Pemberton to Busselton

30th April to 22 May
During our camping in the south west corner of WA we managed 16 days with solar panels only, no powered sites, and considering we had mostly overcast days we're pretty pleased with the result.

climbing the Gloucester tree

We spent a week in Pemberton, forest hiking the trails, climbing Karri Trees and wine tasting.

The area has several fire lookout trees: Gloucester tree (53m), Diamond tree (49m) and Dave Evans Bicentennial tree (65m), all have metal spikes up their massive trucks as makeshift ladders.

The Karri are a Eucalyptus growing up to 90m tall producing little white flowers, so there were plenty of lorikeets and 28 parrots about.

Conto in Cape Leewin National Park, out of Boranup, was a great base for Margaret River and Augusta. The Cape to Cape coastal walk runs from Augusta to Cape Naturaliste and we did various parts of it during our stay. 

Margaret river surf beach

We toured the lighthouse at Augusta and peered over the cliff to where the Indian and Southern oceans meet. In the right weather conditions you can see the two currents merge... our day was too choppy.

The coast is limestone and there are a series of caves in the area, we toured the Jewel Cave which is the largest in the area with it's lofty natural cathedral. Being the last to be discovered its probably also the most pristine. 

coastline walking

Next stop was Canebrake pool, northeast of Margaret River which allowed a change of camping scenery but still access to the wineries,... Vasse Felix, Cape Mentelle , Leeuwin Estate and Voyager just to name a few.

Finishing off a pretty good stay in this part of state we are having a relaxing and recharging week in the Busselton Sebel... for some serious clothes washing, hot tub soaking and 'tourist town' sightseeing.

Next up we head north for the warmer weather!

Kevin campfire cooking

Dryandra Woodland to Albany

18th to 29th April
Dryandra Woodlands marked the first of the cooler evenings, the fire bans were at last lifted, and we could have campfires.
With Easter approaching the bush camping was a perfect hideaway. The woodlands are the oldest natural remnants of original forest, with surrounding wheat fields and sheep grazing the predominant industry.

Campfire Kev

A highlight of this stay was the forest walking and Barna Mia nocturnal wildlife sanctuary tour.  The 4ha predator proof enclosure is home to Bilby, Boodie, Woylie, Quenda and Mala.

These small 'kangaroo/mouse' like marsupials were once abundant, but feral cats and foxes have decimated populations..... though we were lucky enough to see a Woylie hop by our campsite one evening.


After Dryandra we headed to Kendenup, camping at the local community hall, a great base for visiting the Stirling Ranges and local wineries. Mount Barker was 10km down the road, and we attended their ANZAC day dawn service, the town's first for 30years.

Sterling Ranges

Following our ANZAC theme we spent a few days in Albany, where the first ANZAC convoy left for Palestine to fight in WW1, including my grandfather Leslie Eakins on the 'Orvieto' which left Melbourne 21 October 1914, joining the fleet in Albany.

The National Anzac Centre is located on the headland, an impressive commemorative facility, and we were able to see the The 'Field of Lights' display in the evening.

The Gap coastline Albany

Being on the coast Albany had a whaling industry which continued up until the mid 1970's, the old whaling station is now a museum and tells the history of whaling, including commentary from past whalers on their experiences.
An interesting few days exploring the history of the area... though we did manage to see our new AFL team the Mt Baker Bulls play in the local Saturday comp,... unfortunately beaten convincingly by the Albany Royals.