Western Australia - May 9 - 10, 2009

If I covered Canberra in 36 hours some what successfully I figured I'd give Perth and some of its surrounding area a go in 48 hours.  Beyond school holidays and an odd long weekend I don't have much time to travel far so I need to make the most of the the time I have.

Friday after work I headed home, packed my bag and made my way to the airport.  Because my decision to go to Perth was a last minute one I chose the least expensive flight I could find.  I was scheduled to fly out at 10:25 am arriving in Perth at 1 am.  I was able to sleep in the airport, and sleep on the plane so when I arrived in the middle of the night I didn't feel too badly. 

A few hours later I was up meeting my day tour to Margaret River.  Margaret River is a well know wine area in Western Australia.  It's also around 350 km (or further) south down the coast from  Perth. Unfortunately the major highway is away form the coast so I didn't get to see much of it on the drive down.  

Our first official stop (we did stop at a small bakery for morning tea)  was at the Xanadu Winery in the Margaret Creek region.  It's one of the oldest wineries in the area and their wine can be purchased around the world.  The wine wasn't too bad and I ended up buying a bottle to enjoy with my  lunch (and later on dinner). 

Wine Tasting at Xanadu

Vineyards at the Xanadu Winery

From the the vineyard we headed to the Eagles Heritage Raptor Centre where we learned about animals including the wedged tailed eagle, peregrine falcon (fastest animal on earth), tawny frog mouth, and barn owls.  Most had been rescued from the wild with the intention to return them there. We saw an eagle flight demonstration and I was one of five that took the opportunity to hold the owl.

The Tawny Frog Mouth (I think??)

The Barn Owl and I

From there we travelled a bit more south towards Mammoth Caves passing the Borunap Kerry Tree forest.  

Inside Mammoth Cave

Inside Mammoth Cave

Once we departed the cave we continued through the Boranup Forest while heading to the cape at Augusta.   We stopped at Cape Leeuwin where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet.  It's also home to the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse.

Cape Leeuwin Light House

Cape Leeuwin

From Cape Leeuwin we headed to Busseltown for dinner and sunset.  We arrived  just as the sun was setting and while  everyone was enjoying their dinner inside I was outside taking pictures of the jetty in the setting sun.  Busseltown is the home of Ironman South Australia so it was pretty cool for me to be there. The jetty (which I would typically refer to as a pier) is almost 2km long.  Unfortunately it's no longer safe so you are only able to walk 100 or so meters along it.  

Bussletown Jetty at Sunset, Western Australia

Once we finished our evening meal we then had along journey back to Perth - three hours of straight driving.  I arrived back in Perth at about 9 pm after a very eventful day.  For what ever reason I wasn't too tired either so I walked around the city and neighbouring suburb before heading to bed.

Sunday morning I was up early for a little run around the water in the city before being picked up by John and Rachel (the brother in law and sister  of a very good family friend from back home).  They drove me north to Hillary's boat harbour and Sorento's Quay.  After a nice coffee and a muffin they kindly drove me along the coast passing Perth's amazing beaches including Scarborough, City Beach, Cottesloe and right down to Fremantle.  They told me about each area as we passed it and it was nice to have some "locals" information.  They were very kind to me.  

Scarborough Beach

Looking back towards the beaches.

Unfortunately we weren't able to spend the entire day together as they were invited into a box for the local footy game.  They left me in Fremantle, a port city along the coast south of Perth, and I was happy about that as I was eager to check it out.  I wandered around Fremantle for a few hours trying to take it in.  I visited the Maritime Museum Shipwreck Gallery, High Street Mall, Kings Square, Cappuccino Strip, the Fremantle Markets, and Bather's Beach.  I even rode around the the free local bus.  I was hoping that I might get a quick trip to Rottnest Island but I really needed a day to do that so unfortunately I didn't get to it on this trip to South Australia.

Fremantle Market was inside this building.

Cappuccino Strip  

Once I had seen enough  I boarded a train and headed back to the Perth central business district.  From there I travelled by foot up to King's Park to enjoy it's wonderful location and amazing views.

View of Perth's Central Business District (from King's Park)

View of Swan River and Perth from King's Park

Around five pm I was picked up again by R and J and we headed for a family mother's day meal.  After the meal I was able hang out with them at their home before they kindly drove me to the airport at 10 pm.  My flight back to Melbourne didn't actually leave until 12:50 am in the wee hours of the morning so once I checked in I set an alarm and went to sleep in the terminal.  I arrived back in Melbourne at about 6 am this morning but thinking ahead I  booked the day off from work.

For the past several weeks I've been dealing with a medical issues that really needs to be looked at by a doctor.  Since I was off work I decided to take today to visit the doctor.  The doctor couldn't be conclusive and so he has referred me to a specialist which I'll see later this week.  So as I head back to work tomorrow I have a medical certificate in my hand for today's missed work, and I'll be off again on Thursday visiting the specialist.  I'm still hoping it isn't anything too serious but only the specialist will be able to confirm that.

Overall I'm really glad I made the trek to Western Australia.  I feel like I saw a lot in Perth but there is still so much more I'd like to see in Western Australia.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it back or not on this year's adventure trip but you just never know what I can be up to.

Anyhow for the next three weekends or so I'm staying put.  I need to start and finish my report cards and I need to attend to some social engagements closer to home.  I guess life isn't too bad after all.