Monday 4th March
On our way east to Pemberton we entered  the first of many miles of forest. Just after this photo was taken two kangaroos hopped across the road in front of us - no time for photographs.

As we were nearing the small town of Pemberton we saw these two emus just off to our left.

After lunch we followed the superb Karri Forest Explorer Trail which took us off-road onto some very narrow bush tracks.

Our first stop was at a stand of red cedar trees near the Warren River.

It was odd for us to find ripening blackberries in March.

Our next point of note was this huge Karri tree. They are said to be the third tallest trees in the world.

At this time of year the bark naturally peels off the trees in strips exposing the lovely smooth layer underneath which eventually becomes the new bark.

As we were leaving we noticed this small bird underneath the giant tree. We believe it to be a Grey Fantail.

A much bigger bird, this emu, ran out into the road and kept in front of us for about a mile before turning into the forest.

Our final destination was Beedelup Falls. We found that the river bed was completely dry and so we had a waterfall with no water.

We were the only people there and as we walked back we came across this kookaburra perched on a bridge just a few feet away from us.



Sunday 3rd March
Today we drove south through the wonderful Karri forest in Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park.

Just as we were about to leave, this kookaburra posed for us on a tree stump.

As we headed towards Cape Leeuwin we saw reddish brown areas contrasting with the turquoise water. We found that this is caused by coral spawning.

We headed towards Cape Leeuwin lighthouse which was built on the most south westerly point of Australia. It is the place where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet.

As we were looking out to sea we saw several dolphins fairly close into shore.

On our way back there were several taller grass trees by the side of the road.

This is Hamelin Bay which was our last port of call on this stretch of our journey and has become our favourite part of this coast.

We were here as the tide was coming in and sat on some big rocks watching the waves crash in and fill the pools behind them.

There were several oyster catchers around in the area where we were watching lots of small crabs foraging for food.



Saturday 2nd February
Our first visit this morning was to Gracetown where we parked up to enjoy the view.

We moved up to the headland and found a flat ledge where we could catch the breeze and watch the big waves coming in. Quite a few surfers were just the far side of the rocks.

Further along the coast we drove down to Ellensbrook and walked the trail to Meekadarabee Falls on a path and boardwalk.

The falls themselves are quite small and were half hidden by a recently fallen tree.

Much of the area around was burned in an extensive bush fire in 2011 but is now beginning to recover.

Our final stop of the day was at Prevelly where we walked out to the headland for a view of the bay.



Friday 1st March
We woke to birdsong, some melodious and some screechy. The birds were around all morning calling and feeding.

Our first stop was at Yallingup which was super, lots of rugged rocks and rockpools containing fishes and crabs.

It was so hot that some of the smaller pools had evaporated leaving deposits of large salt crystals.

Canal Rocks was the next stop with the beautiful deep blue water of the bay and some small boats just off shore.

We drove down to the bay and sat for a while after some gentle clambering around the rocks.

Another side road led us to Injidup Bay with a virtually uninhabited soft white beach and turquoise water but no shade.

On our travels down the coast we saw lots of these unusual looking plants. Some resemble clumps of grass but the taller ones look like small trees. We have discovered that they are called grass trees.

Most of our journey towards Margaret River today meant that we passed through a large wine producing area with lots of vineyards offering tastings.



Thursday 28th February
This morning we took the miniature train along the 1.8 km long jetty at Busselton. It was originally built for loading timber onto sailing ships as they could not come close to shore because the water is too shallow.

At the end of the jetty is a very good underwater observatory with lots of windows looking out onto the jetty supports at several levels.

We walked back to the shore enjoying the views and the beautiful weather.

After lunch we drove to Cape Naturaliste where we followed a trail around the headland.

We took a side track to an observation platform to look out onto the ocean. Six months ago we would have seen migrating whales from here.

We drove on to Sugar Loaf Rock as the sun was getting low.

This is the bay just north of the rock where we spent some time enjoying the view.

We returned to the villa just as the parakeets were noisily enjoying their final feed of the day.



Wednesday 27th February
We tried to look for dolphins in the bay again but they were still being elusive.
We headed east to Donnybrook, the apple growing centre of Australia.

Everything in this town is apple related, the playground, the signs and even the street lamps.

Just outside we stopped at a fruit farm and bought a selection of apples, Pink Lady, Royal Gala, Fiji and Lady Williams. The person who sold us the apples had an English accent and we found that she came from Great Ayton, having backpacked around Australia in the 70's and stayed. The apple warehouse was about zero degrees and the fruit sorting and packaging process was very automated.

We travelled back towards the coast to our next base, Busselton, where we have rented a studio villa 100 yards from the beach.

Later in the afternoon we walked along the nearly deserted beach. The sand is white and very soft.

Just before dinner we relaxed by the pool, only to be disturbed by about a dozen ducks. We didn't fancy going into the water after that.



Tuesday 26th February
First thing this morning we drove to Koombana Bay, but still no dolphins.
We then drove to Marlston Hill Lookout and climbed to the top for views over the town and coastline.

A little further down the coast we explored Wyalup-Rocky Point Basalt Rock formations. This is an extensive volcanic deposit created by flowing lava . We spent some time here under shade as the temperature reached 38 degrees C (100 degrees F).

 



 Later in the day, when it was a bit cooler, we followed the Tuart Walk which meanders through a rare stretch of original Tuart tree forest.

We rounded off the day with a return visit to the Big Swamp Reserve to explore the boardwalk on the other side.