Roadtrip 1, Day 9: Stirling Range to Lake Grace

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After breakfast we drove up to and climbed Bluff Knoll, the tallest peak in South West Australia. It was pretty hard going, not helped by the heat, but it was well worth it and I found a nice little spot to sit, eat my tuna sandwich and read. I was actually quite some time (engrossed in the tale of Koitick the white sealin The Jungle Book) and by the time I had finished I was the only person at the top; it was beautifully serene and pretty cool.

Once back down (and after my legs had stopped shaking) it was time to head off. I decided that we should try to make up some distance and drive up to a place called Lake Grace. Lake Grace is weird. Most people have probably seen a film where a group of kids drive into a backwater town and get slaughtered by the locals. Well, Lake Grace looked like one of these towns. I had images of us running for our lives through the surrounding fields with our screams masked by the sound of one us winding-up Dels's torch. Anyway, the lady at the Caravan Park (although Caravan Park is a bit too grand a name for the place) was really nice and put us at ease a bit at least. We went for dinner at the hotel across the road, which was an experience in itself - I thought we'd crashed a wedding party!

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