A beautiful retreat ~ the South Coast

Big trees.  Wild coast.  Sheltered bays.  Boutique wines.  Fine cheese.  Good coffee.  Fresh herbs.  Welcoming towns.  Rainy days.  Sunny days.  Days of rain then sun.  Days of sun then rain.  Then sun again.  Then rain.  Sun.  Rain.  Sun.  RainSunRainSunRainWindSun.

The south coast of WA, that little horizontal strip between between the northward angling coast to Margaret River on the west and the gentle northward curve of the bight on the east, is a perfect blend of many things we love, including the opportunity to pull out all our warm clothes and wrap our baby in blankets.  We spent about a week between the little forest hamlet of Walpole and the relative bustle of Albany, with most of our time spent halfway between at Denmark.  Good times of relaxing and exploring, watching massive salmon being pulled onto the beach in the most picturesque fishing spots we've ever seen.  Enjoying little surprises, like just how much we liked Albany and how much it reminded us of a town in New Zealand.  We even managed to get out to a great little restaurant to celebrate our sixth anniversary, which happened to coincide with Mel's first Mother's Day.  An important week for Little Bird too - her first solids!  (Feijoa - see evidence below of just how much she's enjoying the new world opening up to her).

Well, we've done it now I guess.  WA from North to South.  Time to start heading back North again.  I sure hope we'll come back this way again, but can't imagine it'll be any time soon.

Photos:

~ feijoa, before and after.

~ watchful.

~ western grey.

~ valley of the giants treetop walk.

~ conspicuous cliffs.

~ solomon merchants - Albany's old grocer.

 

Father of the Year! ~ Pemberton

So before I outline my nomination for father of the year, let me fill you in on a little background.  We packed up in Margaret River and headed for the hills with Little Bird sleeping in the back (the whole way - yes - THE WHOLE WAY.  ASLEEP!!!!).  We cruised down quiet highways, soon having that familiar West Australian feeling of being many miles from anywhere, only instead of being surrounded by desert, we were plunging deep into massive eucalypt forests.  The tall Southern Forests of WA are pretty impressive, not quite up there with the giant forests of Tasmania or California, but very close behind.  They've been the scenes of big environmental battles and occasional wins.  The little timber village of Pemberton sits in the middle of it all, wreathed in rain and mist (in May anyway). 

We had decided that it was time to leave the camper packed up for once, and to check in to some real accommodation.  We booked a cabin at Foragers, a small property just out of town with a restaurant and kitchen garden.  We had four beautiful days there wandering the gardens and the nearby forests, eating delicious food and spotting birds.  The gardens were well planted with natives and turned out to be a bit of a haven for little birds: fairy-wrens, firetails, thornbills, honeyeaters and robins were all easy to see along the driveway.

So my self-made nomination as Father of the Year is based on a little incident when I drove my girls into town for a bite to eat, and then out to the Gloucester Tree, a sixty one metre karri tree with a fire spotting lookout at the top that you can climb up to.  With impressive foresight, I had packed a spare nappy in case a change was needed while we were out.  So when Little Bird had a big heavy wet nappy in town, it was no drama, just straight back to the car for a change.  Nice one dad.  Score - Dad: 1, Other Dads: 0.  I was feeling pretty chuffed as I swaggered about with my baby at the Gloucester tree - "check out the dad who takes his tiny baby for forest adventures on a cold and rainy day!"  Then I heard and felt a squelch.  A big one.  No drama, just straight back to the car for a change.  Nice one d... oh... yeah... the only nappy in the car is that big heavy wet one from town... and that squelch has exploded out of the nappy and soaked it's way through two layers of clothes, and... "didn't you bring any spare clothes?"  Well, I did bring a jumper.  [disapproving frown].  So anyway - here's a photo of me and little bird in the forest.  She's the one wearing a freshly applied wet nappy and a jumper and socks.  Of course, she thought the whole thing was hilarious.  Score -  Dad: -1, Little Bird: 1 000 000.



Other photos:
~ exploring the gardens at Foragers.
~ still exploring the gardens.
~ karri forest.
~ mel and little bird, as seen from the top of a karri tree.

The good life ~ Margaret River

A week and bit around Margaret River... where to begin?  We started with a couple of nights at Dunsborough, a little town at the northern end of the region with some great cafes and a good vibes.  It was the long weekend and the end of school holidays, so things were a bit hectic around town, but family were able to come down from Rockingham so little bird got to hang with her cousins and aunt and uncle for the first time, which was sweet for all of us.  The holidays ended, the crowds dissipated, and we relocated about 10 minutes down the road to Yallingup beach.  The drive into Yallingup is stunning as the coast opens out in front of you, and we just had to take a few steps from the camper to see the surf.  We stayed there for another five nights, completing a week of bushwalking, surfing, snorkelling, spearfishing, scenic drives, cafes, bakeries, cheese, wine and the like.  All sounds exciting and busy, but in reality we barely got more than one of these things done on any single day, and most of our time was spent dodging rain showers and catching little windows of sleep whenever granted permission by little bird.

Before heading onwards on our ventures we ducked down to Margaret River town for a couple of relaxed days walking by the river, shopping and eating.  Really loved this leg of our journey, and would love to spend more time back here one day.

Photos:

~ chilling at a Dunsborough cafe

~ checking out the flora around Yallingup

~ living the good life in our camper

~ another cafe - this time at Margaret River

~ walking at Cape Naturaliste

~ afternoon sun at Yallingup

Interlude ~ Freo

I'm sitting at my desk in Broome in the evening, the windows are all open, the ceiling fans cranking, an army of insects creaking outside and occasional dog barks or mysterious bird noises.  I'm thinking: how did I get so far behind with this blog?  Oh that's right... we have a baby.

Don't fear!  I'll be filling you in on our recent travels, and even occasional posts about family life in Broome.

So where was I up to?  That's right - Freo.

We had a couple of Perth days planned for shopping and exploring and working out where to come back to, and had booked ourselves into a campground near Fremantle.  We loved it!  I'd have to say it's now my favourite urban enclave in the whole country.  For those east coasters who haven't had the pleasure, imagine all of the good bits of West End, Newtown, Glebe, or Fitzroy, then multiply them, make them a little less busy and take out all the "we're way too hip for you people attitude".  Take the result of this, stick it by the sea, and you have Freo.

We'll be back.

Photos:
~ at Bread in Common:  what could make an amazing lunch into a perfect one?  Having this little cherub quietly drift herself off to sleep in my lap for the first (possibly last) time ever.
~ out the front of Oootong and Lincoln: the most photogenic of all the great cafes we checked out.