Advertisement
Let the adventure begin!
Linda with Jolly Roger, high above BunburyIt wasn't quite the introduction either of us had been hoping for. We had met up in Brisbane over the Easter long weekend - Linda, the wide-eyed 22-year-old working holiday-maker from Germany; and me, the 34-year-old eternal wanderer from Australia – and then flown to Perth together in time for Anzac Day, where we wound up at the Wicked Campers' Perth depot on a Monday morning (28
th April) and handed over almost $3000 to secure one of their famous brightly-painted camper-vans for 43 days.
To say that the paint job on our van left a little to be desired would be an under-statement – it was pretty clear that 'Jolly Roger' (as our van was known) had fallen from the ugly tree and hit every single branch on the way down. Linda and I immediately agreed that this was the ugliest Wicked Van either of us had ever seen, and secretly hoped that this would not turn out to be an omen for our journey!
Nevertheless, we loaded up our noble steed and hit the road south along the coast, only to have to stop in Rockingham for the best part of two hours to stock up on things
Transport and accommodation rolled into one
Our Wicked Camper, parked beside Mandurah's waterfront on the first morning that we either hadn't managed to or hadn't been able to buy - or hadn't realized we even needed - in Perth (matching fold-up camping chairs, a giant saucepan, 50 litres of drinking water etc!). Unfortunately by the time we were done shopping it was already nearing dusk, so we only had time to make it as far as Mandurah (a mere 93kms from Perth!) before we were forced to call it a day. Not quite the dream start to the road-trip that we were hoping for, but at least we wouldn't be running out of water any time soon...
After successfully managing to spend our first night (without getting busted) in a lovely waterfront park in the centre of Mandurah, we woke the next morning to be greeted by blue skies and even bluer water, as we ate a leisurely breakfast beside the shores of Peel Inlet. Eventually we hit the road and followed the coast south to Bunbury, where another waterfront park provided the perfect location for a barbecue lunch; which was followed by a trip up to Marlston Hill, from where a fifty-metre-high lookout tower offered truly stunning views of the town as well as the
Secluded Splendour
Looking down on a beautiful beach in Eagle Bay surrounding coastline.
Further south we came to the popular tourist centre of Busselton, where the Busselton Jetty sticks out almost two kilometres into the blue waters of Geographe Bay; before following the setting sun west to find a perfectly secluded little rest area beside the beach in Eagle Bay - which Linda and I agreed would make a perfect overnight stop... though whether or not this would be legal (and, more importantly, whether or not we would get busted if it wasn't) we couldn't be quite sure. That was until we sat down to dinner a little later in the evening and a local guy came past on his bicycle and warned us "I'd be careful spending the night here if I was you - the ranger does his rounds every morning about 7am and you'll be in trouble if he catches you here". Needless to say we set our alarms for 6am the next morning, at which point we promptly hopped into the front of the van and high-tailed it back into nearby Dunsborough for another waterfront breakfast... this time with the added bonus of a couple of playful dolphins to watch over our coffees!
From Dunsborough
Good enough for dolphins; good enough for us
The beach at Bunker Bay, where we saw more dolphins we then headed all the way out to Cape Naturaliste, before doubling back and stopping off at the beautiful Bunker Bay, where we were greeted this time by no less than four dolphins swimming about in the azure waters of the bay. Having lingered all morning alongside the tranquil waters of Geographe Bay, we finally gathered ourselves and pushed on south along the tree-lined Caves Road toward our next overnight stop at Margaret River. After having managed to avoid paying for accommodation each of the previous two nights, we were quite happy to shell out twenty-five dollars to spend the night in a campground attached to a sheep farm at a place called Big Valley (just outside Margaret River) where we were able to enjoy our first hot showers in three days!
It had been our intention to take one of the multitude of guided winery tours around the Margaret River region (which is one of the most renowned wine regions in Australia) on Thursday; however after speaking to one of the owners of the sheep farm - who told us that all of the wineries in the area offer free tastings to visitors - we decided to make
Avenue of the Giants
Caves Road, south of Margaret River use of our own wheels (and save $100 each in the process) by doing our own self-guided winery tour. First stop was Watershed Wines with it's large artificial lake; followed by Voyager Estate where the elaborate gardens (and in particular the rose garden) were even more impressive than the main building; before we decided to mix things up a bit by stopping in at Olio Bello to sample their extensive range of olive oils, vinegars and dips (nibbles included!).
From there we paid a quick visit to the German-inspired Duckstein brewery (one of at least eight small craft breweries in the area, competing against over a hundred wineries); then stopped in at Gabriel Chocolate to sample some cocoa-related goodies; before dropping into Vasse Virgin where Linda pampered herself with their sample range of olive oil-based skincare products, while I did the guy thing and headed straight for the tasting room at the back to fill my stomach! With Linda's appetite for wines and olive oils satisfied, we still had just enough time to call into the Bootleg Brewery, where I was able to pick up a mixed six-pack of craft beers to take back to the campsite. And while
we may have used up about twenty dollars worth of fuel in driving around all day, we'd also managed to save the same amount of money on food by filling up on free snacks and therefore not having to worry about buying lunch! And that, my friends, is wine sampling for backpackers!
Friday saw us leaving the campground at Big Valley (though not before Linda gleefully took the opportunity to use her precious hair dryer for the first time on the trip!) and driving out to the mouth of the Margaret River, where thunderous surf pounds the shoreline every winter. From there we continued south along Caves Road - stopping off at Hamelin Bay where the resident stingrays proved to be somewhat elusive - admiring as we went the magnificent trees (which tower to over fifty metres in height in many places) that crowd the road at every turn. At one point we were both left dumbstruck as we followed a long bend in the road and were confronted by ever more towering trees the further we went, until it seemed that the forest itself would surely burst from the sheer number and size of these benign behemoths.
End of the road
Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse Eventually though we made our way out of the forest and into the small but scenic town of Augusta, where we enjoyed a lazy lunch beside the waters of Hardy Inlet - punctuated by yet another dolphin sighting - before taking a quick trip out to nearby Cape Leeuwin (where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean); and then with darkness descending we finished up at a privately-run (but inexpensive) campground at Alexandra Bridge, scenically located on the banks of the Blackwood River.
From Alexandra Bridge we headed east on Saturday morning, stopping off along the way at the almost-dry Beedelup Falls, before paying a visit to the impressive Gloucester Tree just outside Pemberton, where I was able to climb the 140-or-so steel spikes all the way to the viewing platform at the very top of the tree - 53 metres above the ground! Linda preferred to keep her feet on solid ground, being not overly keen on heights (which brings into question the wisdom of booking an adventure tour for both of us in Karijini NP in a month's time, involving a 40-metre abseil down a waterfall)! After a quick lunch in Pemberton we continued on towards our
Ripples in Time
Cruising the still waters of Walpole Inlet overnight goal of Walpole, though in the end we only just made it after coming close to running out of fuel (who ever heard of a van with only a 40L petrol tank anyway?!?) Thankfully though we not only made it to Walpole in one piece (just), but were then able to locate a rarity in this part of Australia - a free (legal) overnight rest stop!
Sunday morning brought our first guided tour of the road-trip - a wilderness cruise on Walpole Inlet, run by an extremely knowledgeable and entertaining local guy named Gary Muir. After cruising across the broad (yet very shallow) expanse of Walpole Inlet - and being treated to our fourth dolphin encounter for the week - we then went for a short hike from a landing near the mouth of the Inlet, across a narrow yet hilly peninsula, to a deserted beach facing the Southern Ocean on the other side. Having filled up on coffee and cake we then re-boarded the boat for the return cruise back to Walpole, with the surrounding countryside being perfectly reflected in the glassy surface of Walpole Inlet along the way.
Safely back on dry ground we then
stopped for a barbecue lunch in the centre of town, before setting out along the short but scenic Hilltop Drive - which thanks to the condition of the dirt road leading to Circular Pool turned out to be much more of an adventure than either of us had been anticipating! But eventually we did make it to Circular Pool, where the beauty and tranquility of the location - not to mention the solitude - lured us into the water for what turned out to be a very brief swim indeed... but one that neither of us is ever likely to forget! One week down; five weeks to go...!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.105s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 13; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0483s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
West Coast
A beautiful road