AUGUSTA/FREMANTLE

(Ken with his Christmas present from Mary and Michael)


21-22 December
Perth to Australind
After our goodbyes to Mary and Michael, it was onto the brand new Perth-Bunbury highway for 190kms to a small town called Australind. Australind was so-named because of a fertilizer export operation between Australia and India which only lasted 2 years. Australind is located on the Leschenault Inlet which is very shallow and popular for crabbing. Lots of people walk through the water towing a plastic tub behind them and catching crabs. There are a few heritage buildings and, at only 3.6m wide and 8.2m long, St Nicholas church here is reputed to be the smallest church in WA. Disappointingly, none of the buildings were open for tourists ... they were supposed to be, but there was no-one around who had the key. The shire needs to lift its game as far as tourism goes.



Our new friends from Tamworth, Robyn and Alf, whom we met way back at Corroboree in the Northern Territory, are house-sitting for 6 weeks at Donnybrook which is nearby, so we met up for a Christmas drink at the Australind Tavern.

22 December 2009 - 4 January 2010
Augusta
160km south through the Margaret River region and right on the tip where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean, is Augusta and Cape Leuwin. We're here to have Christmas with Ken's sister, Pat, and her family, husband Colin and sons, Shae and Braden. There other son, Jason, lives in Brisbane and is having Christmas with his fiancee's family on the Gold Coast.


Just before Augusta is a tiny town (general store and a pub) called Karridale with a forest of Karri trees. It was really cold and still and eerily beautiful.


The general store sold the best nectarines, apricots, peaches and mandarines - freshly grown here. We bought heaps.

Pat and Colin manage the Augusta Hotel which is a grand 1930's hotel with a magnificent view out the back over the Blackwood River and out to sea.


We stayed at the Flinders Bay caravan park over the Christmas/New Year period so I did up the caravan for the festivities. The park which was very nice but full of kids on bikes; it's school holidays so we have to expect this mayhem!
No television or telephone signal here - glad we bought books, computer games and DVD's with us! It was too cold to swim.

We had a lovely Christmas Day although I missed Mum and my sisters. They all sent their gifts over by post so they were waiting for us under Pat's Christmas tree when we arrived. We had a great lunch with all the trimmings and washed down with champers.


Flinders Bay is gorgeous and is right on the beach.
There are lovely swimming areas like Granny's Pool, Cosy Corner and Colourpatch. There are some big walks along the Southern Ocean under the Cape Leuwin lighthouse like Skippy Rock, Quarry Bay and Hamelin Bay. Another good walk was from Flinders Bay to the mouth of the Blackwood River and then along the banks of the river to Colourpatch. There were lots of dolphins playing beside us as we walked and, yes - as it is so windy, there were lots of kitesurfers. From June to September, the whales come in really close and it is a great place to see them.


Cape Leuwin, where the 2 oceans meet, is a wild and windy place.







We climbed the 39 metres to the top of the lighthouse and rewarded with a magnificent view.
I was a bit, well - quite a bit, wobbly at the top and refused to let go of the railings, so Ken had the camera. Unfortunately he only took video so I can't give you a photo of the view.



The old waterwheel built in 1895 used to supply water to the lighthouse cottages. It was originally built from timber but has since fully calcified giving it the appearance of old stone.

Each day we went for a different walk at a different beach before arriving at Pat's place for a cuppa and a talk with the cricket on in the background. This is their busiest season, so Colin spends his days in the pub working and Pat does the restaurant ordering for lunches and dinners. We wandered along the rocks at Quarry Bay while Braden, Ken's nephew, snorkelled offshore looking for abalone. We went home with 8 and Colin prepared them for us. Cleaned then bashed with a meat cleaver, dusted with fish coating, then lightly fried in butter - yum ... they were lovely.

Margaret River is famous for its wineries and we had lunch one day at Leuwin Estate - very expensive but worth it. We visted Voyager Winery with its magnificent rose gardens. We couldn't get into the restaurant here - everywhere is so busy because of the school holidays.



New Years Eve came and went without much activity. We had dinner at the Hotel with Pat and Colin before heading home to the caravan to see in the new year with a bottle of champagne. I think I heard all the cheering as I drifted off to sleep. Another year gone.



Another day took us back to Margaret River where we had a great lunch with friend, David, my tax accountant, and his wife and son who were visiting Perth from Sydney for a friend's wedding. It was so nice to see a face from home!

It was, however, sad to leave Pat and the family but it was time to return north to meet up with Mary and Michael at Australind.

4 - 5 January
Australind

Back in Australind for the night. This time, because the park is almost full, we're put at the other end which is like a rubbish dump. The Australind Tourist Park is a disgrace. There's old metal guttering sticking out of the sandy ground. Someone will slice off a foot if they don't see it. There's a rubbish dump at the end where our site is and there's rubbish just dumped there including an old fridge (with the door still on!). Left Australind early in the morning, never to return.

5 - 12 January
Fremantle

The freeway is fabulous and we arrive at the caravan park at noon. The park is huge and is actually in South Fremantle, but as most of the parks, they are suffering from lack of water, so we decide to take an ensuite site which is concreted rather than in the dirt.

We are about 3kms from the CBD of Fremantle, but we're only about 1km from a lovely beach. The Swan River flows out to sea here at Port Fremantle, and the town was named after explorer Captain Charles Fremantle who arrived on the HMS Challenger in 1829.
Since the early 1900's, Europeans and Italians in particular, flocked to the region for the fishing and the restaurants, cafes and architecture reflect the European lifestyle. Fremantle was also the city that hosted the 1987 America's Cup Challenge and many of the hotels were restored to their former glory for the thousands that flocked here to see the race (America got their Cup back!).

There is a lot of maritime history along the Western Australian coast and the Fremantle Maritime Museum is a fabulous place to visit.
They are presently building a new one on the banks of the Swan River but the old one is still open. It is full of fascinating maritime history and has a treasure-trove of shipwreck artefacts ... coins, pottery, anchors, cannons, etc. Such history.

The Port of Fremantle is a working harbour, but there is a restaurant precinct that is the best I've seen. Across the road is a row of anchors that have been dredged from the bottom of the harbour - some from wrecks and some from ships that have been caught on the rocks and the anchors have simply been let go. There is a very well done memorial to all the fishermen that have died while at sea, and most of the names were either Italian or Croation.
Some family names were there more than once which indicates that fathers and sons died out at sea.


The oldest gaol in WA is called the Round House and was built in 1831. With only 8 cells designed to take 4 people per cell, the building became a police lock-up when in 1886 convicts began to arrive from England. The Round House was too small to house them, so the convicts had to build their own gaol which is now the Fremantle Prison. In the early 1900's the Round House was used as a residence for families of the Water Police - what a scary place to live.


The Fremantle Prison was built by the convicts in 1851 and was still used as a prison until 1991.
It is one of the most miserable places I've ever visited.


On the way to this tourist attraction, I notice a large ominous, gothic-type building and nagged until Ken pulled over to have a look. It turned out to be the Fremantle Arts Centre but with a dark history as the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum. In we went - Mary and Michael didn't quite understand what the building was .... now and then.

Fremantle is a lovely city.
The beaches north, Scarborough and Cottesloe, are really nice and the beaches to the south of the city are nice as well, although not as blue.

The wind blew the entire time we were there so we were swimming by 8am and back to the van for showers and breakfast by 10.

Fremantle is also where the famous Americas Cup yacht race was held and the Royal Perth Yacht Club has an Alan Bond Room which has all the memorabilia associated with the race is held.
The race was actually held at the Fremantle Yacht Club because of it's access to the Swan River mouth (the RPYC is quite a long way up the river and away from the open sea), but all the historic memorabilia is held in the Alan Bond Room. Fantastic stuff!



3 February 2010
I still have lots to tell you from Fremantle to Kalgoorlie, but tomorrow we head off across the Nullabor and it's now 11:30 pm. We won't have signal when we leave tomorrow morning so, dear friends, you won't hear from us for a while (what's new, I can hear some of you say! but heck, there's a lot to see out here! Give me a break!)

When we get back to civilisation, I promise to catch up on Fremantle to Albany to Esperence to Norseman to Kalgoorlie then the towns across the Nullabor. We expect to be in Ceduna by next Saturday.

Nite nite xx