Once I finished up at my job in Perth, I decided to use the time off productively and head off down south to see a bit of this corner of the country.

I hired a car for 5 days and set off on Wednesday 11 October. It was a very pleasant drive south (apart from some initial very heavy rain which made driving on the freeway a bit hazardous!) and apart from a wrong turn in Rockingham, I eventually found my way out and continued south to Bunbury.  I stopped here and popped into the Visitor Information Centre to pick up some tourist brochures detailing what to see and do in the southwest.  I grabbed some lunch and then headed back to the Dolphin Discovery Centre.  Much to my annoyance however, it had shut for the day 5 minutes before I got there at 3pm!  So I just carried on south and came upon Busselton next.  I stopped at the Busselton Jetty, one of the longest jetty's in the world and took the mile long walk to the very end of it.  Was a very windy day though and I had to watch I wasn't blown off the edge!  On leaving Busselton, I carried on to Dunsborough and then Yallingup where I took another wrong turn and ended up down by the shore.  Sarah had mentioned that the surf in Yallingup is quite spectacular and she wasn't wrong! From there, I drove down Caves Road for 30 minutes and eventually arrived in Margaret River.  I was staying out at the 'Surf Point Resort' in Prevelly Park, by the shore.  Was incredibly quiet but very nice and modern.  I had a 4 bed dorm all to myself, which was excellent. 

The next day, I got up early and drove into Margaret River itself.  After some breakfast in a cafe and a look in the quaint little shops along the main street, I decided to visit one of the caves that the region is renowned for.  Following the Rough Guide's recommendation, I drove down to Lake Cave where a collapsed cavern overgrown with huge karri trees is the impressive entrance to the cave, where a unique "suspended table" hangs over the subterranean lake.  From here, I headed back up to a vineyard which Sarah had recommended - The Voyager Estate - and sampled a few of their wines, lovely!  I then made my way to the Margaret River Chocolate Company as a visit to the region is not complete with going there for some free samples.  Yes that's right - FREE CHOCOLATE!  Yum!  Then I shot up to Cape Naturaliste - the northern of the two capes - and went on an hour long walk round the various walking trail (had to work off that chocolate!) to take in the marvellous views.  There wasn't another soul about either which was nice.  After a one on one run-in with a huge male red kangaroo up on the hill....  I watched the sun set (which due to cloud cover wasn't as impressive as I'd have hoped) and then headed back to Margaret River and the hostel. 

On the Friday, I set off early (although not as early as I should have) and drove south to Augusta and onwards to Cape Leeuwin.  The southern cape and the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, situated at the point where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet.  After a tour of the lighthouse - where I got to climb right up inside it to the very top - I set off bound for Walpole on the southern coast.  Now, looking at it on the map it really didn't look that far, however never underestimate the distances in Australia.  I should have known it always takes forever to get anywhere here!!  It took me two hours alone to get to Pemberton and that's only half way.  Once in Pemberton, I stopped in at the Visitor Information Centre to ask the woman how long it would take to get down to Walpole from here.  She said anther hour and 45 minutes.  Well, I wasn't going to have driven 4 hours here and back for nothing, so I jumped back in the car and absolutely hared it all the way to Walpole and the 'Valley of the Giants' - so named because of the forest of massive tingle and karri trees that make it.  I made it to my destination - the Tree Top Walk - just in time for the last admission of the day at 4.15pm!  It's an engineered 600metre walkway which sways on half a dozen pylons among the crowns of the karri trees, 40metres above the ground!  Ironically, the most exciting aspect of the walk is not the scrutiny of the tree canopy - which isn't especially dense, close or teeming with anything more exotic than crows - but rather the fairground thrill of actually treading along the quivering walkway.  Definitely not for those with a fear of heights!  Anyway, after some food in Walpole, I set off back to Margaret River.  Unfortunately darkness was soon upon me and I was driving along these single carriageway roads where you could easily drive for 60kms without passing another vehicle!  After a wrong-turn which saw me drive for 30kms in the wrong direction only to have to backtrack, GRRR!  I eventually made it onto the road I wanted - Stuart Highway.  There was a 'warning Kangaroos' sign but I hadn't previously taken any notice of these as you never see any kangaroos anyway.  Well, it turns out they come out after dark and the road was absolutely littered with them.  Because I was driving with my lights on full-beam, they would be momentarily blinded and just jump out onto the road right in front of me.  I came within inches of at least four and had to keep swerving violently to avoid hitting them!!  It was quite possibly the worst drive of my life.  3 and a half hours later at 9.30pm I made it back to Margaret River in one piece and was so exhausted I just went straight to bed!

On the Saturday, I decided to return to Perth.  The car wasn't due back until 2pm the next day but I didn't want to have to rush back up on the Sunday.  So I checked out of the resort and after watching the surfers (who had gathered quite a crowd) at Prevelly Point, I headed north again.  Stopped back in at Bunbury and paid a visit to the Dolphin Discovery Centre.  Unfortunately by the time I got there I'd missed the dolphins who'd already dropped by earlier that morning :-(  but it was still quite informative and I felt happy that my $4 admission fee was helping with their upkeep.

On leaving Bunbury, I was snapped by a speed gun cop!  Haven't heard anything of it yet, so think I'm in the clear..... I stopped in at Mandurah for some lunch and then drove the hour further back to Perth.  Arriving with zero fuel and JUST got to a petrol station in time to refill - scary stuff!

So that was my trip to the Southwest.  Thoroughly enjoyable and nice to take some time out and escape Perth for a few days to see some new places.