Turned the corner!

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Perth
Our last day in this lovely city. We got back on the bus down into town and walked down to the Jetty to see what trips were going - and booked ourselves on a lunch cruise up the Swan River to a Winery for wine tasting. This gave us 2 hours to spare so we took the free blue cat bus to the closest stop for King’s Park. The bus stopped right outside the hotel that Dave Taylor and I stayed in 16 years ago! Sullivans -and it doesn’t look like it has been painted since! We climbed the 242 steps of Jacob’s ladder (seemed a lot easier 16 years ago!) and then walked along to where I took the panoramic photos back then. The view seemed very different - the trees must have grown an awful lot! We took lots of photos to compare with those at home.
The lunch cruise was splendid! The food was great. They just kept bringing the wine We sat with a couple from Poland who didn’t seem to drink much but between us we got through 3 bottles! Then we had the wine tasting session! On the way back one of the crew treated us to some singing - he was really good. We all rolled off the boat after 3 and a half hours having made lots of new friends! A great day out.
Next day we had a tour of the botanical gardens in Kings Park - what a wonderful view of Perth you get from here. Then we actually went North again - to Yanchep National Park where they had some Koalas - the first we have seen this trip.

Next was Bunbury - which has pods of over 100 dolphins regularly cruising the harbour (but not whilst we were there). The weather is now like a bad summer’s day at home - it is raining and cold - the rest of Australia is having record temperatures and is all under threat of major fires, and we are sitting in the rain!
Busselton - the town with the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere - and it is closed for renovations (not before time by the look of it)
Cape Naturaliste - a wonderful spot for watching whales - and we saw loads of them, ‘blows’, ‘humps’, flippers, flukes and even some breaching.
We went down Ngilgi Cave which is billed as ‘semi guided’ - which actually meant a quick talk by the guide then ‘you are on your own chum’ - which was great - we spent a couple of hours down there pretending to be pot holers.
Margaret River Wineries where we have been wine tasting (hic) , cheese tasting (yum) and chocolate tasting (yum,yum)
Then on to Augusta where we realised on looking at the map that we have turned the corner and are now heading East - on our way home. Boohoo. Lovely campsite here, right on the banks of the river. Mosquitoes as big as teaspoons.
Northcliffe - We headed off to the land of the big trees today. The forests are made up of Karri, Marri and Jarrah trees that just grow very tall and very straight. The weather is back to its blue sky and sunniness, but we were in the shade of trees for most of the day. We arrived in Pemberton to find the Gloucester Tree - this tree is 65metres high (around 200ft) and has rungs driven into it, so that it can be climbed (at your own risk). After Fremantle Prison Tunnels, I know my limits, but Barry still has to find his - and shinned up the first bit like a gazelle. Slowed down a bit after the first 40 metres but was still able to give me a cheery wave from the top. It wasn’t until he got there that I remembered he had the car keys! Fortunately he made it back down without incident.
Drove through some more trees and rested our weary heads at a lovely site in Northcliffe where we are surrounded by kangaroos, alpacas and laughing kookaburras.

Spent a lovely day today in the Valley of the Giants (Red Tingle Trees) - doing an amazing treetop walk (better than climbing I can assure you - photos next time)

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