After leaving the tall trees we continued on to the beachside town of Esperance, though the weather was anything but warm and sunny (15 degrees).

Even so we travelled to Cape Le Grand to see the pristine white sand and turquoise water which would be an awesome destination during Summer (below).

After leaving Margaret River we moved on to the Pemberton/Walpole area which is mainly known for two things – wine and tall trees.

We visited the ‘Bicentennial Tree’ which is 61m and able to be climbed as it was once used for bushfire spotting. It has vertical stakes on the edges and three platforms in the upper levels (as Russ found out as he climbed it).

We also visited the ‘Valley of the Giants’ which is a treetop walk amongst the pristine forests in WA south west. The Tingle tree (a large tree which reaches hundreds of years old, 80m height and can be known to have circumference at shoulder height of 12m) was the star of the tour. This species is not found anywhere else in the world.

We woke up at Parry’s Beach on the second night to the following view across Parry’s Bay (which opens into the Southern Ocean).

From Fremantle we continued south and stopped in at the Busselton Jetty, which is the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere heading out 1.8km into the Indian Ocean. After walking the 3.6km return we continued on to the wine and surfing capital of WA – Margaret River.

Some of the highlights over the four days in the Margaret River area were:

• Cape Naturaliste – views out to the Indian Ocean

• Cape Leeuwin – climbing the 176 stairs to the tallest lighthouse in mainland Australia (only beaten by one on King Island in Bass Strait). It is also the location where the Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean meet and we witnessed the swirling/fighting currents of the two forces

• Lake Cave – 60m below and amazing underground crystal-like growths

• Yallingup Maze – a timber maze which was amazingly difficult to complete (we only succeeded in getting to two of the 4 corners)

• Quality control at some wineries, 2 breweries, 2 chocolate factories and a dairy – just had to check the produce was okay for everybody else

• Prevelly – sunset at the surfing mecca of WA. (Prevelly is the mouth of Margaret River itself – the actual town ‘Margaret River’ is about 15km inland – no surf there!)

• Enjoying our own campfire tucker – two varieties of damper and marshmallows on the firepits (with supplied timber – all for $16 per night for 4 people in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park)

Left Lancelin this morn with just a brief walk up some dunes that we had hoped to sandboard on today. (Sandboarding is like snowboarding except on the sand). This adventure wasn’t to be as had rained overnight so the dunes would not have been suitable for gliding down. Will have to give it a try near home sometime instead!

Travelled to Fremantle (bypassed Perth, as decided to avoid cities for this trip) and met up and dined with new friends we had met earlier on our travels, who live in Fremantle. Their 5 children and ours played well together for the last of several times on our trip. Goodbyes said, and some local tips gained, with perhaps the chance of a meeting in Melbourne at the G sometime…

The next day we rode our bikes into central Fremantle from our caravan park, explored the Shipwrecks Museum where the Batavia ship’s hull remainders are on display, and lastly enjoyed some beers at the Little Creatures Brewery.

As we left Kalbarri, Isabelle and Campbell decided to feed some of the locals their breakfast.

We then continued our trek south down the coast, leaving Kalbarri and passing through Cervantes (known for its Lobster and other seafood) and also the nearby Pinnacles. The Pinnacles are an odd collection of rock formations buried in the sand dunes as seen below.

A record has just occurred – our 1st roadside free camp without thunderstorms and/or torrential flood-threatening rain (although there was lightning on the horizon!).

Today we explored several walks/lookouts within the Kalbarri National Park and clocked up another gorge. I think we’ve nearly lost count, we’ve trekked so many. One of the lookouts was the ‘Nature’s Window’ – a naturally formed rock window framing the Murchison River and surrounding gorge.

These last 2 photos show further displays of beauty in nature: – a ‘blackboy’ tree in all its glory and a tree (the one in the foreground) the shape of a young girl diving (look closely to see if you can see it).

Capped off the day eating fish n’ chips (including local WA fish) by the beach at sunset.

Day 49 sees us drive approx. 6.5 hours (with a few hour break at Carnarvon) to arrive at Denham, the neighbouring town (and a better value option) to Monkey Mia.

At Carnarvon, the home of the Big Banana (bananas being the town’s biggest industry) we ate lunch overlooking the jetty and visited a produce store where we stocked up on banana jam (it actually tasted OK) and other preserves, and left munching on amazing homemade ice-creams with flavours such as Mango Rocher, Wild Strawberry, Passionfruit, and last but not least, a whole banana dipped in chocolate on a stick. Yum!

We set up camp at Denham and the next morning headed straight to Monkey Mia to participate in the dolphin interaction, not something you get to do every birthday. Only a handful of people are chosen each session to feed a dolphin, and Isabelle was lucky enough to feed one a fish headfirst. Campbell also spotted emus walking along the beach path and some pelicans on his birthday. What a treat!

The rest of the day was spent treating our 5yo “prince” (see crown below, thanks Mrs Lester): – party pie picnic lunch on the beach, cupcakes, and special ‘wraps’ for dinner, and we even threw a line in on the pier in the quest for fishing for our own dinner.

Thanks, from Campbell, for all the birthday wishes throughout the day 🙂