Western Australia

THE museum to see in Darwin is the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.  Housed here is the stuffed remains of Sweetheart, a Northern Territory icon.  Sweetheart, a 17-foot estuarine crocodile, had a fondness for biting outboard motors.  After numerous attempts to capture him, Sweetheart met his demise during a botched capture that led to his drowning.

Me and Sweetheart

 

It is said that there are more things that will kill you in Australia than anywhere else in the world. And the Museum has displays dedicated to all of them – from Sweetheart to tiny marine jellyfish the size of your pinky fingernail, toxic caterpillars, stonefish, venomous snakes, innocuous looking cone shells, box jellyfish, funnel web spiders, and sharks.  These can be found along beaches and shallow coastal waters – a trip to the beach here can be a deadly outing – and in the bush outside your back door.  It was interesting to see them up close – stuffed and behind thick glass!

We spent a lot of time in Darwin researching transportation to the northwest corner of Western Australia.  Our original plans called for visits to Broome and the Kimberley region of Western Australia, the Bungle Bungles, Monkey Mia and Shark Bay.  We underestimated the vast distances between all these locations and the big bucks it would cost to fly there.  With the exception of Broome, these locales are not serviced by the big airlines.  Chartering is the only way to fly.  And four-wheel-drives are the only vehicles that can safely handle the unsealed roads linking them.  Guided tours were considered as an option, but most of them were seven to ten days in duration.  Since we had just one week before we were to meet Ashley and her parents in Perth, we had to rethink our travels.

As temperatures in Darwin were approaching 101⁰, we left town before 5AM on October 5^th for a four hour flight to Perth.  Upon landing, we headed to the Avis counter, picked up the keys for a Holden Storm sedan, loaded our gear and hit the road all the while repeating ‘drive on the left, drive on the left.’  Destination – Bunbury on Geographe Bay, 112 miles south of Perth and about as far as we could see ourselves driving after our early morning wakeup.  We wandered about town, climbed the Marlston Hill Lookout Tower, and went foraging for dinner.  After eating out so much, we faced a dilemma – no restaurant held any appeal. L

Looking out at Geographe Bay from Marlston Hill Lookout Tower

 

After a good night’s rest in Bunbury, we were feeling reinvigorated and ready to move.  The Margaret River region is Western Australia’s premier wine area.  The first significant planting of vines only began in 1967.  There are now close to 200 wineries producing Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and other varietals of award winning quality.  Most wineries open their cellar doors to visitors.  We would not be bored here! 

At Cape Naturaliste Vineyard in Yallingup we learned about clean skin, a term used to refer to full but unlabeled bottles of wine.  All that wine has to be bottled but sometimes the winery just runs out of labels.  We picked up a fine clean skin Sauvignon Blanc for just $10AU.  Who needs a label?  We will certainly open and finish the bottle before we forget what it is.

Cellar door after cellar door line both sides of Caves Road.  We made a stop at Laurance Winery hoping to get a bite to eat at their café.  After perusing the menu of items that neither of us could pronounce, we decided this was not our kind of eating establishment.  Time to head back to the friendlier Swings&Roundabouts Winery for wood-fired pizza.

Lady of the Lake or Chick on a Stick at Laurence Winery

 

You can’t start your day with winery visits (well, you could but we chose to pace ourselves) so we opted for a jaunt to the Indian Ocean beaches at Prevelly and Gnarabup.   The weather was less than ideal – storm warnings were in effect for the coast of southwestern Western Australia from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin. Cloudy with intermittent sunshine, gusty winds and periods of heavy rain.  (At times overnight, listening to the storms, we felt like we were home living through Hurricane Matthew!)  The surf was rolling with awesome waves and a few intrepid surfers were out catching rides.  The dunes were alive with vibrant flowering shrubs.  Buffeted by the wind, we trekked along the walkway to the mouth of the Margaret River marveling at the beautiful color of the Indian Ocean.  By the time we got back to the car, it was a respectable time for wine tasting.

Prevelly Beach and the Indian Ocean

 

This area of Western Australia is not just all about wineries and breweries, art galleries and boutiques. There is also the Southern Forests region to explore.  On our way to the town of Denmark, we drove through the endless forests of towering karri, jarrah and marri trees before finally arriving in Walpole where the ancient tingle trees are found.  Within Walpole-Nornalup National Park is the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk.  This walkway is suspended 130 feet above the forest floor, giving visitors a bird’s eye-view of the forest.  Even when you are up this high, the treetops are still overhead! 

Tree Top Walk

On the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk

 

The hollowed out base of a healthy tingle tree

Burls, bulges on the tree trunks caused by insect and fungal damage, give each tingle tree a unique character.  We convinced ourselves that one tingle tree’s burls had formed the face of a koala bear high up on its trunk.  Then there is Grandma Tingle, a 400-year-old tree whose base looks like the gnarly wrinkled face of an old woman. 





Grandma Tingle

 

On our way to Denmark, we stopped at Wilson Head for a spectacular view of the Southern Ocean.
 



 

 

 

Three kangaroos in the bush behind our room at the Koorabup Motel in Denmark, WA

 

The water of the Southern Ocean crashes underneath the Natural Bridge at Torndirrup National Park
on the way to Albany, WA
 

Listening to the roar of the blow holes at Torndirrup National Park

 

Along Mercer Road in Albany there is a wooded drive-thru area displaying a collection of works carved by a fellow with a chain saw.  It would have been interesting to meet him.  Here are some of our favorite carvings.

 

 

 

In our travels across Australia and New Zealand, we noticed that every town no matter how small had erected a memorial to their service men and women from World War I.  The town of Albany was no exception.  In late 1914, over 40,000 Australians and New Zealanders left the port of Albany in two convoys bound for the battlefields of Gallipoli, Palestine, Sinai and the Western front.  For more than one-third of these Anzacs, it would be their last ever view of Australia. 

A tranquil Port of Albany today

 

 

This monument stands on the summit of Mount Clarence in the Albany Heritage Park.  It features two soldiers, one an Australian and one a New Zealander.  It is a replica of a monument that once stood on the banks of Port Said in Egypt.  That statue, paid for by the Anzac soldiers after the First World War, was toppled in 1956 during the Suez Crisis.  Some of its remnants were eventually returned to Australia.  This Desert Mounted Corps Memorial was unveiled in 1964.



 

We returned to Perth today where we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Ashley and her parents tomorrow morning!