Margaret River

Busselton Jetty

And again here we have a long weekend, spring is here, so we go for on another trip. This time we decided to go and have a look south to the area around Margaret River, which is especially known between tourist for its infinite vineyards. Each vineyard also offers wine tastings and sells their wines, tasting is free of course, so we have to look forward to it :)

We start early on Friday morning from our house, we have a more than two hundred kilometers to the first base - little town - Busselton. Here is the famous longest wooden based jetty of the southern hemisphere stretching almost two kilometers toward the ocean. Journey has passed quite quickly and half-past nine we arrived at the pier. Only the weather is not so good, spring has just started, summer is still far away and so the clear blue sky without clouds can be seen only in our dreams.

It's cloudy, but on the other hand, at least it is not so terribly hot and we may be able to take a walk at our pace. And I also told myself we will stop here again on our way back, maybe the weather will be better. Through the whole pier runs a small train, probably as an attraction for lazy people, who are so tired to take a half hour walk along the pier. But the driver is a very nice guy, he talked with us a bit and then he took a picture of us by the locomotive.

restaurant in front of the Jetty

From the Busselton move to the west coast to Cape Naturalist, to see the lighthouse. It was built in 1904 but in 1987 and was electrified and fully automated. Until then they have to manually operate it all nights. Basically, it works similar as a "cuckoo clock", there is a big piece of metal in the middle. This has to go - similar as with clock- to the top position  To reach back the bottom it took around 45 minutes and the procedure had to be repeated. Meanwhile, every half-hour guy had to bring  up a jerrycan full of petrol  which serves as fuel for the lamp. And in 1987 they exchanged fire for light bulb and also fitted a giant motor that rotates a huge glass lenses. This huge and heavy lens sits on mercury, which acts as a big bearing.

From the top of the lighthouse we had absolutely amazing views of the entire surroundings. Finally, the sky cleared and, although windy, the sun was very pleasant. On the ocean we occasionally saw whales migrating, they move this way every year. Several travel agents offer trips to watch the whales from close, but the fact we have not yet made it. Maybe sometime later, if we have time. Basically, the whole south coast is lined with lighthouses, because there is much more shallow water and in the past there were many ships wrecked. We then spent a little more time around the lighthouse, had something to eat and our next stop is Ngilgi cave. Before that we still had to solve our accommodation. I had a list of a few camps, where we planned to spend the night. Everyone warned us it won't be that easy to find a place because of this long weekend, but it was not really that critical. 

Just in the first camp where we wanted to spend the night, we found a free spot. I called them and I made a booking by telephone. This time we have a place for a tent but with electrical connections. Nights are in fact still cold and I took from work a small electric heater, so hopefully it will be little warmer.

Cave Ngilgi is located about a half hour drive from the lighthouse. Btw, all those awkward names were not  invented by immigrants, but comes from the indigenous peoples - Aborigines. They have their own speech, so it does not sound English at all, and nobody knows how to actually pronounce it.

Ngilgi cave

stalactites

I personally really like the cave. We walked into the cave along with the guide who told us a little about the history of the cave and what we can see here. Then she explain in short where can we go and then she left. Everyone here can walk in the cave with his own pace, time is not limited at all. So no one makes a pressure on us, well we may be able to walk slowly and see all as we want. The cave is particularly famous for its special formations of the "letter-like" stalactites. I do not know exactly what is the proper name, but who cares. But apparently these types of formations are not at all common and this makes the cave very rare and special.

The day has slowly began to end, therefore we went quickly to see the ocean, and from there we headed straight to the camp. They are waiting here for us until the six in the evening, and we've made it just so so. Camp looks pretty good, receptionist is very kind young lady. There are quite willing to help, soon we borrowed an extension cord because I just took a short and it turned out that the plug is very far away. With the power it is pretty good, we may be able to charge the phone and also our camera and at night we can turn on the heater, so I hope this time Slavka will become warm and somehow survive those two nights. We camp close to a small town of Gracetown and before the sun goes down, we decided to go quickly to the beach, watch the sunset. Gracetown is a settlement rather than a small town, only a few dozen houses stuck in the hills just near the small beach.

Gracetown

We watched the sunset and after a short walk, we returned to the tent. In the evening is quite cold, so the heater came in very handy. So, the first day of the trip is over, but we still have two more ahead.

In the morning we got up pretty early, weather looks much better than yesterday, so I'm looking forward to this day. Today we want to go to the south to the small town of Augusta, the place where the Indian and Southern Ocean joins together. Wait a minute, you're thinking what the heck am I talking about. What is the Southern Ocean, we've never heard about it in the school. Well, this is another county, everything is upside down, even the geography. Well here in Australia at the end of the world, they have invented another ocean, to be able to do some more tourist attractions. Not the whole world recognizes their ideas, but at the end of the 2000 even world authorities acknowledged that Australia needs its own ocean, so be it :) And who does not like it, feel free to call it further Indian or Pacific, depends on which side you are.

left Indian, right Southern ocean

Anyway, here's where our steps have lead us, to see the lighthouse, nature and dip our feet in the Southern Ocean. Also, here is the southernmost place of South-West Australia. I know it's bizarre, but true. Given that Western Australia has another southernmost point, South-West Australia invented the concept to make it work. Well, let's move from these games with words rather to the journey itself.

On the way to Augusta we stopped for a moment and in the town, after which the whole region is named - the Margaret River. It's also a small town, a few streets, restaurants, and of course also hotels or shops. We didn't stay long time and we continued further. Upon arrival to the lighthouse there was already quite a lot of people, we did not get right on the first tour, we have to wait two hours because the earliest time we can get is at 1PM in the afternoon. So we will just look around. Just a short walk from the old lighthouse very old waterwheel, surrounded by the sea, all very beautiful.

view of the lighthouse from the Indian ocean

At the lighthouse we were informed again how it whole works, but it wasn't that much interesting than yesterday. The guide just said some facts, how many stairs there are and something similar  But the view was nicer from this lighthouse. We stayed there for about half an hour and then we went back.
Time is flying really fast, in the evening we will meet Bjoern and Kathi, so we need to speed things up a little. Of course, I can't leave without trying the water in the Southern Ocean. I can say that water is wet and salty as well as the Indian Ocean, no significant changes.

Unfortunately we didn't stay long in the small town of Augusta, because here everything closes at four o'clock in the afternoon, so when we got there to have a cup of coffee and sit for a while, all the restaurants and cafes were already closed. So we went together at least down to the river and then we called Bjoern where they are. They were just about to get into the Gracetown and we need about an hour to get there, so we need to start right away. They went hiking for a couple of days.
In the evening we had something to eat and we go to bed, tired from the whole day. For the last day we plan to do some vine tour and wine tasting. This is the most famous thing to do here in the Margaret River region. But before we please our sommelier's spirit we will go to the local chocolate factory. It is actually only a small cafe with a shop and small chocolate production. There are three types of chocolate for free tasting. we have a coffee, a bit of chocolate and then we're off for our wine tour.
There are many vineyards everywhere, maybe even a hundred could be count. At the information desk we were given a map with marked vineyards, but it is not very necessary. Just take a car and at any time are signs to local vineyards. It works the same everywhere. You can go in and you can take your wine list to choose what you want to try. There is always the possibility to buy the wine, the prices are better than in the stores and a lot of people also do this.
But we are unfortunately no great wine-drinkers, so we just stayed with the tasting. For each wine they told us what we have to taste out there, and smell of oak wood and bees, spring dew and things like that. They tend to exaggerate the description of the taste, but that's the same in vineyards around the world.
We've seen  about three, four, and the day already began to end. We drove Bjoern and Kathi to their car, and we went on a two hundred kilometer journey home. Thus ended the weekend as expected, we saw everything that we wanted and we are looking forward to the next trip, although we do not know where it will be.

All photos can be found on:

https://picasaweb.google.com/101430570008874668546/20121001_MargaretRiver

Pinnacles Desert

We get out of Jurian Bay around 2 in the afternoon, quite late. The trip lasted longer, or started than I first thought. But our plans do not change that much, on our list is actually only Pinnacle Desert, is it really such a big desert with huge tall rocks that originated thousands of years ago. Originally, we still planned to take a tour of a fishing factory where they make lobsters, but the shows are only till 2 PM  so we couldn't make it. Even so, it should be just a 15 minutes show, I think we did not loose anything extra.

About half an hour's drive we arrived in Nambung National Park, where the aforementioned  Pinnacles are. Day is slowly running out, it's three in the afternoon, the sunsets is at six, but we still have enough time. The Pinnacles are not rare in Australia, but this park is the largest and biggest of all. First we made a circle around the whole park with the car through a desert road, it was about four kilometers. Sun was quite hard, however it did not bother that much as those nasty little flies. That's why I said myself that for a walk I use protective the net and it was truly a good idea. With net on my head I didn't care about the flies at all. They couldn't get into my glasses, ears, nose, mouth ... they were really awful and disgusting intrusive, I don't even want to think about it anymore.

So we still made the hour-long walk tour through the desert and we're slowly approaching the end of our trip. We wanted to leave here still before sunset, because we had planned to stop on the way back on one of the sand dunes, it was very close to the road and there was no need to climb through any bush trees. When we climbed the sand dunes, the wind picked up slightly and sand started flying around the air. I had to protect my camera, otherwise it would have been full of sand, and I'd say it wouldn't be very good.

As the sun was going to the horizon, we also took away towards our 180 kilometers journey home. Tired of swimming and walking the whole day, I was very glad that we came back home happily. And also that we met along the way no kangaroo who wants to try a jump over moving obstacles. Weekend was therefore absolutely great, we enjoyed it to the fullest. So we will now rest for a while before we go somewhere else.

All photos can be found on:

https://picasaweb.google.com/101430570008874668546/20120917_PinnacleDesert

Jurian Bay and sealions

We both survived the night in the tent, the only problem was that Slavka vas a bit cold all the night. It's also my fault because I did not take no extra blanket from home. I assumed it won't be so cold and moreover, I was pleasantly all night so really do not know. In Perth during the winter she was sometimes warmer than me, but it did not work out tonight and she was freezing all the time. But we survived, we woke up to a beautiful sunny morning.

We quickly packed up the tent and all the things, we did have a breakfast and I already can not wait for the trip. We came to the travel office something before nine in the morning, choose a wet-suit  goggles and snorkel. However, since evening Slavka was getting panic that the water will be too cold and I could sense she doesn't really want to go there. But trip was already paid and we could not cancel it, so I had to convince her a  not to be afraid so much of everything and at least to try the wet-suit. Already in travel agency I got the attention with fitting the neoprene, I tried it with zipper at the front, and that's the other way round ... so I was remembered much from the beginning and everyone knew me the whole tour. But this has been ultimately proved to be very good, because I'm at the  most of the photos that they then did. And it is quite good, right?

Slowly it's almost time for sailing, so we went to the port to embark on our great ship. We were about 23 passengers on board, including three from the travel agency and captain. Very nice staff. There were with us also lots of small children, luckily they were pretty nice all the way. After about half an hour we arrived at the place of destination. Captain explains the basic rules of how we have to behave with the seal lions before we go in, as there are in protected areas and are actually wild animals. The rules were simple, do not catch them, they may have try to catch us, it is also forbidden to go to their island and of course take shells, since it is a protected area.

Then the captain himself went to the island to get the curious and playful sea lions in the water. He just slaps his fins on water to alert them that we are here, let them go and swim a little with us to play. And truly it was not long time before a few sea lions immediately jumped into the water behind him. It looked like as a mom would call her kids for a lunch. All obediently swam along with the captain to us. Therefore, we quickly dressed in neoprene and jumped into the water, because if the sea lions don't find anyone in the sea, they will return back to the island, because there is no one to play with.

How to describe it, they were simply amazing. I was in the water the whole time, until there was time to leave, just over an hour. You must constantly swim, dive, twist yourself, shake fins so that sea lions try to imitate and thus swim with you. They are very beautiful creatures, all the time, I tried to approach them within reach, and I managed it with one. We swam against each other and sea lion normally give me a kiss on the nose. Supposedly this is commonly done, out of curiosity. But Slavka just watched it all from the deck of a ship, I couldn't get her into the water. Not because of the temperature, because in wet-suit it was really very nice, even too hot. That she also tried. But she was afraid of  the waves and also breathing through the mouth, since we had to wear masks. And that is pity indeed, it was unrepeatable experience, and absolutely gorgeous. Maybe I will manage to teach her snorkeling and eliminate the stress and fear so that the next time we can swim together.

At the end of our sailing we got a small degree. Back in the town we quickly went to the camp to take a shower from the salt water, and then we went to the agency to get all the underwater photos. They've made a DVD for us so we have a nice memories out of it. Even then, we chatted with everyone and it turned out that half of the workers live in Perth and they travel here only for the weekend. They also advised us of other place nearby where it is good to go, so at least we have some ideas for our next trip.

All photos can be found on:

https://picasaweb.google.com/101430570008874668546/20120917_JurianBaySealions

Lesueur National Park

For this weekend, we have prepared a decent trip. This time we're going away for two days, so the first time we try our tent and sleeping bags, we'll sleep in the camp. Our plan is already clear. In the morning we start as soon as possible, we need to make 230 km to the Lesueur National Park, but we might stop at some nice views. In the park we will make a few kilometers round and in the evening we'll stay in the town of Jurien Bay, where we spend the night in the camp. On Sunday we plan to go for two hours to swim with sea lions and I'm really terribly looking forward to, and then on the way home to see Pinnacle Desert. Well, so much the general plan, and off we go.

Since we're going for a longer trip, the preparation and packing things corresponds to that. We have almost full trunk -  tent, sleeping bags, air beds and clothing. To this also the portable fridge with food, plenty of water we're ready to go. The road goes along the ocean, so it should be quite pleasant, at least I hope. We set off at about half past eight, and as we don't have such a long way in front of us as the other day, we should have no problems to make it on time  Travelling was very nice, the road was wide enough and did not have a lot of curves, so we went pretty fast. Everywhere around us are small yellow flowers bloomed, so it seemed like we went through a big yellow flowered fields. From time to time we can see the ocean, there are no hills around so no great lookout anywhere. But before we arrived to Jurien Bay, however, we managed to find one observation deck, from where we had a wonderful view of the entire surroundings.

What is interesting here are the sand dunes along the way. As I said, everything is green, the flowers bloom, but then out of nowhere emerges a huge mass of wispy white sand to create a huge dune. There are even signs, in case of strong wind on the road visibility is very limited. And, as I wrote elsewhere, this is dangerous for car and also kangaroos. All the way, we encountered killed kangaroos lying along the road. I'd say they clean the road from time to time, but there will be probably a lot of accidents and a number of dead animals along the road will be growing. At least some of them are in one piece, but the others are not quite that pretty. One we saw in the tragicomic position - first clean cut of a head and than the body a few meters away. Truly, this tour is not for the weak people. Sometimes it is better to have a  lunch at the parking lot and not while driving, one can be easily surprised.

We arrived at Jurien Bay some time before lunch and so we just went to camp to book a place. The receptionist was quite nice, it did not last long and we got a small camp plan with marked point where our tent should be. One thing off the list, we do not have to stress in the evening after hiking, so it's better. So we've also decided to book a boat trip for tomorrow's dive at the small island inhabited by seal lions with whom we could swim. The travel agency was very nice, happy to explain everything to us, but for the money what this fun costs us they should probably bring us there on their hands. But apparently it is a unique and memorable experience to swim with seal lions just in the sea, I can not wait.

All done and I finally we're off to national park, which is located about a half hour drive outside of town. Sealed road changes to unsealed after one crossing, but after a few kilometers it turned back to asphalt road and that's the same  around the whole park so it's good, at least we won't destroy the car too much. It's very nice here, everything blooms, nice colors, but mostly yellow. But it also has its drawbacks. With the arrival of spring awaken Australian flies that are really very intrusive and disgusting, not at all like in Slovakia. Slovak fly is like an old grandpa sitting on the porch, smoking his pipe, spits and coughs from time to time. But Australian flies are like old women at the market, one shouts over the other, screams and will not stop until she gets what she wants. So these flies are just like that. There are an awful lot of them and are so annoying that it ruined the idyllic moment of countryside views. But we were informed about this aspect, and we have the adequate countermeasures to them. The so-called mosquito nets on the head. This day, although we do not use it, but time will tell that tomorrow my nerves can not stand it and I'll put it on in order to have a piece of mind  from those monsters.

The whole park has a Scenic Trail around the park and in the middle of this there is also a hiking path for a few hours on a small hill. From afar it looked worse than it ultimately was. The sun was shining, but the walks was easy and not after a long time we were on top of the hill. Fortunately there was quite a strong wind, which at least partially dispels those nasty flies, especially when man walked, it was much better than when we just sat and looked around. Time slowly passed, but since the hike was not very long, we had no problems to walk around the whole track and in the evening we returned back to camp.

First we decided to put up a tent, check what is where in the camp and how does it look like and then quickly went to the beach to catch the last rays of the sun and enjoy the sunset. The camp is quite nice. There's actually a lot of those small houses, then caravans attached firmly to the ground, then followed by people traveling with caravans, tents with electrical connections and then ultimately the cheapest place only for tents without electricity. And here we are. Toilets and showers are very clean because they are actually used only by people with tents, everyone else either have everything in caravans or lodges. There is also a kitchen with a barbecue like we've seen on the beach, than two kitchen fridges, microwave, kettle and even a TV. We are therefore surprised and satisfied. In the evening we went to the beach to see the sunset and then we grilled only chicken breast for dinner. Portable refrigerator which we have with us has truly proved itself, it seems that refrigerants can keep it in acceptable condition for up to two days, which is kind of ok. We don't even not know how, and it is almost ten in the evening, and it's time to go to bed because we wake up very early in the morning to go to see the sea-lions. So good night;)

All photos can be found on:

https://picasaweb.google.com/101430570008874668546/20120916_LesueurNP