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.
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