Thistle Cove, Cape Le Grand National Park, Esperance

Photo’s are here or you can just click on the photograph above.

1. Perth & its environs:

We were booked into an apartment steps from the beach in Cottesloe for our first week in Western Australia. We have now both retired and as soon as Geoff hung up his high-tech hat at Red Hat we were on the first plane out of Florida to Australia for 6 weeks. We started with 24 hours in Sydney and will end back in Sydney (see our NSW blog to follow). Jet-lagged and starving on our first morning in Cottesloe we walked to John Street Cafe for breakfast which sits on a treelined street amongst elegant California Bungalows with pretty flower gardens. John Street Cafe is in a historic art deco building painted in soft blue. Everywhere looked very peaceful and upmarket as I expected Cottesloe would do. We walked on to Boatshed Market – Perth’s answer to the posh US chain of Whole Foods (except it’s 50-100% more expensive) but if you want top quality you’ve gotta pay for it in this relatively exclusive, upmarket coastal suburb of Perth. Mid-morning we took a walk along the golden sands of the beach and back along the length of Marine Parade, a popular pathway for strolling, running and cycling overlooking the Indian Ocean. With our body clocks still entirely confused we wandered down again later for one of Cottesloe’s famous sunsets which is best viewed from the grassy banks at the side of “Indiana Cottesloe”, an iconic sunflower-yellow painted pavilion-style building just a few steps from the sand. Cottesloe is a great place to stay with excellent rail connections to Perth, its environs and Fremantle.

The highlight of our week in the Perth area was, without doubt, our day trip to Rottnest Island with Rory (an old school friend of mine from my teenage years in England whom I haven’t seen since for 35+ years) and his Australian wife, Sarah. Apart from picking up a strong Australian accent (which floored me for a minute since he used to speak with a very posh English BBC accent 😉) thankfully he hadn’t changed much at all and we had a fun day catching up, having a laugh, reminiscing and getting to know each other’s spouse. We caught the 30 minute ferry ride on the Rottnest Express from B Shed in Fremantle. As expected Rottnest is a breathtakingly beautiful island, popular with locals and tourists who flock there for its beaches, diverse scenery, superb clean air and the chance to take a selfie with the very cute furry quokkas (its most famous herbivore marsupial residents). Quokkas are the size of a small cat with the face of a smiling cartoon rat and everybody loves them! The ferry docks at Thomson Bay which is a small settlement and a great place to pick up coffee and breakfast. We took the 8:30am ferry and arrived at 9am just in time for coffee and a “crayfish dog” (a crayfish sandwich with salad and spicy mayo) at Lane Cafe. It was worth the ferry fee alone!

We bought tickets and caught the Quokka Island Explorer coach from the Thomson Bay settlement. The bus services 19 stops running clockwise around the island. First stop for us – stop #3 – Henrietta Rocks which provided a first taste of the fabulous beauty and tranquility we would see during our day trip. We walked a short distance along the beach and rocky shoreline and then, back up at road level, we walked half an hour to Parker Point and Little Salmon Bay where we picked up the Quokka Explorer at stop #6. The coach (which can get quite busy) continued along the length of the southern coast to the most southwesterly point of the island – Cape Vlamingh at stop #11. This is the most rugged section of coastline on Rottnest where you can watch blubbery fat seals frolicking in the water from the Cathedral Rocks viewing platform and admire the iridescent hues of greens and teals and cerulean blues. Here you will find some of the cleanest water and the cleanest air on the planet. Catching the coach again at stop #11 we continued another 2 stops and got off at #13 to start a 3.5 mile point-to-point walk along the Karlinyah Bidi trail.

I knew that it would be beautiful hiking with views down over the bays and it didn’t disappoint. The trail crossed scrubby headlands where you had to keep half an eye out for slithering venomous snakes, through stands of shade trees and along the sand right at the water’s edge. As the brilliant white sands and shallow teal waters of Stark Bay stretched ahead of us and there wasn’t another living soul in sight, Sarah suggested we took a quick dip to cool off. It was a day of firsts – skinny-dipping in the Indian Ocean at the very appropriately named Stark Bay … and for Geoff – swimming in water less than 85°F (29°C). The water was, if I’m generous, probably 66°F (19°C) – admittedly it’s mid-spring here at the beginning of November – but I’m not sure it gets much warmer even in summer 😉. It was invigorating, breathtaking in all possible ways and the highpoint of a brilliant day!

Dried off and back in our clothes we continued past Ricey Beach and Catherine Bay until we picked up the coach again at stop #18. We disembarked back in the settlement at stop #1 again, having circumnavigated the island. Time for another swim at the popular (and equally chilly) swimming hole at The Basin where swimwear was far more appropriate than au naturel given the crowds. We had booked the return ferry to Fremantle departing at 5.30pm so we had time for an early dinner at Frankie’s which serves an excellent pizza and house salad. We said goodbye to the quokkas and caught the ferry back to the mainland. A highly memorable day trip!

We caught the train from Cottesloe station to Fremantle the following day and made a beeline for Moore and Moore coffee shop and cafe. It is very quirky, trendy and very, very popular. We had coffee and the best passionfruit cheesecake on the continent! We strolled through the streets and headed to the small but pretty harbor where we met Keith & Jo, old friends of Geoff (whom he hasn’t seen in 29 years) from his Royal Air Force days back in Germany. We had battered snapper and chips at Kailis Fishmarket which was excellent. Fremantle is a confusing place – part posh hotels, nice boutiques, a cute harbor where fishing boats come in and offload their catches to local restaurants, and trendy cafes; and part 1970’s grungy back streets and depressing malls.

Public transport is highly efficient in Perth – it was only 10 minutes from Cottesloe to Fremantle and about 25 minutes to Perth city. These are not the grimy trains of inner city London (where you’d prefer not to sit without a Tyvek body suit) – they are clean and well maintained and they run on time!

We hopped on the train to Perth and once we arrived in the city we wandered down to Elizabeth Quay, a waterfront precinct on the banks of the Swan River. We passed the green glass shard-shaped Bell Tower which houses the historic bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London from which they were gifted to the people of Western Australia; then up through Stirling Park with its life-sized kangaroo sculptures and finally we detoured to Telegram in the State Building for coffee. Other highlights of Perth city include Wolf Lane (home to some of Perth’s most iconic street art); the very posh King Street with its high end boutiques; and Chinatown for more street art. We returned to the State Building for lunch at Petition (which was excellent). This area is legal central – suits and professionals having business meetings over coffee and lawyers running to and fro the Department of Justice, the department of the Treasury and the Supreme Court. Perth seems to be a very quiet city – a combination of modern skyscrapers and colonial-style architecture… I’m not sure what was going on in the somewhat cheesy Ye Olde “London Court” – a mock English Tudor shopping arcade but apparently it’s a well-loved heritage listed destination for locals and tourists alike 😉

Cottesloe Beach was a great choice for us to base ourselves (we’re not city people). It has a small village feel – a couple of cafes and restaurants – but really the benefit of being a 2 minute stroll to the beach is for the opportunity to wander down to the seafront for early morning walks and sunset strolls along the Cottesloe Foreshore Trail. The trail runs for 3.5 miles hugging the beach. It is very picturesque!

2. Esperance:

After our week in Cottesloe, it was time to head south for our second week exploring the region. The journey took 8 hours on the road crossing the Wheatbelt through the boonies to Esperance. We took the slightly longer “scenic” route through Hyden famous for its Wave Rock formation. An hour into the journey from Perth we stopped at Coffee@TheShed located (as the name suggests) in a shed at Raeburn Orchards, Roleystone. It was the best coffee we’d had since setting foot in Australia … as was the breakfast quiche and the emergency travel plum cake!

The Wheatbelt route is long … very, very long … so long that without a podcast to listen to you might have to resort to playing I Spy … 😉

I Spy … wheat … I Spy … eucalyptus trees … I Spy … more wheat … thankfully, we did have the highly entertaining “Infinite Monkey Cage” podcast to listen to (on the rare occasions that we had WiFi reception) … the reality is that for most of the 8 hour journey we were without any cellphone or GPS coverage. At exactly half way we stopped for coffee and a snack at the Bush Bakehouse in Hyden. Most people break up the journey with a visit to Wave Rock but we’d already been forewarned that it would be us and half a million flies enjoying the scenery so we passed on that option and carried on south towards Esperance.

The antipodean adventure really got going down in Esperance … who knew that Western Australia would be quite so incredibly beautiful?! Rottnest Island and Cottesloe were very pretty but way down south in Esperance it’s an entirely different ballgame. It was a wee bit too chilly to swim in late spring for us Floridians although I did manage a paddle up to my knees (which is more than can be said for Geoff). From the photos you might perhaps be under the impression that it is absolute paradise there – and it is – but as soon as you’re hiking on the scrubby outback cliff trails along the coastline it’s paradise with flies … Holy $#@* … did I mention the flies? 😉

The one single most important purchase we made before heading south from Perth was a fly net for our sun hats … seriously just don’t bother to come here without them! Obviously the beaches are unbelievable … the colors are positively fluorescent, the wild flowers were blooming … but be prepared for the flies on the trails. Down at the waters edge you’ll be fine!

Esperance is in the back of beyond. I knew not to expect high end restaurants and trendy bars. We weren’t staying there for that. The town was bigger than I expected with a few gifts shops and a small mall which hasn’t seen a remodel since 1975. There is a choice between Bob and Jim’s General Store (an upmarket deli for these parts with eye-wateringly and outrageously overpriced fruit, veg and general comestibles), a small IGA supermarket or a Woolworths. I haven’t set foot in a Woolworths in at least 40 years but at least we didn’t need to cash in any of our Nvidia stock to purchase a dozen eggs 😉 The pièce de résistance in the food department for Esperance is, without doubt, the artisan bakery, Bread Local. It has a small concession stall on the main street which supplies the locals with daily homemade bread and cakes but come Friday or Saturday morning the entire town’s residents are queuing up to park at the cafe and bakery outlet a few miles outside of town. It’s a destination in its own right with covered seating under a white painted veranda in a well-maintained garden packed with people sipping coffee and nibbling on freshly baked cakes and sandwiches, and families picnicking under the towering eucalyptus trees. The food is good … very good … so good that we made several pilgrimages there 😊

There are some iconic places in South West WA – Margaret River being the most famous – not least for its wineries. Those willing to go further off the beaten track will usually head southeast to Denmark and Albany but Esperance is perhaps just another step too far for many tourists traveling on a time crunch. For this reason Esperance is not particularly busy and, as such, is a great place to unwind. Our rental house was a 2 minute drive from one of the most famous beaches in WA – West Beach. We rushed down there for sunset as soon as we arrived. A huge sweeping expanse of sand backed by steep cliffs dotted with wildflowers. The sea is iridescent teal and deep blue – so clean that it was transparent despite the huge crashing waves breaking on the reef just offshore. The sun was setting on the rocky headland bathing the entire scene in an orange gold light. The following morning the sun was shining in a cloudless sky and we set off from West Beach to hike the 10 mile round trip to Twilight Beach and back. The paved path runs through heathland, rocky outcrops and down onto the white sand. We passed Chapman’s Point, Blue Haven Beach, Salmon Beach and stopped at Twilight Beach for a picnic. It was a fabulously sunny day but it was very windy. This was a blessing in disguise. When the wind dies down the flies come out to irritate … firstly just a few that you can flit away in traditional “Aussie salute” style but on a cloudy and totally windless day they can really, really irritate …

Geoff turfed me out of bed at 6am the following day for an early morning stroll on West Beach with a flask of tea and a puffer jacket (it’s not particularly warm in late spring this far south). It was worth it. A pod of dolphins were wave surfing and playing in the rollers along the shoreline.

Of all of the beaches we strolled in the town of Esperance, West Beach and Twilight were the most spectacular – West Beach for its cliffs and sweeping views and Twilight Beach for its shallow swimming waters with huge smooth granite boulders. Eleven Mile Beach is equally beautiful with dramatic views from its staircase which descends to huge rock pools on the shoreline. All of the beaches can be accessed by bike, walking or by car on the Great Ocean Drive.

The following day we packed a picnic and drove south to Wharton Beach, a huge sweep of beach with pale turquoise water and blindingly white sand which lies between Cape Le Grande National Park and Cape Arid National Park in Duke of Orleans Bay. As soon as we pulled into the carpark we knew this beach would be something very special. It is rated WA’s #2 beach so it was inevitably going to be spectacular. We took a short dusty track through heathland dotted with wildflowers for a mile or so from Wharton Beach car park to Little Wharton Beach to see it from above. Honestly, it was breathtaking. Although the waters are too chilly for us to swim it was impossible not to paddle through it, even if our toes were starting to freeze. We walked the length of the beach – roughly 5½ miles return. The sand is so fine it squeaks when you scuff it. It is a popular spot for surfing but mid-week in late spring we had the beach to ourselves. Wharton Beach lies outside of the National Park system so there is no fee to enter. Our next destination for the day required a National Parks pass (we’d already picked up a $50 AUD 14 day pass for WA at the Esperance Visitor Centre the day before). We headed back northwest in the direction of Esperance and then turned south to one of WA’s most famous National Parks – Cape Le Grande. It is difficult to describe the coastline there other than just “Wow”!

We drove straight to Lucky Bay which was very busy mid-afternoon with families and campers and even a food truck on the sand. Compared to the huge tranquil sweep of Wharton Beach it was slightly disappointing for a beach rated #1 in WA – but we weren’t disappointed for long! We walked the length of Lucky Bay Beach as far away from the parking lot as possible to Lookout Beach. This beach is famous for a couple of things – 4 wheel driving on the sand, translucent turquoise waters, and the possibility of catching a kangaroo sunbathing on the brilliant white sand at either dawn or dusk. We planned to hang around kicking sand in the hope of meeting a kangaroo or two at dusk … fingers crossed! We sat in the car (avoiding the incredibly irritating late afternoon flies) waiting and waiting … 4.30pm passed … we waited … 5.00pm passed … I was getting restless. I’d already patrolled the car park and scanned the heathland for signs of marsupials bouncing across the scrub towards the beach … nothing … Had we really traveled halfway around the world to see kangaroos on the beach only for there not to be any ‘roos at all?!

This is our third visit to Australia and we’ve never seen a ‘roo up close! I was getting desperate. One more round scanning the horizon at 5.30pm and I returned to the car with a heavy heart and with reluctance suggested we head back to Esperance … the ‘roos just weren’t coming out to play today 🙁 😢

“There’s one right behind the car!” Geoff shouted… “Yeah right … funny guy” … “No! Really” he replied … “I’m not joking … there’s a ‘roo just behind us in the scrub behind the car!”

And so we met and fell in love with a friendly and very inquisitive Mrs Skippy ‘Roo and her adorable Baby Joey ‘Roo. We kept our distance (not least because they’re wild animals with a helluva kick) but also because we didn’t want to scare her with her baby, but she wasn’t bothered by us at all. She bounced over to us, looked straight up into my eyes, fluttered her huge eyelashes for a photo shoot and brushed past my feet on her way to boing boing across the heathland to nibble on more delicious wildflowers … OMG … she and Baby Joey ‘Roo were absolutely gorgeous! We didn’t get to see a ‘roo sunbathing on the beach but we didn’t care … we’d finally seen two in the wild and that was enough!

The following day we returned very early morning to Cape Le Grande National Park and headed straight to Lucky Bay on the off chance that we might catch another kangaroo down by the beach before they doze off for the day in the heathland. It was much quieter early morning – undisturbed by people – no 4 wheel drives parked up on the sand and no sign of the food truck. It was much nicer! But we had a different plan for the day – we wanted to hike at Thistle Cove and Hellfire Bay.

The view from the rocky headland over Thistle Cove was even more breathtaking than the view over Wharton Beach the day before. This was the wilderness we were hoping for which you don’t quite get at Lucky Bay due to the proximity of the campsite. It is an easy 1½ mile walk down over the massive granite outcrop, across the equally brilliant white, squeaky sand and over granite boulders at the far end to another very small cove. It’s hard to compare one perfect beach to another but with the beautiful coastal heathland and the small sweeping bay Thistle Cove was our top rated beach for our month long trip in south WA. At the top of the headland by the car park is a natural rock formation known as Whistling Rock which effectively captures the sound of the wind – there’s a lot of it so it’s quite impressive!

Back in the car we drove around to Hellfire Bay and walked another short mile or so up across the rocky headland and down to an entirely deserted Little Hellfire Beach. There were wild flowers in abundance and expansive views. Yet more jaw-dropping beaches in Cape Le Grande National Park.

After all of the walking we booked into Kal’s Chinese Massage in Esperance. They don’t accept credit cards – and we don’t carry cash – so there was a moment of awkwardness but conveniently there was an ATM within a few steps.

3. Denmark:

A final sad goodbye to West Beach and we started the 5½ hour drive from Esperance to Denmark. Much of it through wheat field farms and wilderness scrub dotted with occasional clusters of bright red wild flowers (such as you might see in the desert states of the USA). Once we got much closer to Albany and Denmark the landscape changed to rolling hills and small farms – more green and verdant than down in Esperance with roads lined with towering gum trees. The scenery was more reminiscent of Northern California with wild flowers growing in the hedgerows. We checked in to Mira villa at Aiyana Retreat (very nice) which would be home for a week. It was a lovely evening so we drove a few minutes down Ocean Beach Road to the Ocean Beach Lookout over Anvil Beach and the Wilson Inlet. There was a howling gale and the coastline looked much flatter and much less dramatic than east in Esperance.

The sun was shining the following day so we drove 20 minutes to William Bay National Park – you can visit the best of William Bay National Park in a day. We started at Greens Pool and walked the one mile loop to Elephant Rocks. For reasons I couldn’t immediately fathom, Greens Pools felt quite an anticlimax given its fame for these parts. The car park was already busy at 9am and families were pushing strollers and coolboxes down the steps to the beach. It didn’t feel wild or untouched at all especially given that it is a National Park (albeit free to enter). The shallow water was very calm lapping around the huge smooth rounded granite boulders – it was pretty enough – but not as overwhelmingly spectacular as the coastline we had seen in Esperance and Cape Le Grande. It crossed my mind that we had started at the best and everything thereafter would be second or third best but once you leave the busier area around Greens Pool and walk over to Elephant Rocks it starts to feel less busy and less sterile. The walkways are paved which is a huge bonus for accessibility but less appealing if you’re trying to escape from the world. We continued on and drove east inside the National Park towards Madfish Bay and suddenly all was peaceful and more wild. We didn’t see anyone hiking for the rest of the day. We walked around the boulders to the waterfall at Waterfall Beach – don’t get too excited – it wasn’t much taller than Geoff!

Time to escape the breezy coastal wind for a few hours and explore some of the area inland. My eagle eye had already spotted the Denmark Chocolate Company Lounge on route 1. I highly recommend the deconstructed hot chocolate served with a small bowl of chocolate buttons and marshmallows together with their raisin scones, boysenberry jam and fresh cream. We left with a box of handmade chocolates which put the Margaret River Chocolate Company (which we had tried in Perth) offerings to shame.

What could top the best chocolates in Denmark? Only cuddling an alpaca could possibly do that! So we followed the scenic country road off route 1 to Denmark Animal Farm and Pentland Alpaca Stud – part stud farm, part petting farm and part rescue centre. We invested $16 AUD each in a bag of feed (thrown in with the entry fee) so that we could stroke the alpacas, goats, camels, emus and some super silky soft rescue ‘roos. The alpacas are so greedy that they suck the food out of your palm almost before the camera can focus.

Out in the wild we saw kangaroos all over the place …. bouncing across garden lawns … hanging out in herds in fields … chilling out in the undergrowth … but it’s only when you’re up very close that you notice the razor sharp front claws and an even more intimidating single claw on their hind legs sharp enough to disembowel a human … other than that they’re very soft and cute 😊

Moving to the subject of food we didn’t eat out at any restaurants at all either in Esperance or Denmark because it was a struggle to find anywhere with great reviews which weren’t 99.9% meat. However, Denmark Bakery was great for bread and English-style Christmas Mince fruit pies which was an unexpected bonus! The Denmark Farmhouse Cheese shop opposite Ducketts Mill Winery served divine passionfruit, mango and peach cheesecake in slabs large enough to graze on for a week. We also visited Rockcliffe Winery for lunch one day – it’s famous for its pizza (we weren’t sure why because it was distinctly average). Geoff wasn’t thrilled with his glass of wine (which he described as cheap plonk without it being particularly cheap!) and it took 4 tasters before I found a wine sweet enough not to strip the skin off my throat. I don’t think Western Aussie wine is for either of us! It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and the vineyard is very pretty and relaxing so we enjoyed chilling out there in any event.

We headed back to the beach following a quiet side road to Lights Beach to make the best of the beautiful sunshine. We parked up and took the wooden boardwalk steps down to the sand. We aimed west along the waterline where we went rock-pooling and scrambling over giant granite boulders with waves crashing all around us. We had Waterfall Beach in our sights but the rocky coastline and encroaching waves just became too treacherous to navigate through. The waves here are huge. If you get too close to the waters edge and were caught by a freak wave, or slipped down a sheer face on one of the boulders you’d be washed out into the Indian Ocean. It was a fun and exhilarating afternoon pretending to be 8 years old again rather than 58 😉

Spring in Western Australia isn’t always warm and sunny – in fact it is just as often blowing a gale – or cloudy and cool. The following day was one of those chilly days so we took a drive in the drizzle along the Scotsdale Scenic Drive just inland from Denmark. The route is peppered with vineyards and art studios and artisanal stores. It is a well-known scenic drive along which we pulled in at Harewood Forest trail to stretch our legs during a break in the rain. We walked the short 2 mile loop through the karri trees spotting tiny pink and orange heart-shaped “flame pea” flowers thriving in the undergrowth.

What else to do on a blustery cool day? I booked in for a Thai massage at Nee Thai Massage and Geoff booked in over the road at Uma – both were so excellent we visited twice during our week!

When you just want to stretch your legs but don’t want to walk anywhere terribly challenging in Denmark we found a couple of other options aside from the Harewood Forest trail. The first was WoW (Wilderness Ocean Walk) a paved coastal path trail which starts at Lights Beach and heads east towards the windmills on the headland. We saw black cockatoos with impressive feathery headcrests – they were very skittish – you couldn’t get close without one of them screeching and terrifying the rest of them. Emerald green Australian Ringneck parrots with black heads and yellow neck rings were slightly more friendly. Keeping an eye out for tiger snakes – the second most deadly venomous snake in Australia – added a frisson of excitement to an otherwise unchallenging and not very exciting hike through bushland. If I’m honest we didn’t find WoW very wow at all except for the prolific wild flowers along the paved pathway. Denmark is famous for its wildflowers in spring – it is a kaleidoscope of colors – blue, purple, shocking pink, pale pink, reds, yellows and, of course, the iconic Burdett’s banksia with its cone-shaped flower spikes in two-toned orange and cream. It was a very long hike winding inland through scrub without any coastal views except for Lights Beach at the start so we turned back half way. The second walk we found which was OK to stretch your legs but otherwise not very inspiring was Little River Trail – part of the famous Bibbulman Track. We turned around after a mile when the track detoured onto the road. It was more of a dog walkers stroll through the forest with occasional glimpses of the Wilson Inlet. We did, however, learn what to do if we were bitten by one of WA’s very grim venomous snakes after we got chatting to a local lady walking her dogs (one of which had been bitten by tiger snakes twice … eek!!). Apparently, once you’ve stopped panicking you have to stay totally still after you’ve strapped down the relevant limb so you’re not tempted to move. This should delay the toxic venom traveling through your nervous system as quickly. Then make an emergency call to 000 who may or may not get to you in time before you die miserably in the undergrowth. Survival assumes that you can find a cellphone signal (which hasn’t been exactly reliable for any of the previous 3 weeks so far!).

The following day we drove out past Albany which is a functional looking fishing town and didn’t hold any appeal for us whatsoever. The route we took from Denmark passed through very pretty countryside – winding rustic roads, undulating hills with farms – both cows and kangaroos sharing the same grazing fields. It was something of a cross between the English countryside and Northern California. We were planning to walk the Heritage Trail at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve just the other side of Albany. As we approached the peninsula the landscape started to change again from rolling hills and farmsteads to tidal inlets and marshland. The hike itself started behind the Visitor Centre in the National Park and wound through scrub filled with wild flowers and with expansive views of a huge sweeping expanse of beach to the east. It continued over heathland and around a rocky headland before descending down to the protected bay of Little Beach. The beach was beautiful – wedged between a granite headland and green scrub-covered headland. Whilst the walk was short, it was more of an endurance test than a pleasure – the mayflies were the size of small dogs and were particularly voracious in the headland areas where the sea breezes fell away. If ever there was a hike not to bother with this is probably it … I’d have been much happier driving straight to Little Beach with all of the other visitors and dipping my toes into the crystal clear teal water than batting away mayflies puffing uphill in the heat.

As a consolation we drove back to Albany for award-winning fish and chips at Ocean and Paddock – the sustainably fished hammerhead shark is surprisingly delicious – and the trip was certainly worth the herb and spice filled homemade Chippies Vinegar! Since we were very close to the Torndirrup National Park we drove the length of the peninsular intending to walk the 1 mile Vancouver Lookout at Frenchman Bay but we could see from the lookout that the beach was awful – covered in seaweed – so we didn’t bother. Disappointed with the general state of the Torndirrup National Park we drove on to check out the iconic 7 mile Bald Head hike which I really wanted to do. The clouds were so low by this stage that they were all but sitting on our shoulders, the wind was howling, gusting 40mph, and we were frozen to the core. Overall, Torndirrup and its debris-strewn beaches didn’t light our imaginations. We stopped briefly at Salmon Holes on the ocean side of the peninsular which was stunning but we were in danger of being blown out to sea by the gale.

Back in Denmark, things improved immediately! The views at sunset from the Wilson Inlet peninsular over Anvil Beach and the rocky coastline (5 minutes from Aiyana Retreat) were awesome – crashing waves, white caps and fabulous colors. Denmark was one of our favorite small towns during our southwestern WA trip. It is a small tourist town surrounded by outstanding natural beauty – from the vineyards in the scenic hill region a few minutes outside of town to the incredible coastline. Some of our most memorable days were spent wandering the coastline here. We weren’t impressed with the official headland or forested trails because they tended to meander inland through the heathland often without coastal views. Instead, our best hikes were impromptu: scrambling over huge grey and red-hued granite outcrops, through slippery rock pools and over black reef limestone – some of it razor sharp. Either side of Lights Beach (our absolute favorite beach in William Bay National Park – and only a few minutes drive from our villa) we spent hours climbing and exploring the surrounding bays and walking along the sand – the scenery changing with every bay and the wild landscape constantly stealing away our breath.

4. Margaret River Region:

Our week in Denmark over, it was another 4 hour road trip and we were in the Margaret River Region, a WA tourist hotspot. The town of Margaret River isn’t very exciting – the culinary highlights include the renowned Margaret River Bakery (which was so good for pies, artisanal sandwiches and cakes that we went back 3 times) and Margaret River Tuck Shop restaurant which was highly rated but anywhere else might be considered very average. We had rented a trendy, modern shed-style chalet at Simala Retreat in Cowamarup which is a very cute but also very tiny town 15 minutes north of Margaret River town. It has boutique stores and life-sized painted fibreglass Friesian cows decorating the streets. The Margaret River Region is renowned for its famous vineyards, galleries and rolling hills with pretty farmsteads.

We took a walk on a very stormy evening to Quininnup Falls from Moses Rock car park. The hike crosses boardwalk, sand dunes and rocky tracks. For a short hike it’s not easy because of the steep sand dune ascents and descents. In addition we were batting away flies and trying to skip over venomous snakes without inadvertently irritating one! It was a lot of effort (despite its cultural significance to the Wadandi people) just to see a 10 meter high waterfall and a pond drowning in luminous green weed … especially since it was also mainly dried up.

The rain was coming down hard the next morning when we woke up … then the sun shone … then it drizzled – it reminded us of English weather – totally unpredictable. The best option for the morning was to head underground to visit one of Margaret River’s famous caves. Jewel Cave is 45 minutes south of Cowamarup towards Augusta. Jewel Cave seemed to be the less touristy option compared to well-known Ngilgi Cave in Yallingup. $25 AUD each for the guided tour was money well spent to visit the largest limestone show-cave in WA. It has three substantial and massively impressive chambers decorated with intricate crystals – a huge stalagmite named ‘The Karri Forest’ (which unsurprisingly looks like a woodland), delicate curved helectites, “cave coral”, bulbous pendulites, and beautiful flowstone formations such as “The Frozen Waterfall” but most impressive of all was a gigantic red and gold hued structure known as “Organ-Pipes”. The cave is 832 feet deep and is the 5th longest cave in the world at over 200 miles in length. Much of it still remains to be explored. It is quite a warren – you have to watch your step and your head whilst meandering through it up and down narrow staircases and along the steel walkways in case you crack your skull on a 466,000 year old limestone crystal 😉

The following day we had a down day from hiking planned so we drove to Indijup Beach for a stroll along the seashore. It is well-known for surfing due to the regular rolling waves and apart from 3 or 4 surfers and a few walkers we were otherwise alone to contemplate the meaning of the universe from our rocky seats sipping coffee, watching the waves and wondering how we can get hold of visas to move to Australia 😉 That evening we caught up again with my old school friend Rory and his wife Sarah from Perth who came down to Dunsborough for the weekend. We met for dinner at Ooze and Tang – great veggie food and even better cocktails!

We then had 2 days of spectacular hiking in the Margaret River Region from our base in Cowamarup:

• Yallingup to Smiths Beach – 3 miles. The headlands were covered with thousands of purple statice flowers growing amongst the red hued rocks and along the side of the trail. Smiths Beach was deserted – it was a fabulous place to sit and watch the rolling waves and sip coffee. This was our favorite hike in the area. We drove inland a few miles for lunch at Wild Hop Brewery on the very scenic Wildwood Road. We struggled for most of our month in WA to eat out because we don’t eat meat and very little dairy which cuts out almost every restaurant in the state 😉 … thank goodness we found Wild Hop! It is an interesting combination of casual but high end farm-to-table with more options for vegetarians and pescatarians than we’d seen since leaving home. It was so good we booked in for dinner again for our final night.
• Smiths Beach to Canal Rocks – 3 miles. This was much harder than the morning’s walk. The trail weaves up and over very arid, ankle-twisting rocky terrain which wasn’t helped by a steep, vertical detour (avoiding a damaged section of the official trail) before rejoining the original trail at the top of a steep hill. This isn’t my most comfortable terrain for hiking since you’re more likely to step on a serpent’s head tramping through roots and undergrowth and over craggy rock faces. Still, the views were phenomenal and it would have been a great hike if it weren’t quite so hot. By the time we reached Canal Rocks it was overrun with throngs of tourists who had driven there. Crowds of people were fighting for the best angle on the narrow wooden walkway suspended over the channel between the famous rocks. We gave up and retraced our steps for the long drag up and over the peninsular back to Smiths Beach where we couldn’t wait to kick off our hiking boots and paddle in the chilly water.
• Dunsborough to Meelup Beach – 5 miles. The hike started at the very appealing, upmarket coastal town of Dunsborough which was easily our favorite town of the trip since it had an attractive town centre with cafes and modern facilities … somewhat of a rarity in this region of mainly off the beaten track towns and settlements. The track meandered through scrubland with flowering yellow shrubs running parallel to the coast. We passed Castle Rock Bay with its spectacular rocky outcrop and white sand beach and continued on to Meelup Beach (the most famous but busiest beach in the area). As you approach Meelup via Castle Rock Bay (rather than from the busy car park end of the beach) there are small rocks and a headland which were deserted and not overlooked. It was unexpectedly hot hiking with the heat radiating from the track underfoot and we were regretting not packing our swimsuits so we took the next best option and stripped off under cover of the rocks and darted into the water. It might look like the Caribbean here but the water still has a distinctly chilly edge to it even at the end of November. I’ll get into (almost) any body of water if I’m overheated so long as I don’t have to break through an iceberg but Geoff isn’t so resilient so I was very impressed that he managed to swim in it without passing out … it was awesome! Meelup Beach itself was far too busy for us so we walked back along the trail returning to Dunsborough.

Optimistically, I had planned another 4½ mile trail that afternoon from the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse to iconic Sugarloaf Rock (apparently best seen at sunset). There was no chance at all that we were going to manage another 4½ miles in 86°F (30°F) across even more uneven, rocky terrain so we took a leaf out of everyone else’s book and drove to the viewpoint instead! The wind was absolutely howling – my hair was whipped into a balled up knotted frenzy and we could barely stand upright. White horses stretching across the entire horizon were galloping across the expansive bay. The coast here is extremely rugged and wild and absolutely breathtaking. We drove by dirt track to another couple of points (Windmills Beach and Fede Spot) which both had sweeping views from the top of the headland. It was absolutely fantastic!

The beauty of the Cape Naturaliste peninsular is that the western tip is wild and crazy and windblown but a few miles away at the eastern tip (and only a few minutes drive) it’s like the Caribbean on a calm day. Bunker Bay Beach was a long, wide sweeping expanse of white sand and bright transparent teal water – barely a ripple disturbed the surface of the Indian Ocean here.

Back to Wild Hop brewery for our final night in Western Australia before heading back to Perth Airport. En route we stopped at Busselton to see the famous jetty but it was very touristy and ridiculously busy so we just passed on through …

We are excited to head on to Byron Bay but also very sad to be leaving WA – we loved it. What a place to live with so much diversity and extraordinary beauty! It is a ridiculously beautiful corner of the world and another month here would have been just perfect! 😊