w/c 4th November 2013
Moving south of Perth and Fremantle, you encounter a wholly different country to that of the arid coast of mid WA. That area could be refered to as north west Western Australia; this new area is most definitely the south west.
On a map of this huge country, it's an insignificant area, but it is of course quite big. It's over 300km from Freo to Cape Leeuwin, the point at which the Indian and Southern oceans meet. To get there it's a beautiful drive through rolling countryside of bush, woods and vineyards. At this time of year it is most definitely Spring and the weather reflected this. During the next few days the maximum temperature varied between 20 and 16 deg C, which feels very cold when you have been wearing shorts for nearly a month.
The beaches of the south west continue to be stunning and nearly empty of course, but in places there are gneiss outcrops which have created a spectacular coastline.
It did rain a little, but really only right on the coast at Cape Leeuwin and we had a picnic in the car with the wipers on. Just like being in the UK.
We camped at Yallingup, a popular surf centre and the campsite barbie was well positioned...
It's been a great relaxing holiday and by now we are four weeks into it and looking good...( my cooking and a bit of warm sun?).
Expecting to see an ageing rocker with her? Well I'm afraid I'm just aging.
Margaret River is a major service centre of the area and is a lovely town with a few great cafés and coffee shops. We were there on Melbourne Cup day and many people were dressed up for the occasion and attending functions in the pubs and hotels. It's been a bit of a hippie centre over the years too and this just adds to its appeal.
Touring a little inland from there, we happened upon Gnomesville. Now I have never taken much interest in these mysterious beings and I saw enough in The Full Monty. However, they are full of surprises and close to the area of bush containing King Jarrah, the oldest tree of its kind in the area (at over 400 years), we found Gnomesville and there, carefully placed amongst the undergrowth and bushes, is the largest 'gathering' of gnomes that we have ever seen. We are still no clearer understanding how or why they have chosen to gather here.
.
After a few few days under canvas, we decided that in the cool of the SW, we should splash out on a nice bit of BnB so we turned up at Nannup and stayed overnight at Holberry House, a beautiful place in a very small village that acts as a local service centre. I'm now remembering my Human Geography and the hexagons of the service centre catchment areas.
As with many here in Australia, the owners had traced their roots to those early 'settlers' from late 19th century and they had an amazing story to tell of their own family and the fortitude with which they approached the challenges of establishing themselves in a new land.
You might call it 'wimping out' but with some very cold nights forecast and more rain, we opted to return to Perth / Freo for the last days of the trip. So we haven't visited the south coast and Albany or Esperance. That will have to wait for a much later time...
Moving south of Perth and Fremantle, you encounter a wholly different country to that of the arid coast of mid WA. That area could be refered to as north west Western Australia; this new area is most definitely the south west.
On a map of this huge country, it's an insignificant area, but it is of course quite big. It's over 300km from Freo to Cape Leeuwin, the point at which the Indian and Southern oceans meet. To get there it's a beautiful drive through rolling countryside of bush, woods and vineyards. At this time of year it is most definitely Spring and the weather reflected this. During the next few days the maximum temperature varied between 20 and 16 deg C, which feels very cold when you have been wearing shorts for nearly a month.
The beaches of the south west continue to be stunning and nearly empty of course, but in places there are gneiss outcrops which have created a spectacular coastline.
It did rain a little, but really only right on the coast at Cape Leeuwin and we had a picnic in the car with the wipers on. Just like being in the UK.
We camped at Yallingup, a popular surf centre and the campsite barbie was well positioned...
It's been a great relaxing holiday and by now we are four weeks into it and looking good...( my cooking and a bit of warm sun?).
Expecting to see an ageing rocker with her? Well I'm afraid I'm just aging.
Margaret River is a major service centre of the area and is a lovely town with a few great cafés and coffee shops. We were there on Melbourne Cup day and many people were dressed up for the occasion and attending functions in the pubs and hotels. It's been a bit of a hippie centre over the years too and this just adds to its appeal.
Touring a little inland from there, we happened upon Gnomesville. Now I have never taken much interest in these mysterious beings and I saw enough in The Full Monty. However, they are full of surprises and close to the area of bush containing King Jarrah, the oldest tree of its kind in the area (at over 400 years), we found Gnomesville and there, carefully placed amongst the undergrowth and bushes, is the largest 'gathering' of gnomes that we have ever seen. We are still no clearer understanding how or why they have chosen to gather here.
.
After a few few days under canvas, we decided that in the cool of the SW, we should splash out on a nice bit of BnB so we turned up at Nannup and stayed overnight at Holberry House, a beautiful place in a very small village that acts as a local service centre. I'm now remembering my Human Geography and the hexagons of the service centre catchment areas.
As with many here in Australia, the owners had traced their roots to those early 'settlers' from late 19th century and they had an amazing story to tell of their own family and the fortitude with which they approached the challenges of establishing themselves in a new land.
You might call it 'wimping out' but with some very cold nights forecast and more rain, we opted to return to Perth / Freo for the last days of the trip. So we haven't visited the south coast and Albany or Esperance. That will have to wait for a much later time...
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