Part I is here.

23rd Dec

We checked out, and had another breakfast at Margaret River Bakery, before proceeding the long drive to Denmark, stopping along the way for lunch at the Lavender and Berry Farm, and for honey and mead at Bartholemews Meadery. We finally reached our accommodation late afternoon, where we stayed for the next 4 nights. And what a view our accommodation has! We ended the night with an excellent bottle of wine from Margaret River.

24th Dec

The next day, we drove to the Valley of the Giants for their famous treetop walk.

And then it was to the famous Green’s Pool. The waters looked so inviting, but we did not bring our swimming gear, so we just had to make do with walking on the beach.

25th Dec

It’s Christmas! We spent the day driving to Albany, exploring The Gap, the Natural Bridge and the Blowhole.

26th Dec

We went back to Green’s Pool today with our swim gear for a swim. The water was cold at first, but after a while, we were used to it. The water was crystal clear, wonderful, and the weather was perfect for a swim. I even managed to spot fishes swimming around me. What a day!

We spent the afternoon napping, before waking up for our last sunset at Denmark. Denmark definitely saved the best sunset on our last night here.

27th Dec

The next day we checked out after breakfast, before beginning the long drive up north, back to Perth. We finally reached Fremantle mid afternoon, where we stayed for the next 3 nights. We had the famous fish and chips for dinner before catching another sunset in Fremantle.

28th Dec

The next day we went to the Fremantle Market and walked around the area. We also drove to Perth to do a bit of shopping before having the wonderful BBQ Seafood Platter at the same place where we had our dinner the day before.

29th Dec

We went over to South Beach, as recommended by our Bed & Breakfast host. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it was also a dog beach. Obviously I was very happy.

30th Dec

Today was the day we flew back to Singapore. After checking out, we did some shopping before stopping over at the Cottesloe Beach on our way to the airport.

And thus, we concluded our 11 days road trip filled with good memories. To paraphrase what we heard, there is no need for us to show others the place, the place shows itself.

I had to clear leave at the end of the year, and decided to plan for a road trip in Western Australia between 20th Dec to 30th Dec. It was excellent. Sunny weather, excellent wine, food and coffee, endless trees, serenity, beautiful sunsets, crystal clear sea, golden beaches, what more can we ask?

20th Dec

Took the red eye flight from Singapore to Perth. Upon clearing customs, the first thing we did was to purchase a prepaid data SIM card. Then it was coffee, some snacks, and proceed to collect our rental car from Hertz.

I had indicated that I wanted to rent a Toyota Yaris, a hatchback, instead Hertz decided to provide some early Christmas cheer by giving me a Volkswagen Golf. In the days that followed, I fell in love with this car. Superb handling, control. excellent pickup, fuel efficiency, the car just feels right. What a car!

We drove south, stopping at Bunbury for a while. The flies were early this year, and it was really irritating, something that bothered us throughout the whole trip.

We then continued south to Busselton, for some sightseeing and lunch. Busselton has one of the longest jetty in the world, and this time I was determined to take the train along the jetty, and visit the underwater viewing at the end of the jetty, something that I could not do during my last 2 visits. The flies were especially bad here.

We finally reached Margaret River in the late afternoon where we will be staying for the next 3 nights.

21st Dec

The next day we had breakfast at the Margaret River Bakery, just opposite our accommodation. The breakfast and coffee were excellent, just as the reviews online for it said.  We then proceed to do some caves exploring, going to the Lake Cave, Mammoth Cave and Jewel Cave. Our favourite was definitely the Jewel Cave. We bought the ticket to all the 3 caves, at AUD$55 each, with guided tours provided for both Lake Cave and Jewel Cave.

 

Then it was off to have a look at the Augusta Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. It was really windy, and as it was almost closing time, we did not pay for the lighthouse tour.

22nd Dec

We spent the next day exploring the beaches and chilling out. We had a breakfast at the White Elephant Café at the Gnarabup Beach, but due to the huge number of flies, it was not that pleasant. The views, though, were excellent.

We had our lunch at the Xanadu winery, where the food and wine were excellent. We bought a few bottles of wine from them for the subsequent days.

We went back to our place for a nap before heading out to Surfer’s Point for the sunset. There were quite a few people there, all waiting for the golden hour. It was windy and cold, but the sunset display was worth it.

Part II is here.