Tues, 19th to Wed 20th April - Margaret River

We had a bit of a sleep-in and didn't get away until 9am.  It is day 60 of our adventure and today we ticked over 8,500kms.  We drove to Walpole and saw the famous 'Gloucester Tree'.  This tree is around 60 metres high and has pegs nailed into it in a cicular, upward pattern to create a ladder to the top.  At the top is a platform that is used for fire spotting (at least that's what they say is up there)! We saw several people climb the tree and even pass each other climbing half up/down.  There was a lovely Indian lady at the bottom of the tree with two of her daughters, who wanted her to climb a few rungs for a photo.  With the first step up the mother let fly with a loud 'air pooh', much to the embarrassment of her daughters who cried 'Oh ... Mum!'.  The mother had a laugh and the rest of us tried to pretend we hadn't heard a thing. 

We left the tree still chuckling and followed the 800m loop path around the forest in between some of the tallest trees we have ever seen.

Leaving Walpole, we drove on to Alexanders Bridge campground hoping to find a suitable camp spot.  Being school holidays the area is packed with tents and campers and is quite small.  One couple tell us they are about to leave their spot and we can have it if we like, but we decide to keep going and see what else we can find.

We end up driving to the 'Big Valley Campground' which is close to Margaret River.  The campground is located on a farm and has limited facilities, but at least there is plenty of room for us and it gives us a base from which to explore Margaret River.  In the afternoon, we visit the famous Chocolate Factory which was disappointing, the Pickle Factory, the Visitors' Centre and some of the beaches.  The whole Margaret River area is designed to make money and is full of craft shops and cottage industries. 

On Wednesday we decide to drive south to Augusta and explore a couple of camp areas along the way.  We visited the old water wheel that was used to supply water to build the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.  We had lunch at the gatehouse of the lighthouse but didn't go in as they wanted $5.00 just to walk the grounds, let alone climb the lighthouse.

We left the lighthouse and visited the Leeuwin Winery.  Luckily we hadn't decided to go there for lunch as they were asking $43 for a dozen oysters natural!  We bought a couple of nice bottles of wine and headed to Eagle Heritage.  Eagle Heritage started its life as a refuge for sick and wounded carnivorous birds.  It was another disappointment as we were charged $17 a head and a lot of the cages were empty and it was all very run down.  We did see some large sea birds and an eagle.  We have learned today that the reason almost all the town names in WA end in 'up' is because it means 'the place of'. We have all but given up pronouncing a lot of the names over here.

The Gloucester Tree with its ladder

Our Big Valley Farm campsite and one of the beautiful sunsets