South West (12733km)

Margaret River

We started our trip by heading south from Perth towards a place called Margaret River. Margaret River is a popular vacation destination for local Western Australians with a ton of activities to do. We arrived the second day after camping at a rest stop just north of Bunbury. The first thing we did was visit the information center and grabbed brochures for all the attractions we wanted to do. Then we marked everything on a map and made a route. The first day we visited a Fudge Factory, Candy Factory, Chocolate Factory, a Surf art gallery and a pottery.

In the afternoon we headed to a small place called Gracetown. Krista had told us about a great beach there and we decided to camp there for the night. The beach was really beautiful. We went for a swim and Annina also did some snorkeling, but apparently there wasn't much to see. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed in the sun.

The next day we continued our route. We visited a Coffee factory before heading to where the Margaret River runs into the ocean. There was a great surfing beach and we watched the surfers while walking along the beach. It was a really nice place.

The Margaret River region is riddled with caves, with the biggest and best ones accessible to the public. There are three good caves to choose from, but each cave is $20 so we decided to only visit one. The decision fell on a cave called Lake Cave. It was a great experience. The cave was filled with stalactites and stalagmites, both huge and small, plus a bunch of other decorations I don't even know the name off. The most impressive feature was two stalactites hanging from the roof with a "table" connecting them at the bottom. As far as I remember the combined weight was 5 tonns hanging from the roof over the lake. When we reached the back of the cave we sat down and our guide switched on a light show that ran through the cave. It was beautiful.

The rest of the day we did more attractions including a Forrest Maze, a walk trough the dunes outside a small village called Augusta and Skippy rock before camping at Hamelin Bay.

While we visited Margaret River there was a cow festival on. One of the attractions of this festival was 80 cow statues placed all around the region. Each cow had different artwork painted on them. There was tons of normal cows with every type of pattern imaginable. In addition there was more creative cows, like a teacher cow and a batman cow. The latter was our favorite. It was placed over a crater with wires. Very cool!

Pemberton

After Margaret River we headed towards Walpole and Denmark. On the way we stopped in a small town called Pemberton to buy groceries. It turned out they had an autumn festival going so we decided to stay for a little while and look around. We got the chance to have a big snake around our neck while holding it's head. It wasn't poisonous, but still creepy.

On the outskirts of Pemberton is a gigantic tree that was once used as a lookout post for fires. In fact it's one of three trees that was once used for this purpose, but this one is the tallest of them. It is now open to the public for climbing. In a spiral going upwards are large spikes hammered into the tree forming a ladder of sorts. On the top, 75 meters up, is a two tonne metal lookout platform. Its name: Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree. Climbing this tree was a scary challenge. Not only do you have to look down most of the time while climbing upwards, but you can't help but notice that there is no real safety under you should you fall trough the spikes. Still, it looks harder than it really is and once you reach the top you get a fantastic view of the surrounding area. Off all the things we did on our south west trip, climbing
Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree was my favorite.

Denmark

Between Walpole and Denmark is an area called the Valley of the Giants. It is a valley filled with gigantic red tingle trees, a type of eucalyptus. They can reach 60 meters in height. In the middle of the valley is a visitor center with a tree top walk. It reaches 40 meters above ground and takes you through the top of the trees. The tree top walk was fun and exciting and in addition they also had a ground walk that took you trough the trunks of the trees. If you think trees are utterly boring, I suggest going here, as it might spark some interest.

Right outside Denmark along the southern coast is Williams Bay and the most famous attraction there is the Green Pool and the Elephant Rocks. The Green Pool is a series of rocks forming a green looking pool of ocean water, but the interesting part is the waves smashing against the rocks on the outside. It was a windy day and the waves were high which made for some great pictures. Looking at the incredible force of the ocean is a great experience. Right next to the green pool is a bay with rocks that look like elephants, hence the name Elephant Rocks. There was also a cute little beach between the rocks.

The rest of the day we spent by doing wine, cheese and fudge tasting, visiting a chocolate lounge, Denmark Beer Company and Denmark Maze. The Maze was pretty good, built around trees with bushes and grass separating the paths.

Albany

Our last stop in the south west was a town called Albany. Albany was the first place that was settled in Western Australia. We saw the Brig Amity, a replica of the ship that the first settlers came on. Mt. Clarence, a hill in the middle of the town with great views. And Dog Rock, a rock that looks like a dog in profile.

Just south of Albany is several famous natural attractions including the Gap and a Natural Bridge. The Gap is, well a gap 25 meters straight down to the ocean. On the top is a viewing platform with a great view of the waves smashing into the gap with great force. Just next to it is a natural bridge of stone which was also incredible to see. A short drive away was stony hill, with the name explaining just what it is. Here we enjoyed more great views of Albany and surroundings. That night we camped in the north of Two People Bay, another beautiful natural reserve just outside Albany.

The next morning we drove to the south end of Two People Bay to a beach called Little Beach. It was a beautiful beach with turquoise water and white sand. Just behind Little Beach was an even smaller cove where Annina went swimming. I decided not to as it was pretty cold. It is autumn here now and we are in the south of Australia not that far away from Antarctica. We are now heading up north along the west coast and towards warmer weather!

Check out the full picture gallery here:

South West: 28. April 2010 - 04. May 2010

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