After our 2 hour flight from Adelaide, we landed in Perth for what is my first visit to Western Australia. They say you can tell how much money a state has by the number of high-rise cranes there are in the city. I think Perth has one on every block. We stayed in a city hotel for a couple of nights.
The next day we took in the sights of the city, Kings Park, Perth Mint, Burswood Casino etc and picked up a hire car for the drive southwest. The next morning we headed off to Busselton (228km). After a short stop in Mandurah and Bunbury, we arrived at our hotel in Busselton. Before getting to the hotel, we thought we would have a stroll along the Busselton jetty. Nobody told us it is two kilometres long!! Unfortunately we got to the underwater observatory at the end of the jetty a bit late. We also picked a day when the jetty train wasn't running. Not to worry. At least we could check out what the fisherman were catching.
The next day, we headed along the Caves Road to Margaret River. There were a few surfers at Margaret River but the surf wasn't great. The Caves Road winds its way through the tall timber and beautiful bushland to Augusta and Cape Leeuwin, the southwest tip of Australia. I recommend the meat pies at the Augusta Bakery; just what you need for a trip to Cape Leeuwin lighthouse on a cold day. I could only imagine what sailors in the past would have thought when they saw that lighthouse after being on the ocean for weeks. We drove back through Margaret River township and visited a couple of wineries.
We left Busselton the following day and went to Albany (350km). We drove though the Karri and Tingle tree forests and stopped at the Tree Top Walk in the Valley of the Giants. The trees are absolutely massive and awe-inspiring. You can barely see the top of some of them. We spent a couple of days in Albany and went out to the Stirling Ranges. There were no wildflowers because it was winter but it's like a carpet in spring. We checked out the old whaling station in Albany which was very interesting and worth a visit.
After Albany, we headed off to Esperence (480km); a pretty town that has a couple of great fish and chip shops! We spent a day driving along the coast, visiting Cape LeGrand National Park and Lucky Bay. The coastal scenery is spectacular. Lucky Bay was one of the highlights with its whitest of white sand and the bluest of blue water along with kangaroos bouncing along the beach. Just like the pictures in the travel brochures.
We then drove off to Hyden and Wave Rock (500km), spent overnight there and back to Perth the next day (340km) where we had a few days left in Perth. We enjoyed a cruise down the Swan River to Fremantle, Some of the riverfront mansions are amazing. There sure is money in mining if you can get it out of the ground! We saw the sights of Fremantle including the markets, the old jail, the marina and maritime museum. Australia 2 is there. Remember the America's Cup? Kailis Fish Cafe on the waterfront has the best fish and chips I've ever had!!..
The following day, we went out to Rottnest Island; we didn't get the best day for the crossing but we got there. We spent the day bike riding around Rottnest and spotting Quokkas - they are everywhere. My football team (Geelong) happened to be in Perth at that time so we went to Subiaco for the game. They won!!! GO CATS!!! It was a perfect end to a perfect trip. I'll definitely be going back again someday and maybe next time I'll head north from Perth. There is so much to see in Western Australia and I've only scratched the surface.
To book a trip to Western Australia, please contact me.