Geraldton to Denmark
We're Back Out Of The
Outback
Wildflowers, Well Some ....
Driving from Kalbarri to Geraldton it is clear that you are out of the outback
and back into civilisation. Whereas north of Kalbarri you don't see
any defined paddocks and minimal fencing of properties, arid landscapes and few
tall trees, as soon as you pass Kalbarri going south the landscape turns to
rich green farmlands, wheat and canola crops and the evidence of prosperous
farming communities. Quite a contrast in such a short distance.
After an overnight stop in Geraldton it was time to head inland to take in
the famous WA wildflowers. Due to the colder than normal winter
there was not as many wildflowers in bloom as we expected but still enough to
give a good idea of what the region would be like in full
bloom. Fields of pink and yellow everlasting daisies, wreath
flowers, all types of wattle, banksias bottlebrush and ????????????.
New Norcia, Amazing .....
After an overnight stop in Mingenew we proceeded on to New Norcia.
This community was established in the Victoria Plains
region in 1846 by the Benedictine Monks to care for the aboriginals in the
region who were being mistreated by the white settlers. In
the 20th century it became a major education centre and boarding school for the
district with both a boys and girls school capable of accommodating 280 students
as well as continuing to provide education for the aboriginal children of the
district. At it's peak it had 100,000 acres of prime farming land,
harvesting a wide variety of crops as well as sheep and cattle which was
sufficient to support all the food requirements of the mission. It
also made it's own wine and olive oil and had it's n flour mill which is still
in operation. If you ever have the opportunity to visit New Norcia
make sure you purchase some of the famous bread made by the monks.
After an overnight stop at New Norcia on the footy oval, as there is no
caravan park, it was on to Perth.
12 days in Perth
provided us with the opportunity to do the usual tourist things as well as
catch up with a number of friends and relatives. Unfortunately the
weather during our time in Perth
was very poor. Don't let anyone tell you that Perth does not have a winter. It does
and it's cold, windy and wet. After spending 15 years in Ballarat without
a raincoat, we had to go out and pay an arm and a leg for two waterproof coats
to fend off the constant rain and wind.
Rats Nest, No Rottnest, Read
On...... We took a trip out to Rottnest Island.
Named by the dutch explorer, Willem de Vlamingh, Rottnest is dutch for rats
nest and was so named because he saw quokka's, small marsupials like baby
kangaroos, that to him looked like a type of rat. 
Although the day was windy, cold and a little wet it did give us an opportunity
to take a bus tour around the island to obtain an appreciation of why the
locals carry on so much about this crappy little treeless island. The
rugged coastline, dotted with beautiful reef sheltered bays makes this an ideal
summer retreat for the the residents of Perth.
The entire island is managed by the Rottnest Island Authority, a government
organisation. All the accommodation and facilities on the island are
government owned and there are no privately owned facilities or housing on the
island. It all takes on a bit of a holiday camp atmosphere like the
famous Butlins Holiday Camp in the UK. As a result of it's
popularity they have to ballot the accommodation over the summer period due to
the high demand. It is a boating mecca and there are thousands of moorings
in the bays to accommodate the influx of yachts and motor boats over the
summer.
Friends, Relatives And The Cappuccino
Strip...... As well as catching up with our Perth friends and relations, Tim and Emma, Perth was also rendezvous
point to meet up with some Ballarat friends. The first of these was Noel
& Heather and we enjoyed two nights with them before they moved down
south. 
They
joined us for a BBQ at the caravan and we watched the North
Melbourne vs Melbourne Preliminary Final on TV. They are
on a 5 week holiday planned to escape the bad Ballarat winters.
Surprise, surprise the weather is worse in Perth. Our next meeting was with
another Ballarat couple, Lester and Wendy who are on a 3 month round Australia
trip. They left Ballarat at the end of June, travelling to Cairns, Darwin, across to
WA, down the west coast and back across the Nullabor to Ballarat. A long
way in such a short period of time. We enjoyed their company for the day
visiting the Freemantle Markets and having lunch on the Cappuccino
Strip. An enjoyable day.
Margaret River, At Last, Say's Liz ....
All good things must come to an end and unfortunately it was time to move on,
heading south to the Margaret
River area. A
couple of short stops to visit friends in Safety Bay and Mandura whom we had
met during our travels and an overnight stop at Bussleton and then down to
Taunton Farm Caravan Park just out of Cowaramup 
which
is located about 12 km from Margaret River township. The area down here
has seen plenty of rain with paddocks and the side of the road covered in
water. Our first day was spent dodging the heavy downfalls but we
managed to visit the township of Margaret River and a couple of well known
vineyards, one being Leeuwin Estate. Leeuwin Estate has outdoor concerts
in their grounds during the summer and they are very popular with Western
Australians. We had a tour of their winery and afterwards tasted some of
their popular wines. Another beautiful winery was Voyager (photo
inset). There we tasted more wines in their tasting rooms and restaurant
where money hasn't been spared in decorating. There are a number of
wineries to visit, some boutique small wineries which were well worth
visiting. As well as wineries there are a number of cheese
factories, chocolate and fudge factories, an ice-cream factory and
more. This is a fun area to visit but hell on the waistline.
Whilst staying in Margaret River we drove to Cape Naturaliste
National Park and took a
long walk around the coastline. It was blowing a gale and was very
difficult to sight any whales or dolphins but at least it did not rain.
The National Park had 65 mm of rain the night before.
Climbing Trees, What Next
... Our next planned stop was Pemberton, a small
timber town. Surprisingly, there are a number of unique tourist
attractions in Pemberton which makes it a worthwhile stopover. Our
first attraction was the Gloucester Tree. This 60 metre high Karri
tree has a series of steel stakes driven into the trunk to form spiral steps
right to a series of platforms at the top which are actually above the top of
the tree. Apparently there are a number of similar tree lookouts in the
region with the Gloucester
tree being the largest. These trees were a cheap and efficient way of
establishing fire lookouts. Rob was the brave one on this occasion and
climbed right to the top while Liz filmed his exploitation on video and
camera. Pemberton is a really pretty stopover and has a rail line
used for cartage of timber as well as tourist train. A visit to the
Pemberton Timber Mill the morning that we moved on, was really interesting and
an education on the timber industry. It is the largest timber mill in the
southern hemisphere and is highly automated.
From Pemberton it was then onto Walpole
and a visit to the Valley of the Giants and the Treetop Walk. Here you
walk on a suspended walkway which is 600 metres in length and gradually reaches
an elevation of 40 metres above the ground which gives you a view beyond
the height of some of the Karri and Jarrah trees.
A Real House To Stay In, Wow ....
Our next stop was Denmark
and here we stayed in a pole house owned by friends of ours from Perth, who kindly let us
stay in their beautiful home. Yes, it was a great feeling to be in a
house and enjoy the feel of space around us. Sue and Jack's house is
built on five acres in the bushland just out of Denmark with views of the inlet and
the ocean. We spent our time pottering in the garden and sightseeing
around the area which is quite beautiful. Denmark
is located where the forest meets the sea on the south coast and is 520
kilometres from Perth.
Our time here came to an end and it was time to move on and head for Albany, Esperance and Kalgoorlie
where we hope to see the official opening of the Olympic Games in Sydney.
The
highlight of this section:
It was great to catch up with friends and relatives and to spend
some time in the beautiful city of Perth but we
must say the highlight of this section is the Margaret River
area. Great wineries, a vast selection of interesting cheese,
chocolate and ice cream factories and fantastic scenery make this a truly
unique part of Australia.
Of the wineries we had the opportunity to visit, the most impressive was
Voyager Estate. Apart from great wines, the buildings and gardens
on this winery are outstanding and a credit to the owners. Well
worth a visit if you are in the area.
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