Warren NP – Margaret River – Bunbury
Kilometres 20279 - 21444km
Monday was moving day for us and once again the kids had to say goodbye
to some friends they’d made along the way, but with a promise that we’d catch
up again in Adelaide….. We headed west along the southern WA coastline to
Denmark where I showed the family some of the amazing cache finds I’d found a
few days earlier. We continued on, stopping at another chocolate factory and
the incredibly tall lookout trees, near Pemberton. These trees which are used
for fire spotting have steel spikes circumnavigating their way to the top in
the form of a ladder. The smallest of these trees being 50m high while the
tallest tree is the Dave Evans tree at 65m high. We stopped at two of these trees
and watched in amazement that WA OHS still allows the climbing of these trees
to the public. We chose to climb with the kids halfway up the taller 65m high
tree. The view from this height was breathtaking enough. Leaving the Pemberton
area we continued on to a beautiful bush camp within one of the many National
Parks in that region.
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| Tree climbing - Pemberton |
With nothing to disturb us we enjoyed a sleep-in on Tuesday before
hitting the road and making our way to the Margaret River region. We chose to
stay in the township of Margaret River with the plan to use this as a base for
the many attractions that lie within this wine region. A quick stop at the
tourist information had us well stocked for info on the 100+ wineries, caves,
beaches and other attractions in the area. We spent the remainder of the day by
the van as the kids caught up on some schoolwork.
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| The enchanted forest |
On Wednesday we headed out to some of the many attractions this area
has to offer. We headed down south stopping first at a barrista coffee
warehouse where we enjoyed a nice early morning coffee. Next stop was “Cookie
Galore” whereas the name suggests the family gorged themselves on an array of
yummy cookies. We continued south via the picturesque caves road. The enchanted
forest and Hamelin Bay were well worth the stop. We eventually arrived at Cape
Leeuwin which is the most south-western point of WA, we quickly jumped on the
end of a lighthouse tour where we got to climb the tallest mainland lighthouse
in Australia. This amazing lighthouse sits metres from where the Southern and Indian
Oceans meet. To complete our day we sampled a number of nice wines as we visited
a few wineries as we returned to Margaret River.
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| Climbing to the top of the Lighthouse |
We gave ourselves the luxury of a sleep-in on Thursday, the kids set about
catching up on a few days schoolwork while we did some letter writing. About
lunchtime we headed off to see some more sights. We stopped by Surfers Point beach
which hosts a round of the world surfing championships. From there we sampled a
few more wines before stopping at the famous Margaret River Chocolate factory,
once again the girls of this family were in heaven to the many options available.
We continued to sample some wines as we headed around the region, finally
stopping at the Margaret River Dairy Co where the kids devoured some delicious
milkshakes.
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| Margaret River Surfing reserve |
Our plan for a lazy morning on Friday didn’t materialize, the van park
had stuffed up our booking and had asked us to move to a different site, so our
shortest day on the road occurred as we moved 2 sites to the left. After
setting up again and the kids playing on the jumping pillow we headed out once
again, of course to visit more wineries. It was at one of these wineries that
we got a hot tip about pizza and beer at a local brewery. We didn’t spend much
time sampling wine as everyone was keen to sample the Millers Ice Cream farm.
This dairy farm specialises in its own delicious ice creams which we all
enjoyed sampling….. By night fall we headed out to the Colonial Brewery for a
great night of live music, pizza and a few specialty beers.
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| Hamelin Bay |
Another day but there was no let up to the frenetic pace we’d been
setting around MR. Today we headed north to Busselton and the surrounding towns.
The weather was perfect and many people swam in the turquoise water of Geographe
Bay. We chose to catch the miniature train out along the 1.8km jetty to the
underwater observatory where clear waters allowed us great viewing of the
marine life some 10m below the surface. Returning to solid ground we saw a few
more sights of Busselton before spending the rest of the day driving south along
the coastal tourist drive. Of course this area is teeming with wine makers so we
naturally had to stop and sample a few more wines, ciders, beers and chocolates.
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| Busselton Jetty |
Sunday (today) was moving day and it couldn’t come any sooner. The
Margaret River wine region has been expensive and hectic, but beautiful. We
both agreed that a few days R&R and to detox is necessary. With only a short
drive till our next stop there was no real urgency to be on the road early. We
packed up and grabbed a coffee from the Barista warehouse before hitting the
road. The kids spent most of the 100km to Bunbury reading, to the point they
said the trip had only felt like a 10min drive. Leonie and I looked at each other
and wished every long day in the car could have the kids feeling like that…..
We quickly found a van park in Bunbury and setup just as a heavy rain shower
swept over us. We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on a few domestic
chores. We finished the week by heading out for dinner to celebrate Leonie’s
birthday.
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| Rotary Tower - Bunbury |
Happy Birthday Lee.
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