Thursday 7 Dec - Freo' to Bunbury

Got up and collected the hire car, drove it back to Will & Jane's only to find it had a flat tyre. Will & Ed changed the tyre then went back to the hire company..... and stopped off on the way back and bought a tent! The school holidays have just started over here so they thought it may be difficult to find accommodation so the tent was originally a back up plan. However after we were kitted out by Will & Jane with an airbed, gas stove, lamp, eskie (also known as a coolbox!), chairs, and a picnic set we decided we would go on a camping adventure! So off we set on our travels and after a couple of hours reached a place called Bunbury. We set up camp at Koombana Bay Holiday Resort, it is so long since we have camped at home that we don't know if campsites at home are as good but this one had a nice toilet/shower block, gas BBQ, and a campers kitchen containing a fridge, cooker etc. so we were sorted. We had a walk into Bunbury and finished off the day with fish and chips on the harbourside.

Friday 8 Dec - Bunbury & Busselton

Got up and our first stop of the day was the Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre. After watching a short documentary and reading the exhibits we went out to the Beach Interaction Zone to see if we could spot any dolphins. There are apparently over a hundred dolphins that live in the bay, and 34 of them regularly visit the centre. We sat around for about 90 minutes and were just getting ready to leave when we noticed people walking to the water. 'Levy' the dolphin had arrived so we joined everyone in a line at the waters edge and watched whilst she just swam up and down in front of us. She seemed very at ease with everyone but you are not allowed to touch or swim with them but it was pretty amazing being that close to a wild dolphin anyway.

We then drove on to Busselton and headed for the beach. We walked along Busselton jetty - at 1841 metres long, it is the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. It has to be said it does look pretty dodgy in some places, and after we heard that they had to stop a tourist train running along it for fear of it collapsing we trod a bit more carefully! At the end of the jetty we visited the Underwater Observatory, an 8 metre deep glass observation chamber, where we were able to see huge amounts of coral and fish.

We then drove to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, unfortunately the lighthouse was closed by the time we arrived but we had a walk around the area. We were on the 'Whale Lookout Trail' when we walked around a corner and Ed gasped..... Lisa thinking he must have seen a killer spider or snake kept her eyes on the floor and at first didn't see the kangaroo right in front of us! He just looked at us then hopped off but didn't seem particularly bothered by us. Later we drove back to the campsite and had a barbie.

Saturday 9 Dec - Bunbury to Margaret River

Got up and went to the Dolphin Discovery Centre again. This time 'Nicky' came to say hello - apparently named this as she has a dent or nick in her dorsal fin! We then drove towards Margaret River, the whole area is a huge wine producing region so of course we were in our element. We visited various wineries (Vasse Felix, Voyager, Leeuwin Estate and Edwards.... yes, Ed now has his own vineyard/winery.... we wish), the Bootleg Brewery (had a beer on the lawn outside) and the Margaret River Chocolate Factory. Wine, beer and chocolate - yum yum! We set up camp then drove to Redgate Beach - huge boulders just behind the beach, and strange shingle sand of all colours (have you ever seen orange and pink sand before?). Watched some surfers falling off their boards then headed back to our campsite for another barbie.

Sunday 10 Dec - Margaret River to Pemberton

Drove to Hamelin Bay as it was recommended by Will & Jane. Another beautiful beach.... with huge stingrays in the water! Will & Jane had mentioned them but we didn't expect to see any or for them to be as gigantic ..... they must have been over five feet long... but a sign on the beach said they are friendly stingrays - if only Steve Irwin had filmed those ones instead?! We then drove to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, the most south westerly tip of Australia, where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. Fantastic rugged coastline scenery, and we even got to have tea and scones! We also went to see the waterwheel which was originally used to transfer water to the lighthouse, but it is now calcified by the minerals and salts in the water. We then continued our journey to Pemberton where we stopped off at the tourist information point to find information about campsites. We decided on a site in the Warren National Park - we were told that it was pretty basic (drop toilets, no showers) but we weren't told that it was about 3 miles down an unsealed road! The car wasn't insured for unsealed roads but there was no turning back as it was a one way road. We eventually found the site which was literally in the middle of a huge forest and set up the tent. We then headed out to the Gloucester Tree, a 61 metre high karri tree, which was 'pegged' in 1946 so that it people could climb it to look out for fires. We were amazed to see that it was unmanned with just a small sign stating the risks and that not more than six people should climb it at once.... pretty difficult to work out how many people are at the top of a 61 metre high tree! Not being a great fan of heights, Lisa climbed up a few pegs and left Ed to climb to the top. We headed back to the campsite and arrived just as it got dark. Ed built a camp fire as we both listened to somebody or something walking around in the forest behind us! Lisa got into the tent only to find she was accompanied by a couple of huge red cockroach-a-like insects.... whose idea was it to camp in the middle of the forest?!?!

Monday 11 Dec - Pemberton to Albany

Drove through the karri tree forests to the Giant Tingle Tree, at 24 metres it is the largest, living, girthed eucalypt in the world. The base of it is hollow because of a fire inside it, but somehow the trees still continue to grow. We then drove to the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk. This is a 600 metre long metal bridge which travels up to 40 metres above the ground so we were actually walking amongst the tree tops. We then walked on the boardwalks below on the Ancient Empire Walk, through the massive tingle trees. We then drove to Albany and put our tent up at the Middleton Beach Caravan Park which is a one minute walk over the dunes to the beach. Lisa had a swim in the pool and relaxed in the jacuzzi, then we tried to cook some kangaroo steak on the barbie and washed it down with a few glasses of wine - it's a hard life!

Tuesday 12 Dec - Albany

We had a walk around Albany, not much to see although it is the oldest european settlement in Western Australia (1826). We then drove to the Torndirrup National Park to see some of the amazing natural rock formations caused by the sea. We visited The Gap and the Natural Bridge (see the picture above) and were amazed to see people walking over the bridge despite all the warnings about people being killed by freak waves and gusts of wind (Mums and Dads, don't worry - we stayed behind the barrier!). We then walked down to the Blowholes - they weren't 'blowing' but still pretty spectacular scenery. We also noticed some weird bushes like nothing we have seen before - they look like they have coloured toilet brushes on them. Lisa nicknamed them the 'Basil Brush Bush' until we find out what they are - answers on a postcard please! Our next stop off was Salmon Holes and we had the whole bay to ourselves. It is amazing that it is the start of the main holiday season here yet you can still sit on an amazingly beautiful beach and be the only people there (although it maybe had something to do with the freak waves that sometimes occur there maybe?). Ed laid out on a big rock whilst Lisa went for a walk along the beach. It was so hot the sand felt as though it had been baked and had a crust on top! We drove back to the campsite for more jacuzzi, wine and barbie!

Wed 13 Dec - Albany to Mandurah

Started the big journey back to Perth, the car has to be back early in the morning so decided to drive most of the way back today, well Ed drove, Lisa slept! Had a few stops in some small towns - Dwellingup (nothing there!) and Pinjarra (lunch at the Heritage Tea Rooms). Arrived in Mandurah, put the tent up - it was so windy it looked like it was going to blow away! Had drinks at a cafe, saw a couple of dolphins in the bay, then back to ours (the campsite!) for takeaway pizza and wine.

Thurs 14 Dec - Mandurah to Perth

Got the car back on time but lost the deposit due to a slight dent in the side of the car that Ed managed to make - oops. Had luch at La Tropicana in Freo' then walked around the outside market which reminded us of being at Glastonbury. Ed sat drinking beer on the Cappucino Strip whilst Lisa went looking for a new pair of thongs (i.e. flip flops just in case you don't know the local lingo). Got back to Will & Jane's for another fabulous barbie.

Fri 15 Dec - Freo'

Got the train to Subiaco (also known as 'Subi'), a very trndy suburb of Perth. Had a stroll around the Station Street Market - a very hippyish market. In the evening we went up to 'The Hills' with Will, had a barbie at his friend John's (Scottish) with a couple more of Will's friends (who were Irish so we completed it being English!), then went to the Mundaring Sports Club for a folk night. We were a bit late but it is very serious stuff and you get told off if you talk so we crept in, got some drinks and found a table. We weren't too upset at being late as the first woman wasn't much good but were pleased to hear that they did get better. The last band 'The Miles To Go Band' were actually pretty good.