A Day of Sightseeing Near Margaret
We left the house around 9 AM heading south to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. We were told to stop at a few places along the way and on the way back. We first stopped at Flinder’s Bay which was a small beach just before you get to the lighthouse and just south of Augusta, a cute little fishing town. The beach was pretty simple, but the ocean before us was absolutely spectacular. The color of the water, the coastline, the crashing waves, the docks sitting just off the shore, all of it was so picturesque. We stayed for about 20 minutes and took lots of pictures.
We got back in the car and continued on and there was a pull off before the lighthouse where you could take pictures from a distance. The small rock formations just off shore with the wave breaking on them with the view of the lighthouse in the background was really breathtaking, as was this entire area. In the US and other places you have amazing icons like the Leeuwin Lighthouse, but with the color of the ocean water this was very special. We continued on to see the lighthouse itself, which was nice but just like hundreds of other I have seen in my life. After taking a few pictures it was back in the car to head toward Margaret River with a couple more stops.
The next stop was Jewel Cave as we wanted to take the 11:30 tour so we could have lunch and then head home. The cave was discovered in the 1950’s and was pretty neat. There were lots of steps going down and our guide, Liam, was a young local who was very knowledgeable. He showed us all the stalagmites and stalactites and they had created a few areas where they change the light colors and put on a small show. Toward the end they asked everyone to shut off anything that emitted light and shut off all the lights. It was truly pitch black, which was a pretty interesting feeling. You lose all perspective when it’s that dark. The climb back up to the top of the cave was fun and then we were off to find some lunch.
Our next stop was Hamelin Bay where we were told we could play with sting rays. We arrived and the kids were starving since we hadn’t eaten since early in the morning. I was told that there was some food at Hamelin Bay, but that wasn’t the case. We purchased a bag of Doritos to hold the kids over and headed to the beach to check out the rays. When we got down to the beach there were a few dozen big, black huge sting rays in the water crashing on the shore. It was pretty cool.
The final stop of our day was the a forest full of Karri trees. It was one of the most beautiful forests I have ever seen. The trees were so tall and so unique, it was awe inspiring. This was another site that pictures just can’t do justice to. After the forest it was back to Margaret River to get the kids to do more school work and pack for our journey back to Perth in the morning. In the end, Margaret River was an excellent choice for time in Western Australia. The people were so kind and the scenery breathtaking. Looking forward to the rest of this journey as we prepare for the end of our time in Australia.
To a life well lived!
Larry Kesslin 