartment and a very helpful girl said she'd try for us (but the best she could do was adjoining apartments).

Pete and Sue admired the view from our third floor apartment at Seashells. After they unpacked we walked back past the marina, over the bridge, past the sculpture of the wrecked boat and the playground, past the Reading Cinema and the Performing Arts Centre, and along the boardwalk and the foreshore. We walked all the way up to Mandurah Plaza so I could show them the shops, and then we walked back and had lunch at Han's Asian Restaurant. We visited the Visitor Centre to get information about the Thrombolites and then the Senior Citizens Centre to find out about the local computer club for seniors. Coincidentally their Management Committee was having a meeting so we were able to introduce ourselves and take a photo.


Back at the resort we got ourselves organised and headed out again, this time to drive down the Old Coast Road to Lake Clifton, about 30 km south of Mandurah. The directions on the leaflet from the Visitor Centre were helpful but not very specific so we were glad to see the signpost where we had to turn off. Lake Clifton is a long narrow lake lying between the WA coast and the Old Coast Road, and most of it is in Yalgorup National Park. Just past a winery we found the parking area and it was just a short 100 m walk to the lake.

There's a boardwalk to the foreshore raised above the ground, so that we could look down on the thrombolites. The name comes from the same root as thrombosis - clots - because the rocks are built by micro organisms like algae that precipitate calcium carbonate out of the water during photosynthesis. The thrombolites have an 'internal clotted texture' - but from the outside they just look like rounded white rocks and (in the deeper water) cones. We took photos, and then retreated to the winery.

The winery is called Cape Bouvard. There was a bus load of tourists from Singapore so we waited until they had finished buying stuff and got back on their bus. I tasted their merlot and cab sav and shiraz - all good, and reasonably priced, so I bought two bottles. It turns out that the owners live in an apartment on the top floor of our Seashells Resort, and commute to the vineyard each day. They've previously been involved in import/export and run a restaurant at Fremantle. Pete couldn't taste the wine properly because he'd been taking tablets for his cold.

Sue was the designated driver and took us home again (with a detour to pick up a carton of beer and some champagne). We sat on the balcony with drinks and nibbles, magazines and the crossword and watched the sun go down in the west over the ocean. The moon was waxing, and there was one bright light in the west close to the horizon that we couldn't identify. My netbook comes with an astronomy application that shows the night sky at a particular location and time, so we looked it up and our best guess was that it might be Sirius - or maybe a satellite.

When the champagne was finished we walked down to the marina and had seafood at Nino's Fish Cafe. Pete was indignant at the price of Stella Artois but we weren't very sympathetic.

Then we went back to our apartment to watch Master Chef and update the blog.