Pemberton to Cowaramup

 

Saturday, 11 June

I forgot a couple of things about Pemberton. There are hundreds of acres of avocado trees and we learned that kookaburras are not native to WA and are considered a pest that you are allowed to shoot.

A good drive this morning on a beautiful road to Augusta. Scones, jam and cream at last and good coffee!! We couldn’t find the information centre but a nice couple in the cafe, who explained that it has closed, were able to give us all the information we needed.

A few kilometres down the road was Cape Leeuwin, the most south-westerly tip of Australia, and the place where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. As we approached we could see a huge black monolithic structure where there should have been a lighthouse. Could they have built a multi storey hotel there? Of course not, it was scaffolding covering the whole lighthouse, which is undergoing a 12 month restoration.

We braved the wind and walked out to the point to see the spot where the two oceans meet (still scanning the sea for whales). Kept thinking about “The light between oceans”. It was beautiful and rugged and invigorating. In one of the old keeper’s cottages there was an excellent display about the history and lives of the lighthouse keepers. See below for pictures of what we should have seen and what we did see.

There are over 100 caves in the Margaret River Region and our next stop was one of them, the Jewel Cave. The guided tour of this magnificent cave was fascinating. There are three large chambers with all sorts of formations and they even found skeletal remains of Tasmanian tigers in there. They had fallen through a small hole in the roof of the cave and couldn’t get out.

The cave was cleverly lit and we followed boardwalks and staircases for about an hour, which was fine on the way down (832 feet below the ground) but less fun on the way back up the 734 steps! It was very good to be back above ground.

Once we’d recovered our breath we headed through Margaret River to Cowaramup and our cabin home for the next three days. Had a great meal at the Cowaramup  District Social Club.

I think we’ll both sleep well tonight.