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.
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