Monday 15 September PERTH
Easy somewhat
boring 300km drive to our caravan park north of Perth, near the Swan Valley
vineyards. Big 4 caravan park and lovely site
overlooking green swards near Bennett Brook.
But too far away from spotless amenity block and wireless internet only
works in their Rec. Room. The Big 4
group can't get the internet right!
After late
lunch we drove around the local area, up
to Midland, a large town, and back to Altone shopping centre. Only point of interest (apart from locating
Bunnings, WW and Coles!) was town of Guildford, established in 1841 and
heritage-listed.
Tuesday 16 September PERTH
A train strike
today thwarted our plans to go to Kings Park by public transport. The weather was perfect for any activity
(except swimming at max. 21 degrees).
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| Moultons Landing |
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| Guildford, Stirling Square sugar gums
In the
afternoon we planned a wine tasting excursion in the Swan Valley. Didn't follow exact plan but tasted wines at
Reach (bought none), Windy Creek (bought 2 bottles) and Houghtons (1
bottle). Now have a carton labelled
Windy Creek which we can fill with wines from anywhere and post home for around
$22, or carry with us if room can be found.
Back to change
into shorts for a riverside walk.
Problems finding trail (Mary sent us on confusing path back and forth
over river) but settled on Riverside Gardens with bird preserve. Wonderful place. Highlight was lady (who had earlier parked
dog outside bird hide where dogs strictly prohibited) taking us to see 2
pink-eared ducks with 6 babies, who posed on a branch just above the water
within 2m of us.
Wednesday 17 September PERTH
Spent the afternoon at King's Park.
    
Thursday 18 September PERTH
Drove into the Perth Hills, visiting the area around Mundaring Weir first.
 
Friday 19 September PERTH
Drove 34 km east of Perth to walk in the Gidgegannup area, firstly to Noble Falls along the 3.5km Woorooloo Brook trail.
 
Our second walk was on the nearby 2.7km FR Berry Trail.
 Birds seen on walks while we were staying in Perth:
Saturday 20 September YALLINGUP
Last night we
decided to pack up and forgo our last 2 paid days here as we couldn't plan
anything interesting given the wet windy weather. However, Saturday was fine and sunny and
Perth/Freemantle looked great as we drove away.
Walkers and Sat. morning breakfast cafes everywhere - we hugged the
coast on our way south to Bunbury. Went
through a surprisingly lengthy industrial stretch around Rockingham.
Lunched in
cold windy conditions overlooking Big Swamp at Bunbury. Thrilled to see my first (male) musk duck -
also pair of swans with 3 cygnets.
BUNBURY
Reading
tourist blurb en route, I persuaded David to drive to Yallingup via a shopping
stop at very busy Busselton. Good
choice. Just one caravan park, with no
grey nomads, some young couples, very grassy sites and WIRELESS INTERNET
WHICH WORKED IN OUR TRAILER!! A
tremendous bonus, as weather forecasts were bleak. Set up camp, then checked
out the local beaches. Big waves at Canal Rocks, very
windy.
  
Sunday 21 September YALLINGUP
A late start
to our day as I had to wash clothes and the park machine wouldn't work. I left it going, I thought, went back 40
minutes later as timer said, to find clothes still dry and unwashed. Manager finally worked out that someone had
shut off the water tap and another 40 minutes later, wash was hanging under our
awning and we were off on a walk, the Quenda (bandicoot) trail. A 2- hour walk after lunch, it described a
loop towards Smith Beach. Weather was
kind, walk was pretty and varied. Inland
it took us over large sand dunes bordered by pastures; on the coast we came
down to the beach and walked along it for a while before rejoining the original
path near Yallingup.
Wind freshened so we went on a winery hunt. First one we bought a white I liked, which cost $15 (and we think we could get similar cheaper as a Brisbane 'special'. Next winery boasted award winning wines - just looked at prices - cheapest was $28 and you had to pay a refundable $5 to taste any dearer wines. So we abandoned wines and I found another destination - Canal Rocks. Expecting little, we were amazed by the unusual spectacle of waves breaking from one direction against a sea swell 90 degrees in the other direction. The rocks were cut into canals (naturally), a boardwalk enabled clear view of the mighty forces at work.
Monday 22 September YALLINGUP
David decided
on the Torpedo Trail as today's walk, up towards the Ngilgi Cave. Path and directions were confusing and at at one
point a sign "Scenic Walk" led us to a very ritzy hotel and apartment
complex.
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