On to Perth

Our next stop was Perth. Our journey there allowed us to drop in and see the thrombolites at Lake Clifton, just south of Perth. While they look like rocky mushrooms, these are actually amazing rocks that have been growing for millions of years thanks to some busy micro organisms that are unique to the area.
Perth itself was quite a good place to spend Easter - sensible to avoid the holiday areas up and down the coast. We stayed at Fremantle, and really enjoyed being in that area - lots of things happening all around that area. We travelled into Perth and had a picnic lunch in King's Park. We followed that with a walk around Fremantle and Justin, Tilly, Isla and Maia all doing the brewery tour at Little Creature - they all really loved it, but Justin was the only one allowed to drink the samples at the end!
A real highlight of Perth was traveling 5 minutes off the coast by ferry to Penguin Island. As you'd expect, there were fairly penguin rookeries all over the island, and we even got to see some captive pensions being fed (they have a penguin rehab centre on the island also).
Photos below are-
1: Isla and the thrombocytes
2: On the ferry to Penguin Island
3: climbing trees on Penguin Island
4: Penguins being fed
5: Hiking on Penguin
6: Pia at Fremantle
7-8: Fun at King's Park in Perth city

Bunbury Dolphin Experience (not)

It was only an hour or so of driving that took us to Bunbury. Or aim there was to visit the Dolphin Experience Centre and hopefully get up close with the wild dolphins that often come into the shallows there. We spent a cold morning there waiting for the dolphins to arrive, but unfortunately they just swam on past. While a bit disappointing, it gave us all a great chance to learn a whole lot about dolphins and many others sea creature, and also to watch the turtles, sharks, and octopus being fed. Looks like we'll have to visit Monkey Mia, further up the west coast, to get close to some dolphins.
Photos below are-
1&2: Looking at the creatures in the touch&feel pool
3: Waiting for dolphins to arrive (they didn't)

Margaret River

We had heard a lot about Happy Valley Campsite in Margaret River, and decided to stay there for 3 nights. It turned out to be a great spot - a working sheep farm where they also have good facilities for caravans and campers. The kids particularly loved it because there were many other families there. Although there was no playground, they all had a great time playing in the huge fig tree, making bows and arrows from sticks, feeding the sheep, and holding the baby rabbits. Coincidentally, there was a whip-maker also staying there who was more than happy to let the kids try their hands at whip-cracking.

While in Margaret River, we did great things with some of the friends we had made along the way. Not far from Margaret River, we visited Hamelin Bay and walked among the stingrays which swim along the shore - Maia nearly stood on one by accident! We also went south to Cape Leeuwin, where Lisa and the girls did a tour of the lighthouse. We went north up to Cape Naturaliste, and just loved the beaches all through that area. A highlight was a long lunch at Duckstein Brewery and winery, where there was a great playground and lots of room to run around while the mums and dads tried the local brews. The girls also really enjoyed visiting the silk worm farm, where they were shown the fat worms that made the silk (they were even given silk cocoons to take home with them).

Overall, lots of fun was had in Margaret River. It was still cold and sometimes wet so we were ready to leave after 4 days, in search of sunshine and warmer weather.
Photos below are-
1-2: Maia and Tilly having a go at whip-cracking
3: Tilly and Lili learning about silk worms
4: Feeding the sheep at the campsite
5: Holding the baby rabbits at the campsite
6: Lisa and girls at Cape Leeuwin lighthouse
7-8: Looking for stingrays at Hamelin Bay
9: The grown ups enjoying a brewery / winery lunch

Back on the road - towards Margaret River

We were all excited to be back on the road, with only a few sore bits. We avoided Walpole (didn't want to see all those Karri trees again) and headed towards Pemberton and then on to Margaret River. We stopped for a night at Fonti's Pool near Mujimba, where Italian-immigrant Mr Fonti's had created a beautiful dammed pool surrounded by lush gardens. It really wasn't swimming weather, but the girls couldn't resist having a swim, and doing some jumping from the diving board. We only spent one night there.
On our way to Margaret River, we stopped in Pemberton to have a look around. We found a marron (yabbi) and trout farm, where the farmer was happy to show us around and tell us all about the creatures. He supplied marron to restaurants all around the country, and sold specimens ranging from100g to 400g. There were lots of trout there, but were to small to sell (we would have bought one for dinner). Photos below.
Leaving Pemberton, we headed North to Margaret River, where we planned to spend the next few days camping at Happy Valley farm.
Photos below are-
1: the girls climbing up the Diamond Tree (they didn't go any higher than this)
2-3: swimming at Fonti's Pool
4: looking at the lovely marron
5: Pia watching the trout swim around

A Freak Accident, and Recovery in Albany.

Just as we thought we were finally going to head North to get away from the rain we heard a massive crack just as we were getting in the car. We imagined that a Karri tree must have fallen down somewhere in the forest, but soon found that it was a large branch across our road out. As we were the only ones on the area, Justin decided to get out to clear the road just enough to pass by - Isla (always up for a bit of adventure) quickly jumped out of the car to help. After only a couple of minutes of clearing, the unexpected happened......another large branch fell and struck Justin on the head and shoulder, and Isla on the hand and leg. Justin was knocked unconscious with blood streaming from his head, while Isla fared better but was very sore. Lisa quickly took control of the situation and called an ambulance. No need for all the details of everything that followed. Justin and Isla had an exciting ambulance ride into Walpole, and then Justin was taken on to Albany hospital by ambulance. X rays and CT scans showed that Justin's neck, head and shoulder were ok, and his memory returned overnight in hospital. He just has stitches in his head, and a sore neck to remind him of the whole experience. We were hugely relieved that Isla didn't get hit directly by the log, but unfortunately she does have a small fracture in her hand (no plaster required by Isla, as it would just get in the way of playing).

Being a long way from home, this could all have been very difficult indeed. However we had great support from Lisa's cousin Scott and his wife Sally, who live in Albany. In fact Sally's extended family were amazing in letting us stay at Jocelyn's "holiday house" to recover. As shown below, a magic place with lots of grass, trees, history, and its own duck pond. We couldn't thank them enough for doing so much for us. Three nights there and we were ready to hit the road again.
Photos below are -
1: The scene of the accident moments before the branch fell (Justin and Isla clearing the road)
2: Justin feeling sorry for himself in hospital
3-4: feeding the ducks at Jocelyn's house in Albany (with Aunty Bev)
5-6: an excursion to see The Brig Amity in Albany (the ship that first brought settlers to Albany)

Valley Of The Giants

The wet weather continued as we travelled inland to Walpole, west of Albany. There we donned raincoats and did the fantastic Treetop Walk through the Valley Of The Giants. This was a walk along a platform suspended 40m above the ground in the treetops of massive Karri tree. As you'll see in photos below, the rain didn't get in the way of us really enjoying it.
We followed this by seeing more trees - the Grandma Tingle Tree and the Giant Tingle Tree - and then on to Swarbrick sculpture park, which featured sculptures such as massive feathers set amongst the trees. We left all this on high spirits as we decided to head North West towards Munjinup to get away from the wet weather. Unfortunately all didn't go to plan, as you'll see in the next post.
Photos below -
1-4: on the Treetop Walk through the Valley Of The Giants
5: Lisa and the girls with the Grandma Tingle Tree
6-7: In the Giant Tingle Tree
8: The girls looking at the feather sculpture at Swarbrick

Parry's Beach

Parry's Beach is just west of Denmark, and has a beautiful camp ground right on the beach where sites only cost $10 per night. We spent 2 very soggy nights there, but still really enjoyed it. A highlight was being able to have a camp fire each night to keep warm, and the girls roasting marshmallows with their friends. We definitely would have stayed longer if the weather allowed. Photos below show the girls with their friends around the camp fire, and then us braving the elements to have a look at the very rugged coastline around Denmark (Green's Pool).

Enjoying the rugged South West in the rain and wind (Waychinicup National Park)

We travelled from Alan and Susan's back to the coast, still in the South of WA near Albany. Ater hearing a lot about Bremer Bay, we were a little disappointed. Perhaps it was the wind and rain, or the overpriced caravan park, but it really didn't grab us. Fortunately our friends Andreas, Rachael and Lili helped us pass the time.
From Bremer Bay we headed west towards Albany to a little-known (and poorly sign posted) National Park called Waychinicup. Although we and or friends were the only ones there, there was room for about 20 camp sites right on a beautiful small inlet that was protected from the ocean. While the weather didn't do us any favors (it poured!), we still really loved the setting. Wen it was calm, the inlet was like am aquarium with lots of herring, angel fish, and even a wobbygong (?) shark easily visible. The girls absolutely loved exploring around the rocks while Justin fished. We've included some photos below
1. Hanging out in Bremer Bay
2. Pia climbing a tree with the help of her new friend Andreas
3. The girls forming a pyramid in Two People's Bay
4. Our camp at Waychinicup
5-9. Photos taken around the inlet at Waychinicup National Park