Judy & Brian Tour Oz

Cape Peron WA, Woodman Point WA April 30, 2015 First off today was the mucky business of getting some replacement tyres for the Ford. All I will say is good on Beaurepaires, who responded first and had by far the best price. We went exploring after that, over to the Rockingham foreshore which has been all tarted up with cafes and apartments and boardwalks and things, quite pleasant actually, and then around to Point Peron where we took some snaps from the lookout suspended over the cliff face. It's interesting in that the whole place was flooded after the ice ages and since then the water has receded, leaving islands and sand dunes building up all over the place. Rockingham is build on one of those sand-dunes, as is everything else on the west coast. Point Peron WA Point Peron WA Point Peron WA Jutting out from the coast just up the road, is a really long bridge that runs out to Garden Island, which is where HMAS Sterling, the biggest Navy base in Australia is l...

Rottnest Island WA April 29, 2015 Today was Rottnest Island day. We booked a tour which picked us up from the park and took us to the  ferry that leaves from Fremantle. The ferry ride was pretty smooth, but the noise from the hordes of playgroup children and some that looked school age to us was deafening. You could not hear the PA or the commentary, if there was one. One 6yo who along with his mates had taken over the seats on the other side of our table and who had adopted us, seemed pretty aware of things nautical and marine. He knew the names of a bunch of sharks and whales and of the aircraft carrier anchored just off the coast (USS Carl Vincen) and was going on about the Edmond Fitzgerald wrecked on Lake Superior, which I though odd for an ozzie boy, but they turned out to be Canadian, which makes more sense.   Rottnest Island ferry. Fremantle WA USS Carl Vincen. Fremantle WA Rotto, as it's called, is best explored by bicycle, of which there are thousan...

Woodman Point WA April 28 2015 Left Busselton by 9am with few regrets, happy to be on the move again and heading to Fremantle. Pretty easy sort of run, but the suburban buildup starts before Mandurah and just doesn't stop. We did follow the old road up the coast thinking it might be scenic, but all we saw was housing estates, industrial parks and scrub. The park is a bit of a surprise: it looks a bit daggy on the outside, and there are 360 mailboxes for the permanents, but our site is quite private and pleasant. After some lunch and getting the washing sorted, we took a drive into Freo itself; I had my head set on seeing the maritime museum and the cafes along the marina.  We were last here in 2002 and that was a complete surprise from 1974; everything was tarted up and obviously going gang-busters, still living on the big hit from the America’s  Cup of 1987. But today it all looks a bit seedy to tell the truth, even the boardwalk cafes look like they could do with ...

Busselton WA April 27 2015 It's Monday morning, and in WA that means a holiday for the Anzac day, which meant that huge crowds came down to the Busselton / Margaret River / Augusta playground for the long weekend. The van park has been chokkers and fairly unpleasant, so joy of joys, most near everyone went home early this morning. We had planned on doing the Underwater Observatory at the jetty this morning, but we found that all those people who had been in the cabins and hotels and B&Bs had gone there when they checked out. And, we also found that you have to book a spot on a train ride and tour, so we opted for 3pm, which left us at a loose end for something to do. We were going to have lunch in the nice looking Goose or the Equinox, but baulked a bit at $28.50 for a hamburger, plus public holiday surcharge. We ended up drifting back down to Margaret river and had lunch there instead. We had intended to tour the cheese factory on the way back, but that which was open in th...

Margaret River WA April 26, 2015 Another day on the road. We wanted to see some of the beaches on the coast and all the way down to Augusta, which dates from 1830. We had planned to be back up at the Margaret River Wineries by 1pm, but that plan got foiled as we wandered in and out to the beaches and got stuck behind Sunday sight-seers. What can you do? One place we made a point of seeing was Margaret River (the beach) which is where they have the big surf classic every year, last week in fact. It's a bit of an eye opener, its is huge with boardwalks and viewing platforms and carparks. They were still pulling the tents and scaffolds and the like down from the weekend. I don't know about surf, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves The Bombie. Margaret River Beach, WA Margaret River Beach, WA Hanging' five. Margaret River Beach, WA Remains of the big surf comp. Margaret River Beach, WA Look at that water! Margaret River Beach, WA Just had to g...