It’s been almost 2 weeks since our last update and we have lots to talk about but we’ll get the weather out of the way first. Rain has fallen on many days, luckily only showers so not all day and we have had little wind so the 16 and 17 deg temperatures have not been chilled by cold wind. The nights near the coast have been relatively mild but very cold inland.  The last couple of days have been calm and sunny 20 deg.

Next topic – trees. The whole south-west corner of WA has huge areas of trees; huge karri trees, even larger tinglewood trees, ever-present peppermint trees (called peppi trees). Last January and February bushfires burned out an area larger than the Perth metro area but already the regrowth is amazing. Grasses, bushes and small trees and giant trees are all recovering and have fresh green foliage all over the place.

Next – grass. Wherever trees are not growing, beautiful bright green grass is. Farms are covered with it and sheep, cattle, horses and deer look very happy.

Next – places. After Albany we spent a couple of days at Denmark, a really nice town with great meals available at the many wineries, e.g. Castelli. Then to Peaceful Bay, a small fishing and holiday town with a fabulous fish shop where we ate fish caught by the caravan park owner. From there we enjoyed the treetop walk. Next stop was Walpole where we went on a cruise through 2 inlets to the ocean and were entertained by a very knowledgeable and personable cruise skipper. We stopped for a night at Pemberton where we thought about climbing the 75m high tree that has been fitted with a spiral ladder and platform at the top; thought about it but didn’t do it. We spent a couple of nights at Hamelin Bay, the beach where eagle rays feed amongst tourists in ankle-deep water. From there we visited the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, the south-western corner of Australia where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. Margaret River, or more accurately a bush camp about 12 km out of Margaret River, was a great place to stay for a few days. We took a full-day winery tour today that included 2 wineries, a cheese factory, a chocolate factory, a venison farm, a nougat factory and a brewery. There must be a couple of hundred wineries and most have restaurants; we visited 3 and had wonderful meals.  We have also seen lots of surf, really good waves at 2 to 4 meters high.

Now we are at Dunsborough staying in the yard of an old Army friend and his wife, giving us about 10 days in the very interesting Margaret River region. On Tuesday we’ll move to Perth for the next leg of our trip.

That’s all from us. Hope you are all well, as we are. Love from Ted and Jo.

65 metres high on the treetop walk at Valley of the Giants.

The Giants – beautiful Karri trees.

Amazing red Tinglewood tree.

Pelicans enjoying late afternoon at Walpole.

An after lunch drink at Leeuwin Estate winery, Margaret River.

Small surf on the west coast – we saw much bigger but didn’t bet a photo.

Hi again. Hope you are all well. We are both well and enjoying ourselves in sunny Albany for about 6 days.

It was a damp, dreary day as we left Esperance but we did have a bright spot when we caught up with our cycling friends, Jenny and Brian, who had left Esperance a couple of hours earlier. It will be interesting to see if we meet them again; although we drive faster than they ride, we stay in different places and for longer periods.

Next stop was 2 nights at Bremer Bay, a small town on an amazing bay and nearby peninsula. Nine beaches with 10 km are stunning, with more beautiful blue water and white sand.

100 km further on we spent a night bush camping at Cape Riche, about 20 km off the highway. There is a small caravan park for about 15 caravans or tents, no power or water for caravans but there was a toilet. Met some other South Australians and enjoyed wines around the campfire.

Cape Range National Park was another 80 km away and we stayed 2 nights in Cape Range Retreat, another bush caravan park. It had power, water and a good ablution block in a bush setting, with a communal fire site. The drive through the park was interesting, great scenery, lots of emus, parrots, kangaroos and wallabies. After parking the car at 400 metres high we climbed another 500 metres almost to the summit of Bluff Knoll. Unfortunately we couldn’t do the final 100 metres because the clouds rolled in and we couldn’t see well enough to continue. Even so we enjoyed the almost 4-hour return trip; it was very steep but we both did it without major after effects.

Albany was only another 80 km drive through green hills, finishing at Kalgan Caravan Park, which is situated on the banks of the Kalgan River. Although about 15 km out of town, we prefer this park because of it’s natural setting and less formal atmosphere. We have a riverbank site with a fire bucket and sufficient wood for 3 or 4 days for $10. It is very pleasant.

Although we planned a 4-night stay the weather forecast has been for storms with lots of rain and very strong winds so we decided to stay an extra couple of days. Albany has plenty to see and some nice restaurants so we have been quite happy here – and yes the cyclists have caught up to us so we had a few hours with them. We hope to leave tomorrow (Monday) morning, as long as the weather has settled.

Love to all from Ted and Jo

Climbing Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Range National Park.

Stunning Salmon Holes bay near Albany.

Near the top of the Granite Skywalk in Porongurup National Park.

Made it – she’s an accomplished climber.

Cape Le Grande national park is only about 50 km from Esperance so we thought it might be crowded and spoiled – not so. We camped at beautiful Cape Le Grande beach in one of only 15 secluded campsites. The sea was calm and blue – really, really blue – and the powdery, squeaky sand was an amazing bright white. Hiking over the granite hills was good exercise with fabulous scenery as a reward. We climbed to the top of Frenchman Peak with Jenny and Brian, who were riding (bicycles, not motor bikes) from Melbourne to Perth and still found energy for the 2-hour return climb). 3 days here could easily have turned into a week but the road beckons.

Next stop was about 150 kms away at Cape Arid national park. The campsite at Thomas River has 17 secluded sites and for the first 2 nights we were the only people there. More beaut scenery, interesting 4WD tracks and good hiking along the rocky coastline and sandy bays. We don’t actively seek out company but we did enjoy a couple of hours with a young couple who camped near us on the third night.

6 days after leaving Esperance we are back again so that we can wash some clothes and fill our water tanks. On arrival we still had more than 50 L each of washing water and drinking water so we could easily have stayed another couple of days. Although the skies were cloudy for a lot of the time our solar-powered batteries did not go below 12.3V and usually by afternoon they were over 13V. Unfortunately campfires are not allowed in these parks but that didn’t worry us as the weather has been quite mild; one day the max was 27 deg and at night it was still 20 deg in the caravan when we went to bed.

We’ll stay in Esperance until Tuesday morning, then head west toward Albany. Apparently there are plenty of nice beach camps on the way the 500 km (approx) will probably take a week or so.

Hope everyone is well. Love to all, from Ted and Jo

Cape Le Grand national park.  He eventually did have a swim (with a wetsuit).

At the top of Frenchman Peak.

Beautiful Hellfire Bay

Typical “highway” in Cape Arid National Park – without the caravan.