WA 2025, 28-Jan – 2-Feb

Tuesday 28-Jan

Jen went for a SUP and Arno for a game of golf at the Denmark golf course. It was a beautiful day and Arno had an audience.

Wednesday 29-jan

We left Denmark behind and made our way to our next destination.

We stopped at the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk for a visit. Designed to immerse you in the forest and leave the eco system untouched, the walk blends seamlessly into its surrounds, inspired by the sword grass and the tassel flower it serves to protect. Suspended effortlessly in the air for up to a height of 40 metres, the walk moves gently just like the sway of the trees. It was impressive!

After this impressive tree walk we continued on to find our camp in the Big Brook Arboretum. Well that was an adventure, Google led us up a 4WD track that ended in the middle of the forest. Luckily there was a place to turn around and slowly make our way back. We had to take it slowly as our caravan is not really build for these kind of tracks. But we managed and the caravan survived.

Second attempt was successful and we found our spot amongst very large trees all around. We did manage to get just enough clearance for the Starlink to pick up a signal.

Thursday 30-Jan

We explored the area around Pemberton and Manjimup. This area is famous for its Karri trees.  It is a tall tree with smooth light grey to cream-coloured, often mottled bark, lance-shaped adult leaves and barrel-shaped fruit. They can grow up to 90 metres tall and have been used as lookout post. There were lots of birds in the woods and a few Blue Wrens showed off the beautiful colours.

We also went on the Pemberton Tram ride that takes you to the Cascades. The railway operates diesel hydraulic trams over a total route length of 10kms. The Lefroy Brook could be an impressive sight as it tumbles over the Cascades, although this time of the year there is not that much water.

Friday 31-Jan

Next stop is a campsite close to Augusta. However it is only a short drive we spent most of the day exploring Augusta first.

We took a river cruise on the Blackwood River to see the birds that live in this area. Our captain/tour guide was very knowledgeable and could spot birds from miles away. We enjoyed this time on the water and saw some interesting birds.

Saturday 1-Feb

We drove to the Margaret River Tourist Info to get more details about this area and what there is to do. We will be in this part of WA for about a week before we travel to Bangkok. Margaret River is known for its craft breweries, boutiques and surrounding wineries. Beaches and surf breaks line the nearby coast, whose waters host migratory whales (Jun–Nov). Stretching between 2 lighthouses north and south of the town.

Next stop was Hamilton Bay, another beautiful beach although today it was a bit windy. This beach is famous for its stingrays, but we didn’t see any.

After this we visited the Margaret River Sculpture park. The park offers 10 acres of giant sculptures carved from wood, stone. The 30 sculpture pieces including Homer Simpson, Zoot from the Muppets, a giant rabbit and more.

Sunday 2-Feb

Today we will visit Cape Leeuwin and a few wineries, this time Arno will do the tasting and Jen will be the driver for the day. The first winery we stopped at was again something we’ve haven’t seen before. For winemaker Sasha McDonald the idea of sunken treasures has led to the creation of an Australian first winery, cellared at the bottom of the sea. You can read more about this here https://www.margaretriver.com/things-to-do/eat-drink/new-wave-ocean-floor-cellaring/ but for us it was a delight to hear her passion about this endeavour.

This experience was close to the the most south-westerly point on the mainland of the Australian Continent known as Cape Leeuwin. We visited the museum and the lighthouse which sits on a stretch of land that looks out over where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean.

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse was constructed by a company led by M. C. Davies, with George Temple Poole supervising the construction of the light and designing the keepers’ quarters back in 1895.

We continued our wine tour and visited a few more wineries and closed it off with a visit of Cape Mentelle winery. Arno picked up a few more bottles of wine an we learnt a few more thing about winemaking.