We’ve safely and successfully completed our road trip in Western Australia, and have been back at the Ride house for the last 36 hours. Mike, Cara, and Selah were also generously invited to stay with the family when we arrived, smelly and tired after driving a total of 3,600+ kilometers in 7 days. Needless to say, we were all ready for a shower and chance to recuperate before new travels begin. A new photo album has been added called “Western Australia Road Trip” covering our last week of travels, check back for new video(s) in the next few days.

Since our last post when we first arrived in Margaret River, we’ve seen and done a lot. After arriving in the late afternoon on the 22nd and finding an internet cafe, we found our way to a small campsite called CaneBreak Pool, about 20 km northeast of Margaret River and had the whole park to ourselves that night. Once we had set up camp, we went back into town for dinner at Goodfellas, an Italian restaurant themed after Gangster movies.

The next morning we went back into town to get calling cards to phone our families back in the States on Thanksgiving. It was sad for all of us to be away from our families, especially knowing what good meals we were missing out on in comparison to what we were eating…
Then we got maps and recommendations from the information center for sights around the area, which there were quite a few of. Besides the dozens of wineries, there are several well-known caves, beaches, and other things to do around Margaret River to keep us busy. We chose to do the following route on our first international Thanksgiving - Yahava Koffee Works, Evans & Tate Winery, the Margaret River Chocolate Company, and the Margaret River Cheese Factory.

Yahava Koffee Works was awesome - and the people there were very friendly. We tried a few kinds of coffee and looked around their facilities. There was also a distillery there, and they produced dozens of liquers - ranging from coconut, mango, chocolate, white chocolate, and blueberry. There was a pretty goofy guy working that area who set us up with some delicious combinations like lime & coconut, lemon cheesecake (lemon, white chocolate, & cream), and neopolitan (chocolate, white chocolate, berry, & cream). They were all delicious!

Then we headed over to the Evans & Tate Winery. Their property was beautiful, and fortunately there was nobody else there when we arrived. The winery rep working at the time, Scott, was extremely nice, and spent a good deal of time talking with us about the wines as we tasted them. We all left with more knowledge about blending, vintage, and the wines of the region than we could have expected and were all pleased with that.

On the way back to the campsite we stopped briefly at the Chocolate Factory and Cheese Factory to grab a few samples. Since it was later in the day, the crowds had gotten substantial - so we decided to go back to the campsite and start dinner before we lost light. Whit, Mike, and Selah took a quick dip in the river before it got too cold and at risk of encountering leeches and wound up having a very refreshing swim.

The plan for the following day was to head out to the coast, and possibly check out the caves. However, we were deterred from the caves by the entry fees, as well as the amazingly sunny day it was outside. We went by Prevelly Beach, then decided after seeing how good the water was to get a boogy board and relax by the water for the rest of the day.

Without much else dictating our schedule, we wound up being picky about where we wanted to spend the bulk of the day. Since our plan was to camp at Leeuwin-Naturliste National Park, we looked at Sandy Beach and parked there, about 100 yards from the beach itself through some sand dunes. There was no one else there, and once we saw the huge waves and rip tide, we realized why.

So, a five minute drive took us over to Conto Spring, where the waves, rip tide, and wind were much more tame. As for the boogy board, as we were looking for a beach, we saw one on the side of the road - score! The water was incredible, and it was great to swim, board, and watch the surfers further out on the bigger waves.

Before heading back to our site at the Conto Campground, we watched the sunset from The Point on our last night of our group trip. When we had first arrived, we all guessed what time the sun would actually go down. Estimated times ranged from 6:18 to 6:40, but we were all off by a longshot, as it dropped into the horizon shortly before 7:00.

Our last day included a detour on our drive back north to Perth. We went through the Karri Regrowth National Forest, after only being out of our campsite for about 20 minutes. The SW area of the country is cool for that reason - the landscape changes so quickly. The Karris were reminiscent of redwoods, and looked exceptional in the morning sunlight. Our drive took us east to Pemberton where we pulled over to see some retirees in a lawn bowling match, something you don’t see in the U.S.

What we really wanted to see was the Glouchester Tree, a 60 metre high karri tree that you can climb up, which we all did. It was a long way up, but offered an amazing view once made it. There were also parrots of different colors around the park.

On our drive back to Perth, a stop was made at the Cidery in Bridgetown. This was a neat little “boutique” winery, brewery, and cidery. We relaxed there for a while after sampling some sweet ciders, alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike.

Selah left this evening for the airport to head back to Austin, Texas. Tomorrow Whit and I are flying to Melbourne, and Mike and Cara are staying around Perth before attempting to catch a train to Adelaide.

We’ve had a great time in Western Australia (the largest state in the country) - it’s hard to believe it’s been three weeks already. But, we’re having a blast and are looking forward to whatever lies ahead. Think good thoughts for us!

xoxo claire & whit