Happy Australia Day!

Sugarloaf Sunset


Bunker Bay Dawn


Bussleton Pier


Margaret River Vineyard Ghosts


Karri Forest



I have to say, one thing about Western Australia is that the distances are vast. What looks like a three or four hour tip on the map is in reality six to eight. We have to keep remembering that this state is half of the Australian continent. So, getting from the SA/WA border to the west coast of WA is like driving from the east border of Texas to California, on a two lane road with only roadhouses and Norseman, Esperance, Albany then Denmark, Walpole, and…..before you hit the Indian Ocean. But I digress.

After leaving Albany, we head northwest, to Denmark, and Walpole. Just before Walpole, we get to the Giant Tingle trees. These are huge, ancient Karri Trees, a species of Euculaptys that is native to this particular area of WA. These trees are amazing in size, huge butts, and then straight up into the sky. This is also the site of the first tree top walk in Australia, and our third walk in Australia. Tree top walks have improved dramatically since this one, but it was still really good to do.

Onwards we drive, checking out Mandalay Bay, where the famous shipwreck of the Mandalay happened. Apparently, about every ten years when the beach is right the ribs of the shipwreck are exposed. We arrive for two nights at a rammed earth cottage in Pemberton. Very cool, not only did we have the sound of chooks in the morning, but ducks that came up to the verandah and a local dog that liked to hang out and get cuddles from us. From there we did a day trip to Cape Leeuwen, where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean.

From here we drove north to Margaret River. Now, this wouldn’t have been a first choice, but since we are now in the habit of stopping at wine regions, and our friends Scott and Frank had said that if they were ever to get to Australia, that this is where they would go, we had to check it out. Well, on first look, we were a little let down, but after two days, we really enjoyed it. It didn’t quite have the intimacy of the Clare, but was better than the Barossa in that it was more boutique than industrial. We picked out a few places that we thought would be good, following our usual criteria, the name and the wine labels. Why not? Our first one, Deck Chairs opened two hours later than when we got there, so we moved on to Mootown, very nice, the on to Margaret River Chocolates, well, that knocked our socks off. No Boutique there, more like the Lindt in Stratham. Then to a distillery which we were underwhelmed by, and finally Island Brook Wines, which was our favorite because we sat with the grower, vintner and tasted his wines and had a great time . We were going to have lunch at a micro-brewery, but it turned out that was like having lunch at the Budweiser Brewery in Merrimack, so we gave that a swerve and had a pie on the beach in Yallinup.

Our next two nights was in Dunsborough, in a restored railway carriage turned into a cottage. Very different, not bad, very unique, at least they had chooks, alpacas, ponies and a sheep, and it was quiet!

Now we are in Fremantle for a few days. Steve had a photo printing workshop in Perth, I wandered around town, today we are on the True North, a big boat that does a lot of first class travels in remote places like the Kimberlys. Today we are anchored off Rottnest Island off of Perth for a day’s worth of photo lectures and a photo shoot on the island. Hopefully we will see the fireworks celebrating Australia Day over Fremantle or Perth before we dock tonight.

The rest of the week will be spent here in Fremantle and Perth, then back down to Dunsborough, hopefully to intercept our car registration, then we start the drive east, taking our time seeing the Eyre Peninsula, revisiting places like the Flinders Ranges, Adelaide, Daylesford, saying farewell to our friends in Melbourne and onwards.

Greetings From Western Australia

Great Australian Bight


Nullarbor Skies


Esperance Pier


Lucky Bay Sunset


Frenchmans Peak Sunset

 
As we last left you, we were riding on the ferry from Devonport, Tasmania back to Melbourne, Victoria.  We had thought we would take the night ferry, but it was booked out the day we wanted to leave, but there were two berths left on the day ferry, so that is what we were on.  It was a calm journey and that was good.  The ferry docked at 6:30 pm, and by 7:00 we were out of the city and on the road to Ballarat, a lovely old goldfields town that we had visited earlier in our travels.
 
After a good night's sleep, we got back into the car and pointed ourselves to the Barossa Valley in South Australia.  When we were in SA earlier we had missed the Barossa Valley, and because it is one of the premier wine regions of Australia, we figured we needed to see it.  Well, it is the home to many of the wine labels that we are all familiar with, Jacobs Creek, Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Yalumba make up the big vintners, with a handful of boutique vineyards tossed in.  We missed the intimacy that the Clare and McLaren Vale wineries had.  The Barossa is truly wine manufacturing with acres and acres of vine.
 
After two days in the Barossa, we truly hit the road.  We headed north through Port Augusta, then west across the Eyre Peninsula to Ceduna, the last town in SA where we camped for the night.  Next day we started the long drive across the Nullarbor Plain and in ten hours reached the WA border at Ecula.  Along the long Nullarbor drive, there were pull offs where you could get out and view the ocean.  The sands and water and cliffs were amazing and it was nice to get out and stretch every so often.
 
 Each Australian state has quarantine stops where you are pulled over and must relinquish all seeds, fruit, vegetables, plants and everything else that is an agricultural product.  Now we did this entering SA, and Tasmania, without any problems, but at the border in WA, they stopped us, and searched.  There were dead leaves on the floor mat, and those were taken, even Steve's carrots were taken! I explained they were necessary for his sugar levels, and she said we could get more down the road.  Yes we could, 7 hours of driving later!  So, we had no fresh anything until they next day when we entered Norseman, bummer.
 
We camped in Ecula, at the edge of the Great Australian Bight, we had a beautiful sunset that night, and the sun rose at 4:30 the next morning.  Since there was nothing there but a roadhouse, we packed up again and hit the road, driving west to Norseman (which is named after a horse!) where we were finally able to buy carrots and some grapes.  From there we turned south and drove for another two hours to Esperance, where we hit the wall.
 
Esperance is a charming seaside town with the most amazingly colored water, a real  aqua with the whitest beaches!  After spending the night in town, the next morning we walked along the esplanade to the jetty, looking at the porpoise and Sammy the local Sea Lion.  After the all important coffee, we drive out to Cape Le Grand, about 60K east of Esperance to camp for the night.
 
When you see Steve’s photos, you will think that they have been enhanced, but no, this is what we were looking at, you can see just how amazing it is.  And the beach was like walking on cornstarch or talcum powder the sand was so fine.  We drove around the park seeing the sights, feeling that we were very lucky to find a campsite at Lucky Bay.  We think that we were at the best place ever.  The next day we packed up to leave but before that, we wanted to climb Frenchmans Peak for a view of the coast and all of its coves and bays.  Steve made it to the top and I waited halfway, yes, you can call me chicken.  After that, we drove back into Esperance to stock up on essentials, then drove west yet again towards Albany. 
 
I think this stretch of the road was the worst yet as far as length and sheer boredom.  Thank goodness for audiobooks.  We have worked our way through Unbroken by Laura Hildebrand, and are now on The Count of Monte Cristo.  That book alone should see us back to the east coast.
 
So here we are in Albany, WA, in the southwest corner (sort of) of WA.  Right now it is a good sized town, but there are big plans to make it bigger and trendier.  The town is famous for its beaches, surfing, history and whales.  We are just happy to be in civilization again! 
 
PS:  We want to thank everyone for their e-mails of concern for our safety upon hearing about the devastating floods in Queensland and now Victoria.  We are safe, as are all of our friends.  The floods are absolutely devastating, not just in property loss, but loss of tourism, the loss of major agricultural areas.  The Lockyer Valley is a huge salad bowl of growing and all the crops have been lost, so buying local, if you can find it, is the only option.  Many of the store shelves, even in urban areas are empty, not just because of the loss of farmland, but the road and rail infrastructure has also been destroyed.  After suffering 10 years from the worst drought ever, now their farms have been destroyed by the locust plague and flooding.  BUT!  The Australians have the will power and strength to get through this, they help each other and rely on each other in the Australian “spirit” they will get through this, and not expect the government to pull them out.  They are the most amazing people.

On the Road Again

Kelvedon Beach to Freycinet


Tasman Bridge and Mt Wellington


Binalong Rocks


Goshen Fields


Hobart Botanical Garden Boy
 
It seems hard to believe that our six weeks are over in Tasmania!  Where has the time gone.  We’ve been busy traveling around the state and eating and drinking well.  Let me do a recap of what we have done since I last wrote on Boxing Day.
 
Boxing Day was a quiet day for us, we phoned home to wish everyone Merry Christmas, dined on fresh local oysters that are excellent, and a good local grown steak as well as an excellent Tasmanian wine.  Australia closes down for the week between Christmas and the New Year.  There are the after-holidays sales, but nothing like what we are used to.  It was only the larger chains that were open, everything else is shut up tight for the week.  Hard to  wrap our heads around and get used to coming from a shopaholic nation. 
 
Hobart hosts a seven day Taste Festival that focus’s on Tasmania's best cheese, wine, beer, fruit, and food.  It is a free function, and a great way to try the various wines.  You can try the wines, buy a glass or buy a bottle, try many of the restaurants and enjoy the fine, for once, fine Tasmanian weather.
 
New Years in was at home, watching the fireworks from the deck of the house.  It was nice because the city does a 9:30 fireworks show for the kids, then a midnight show for the grownups, or those still awake.  Both shows were excellent, but nothing could be as good as the show that Sydney had that we saw on TV.  It was just amazing!  The harbor had 4 barges with fireworks, then the bridge is also used.  Like I said, it was amazing.  That is the place to be to welcome in the New Year.
 
The next day we traveled up the east coast using Swansea as our base, going back to the Freycinet Peninsula and hiking up to the lookout to see Wineglass Bay in the sunshine.  It is as beautiful as the pictures show.   The next day we drive up the coast to St Helens, Binalong Bay which is the beginning of the famous Bay of Fires.  This area has the bright orange lichen covered rocks, the most pristine white sandy beaches and the most  aqua blue water that we have seen in Australia.  And hardly anyone was there!  We had the beach to ourselves.   From St Helens, we head inland stopping for lunch at Pub in the Paddock, along with everyone else.  We were disappointed, maybe being there on a Sunday during the holidays with everyone had something to do with it.  We were driving through some of the most beautiful dairy county, then up the mountains, down the mountains, up the mountains and down the mountains, finally out at Launceston.  Phew.  Then onto Campbell Town taking the back way to Swansea and home the next day.
 
We decided to get a new cell phone provider.  We found that the only places that we could get coverage in Tasmania was Devonport, Launceston and Hobart.  The rest on the state, nada.  I know, we are leaving Tasmania, but we are heading west tomorrow eventually crossing the Nullarbor Plain to Western Australia, and we thought that having a cell phone that would work would be good.  Day one of the experience was the store was closed because it was two days after New Years and so a holiday.  The next day, we got a bum sim card, but finally, day three, we have service.
 
On our last full day was asked ourselves what hadn’t we done, that we would like to do while we are still here.  We took a Peppermint Bay cruise.  We traveled down the harbor, looking at the harbor side towns, to the D'entrecasteau channel, where we hovered alongside the rocks edge.  The crew dropped a camera over the side of the boat so we could see the life under us.  It was amazing.  The camera was 13 meters down, and we saw sharks, little harmless sharks, fish, different seaweeds and all of this without added light.  The water was so clean and clear, a pride of Tasmania. 
 
Now we are on the Spirit of Tasmania II, sailing towards Melbourne, for part four of our adventure.