Margaret River Fun

We had been told how much we were going to love the Margaret River region - combining gorgeous beaches and surf with one of the world's best wine regions and amazing food - and they weren't wrong. I just wish now that we had allotted more time in the area because it really was so lovely. We didn't actually stay in the town of Margaret River (which is inland and looked very charming, if a little chichi, when we drove through it) but rather stayed in the tiny beach town of Yallingup on the coast. I think Yallingup was one of Toby's favourite places to stay in our whole trip - there really wasn't much else there aside from a fantastic surf beach, a campground,some houses, a great playground and a small cafe, but then, what else do you really need? The sunsets were stunning.

Plus we visited the Margaret River Chocolate Factory which offered UNLIMITED free samples. Literally vats of chocolate buttons (dark, milk and white) available for scooping - sorry, I meant sampling. We got some great momentos from that visit. I also scored a lovely lunch out at a vineyard. 

We also visited The Wool Shed, very near Yallingup, for a sheep shearing and herding demonstration and a chance to feed and hold the baby lambs. Although, looking at these pictures now I would challenge the word 'baby' - those 'lambs' were as big as the girls! Zoe could barely stand up holding them. Sheep in lamb clothing I would say... Still, a lot of fun and I scored a pair of lambskin slippers.

Chocolate cafe

You might say 'chocolate' and 'cycling shirt' don't go together, but I would beg to differ... watch for me on the roads this summer. I think of it as 'incentivizing'

Lunch at Cullen Wines

Rainbow over Yallingup

Greedy sheep

Backbreaking work

Hoisting those 'baby' lambs

Very soft and cuddly though

Difficult when a sheep rocks your sunglasses better than you

This lamb was so greedy it sucked the top right off the bottle

Sunset over Yallingup

Cape Leeuwin to Cowamarup

After the tree adventure in the karri forests in Pembroke, we drove to Augusta for the night. We just parked by the river. In the morning I had a peaceful walk by the river seeing all the local birdlife, and then we rented paddleboards for the whole family to go down the river to the mouth of the sea. It wasn't our most successful outing because the girls found paddleboarding paradoxically both boring and a bit difficult (Zoe had problems steering her board in the wind - she was particularly small for it) but we paddled to a lovely sandbar and saw some stingrays on the bottom along the way - there are always some pleasures to be found. 

Then we went to the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse near Augusta - the most southwesterly point of mainland Australia. It is also where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian ocean, which was quite exciting, and the waves were definitely impressive. 

We packed a lot into that day because we after we carried on into the Margaret River region to stay our first night at a campground with a 'farm' at the aptly named Cowamarup - a beautiful rural spot that offered the kids a chance to feed some farm animals in the evening. We can never resist a chance to interact with some animals, but it was also just a very pleasant spot to stop. 

One of the many cow statues in the charming little hamlet of Cowamarup

A shot of our 'home' for the four months - not a big space!

Pembroke and the Gloucester Tree

Climbing the Gloucester Tree and the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree near Pembroke were definitely a HIGHlight (geddit?) of our time in the southwest. These two extremely tall karri trees were pegged with metal spikes in the 1940s as fire lookouts, and are still available to climb today - but only for the brave. And that didn't include me... Toby was the hero who took our fearless girls 75m up with no ropes or protection. His video shows it best, but these pictures help to put it in perspective. I was gratified at how people who watched the video noted MY bravery at having to watch the girls and Toby climb the trees... I do think I was particularly courageous, and I will be honest: my heart was in my mouth the whole time. The girls and Toby loved it, of course, and it was definitely a great adventure.

It was a long way down.

The view from the top of the Gloucester Tree

The climbers

A good view of the spikes - it was like climbing a steel ladder

Look hard to see Toby in red and Indie in blue

That's Toby peering out between the leaves

On the way down

Can you see the three climbers? 

And you wonder why we were the only ones climbing...

A good view of the pegs and the climbing technique

Success!

The spikes - close up

Find Indie

The Bicentennial Tree was so high it had TWO viewing platforms