Weekend in SouthWestern Australia (the first one)

Made our first trip down to South Western Australia. We'll definitely be going back for more! Lots to see & do. We drove down early Saturday morning and started in Bussleton. The day was a bit overcast and as we've come to expect, very WINDY.

Started the day with a visit to Bussleton Jetty. Almost 2 km long, it is the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. If you open the photo on the top right, you still cannot make out the end of the pier! It was used until 1972, and has had sections destroyed by cyclones and fires - restoration is ongoing. At the end of the pier is an 8 metre deep underwater observatory. Schools of yellow tails and herring along with several reef fish are common around the pier - the photos cannot capture the colours or subtlety of the fish and corals. Along the pier, people were swimming, fishing and even a couple of divers off of nearby boats. Kyle could not resist jumping in on the walk back. Also visited a local candy shop and a wine outlet.

And on Saturday evening we finally spotted our first wild roos!! (we have seen several dead on the road side, but they don't really count).

Took a walk along the beach in EagleBay for the evening. Beautiful white sand and granite rock. Lots of crabs in those rocks - Kyle is anxious to catch and gobble some up!

Had a great dinner at a local Thai restaurant where our waiter 'borrowed' some of the appetizers from a party group for us - well, they were letting them go to waste, so he figured we may as well put them to good use! Fun time...
Stayed at a very nice B&B in Dunsborough on Saturday night where our hostess was a bit of an animal lover - chickens and dogs in the back, and she nurses ringtail possums back to health also! Had a nice breakfast on the deck with fresh figs from the garden.
Decided to visit a cave, taste some local delicacies (venison, chocolate, cheese and of course wine!)

The trees are noticibly different here - airy, smooth bark and often with burns around them due to the common fires.

We visited Mammoth cave - named for the size. Incredible stalactites and stalagmites (cave decorations as they were refered to). There were calcite deposits on the decorations at one end of the cave - which glisten in the light. The cave was 10 stories high - lots of sections collapsed also (although we were assured that no sections were about to cave in on us.....).

All in all a great weekend - and still lots to see (and taste!) in the area.