Margaret River Encore

As predicted after our first visit, we returned to the Margaret River area this past long weekend. The South-West corner of WA is a now discovered beauty spot with it's incredible coast line, caves, forests, wineries and numerous artisans who now call the area home. Sort of like the Niagara area in Southern Ontario, but less densely populated and a different variety of diversions.

This time we stayed at a self catering apartment just outside of Busselton. It was actually more like a modern holiday home. Large and spacious 3 bedroom with a well equipped full kitchen, laundry and 2 baths. We were more than comfortable! (and it allowed us to save some cash by eating in)

Saturday morning Michael rose early (all alone I might add) and headed down to the Busselton Jetty to take some sunrise photos. He rarely gets to take shots when the lighting is ideal. We are usually touring sites mid day, and at dusk and dawn you have to take care driving due to kangaroos, so you try to avoid it when possible.

After a full breakfast, we headed out for the day. Our first stop was at the roadside for Mike to take some forest shots. We do that a lot - Mike trudges off to take photos while we either sit in the car (I read a lot of books these days), or hike around after him. On this occasion, the boys had contests throwing stones and hitting things. When bored of that, they took up sticks and played swords - sometimes they really don't seem to be growing up!!

We stopped by the Cave Works discovery centre to learn a bit about caves. Patrick was able to comment on the reasons for the variety of crystal formations - why some are multi nodal, and others are long and thin. If you're ever interested, just drop him a line.

There are numerous caves, and this time we decided to visit Jewel Cave (we had a coupon). Unlike Mammoth Cave, this time we had to take a guided tour. Mike was not able to linger back and take photos at his own pace, but still managed to get a few good shots.

From the cave, we headed all the way down to the southern end of the region to Augusta. We had a fish and chip lunch with a side of battered pineapple slice. Very yummy, although perhaps not that healthy.

Near Augusta, Patrick dipped his feet in the 'southern ocean'. (the rest of us had already done so in Bunbury on an earlier trip) Our family has been debating over the actual oceans of the world. Kyle and Patrick were taught there was no such ocean, I learned of the Antarctic Ocean. The link above explains the confusion - in 2000 it seems that the Southern or Antarctic Ocean was firmly accepted as an official ocean although mariners had referred to it for years - so perhaps the Canadian curriculum had not yet caught up with the recent change for Kyle (and Patrick was probably older when the official change was made).

We then looped around to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse which marks where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet at the south west tip of Australia. You can see it here in the background from either side as we rounded the tip. It marks the very south western tip of Australia.

Once back at the hotel, it was just about dark. We dropped Kyle off so he could do some studying - he is in the middle of a two week exam period (rather poor timing over a long weekend!!!).

Mike, Patrick and I headed back down to the jetty where Mike got some nice sunset shots and Patrick had a chance to walk out to the end of the almost 2km long jetty. Patrick and I also caught sight of a ring tailed possum around the base of a fig tree. Very rat-ish, but still cute.

Then back to the hotel for a late dinner - and that was our Saturday.

Break 1 - Day 5 Carnarvon Jetty & Blowholes

Rose a bit more leisurely and packed up – managed to check our hotmail account (EXTREMELY SLOW CONNECTION) at the reception kiosk. Several emails – read the one email from Trees, none from Pat….sigh.

As you leave Shark Bay area, you pass through the vermin proof fence (refered to in the museum details of yesterday). We have passed through many fences meant to keep feral animals out, but this one is serious. As Mike approached it to take his photo, the motion sensors triggered and it started to bark at him. Quite funny....
We had a relatively short drive to Carnarvon today. Next we stopped by at Shell Beach which as expected was absolutely solid shells. The beach was quite wide and long, and apparently goes down 8 to 10 metres. The volume of shells in mind boggling. It has taken many thousands of years to create. The waters here deep in Sharks Bay are hypersaline and so most species cannot survive. One of the only species is the coquina bivalve which is the reason for the unique beach. (This is also close to the area where the stromatolites grow).

And we drove on to Carnarvon. We have been listening to books on tape (actually mostly on MP3) which has been a huge success in passing the miles. We have under our belts on mystery by Agatha Christie and The Raft, along with a good chunk of Bill Bryson’s Thunderbolt Kid. We borrowed a bunch from the library before heading out – definitely something to repeat!!

The landscape during todays driving sessions was definitely very arid. There was one lookout stop where Mike could not resist taking a few shots to try to capture the aura.

Mike quite liked Carnarvon – it is the hub for the area linking Exmouth to Sharks Bay, and there seems to be a fair amount of industry to keep the town alive – not just tourism like the other towns. There were many aboriginals in town here also. We settled into our humble abode and then checked out town for lunch options as we were hungry.

After a simple burger / grilled sandwich lunch, we headed off for the blowholes. They were not to be missed. Despite the hotel check in clerk recommending the jetty (which we did later), the blowholes were definitely the highlight. One of Mike’s students had recommended both the blowholes and snorkeling nearby. After the ‘dud’ blowholes near Albany, these were especially amazing.

'Blowholes' are created as the ocean wears away / dissolves through the limestone to form holes which the ocean blasts through. There were many small, one huge, and one ‘just right’ to blast several metres into the air. The whole area was like another world. The terrain was full of 'nodules' which were very strange to walk on. The area is prone to ‘king waves’ which occassions sweep away and kill people – caution signs were posted.

Just a bit further down the road was a caravan park, plus more. Several locals from Carnarvon have chosen this place to play squatter for their camps. There were many shacks constructed within the park. After chatting with a lady who lives at this spot, we learned that they have been there for many years, and she believes they will be evacuated in the very near future. We had been looking for the safe snorkeling bay (the area experiences the Indian Ocean fury) and found it in a bay that was protected by a small island with an Osprey nest. Given the winds, it did not look overly safe, nor did it look like there was much to see given the churned up waters. So we gave it a by and returned to town.

Mike and I were up for more, so we ventured out to the jetty while Kyle hung back for a rest (or more likely a break from Mum & Dad). The Jetty started off appearing to be empty apart from Mike & I, but ended up being quite populated. We witnessed the catching of two very large fish off the end of the pier. First was someone who appeared to be a local – he had a very large fish on and his buddy climbed down the ladder to gaff it. It was about 4 feet long – a malloweigh?

We strolled further down to the very end of the jetty to find a German fellow who had a very large fish on also. He suspected that it was a shark, but had not seen it. At this part of the jetty, there was no easy way to get down with the gaff. We suggested that he try to walk it over to the area where the other fish was brought in, but he could not make the way across due to broken down sections. The first ‘gaffer’ helper heard the commotion and made his way over. He managed to find his way down to the supports of the jetty and helped the guy land his fish. The German guy was ecstatic – he had been deep sea fishing in the Bahamas and never caught such a large fish – it was up to his armpits. He was convinced it was due to his braided German fishing line. He wondered if they had such a thing here in Australia – the locals replied ‘Yeah, and we have electricity and running water too’. Given the proximity and dependency on the ocean, I wonder if his superior German line was not actually from here :-)

Then it was back for dinner. We had a smallish dinner of pizza at the Post Office restaurant and returned to our room for the evening.