Margaret River, Mammoth Caves, Hamelin Bay and Cowaramup

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We had a day touring the beautiful Margaret River area today. The vegetation is lush and the landscape rolling. The fields are full of cows and sheep.

Headed south from Busselton to Mammoth Cave which is a large limestone cave full of stalagmites and stalagtites. The lady at the gate was from Scotland and has lived in WA for a number of years - she was singing the praises of this part of Oz. We had to agree with her. The tour of the cave was with a digital audio device and was very informative. We took lots of pictures but only a few worked well. After coming out of the cave, we followed a 700m trail through the bush. The plant life was spectacular with enormous trees and dense brush. The canopy was full of singing and chattering birds.

From Mammoth Cave we headed south to Hamelin Bay where we had hoped to see rays which come into the bay to feed. Unfortunately there was a very strong wind which whipped up the sand and the sea. It made the surface of the sea choppy and it was impossible to see any rays.

Next stop was Karridale where we had a substantial lunch in the restaurant which is hidden behind the bar. We have often noticed the very poor signage in WA. The people putting the signs up are familiar with the location but visitors are not. Distances are often omitted, some signs are directional only and leave you wandering around because nobody has thought to put up a sign on a door, gate or entrance. The restaurant in Karridale was like this.

After lunch we headed back to Margaret River. It is a charming town full of attractive shops and located beside the river in a woodland setting. Whilst obviously a tourist trap, there are two major supermarkets and all basic services. We had afternoon coffee in a café on the main strip and then did some shopping for small gifts to bring home.

The afternoon seemed to glide by and we were soon heading homewards to our apartment , stopping in Cowaramup to take some photos of the many cow sculptures that fill every corner and open space in the town.

It was dusk when we got back to Peppermint Park so we decided to go and look for possums in the trees near to the apartment. Shining torches into the upper branches, it was not long before we saw little eyes reflecting back and within minutes we had spotted four possums in the trees. In the nearby pond the frogs croaked to each other. There is a variety of frog here called a 'Motorcycle Frog' - it makes a sound like a fast accelerating motorbike. The Australians do like simple descriptions - like the 'Great Sandy Desert', 'The Snowy Mountains' and the 'Bottle Brush Tree'. Anyway, last night the frogs sounded like the Manx TT races.

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