The Best Hotel in Oz, Wine, Chocolate, More Wine, Cheese, More Wine, Venison, More Wine, some pretty landscapes and LOTS of animals!!

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Well it is safe to say that I am loving Australia!

On Monday we went diving as planned off Rottnest Island. The island itself is gorgeous, but i was a bit disappointed with the diving. The visibility was good but there was not that much down there to see apart from some pretty corals, a few small fish and a big samson fish. After the diving we had about 45 minutes to take a walk around the island. We saw the old prison and the old boys reformatory - which were both in use until 1901, and have since been converted into holiday accomodation. We also took a walk up to the Catholic Church, where there is an organ and a music book for you to play songs of your choice - amongst other things Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and even the Macarena song was in the book. In honour of Father Tony, the bells of Rottnest chimed "What shall we do with a drunken sailor" (I've never forgotten his tales of his time in the Navy and his fondness for Rum!!)

On Tuesday Tim and i parted company as he flew to Sydney to make his way up for a music festival called the big day out (slightly jealous as it features the Killers amongst other bands - but hey, i still have my memories of their secret London gig!) I had an action packed day - the first stop was Caversham Wildlife Park, where as well as seeing a lot of animals, I got to feed kangaroos, hold a wombat (which was like a big cuddly teddy bear!) and touch a koala bear. I then headed to the Pinnacles, which are massive limestone rocks that have formed over the history of time, and in addition to whatever we can see above ground, they all extend 40 feet below ground! The site itself is 410 hectares, and it is all covered in the Pinnacles dispersed amongst the shrubbery. After this, we headed off on our 4 wheel drive coach onto a dirt track and then onto a beach. Foolishly we thought this was the 4 wheel drive discovery part of our itinery....we were WRONG!!!! It might be a good time to mention that due to a lot of couples wanting to sit together, i ended up sitting in the front cab with the driver (it was a coach but the front part was like a HGV truck). We arrived at the sand dunes, which are effectively pure white mountains of the finest white sand I have ever seen - almost like talcum powder. These dunes continue for as far as the eye can see, and are extremely large and have very steep inclines to their slopes. So there i was, chatting to the driver, when he drove to the top of a dune, with an almost vertical drop. At this point i looked at the driver and caught his eye, and I recalled a question he asked me earlier in the day - do i scare easily? I said " you are not seriously going to go over the edge" and he simply flashed me a smile and put his foot down! No one in the back knew that we were even at the edge so they all screamed but i had the prime viewing seat as we lurched downward as if we were diving into the sand head first. But the driver knew what he was doing, we didn't topple over or anything, and he then proceeded to bomb around the dunes for the next 15 minutes or so - and made a point of reminding me that he gets paid for doing this - he is a man who really loves his job!!! We then parked up at the top of the steepest slope and i and a few others toboganned down the dune at an incredibly fast speed. It was scary but fun at the same time, but the hard bit was clambering back up as the only way was to plunge the board into the sand and use it to lever yourself up the slope, but all the while the sand from under your feet was disappearing down the slope and it was trying to take you back down with it! By the time we got to the top, not only were we physically exhausted and very hot, but we had sand everywhere - in our eyes, our mouths, our ears, and my scalp was covered in it - but because it was so fine, you couldn't dust it off! Tired but very happy I returned to Perth and collapsed in bed.

On Wednesday I started a 2 day trip to a region known as Margaret River. It produces about 3% of Australias total wine volume, but it accounts for almost 30% of Australias premium wine! The first stop of the day was to a winery called Xanadu, where we tried lots of wines and i found the Secession White Cabernet (which confusingly is a Rose) to be very enjoyable indeed, and thanks to a particularly nice French man, i had more than just a taste of it!! Yummy!! They also make a nice white that is very fruity - Secession Semillon Sauvignon Blanc. Apparently there is a stockist of Xanadu in London, but they don't know which ranges they stock but i intend to find out when i get back! After our liquid lunch we decided to have a solid one, and then headed to the Eagle Raptor centre where we saw some of the fastest birds in the world, plus a pair of owls that are the only pair of this breed living together in captivity in the world. The female is 13 years old and the male who has only just arrived there is only 3 years old. The pressure is on the toy boy to get her breeding, but the signs didn't look promising - they were both firmly sat at opposite sides of the enclosure, like a married couple who have had an argument! We then watched the handler with the eagles (incidentally he is the half-brother of Jack Thompson who is apparently a really famous actor, who spent a number of years living with 2 sisters, where 3 was not a crowd! Anyone heard of him? I haven't!!) Anyhow, the eagles were extremely fast but as you can see i managed to capture a few photos of them, and i then got brave and held one!

We then headed to Mammoth Caves - which were eerie but rather pretty the way they lighted the stalagmites and stalagtites.

Our final point of interest was Cape Leeuwin, which is the most South Western point of Australia, and it is where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. There is a striking white lighthouse here, which was built in 1896 and dedicated to the World's Mariners. I walked down the rockface and the view was simply breathtaking.

We then left Cape Leeuwin and I was dropped off at the basic hotel where a taxi (AKA a white limosine!!!) picked me up to transfer me to the hotel where i was staying for the night. I had decided to treat myself and upgraded to the 5 star option of Cape Lodge....and what a wise decision that was! To say the hotel was luxurious would be the understatement of the millenium! On arrival i was told they were serving the complimentary afternoon tea and would i like a pot of tea with a fresh baked muffin. I said yes and didn't regret it - the muffin was fresh strawberry and peach, and it was so light and fluffy - like nothing i have ever had in England. In 2005 Cape Lodge was voted as one of the worlds best 100 hotels by Conde Nast Travellers Gold List, and it was voted the best 5 star resort in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. I guess it is only downhill from here! But seriously, it is a beautifully styled hotel nestled in 40 acres of forest, lakes, vines and manicured grounds, with an award winning restaurant , a 14000 bottle cellar, free internet access (hence the increased number of photos on here now!), complimentary hand made chocolates in your room on arrival along with a personalised welcome letter, a flat screen tv and dvd player, fluffy white bath robes, and fresh flowers! If you are so inclined, you can play boules, croquet or tennis there, or have a massage or facial in your room. I had a fabulous evening meal - a complimentary hor d'oeurve (probably mis-spelt!) which was a sesame cracker with cheese topped with a slow cooked cherry tomato that melted in your mouth, and a sweetcorn and basil roll that was warm from the oven, followed by marron ( a form of crayfish but sweeter) with a trout and asparagus salad, and a nice glass of wine. I retired to the best nights sleep in a long time, and then headed to breakfast the next morning as the receptionist had ordered me to make sure i went as it was free and like no other breakfast i am likely to have experienced. She was right! 5 loaves of fresh bread to choose from for toast, massive individual platters of fruit, cereals, and then the hot menu, and more of the strawberry muffins! I had a selection and then got a nice French man to wrap a muffin for me to have later on! I was picked up and then the Thursday was a flurry of tastings - we went to 3 wineries - the notable ones were Bettanys - they do a lovely white wine called Sweet Dreams - very drinkable!! and they also do 2 Rose's that have been infused with Chillis, and the other was Redgate, where they do a very nice white port called Anastasia and then another white wine called Chenin Blanc. We also went to a cheese factory for tastings, a chocolate factory for tastings, a veal farm for tastings, and a brewery that did nice hot chocolates, and a small town where i discovered a fab shop called Moonwave that makes lots of potions, and i bought one for sleeping and one for rubbing onto skin allergies - it is brilliant stuff! We then were picked up by another coach and taken to Bussleton Pier for a light tea before we had the long drive back to Perth, where i had a nice surprise as i had the room to myself so another good nights sleep! Bliss! More photos to follow soon! Off to do my laundry now - it's exciting stuff being on the road!!

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