Our Road Trip Through Western Australia - Exploring the Sights of the South

Our time in Fremantle had come to an end but we were very excited to start our northerly road trip. We would be heading the wrong way for a while as we began our journey down to the South West corner of this huge country. We moved out of our little house on Norfolk Street, filling the car with our belongings and around 20kg of tinned goods thanks to Josh's pre-planning. It felt like the perfect time to be heading off as we cruised through the suburbs of Freo towards our first stop a few hours south, but things didn't quite go to plan. The rain began to fall and so did our spirits as only 10km outside of the city our car started behaving a bit strangely and smoke billowed from under the hood. We looked at each other in disbelief as the car had just had a service where they'd pulled up a pin hole crack in the radiator, saying it wasn't urgent, but we should get it sorted in the next few months. It was booked for as soon as they could do it which was a week later when we would pass through Freo again on our way North, but it looked like the radiator had other plans. There was some good news on our first day however, as we managed to crawl our way to a local mechanic and got the radiator replaced in a few hours. In retrospect we are thankful this happened so close to the city as it was easy to fix, but at the time we were furious! This meant our first day was a little different than planned, but we still had the afternoon to drive out to a lovely camping spot overlooking Lake Clifton.

There's nothing better than waking up to the sounds of birds, even if they are squawking parrots. We jumped out of our tent and saw our colourful, noisy neighbours hanging out in the trees above us. Our muesli seemed to interest them so we put a little in our hands and they fluttered over, gentling nibbling it as they sat on our fingers. After a while they started to get really confident and one even landed on my head, whilst Josh filmed them in the trees. We then headed out on the road, a little more successfully this time, to visit the fascinating creatures known as Thrombolites. They are the oldest living organisms, the ones in Lake Clifton are 2000 years old, but are only single cells that make deposits of calcium carbonate around themselves. They basically looked like rocks sitting just above the water line, but we have a lot to thank them for as they just so happen to be the reason we have oxygen in our atmosphere! The tempo changed a little as we sat down to watch the waves on nearby Preston Beach. We met a local who told us last year someone was snatched by a Great White not too far away, and then half of him ended up getting washed up onto this very beach. We quite sensibly decided not to pop into the water and carried on to Bunbury where you're happy to see fins in the water, as this is where Bottlenose Dolphins are found. The Dolphin Discovery Centre has clearly had a revamp and was a really lovely place to spend some time. We didn't see dolphins but we did climb on the best playground both of us have ever seen, it involved a pirate ship, kraken and a whale that sprayed water. It definitely wasn't just for kids, well that's what we hope anyway! We stayed in a camp just round the corner and after a stroll along the beach, we came back to our tent to find lots of Western Ringtail Possums scurrying around in the trees above us. If it's possible they are even cuter than the more common Brushtail Possum and are incredibly rare due to predation by foxes. It was lovely that the campsite had worked hard to make sure the area was possum and wildlife friendly, with lots of peppermint trees that really do smell like mint. We were settling in to our own home up in the trees with our new bed being a rooftop tent, which is incredibly cosy and peaceful.

After seeing such a lovely sunset the previous night, we thought we'd walk over to the beach in the morning and managed to catch lots of cockatoos squawking and nibbling the undergrowth. This day we were exploring the coastline of Cape Naturaliste National Park near the tourist town of Yallingup. There were lots of signs around mentioning that throughout March, April and May, Salmon migrate up in great numbers from the Australian Blight. The Salmon entice some other, slightly larger, creatures like the Great White Shark hence why no one was paddling in the bay for a swim. The beaches and water were still beautiful and as we sat on Castle Rock beach we spotted dolphins cruising along the shore. We then met a man with a drone who showed us the 3m long shark following just behind the dolphins. It made us realise again that Australia is wild and you never really know what is in the sea. We meandered along the coast stopping at Smiths Beach, Canal Rocks and the mighty Sugarloaf Rock which was a sight to behold on this sunny day. This region is the perfect place to go on holiday with so many relaxing pretty spots to discover, plus it just so happens to be one of the best wine regions in Australia. We couldn't help ourselves so popped in to a few wineries including Stormflower, an organic winery which specialises in Chardonnay that blew us away with the smokey oak undertones. We also went to Woodlands Wine which had some truly gorgeous Cab-Sav mixes. The day ended as we sat on the Pleevy Beach watching the sunset just below our campsite for the night, although we could feel a chill in the air as it began to drop to 10C at night.

We like to start the day right, and after a quick pop to Margaret River Town, we headed to Leeuin Vineyards for a sample of their wine and to enjoy the gorgeous surroundings. The Margaret River Region is not just famous for wine, but also caves due to the immense limestone deposits which have created caverns in the ground. We took a visit to Lake cave which has 300 steps to navigate into a big sinkhole so shrouded in trees you'd never know was there. It has a ground water source flowing through it, hence the name, and is full of spectacular stalagmites and stalactites, one of which has formed a table seeming to float in the air. It was a great experience but we wanted to see some more delights above the ground so raced over to Hamelin Bay. This is a beautiful beach area which is also lucky enough to have some very friendly stingrays living in the shallows. They were absolutely huge, some over one metre across and they came right up to our feet even in the surging waves. Josh was lucky enough to have one gracefully slide along his foot, probably checking to see if he had brought any snacks. It was eventually time to leave our new best friends to see a different type of landscape with rich green forests full of towering trees. The influx of water and rich soil have helped to grow these Karri Trees which are unbelievably tall. We felt like we were in a toy car as we drove through the vast forests. We were heading to the bicentennial tree which is an old fire spotting lookout that reaches 65m into the air, which you can now climb. There are no places to clip on, no safety nets, just some bars to lean on and drag yourself up. It is terrifying! We chatted about this climb all day, when we got there is was pretty overwhelming, but josh managed to get half way which is such an achievement. There is a lot of evidence of Bush fires here, as in most of Australia, and we even had to call the fire department for a flaming tree. We watched kangaroos in fields and even spotted some emus grazing with them as we rumbled over to our next campsite which was out in the bush. 

When you're camping it's always good to get some local knowledge about the area and share stories around a campfire, especially when the temperature is dropping down to single figures! We found that this part of Australia seems to be full of friendly people enjoying the diverse sights. There were more giant forests on the cards for this day as we headed to the truly massive Tingle Trees. They are only found in this small area of Western Australia due to the climatic conditions and can range over 75m tall, it takes them a long time to grow! They are true survivors and have adapted to living with the regular Bush fires that occur here. They can form huge chasms, which you can walk through, where the inside section of the tree is destroyed but the outside still manages to survive. What better than to see these trees from a new perspective so we headed over to the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk where you have the opportunity to walk on a suspended bridge 40m into the tree tops. It's certainly wobbly but so much fun to be up as high as some of the younger trees, still being dwarfed by the 250 year old adults! One of our favourite times of the day is lunchtime which we always try to make special. This day we stopped by Peaceful Bay with the pelicans and swans to have some Mexican bean wraps on the picnic benches. We have been so fortunate with the weather as the last few days were gorgeously sunny. The sun was starting to fall as we turned up to the magnificent elephant rocks, a collection of huge boulders that look just like a crowding herd of elephants. Just around the corner were the calm, crystal clear green pools where we chose to sunbathe for the remaining daylight hours. We settled into our beach side campsite at Cosy Corner with resident Bandicoots, rare little marsupials that scurried around us whilst we ate dinner.

In the morning we popped to see the wild South coastline, visiting a structure called The Gap where you have the chance to walk out over the crashing waves. It is strangely peaceful witnessing the power of the sea as you're suspended above, and comforting as the rugged coastline reminded us of the UK. More rocks were on the agenda as we drove over to Porongurup National Park to climb up the Granite Sky Walk. It was a tiring hike but short enough that we didn't mind the steep incline, then we got to the exciting rock and ladder climb. It was pretty easy, but lots of fun to jump between the boulders and climb up to the sky walk which was a metal structure that wrapped around the huge granite boulders. It was exhilarating being so high and seeing the huge drop between your feet. Before we knew it the time had come to head inland to the Stirling Ranges which are a huge collection of mountains that seem to just appear out of nowhere in this flat landscape. We were here to climb the highest peak, Bluff Knoll, but as we arrived we sadly learnt a lady had gone missing a few days ago so the hike was closed. The news teams covering the story sat with us around the fire at night which proved to be very interesting, as well as the other hilarious characters that joined us. 

This isn't something we ever wanted to have to write, but in the morning we found out the very upsetting news that Josh's much loved Nanna, Noreen Lem, passed away. I can't put into words how heart-wrenchingly awful it was to find this out and be so far from home, when all we wanted to do is send our love in this sad time. She was so supportive, attentive and caring to everyone in her life, but also in regards to our travels so we decided to hike a challenging mountain in her honour. It was very tough, both emotionally and physically as we scrambled 1053m up over rocks at almost a 45° angle. We took a moment at the top to gather ourselves whilst gazing at the breathtaking views, a true once in a lifetime moment. Despite the amazing places we have visited and experiences we have enjoyed, it is still the people that you share life with that matter most, especially when those people are as wonderful as Noreen.

"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it. White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."