Corner country = fabulous!
We were lucky enough to be invited to a family farm owned by the parents of my beautiful friend, Tash. The boys had a great time catching up with Sienna, Max and Fletcher plus, there was the added bonus of the large quantity of machinery to climb on. It was so nice spend time with Tash again and see where she grew up, a lovely farming area around Narrogin which reminded me quite a bit of where I grew up near Cumnock.
From here we traveled to Bunbury via a tiny place called Donnybrook. Although there is not a lot in Donnybrook it just so happens to be the home of the largest free playground in Australia - how about that?! Expectations were high and thankfully they were completely satisfied, I thought Charlie's eyes might pop out of his head as we rounded the corner and spotted the mass of coloured play equipment! We all had a great time there and managed to get a good dose of play in before the rain set in.
Unfortunately the rain stayed however our spirits were not dampened as wine country was in our sights! The Margaret River area was beautiful and we had a great week based in Busselton exploring the surrounds. The food and wine was excellent however we were not expecting to enjoy such beautiful scenery along the coast line. Eagle Bay and Canal Rocks were stunning, even in the dodgy weather. We were lucky enough to spend some time with our Gibb River Rad friends, Anita, Mick and Annie who were only too happy to join us for several lunches an ice cream or two and the mandatory trip to Margaret River Chocolate factory! We also enjoyed a wander through a giant hedge maze (1/2 ha with 1.5km of paths, it is a wonder we made it out at all!), several wineries, two breweries and the markets at Margaret River. In an attempt to counteract the common Margaret River side effects (namely weight gain, post prandial somnolence, compulsive purchasing of alcoholic beverages), we hired bikes for the week and enjoyed the kilometers of bike paths around Busselton.
We wrestled ourselves away from Margaret River and drove to Pemberton, a small town in the heart of the Karri forests. Jase and I both climbed the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, 68m to the top! Great view over the canopy of the karri forest although my legs were a bit sore the following day! We celebrated Gil's third birthday in Pemberton. Large quantities of cake followed by a trip through the forest on the scenic Pemberton Tramway which was good fun.
Albany was the next stop, yet another extraordinarily beautiful place. We could not get enough of Torndirrup National Park with it's numerous bays of crystal clear water and white sandy beaches and wished we had some more time to spend exploring the area. Albany itself had a lovely feel to it, plenty of scenic bike paths along the coast, great farmers markets and so much to do in the surrounding area. Charlie and Gil's favourite Albany experience was exploring a replica of the Brig Amity, a ship that sailed the first European settlers from Sydney to Albany in 1826.
We have loved this part of the trip and could certainly see ourselves revisiting the area. We were very sad to hear of the devastating fires that have destroyed so many properties in the region.
Next stop is Esperence, Cape Le Grande and then tackling the Nullarbor.
Take care and hope you are all enjoying some sunshine, happy snaps to follow,
Chippy x
