January 22 – Drive to Margaret River, an eclectic day

Today was nothing if not an eclectic mix of stuff.    We are driving from Walpole to Margaret’s River and stopping to see as many things on the route as possible. 

First stop was to the Pemberton visitors center to get directions.  While there we saw a sign that seems to speak to us (particularly about not carrying too much luggage)...

and what is supposedly some really great insect repellent.  We didn't try it.  

After getting directions we headed out to see the Gloucester Tree.  This is a lookout tree (for watching for fires) that is 53 meters (174 feet) high.  

To allow the monitoring they built a viewing platform at the very top...

and then embedded long rods in a spiral around and up the trunk to the top.  To get to the top you need to climb the rods.

You’d never get away with this in the US…the only safety feature was a “net” of sorts fitted on the outside.  It might prevent you from falling off sideways (maybe) but not necessarily from slipping through the widely spaced rods.  Although there were a bunch of kids that went all the way to the top we decided to stay firmly on the ground.

We then took a slight detour through the countryside…

to the town of Nannup.  They have been in the news recently because they have been invaded by emus (about 20 or 30).  So why not go see the emus.  On the way we saw smoke and eventually a brush fire that was very close to the road.  Fortunately, the road wasn’t closed so we made it into town. 

When we got to Nannup the people at the local community center gave us some suggestions for where we might find the emus.  We did see two.  Boy are they big birds…about 6 feet tall when fully grown.  The only larger bird is the ostrich. 

The town itself was mall and rather cute.  This area of Australia gets a fair amount of rain so the gardens here were pretty lush compared to other areas we have visited.

While looking for emus we found the old train bridge...

and the Flood Tree (marks the high level marks for various floods).

Next stop was to the very farthest southern and western tip of Australia, Cape Leeuwin, where the Indian and Southern (Antarctic) Oceans meet.  

You could actually tell that the currents of the two oceans met here because the waves on either side of the point went in opposite directions from each other.   Was impossible to photograph but the surf in the area was beautiful with the sunny day and blue skies.

The Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is situated right on the point where the two oceans meet. 

A ranger pointed out a rock in the distance.  If you start in Washington DC and drill a hole straight down through the center of the earth, when it comes out the other side this rock is the closest landfall. 

There were a lot of very small islands and rocks to the east of the point.  

We thought of our friend, Jim Bratt (a geologist) when we saw this sign discussing the islands.

Needed to stay on the trails here.

On the way out we stopped at Flinders Bay…

and eventually to Hamelin Bay.  We really wanted to visit Hamelin because there are a lot of rays and skates here and you can often swim or wade with them.  The bay itself is very pretty (yet another white sand beach) and there were a lot of people at the boat ramp watching for rays. 

It was impossible to photograph them from out of the water…the water was too cloudy.  However, we got pictures that we think might possibly be rays.

On our way to Margaret River we got a good glimpse of some kangaroos grazing in a nearby field.  Yeah!

Our hotel is the Margaret Beach Resort and it just across the street from Gnarabup Beach but is a long way from the middle of town.