We had to set our alarms early again this morning. It’s hard getting out of bed when it’s still dark outside. So we waited until it was a little bit light. We had to meet at 8am down the road, so we quickly ducked into town and got petrol and Macca’s for brekkie. We met up with the club and were soon on our way to the Jewel Caves, just past Margaret River. The drive down was lovely, driving past a lot of winery’s, we recognised a couple, like Church View and Vasse Felix.
The Jewel Caves are amazing. We walked down some steep tight stairs into a humungous cavity. It was full of stalagmites and stalactites. We walked through the cave, getting further down as we went. The cave ended up being 25 metres deep. It was very claustrophobic at times and we often had to duck to avoid hitting our heads. We saw the fossil of a Tasmanian Tiger from 4000 years ago, as well as a Brush Tail Possum imbedded into the floor of the cave that was dated to be 500 years old. Neil had to carry William most of the way down as the stairs were too steep. However he decided he wanted to walk himself on the way back up. The stairs leading back to the surface were very steep and the walls were very close around. He managed to get most of the way up, before Neil had to carry him the last part, under protest. It was nice to get back out into the open. Its hard to describe how beautiful the caves were and amazing to think they exist underneath a rainforest floor.
We had a quick bite to eat and were back in the cars on the way to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse in Augusta. We learnt that Cape Leeuwin was the southernmost point of Western Australia, and also where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. We didn’t climb the lighthouse, but we had a nice walk around the grounds. The water was a beautiful aqua green and blue. There is even a large rock in the shape of a turtle.
The club have arranged to stay in Busselton for another night, but we decided to drive back to Perth and possibly go to the zoo tomorrow instead. We left Augusta at 1.30pm and Kelley drove the whole way home. The Barnes’ wanted to have lunch in Bunbury so we drove home ourselves. We got back in the Caravan Park at about 5.30pm. Jean & David pulled in about 45 mins later, but Steven’s car wasn’t with them. He had broken down on the Roe Highway, about 5 mins way from the caravan park. His battery had run flat as it’s not being charged. Neil and David drove a new battery to him and they were all back not long later. They will investigate in the morning as to what’s happening.