On to The Pinnacles

I’ve fixed the “oops” on the Perth blog – still learning.

We had a week in Perth/Freemantle and spent Sunday wandering through Freemantle. This is the wharf area showing the monument to fishermen lost to the sea. We had “The Best” fish and chips in W. A. further along the wharf.

The Perth Mint was very interesting – watching medallions being minted. The Mint is Australia’s biggest gold refiner

 

 

This one is for Luke. Looks good!

 

 

 

We took a day trip up the coast road. Neptune watches over the sea at Two Rocks.

 

 

 

 

In the middle of the National Park at Gingin is the Cosmos Centre where they experiment with the forces of gravity. Very interesting. Col and Chris climbed to the top of the Leaning Tower of Gingin (copying the original) and commented on how eerie it was standing out on the edge of the tower.

 

The end of the coast road was Lancelin so we stayed for sunset over the bay. The coast from Perth 120k away is almost all modern housing.

 

  On the road again. We stayed at Cervantes and visited the Pinnacles Desert in the Namburg N.P.

 

 

 

This is an unbelievable sight. Limestone pillars up to 3 m. high rising from  the yellow sand.

 

 

 

There is a loop drive through the Pinnacles (or you can walk)

Perth

We arrived in Perth a couple of days ago and have been busy finding our way around the city. This is the Perth Coat of Arms on the freeway entering the City.

Even though it was overcast and raining, the city is very pretty – lots of parks and open spaces and the freeways are amazing making it so easy to get around the city.

 

King Park, in the centre of town, is 440 hectares (1000 acres) and there are statues and memorials scattered throughout the parks.

 

 

No day is complete without a little “retail therapy”. This is London Court – a quaint Elizabethan street – in the main shopping area. There are three pedestrian only malls in the city centre connected by underground walkways – all the shops you ever need!

 

 

And we almost took up this offer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking around King Park, we took a conducted tour in one of their old buses. We learnt so much more about the city and its history.

 

This is Perth Town Hall built in 1867. The old buildings have beautiful brickwork and even when the original building is replaced, they keep the facade as original.

 

 

 

This is one of the many colleges and churches built from sandstone ferried up the Swan River.

 

 

Next day we took an “overseas trip” to Rottnest Island to visit the Quokkas.

This is Perth skyline taken very early in the morning from the wharf area.

 

 

 

And the Swan Bells Tower just as the sun hit the spire.

 

 

 

 

 

What a full day. Up at 5.30a.m. to catch the coach to the Perth wharf  then down the Swan River to Freemantle, a conducted tram trip around the sights of Freemantle, another ferry to Rottnest Island then an bus trip around the Island. Then the ferry back to Perth. The coach delivered four very tired people to the caravan park well after dark.

Freemantle was settled before Perth and has very old buildings built by convict labour – the  convicts even had to build their own jail – to…

 

 

very modern buildings like the Freemantle Ports authority. The port is a very busy place indeed.

 

 

 

Rottnest Island is 19 kilometres off the coast and a very pretty place with tourism now its main attraction. It was originally a jail for aboriginals sent over from the mainland.

 

The South west of the island is very exposed to the wind and rough seas – next stop South Africa.

 

 

  And this is the little guy we came to see. There are about 7,000 Quokkas on the Island which was named by an early Dutch explorer who thought these marsupials were rats.

 

And there they were in the main street. Cute though they are, they have a vicious bite which can result in hospitalisation.

 

 

As the sun sets over the Swan River, we returned to Perth. We did see some very expensive homes along the river. The most expensive was $85 million complete with double story guest house, chauffer and gardener quarters  and all the other trappings.

And so back to Perth by night. This Ferris wheel was spectacular lit up.

Margaret River Area

Today we went north to Busselton to the longest timber jetty  in Australia at 1.84k. Unfortunately we could not walk to the end as it is being refurbished (at a cost of $24 million)

 

We had  been to the chocolate factory so next  we went to taste test the local wine. .  .

The Margaret River area is renowned for its wineries.

 

This is the entrance to Voyager Estate Winery. Col did suggest that our jeans and runners might not be appropriate!!  There are 8 gardeners and  horticulturists employed full-time to keep the gardens.

And the rose garden was very impressive. Apparently they grow roses so that any disease affects the flower before it attacks the grape vines. Unfortunately the wine was not to our liking and we came away with a six pack of grape juice.

Margaret River flows through the centre of town and this is quite a pretty picnic area with ducks waiting for any food left behind.

 

 

By afternoon the sky had started to cloud over – more rain is predicted. Besides being noted for its wine, this area is said to have the best surfing beaches in the world. If you look very carefully there are surfers out there trying their luck.

We turn the corner to Margaret River

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is on the most southerly tip of Western Australia.

The lighthouse was built in 1896 from local stone and is the highest lighthouse on mainland Australia at a height of 56 meters. The light can be seen 25n mile away and still operates on the original  light.

 

 

 

 

From the top of the lighthouse, its shadow points to where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet.

 

 

This area is home to 100k of underground limestone caves in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste N.P. This is Jewel Cave and unfortunately my camera does not do it justice.

 

Lake Cave, like Jewel Cave, is down several hundred steps before you reach the floor of the cave.

 

 

There is water running through Lake Cave which has receded over the years to leave these columns suspended  above the remaining clear water.

 

 

And when you go down, you also have to climb back up.  Between the lighthouse and the two caves we climbed about 1000 steps today.

Walpole

We are really getting into this holiday mode – today we travelled about 120k and it took most of the day.

We got up early this morning (6.00 a.m.) to get a sunrise photo across Walpole Inlet from Rest Point.

 

 

 

Even one of the locals got in on the photos. The inlet is a very popular fishing and boating area since it opens onto the sea.

 

 

This is Conspicuous Beach taken from Conspicuous Cliff. This is one of the most beautiful beaches on the south coast.

 

 

The Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk is not to be missed.  It is the longest tree top walkway in the world  rising 40 meters above the forest floor.

 

The Karri and Tingle trees grow to a height of 50 meters and are over 700 years old. Makes the 4WD in the photo look like a matchbox toy.

 

 

In the Ancient Empire Walk, the Tingle trees have a girth of up to 24 meters. This is one tree and you can walk through it. There was a Tingle tree here that you could drive a car through.

This is Circular Pool where the water looks like coffee – swirling foam and brown coloured water from the tannins leaching from the vegetation.

 

Mandalay Beach takes its name from the Norwegian ship wrecked here in 1911. The remains of the ship can be seen  every 10 years, only to be reclaimed by the sea.

Albany

Next stop Albany. Unfortunately the weather turned really bad - gale force winds, rain and thunder  storms.  We decided to stay put for a couple of days because the  weather was even worse to the west where we are headed.

 

 

 

This picture says it all – winds to 100kph. This is Middleton Beach overlooking the Bay.

 

 

 

It did fine-up today so we went sight-seeing. From Mount Melville you get 360 degree views over Albany and Princess Royal Harbour.

 

 

Next was Torndirrup National Park. This sign says it all.

 

 

 

Next stop Antarctica and yes it was cold!!

 

 

 

 

This is the Gap where the sea rushes in and eventually erodes the rock.

 

 

 

And 50 metres away is the Natural Bridge which has been eaten away over the centuries.

 

 

 

Down 800 meters and 78 steps you reach the blowholes. They only “blow” when there is bad weather- so yes they were blowing today.

 

 

This is an old whaling ship at the Whaleworld museum south of Frenchman Bay.

 

 

 

The sun was almost shining when we left Whaleworld to return to Albany City. This is looking back towards Emu Beach where we are staying.