Doing the Aussie Salute in Country WA. A Trip Report
 

Two weeks, 3,397 kilometers and more flies and snakes than we’ve ever encountered in our collective lives, we’ve survived our trek across a very small part of the massive state of Western Australia. So massive in fact, that we needed two separate maps.

As some of you know, my husband and I are American expatriates who relocated to Perth from Indonesia three months ago. With some vacation time burning a hole in our pockets, but no inclination to organize a trip that involved airplanes, we decided to hit the road and further explore our own backyard.

Our trip got off to a less-than-auspicious start following a frenzied week, but it’s amazing how quickly one recovers when vacation is involved.

We weren’t prepared to expose our brand new Toyota to the hazards of country WA, so we picked up its twin from Bayswater the previous evening ($706 for 17 days, including a $50 fee to drive beyond the usual 500 km radius of Perth).

And we were off. Well, sort of. We had a little trouble getting out of Perth, which took us almost 45 minutes. We eventually found our way and were off to Kalgoorlie (which I finally learned how to pronounce - kal-goo-lee) via the Great Eastern Highway.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder is located about 600 kms east of Perth in the eastern Goldfields, also known as the Golden Outback. And just why were the nq8’s going to Kalgoorlie? Well, because it was on the way to Esperance. Sort of.

Our eight hour journey followed the water pipeline that runs from Mundering Weir near Perth to Mount Charlotte Reservoir in Kalgoorlie. It was remarkably similar to the oil pipeline that was our constant companion on our endless bus rides from Duri to Pekanbaru on Sumatra, except no villagers were drying their laundry on this one.

The Golden Pipeline pumps water uphill from Mundering Weir to some 100,000 people and six million sheep in the Goldfields. Quite a feat.

Although the landscape was flat and rather thirsty looking for much of the drive, it was considerably more interesting than I expected. In addition to the ever-present pipeline, there was an abundance of yellow, purple and orange flowers and plenty of trees. Of course, there was no shortage of red dirt, especially once we reached Southern Cross, which I’m told by a local is where the outback officially begins.

Petrol stations were well spaced for travelers and public toilets weren’t a problem until we reached Southern Cross, after which it was a long haul (187 km) to Coolgardie. Or maybe it just seemed a long haul because I needed one.

Other than a quick stop in Cunderdin for a picnic, an even quicker stop at the Rabbit Proof fence where I was swarmed with flies while Bill smartly waited in the car, and a loo stop at Boorabbin National Park (nice campground by the way), we pretty much drove straight to Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

We’d booked a standard room at the All Seasons Plaza Hotel for $155 per night. The hotel was completely unremarkable, but perfectly adequate. Our main requirement for accommodation on this trip was access to air conditioning, as we’re both hopeless hot weather wimps. As luck would have it, we didn’t need air conditioning anywhere during our 15 day trip (the car doesn’t count). One just never knows, does one?

The hotel sounds much nicer than it actually is. The whole place needs a serious overhaul as it has seen better days. It felt worn, dated and neglected. The common areas were the worst bit and I had to wonder if all those missing pieces of drywall were caused by late night brawls or guests playing footy in the hallway.

The All Seasons is well located though. We just stepped outside and within minutes we were on Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie’s main drag.

Dinner that evening was at Judd’s, which is located in the Kalgoorlie Hotel overlooking Hannan Street. We weren’t optimistic as the place looked a bit dodgy, but we were pleasantly surprised with our shared bruschetta and wood fired pizza. We opted for the Italian sausage (which was more like pepperoni to our American palate) with roasted peppers and feta. A glass of Chardonnay and we were quite content ($56).

After a rather noisy evening in our hotel, we were convinced that we were indeed in the Wild Wild West. The bottle opener attached to the desk in our room should have tipped us off.

Our room rate included a toast, fruit and yogurt breakfast, but we were warned to steer clear of the cereal and muffins, as that was part of the $17 cooked breakfast which we’d declined.

After collecting a map at the Visitor’s Center (and as much as I hate to admit it, a fly net), we walked through town. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought I was in Colorado or Wyoming. The historic buildings, the abundance of saloons, the wide streets; it all felt vaguely familiar. Okay, so we don’t have brothels and Aboriginals sleeping around campfires in my hometown, but there were some definite similarities.

If only we had those nice wide streets here in Perth…

After discovering that the Royal Flying Doctors Visitor’s Center and the Super Pit Shop were closed on the weekends, we drove out to the infamous Super Pit. The Super Pit is the main attraction in these parts, and as the name suggests, it’s a REALLY big pit, also known as Australia's largest open cut gold mine.

What they’ve done in the pursuit of gold is both tragic and fascinating. We were mesmerized by the activity in the pit, which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. When I realized that the seemingly normal sized equipment I was looking down upon is actually ENORMOUS, it dawned on me just how gigantic that pit really is.

Our next stop was the Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame where we took an underground gold mine tour ($30 each). Our chatty 66 year old tour guide had worked in the mines for 45 years and had a wealth of stories to share. Unfortunately, my American ears could only understand every third or fourth word through his thick accent.

We also watched a gold pouring demonstration and wandered the grounds. It was interesting enough, but certainly nothing I’d go out of my way to see; which is why I was surprised to learn that there were tourists from the UK, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Nicaragua there with us that day.

Our final stop was Mt Charlotte, where we took a short walk to the top of the reservoir, the terminus for the aforementioned water pumped in from Mundering Weir. There were some nice views of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and all the blooming Jacaranda trees, but that was about it.

It was at this point that we decided we’d seen enough of Kalgoorlie and called the owner of the cottage we’d booked in Esperance to see if it was available a day early.

In the process of looking for a quiet pub for a pre-dinner drink we made an interesting discovery; the Wild West Saloon, where the barmaids serve up the drinks in teeny-weenie-bikinis. Bill was more than willing to stay on and do a bit of ogling, but Paddy’s Ale House next door was more my speed. Then it was back to Judd’s for an encore dinner.

Next: The pristine white sand beaches of Esperance

Aah well Mel, you'll no doubt learm more and more of Oz with some travels, first and formost
. Never leave home/the coast without a fly net and "Bushmans" insect repellant.
. 187 km. is not really a long haul in country Oz and many times 1.5 hrs. of what could be a 10-12 hour driving day and when needed we buy bigger maps!
. So the old rule holds true - use a dunny when you find one, or go behind a bush.

And on Kal "goo(r)l" lie , poor Bill missed out on the topless barmaids did he? and don't tell me you missed out on an evening stroll down Hay street to see the Starting Stalls as they have been referred to, some ladies of the night sitting in windows or on porches.

You will find that tourists from a lot of European countries and the UK do travel around Australia, quite probably far more so than USA travellers, many who with shorter holiday times do head Europe way.

I'm interested in why you see an open pit mine as "tragic" for it becomes a matter of economics as it does in a lot of mining that starts off as shafts and tunnels into stopes and then depending on geology can develop to open pits or cuts.

Sounds like you've had some reasonable experience.

Hi Bushranger -

Bill will definitely be heartbroken to hear he missed the topless barmaids.

I wasn't surprised so much that some of the tourists were European, I was just surprised that they were in Kalgoorlie in the first place.

Kalgoorlie just doesn't strike me as the type of place most international visitors would venture to.

I find all mining rather tragic (and I LIKE gold). I'm certainly not oblivious to the economic impact; it's the environmental impact that bothers me.

Granted, the Super Pit couldn't be better located (unlike the mine in Queenstown, Tasmania which is a major blight on the landscape).

The Queenstown Lunar landscape was brought about well before they went open cut Mel, they cutting all the trees down early on in the mining development and could be [just going on memory for moment] a lot of it was for the smelter and then depending on smelter emissions, they may not have helped.

And then they had been either dumping tailings into the river there or there was massive leaching for that made a good ol mess of what should be a pristine river.

Not too sure where Kal mining tailings go but I'd imagine they have dumps outside the town boundaries unless their pit has been developed where they are working from one end to another of the lode and they could start dumping at the mined end.

But I suppose it is tragic in the sense that having a heap of mining shaft headframes can add something to character of a locale more so than a big hole or slot in the ground.
And re the tourists there as against other places, the loop you have done is somewhat renowned as a touring loop for those especially this time of year being wise enought to not try heading Darwin way, or alternately because of the history people may make it a stop on the way west.

btw, the hotel digs of myself and a couple of fellow pilots about 30 years ago cost us all of $6 each including the full breakfast, but we were sharing a room - and there's still some great older country hotel deals about if you can make do without all the mod cons and usually they have a great heritage feel without the broken plaster [dry wall].

Hi Mel,

Is the two up pit still happening at Kalgoorlie? If so, did you get to see a game?

(No shame in a fly net BTW Mel!)

Stormer

Regarding those Kal mine tailings:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...005200,00.html

Had to look that one up stormbird. No, apparently we missed that too.

I got the distinct impression that only tourists wear fly nets. We only wore ours once, during a fly infested hike near Esperance, but man, we were glad to have it.

Oddly enough, the flies didn't bother us much on the hike in, but we couldn't get away from them on the way back. Bill was walking in front of me (to chase off the snakes) and his back was covered with them. I'm thinking they're attracted to sweat???

Photos to follow.

A very engaging report Melnq8, I'm looking forward to the next bit.

We left Kalgoorlie via the Coolgardie Esperance Highway, pointed due south. We definitely got a taste of the Outback on this stretch; the landscape was flat and dry with lots of scrub, dry lakes, endless red dirt, and few flowers. In other words, not a whole lot to look at.

We blew past assorted mine sites and the town of Kambalda, home of Australia’s first nickel mine. We stopped in the middle of nowhere to stretch our legs and had a 30 second reprieve before the flies closed in on us. It seems that the vehicles of choice out this way are road trains and Land Cruisers with kangaroo bars and spare gas tanks.

About 70 km north of Esperance, the wind began to blow and it felt like we were back in Perth (the windiest place I’ve lived since Casper, WY).

Four hours after leaving Kalgoorlie, we found ourselves in Esperance, getting settled in our accommodation for the next five nights – Wild Cherry Holiday House.
http://www.wildcherryholidayhouse.com.au/

This house is actually located in a residential area in Castletown, a few kilometers from the town of Esperance, behind an industrial area. It has three or four bedrooms, I'm not sure which, as three rooms were locked off. It was clean, comfortable and well equipped, with a great bed and shower - $150 per night.

Being Sunday, the visitor’s center was closed, so we decided to head out and see what Esperance was all about. We found ourselves on Twilight Beach Road, which turns into The Great Ocean Drive, a 38 km scenic loop that begins near the tanker jetty and ends just past Pink Lake.

We knew we were going to like Esperance the minute we got out of the car at Wireless Hill and walked to the Rotary Lookout, where we were rewarded with a fantastic 360 degree view of Esperance, the Recherche Archipelago and beach after pristine beach.

We took both walks that originate from the lookout (aptly named Walk #1 and Walk #2), both short, both offering spectacular coastal views, before continuing our drive.

Summary of how we spent our four days in Esperance:

1) We spent a day in Cape Le Grand National Park, which is located 50 km east of Esperance via Fisheries Road (parks pass required which can be purchased at the CALM office in Esperance or at the park).

We visited Thistle Cove and Whistling Rock where we took the Big Granite Walk and walked the length of the whitest, most pristine beach we’d ever seen (45 min return). The sand absolutely sparkled and it felt as if we were walking on compacted salt. It was unlike any beach I’ve ever walked on and we had it entirely to ourselves.

We also visited Lucky Bay, which reminded us of our first glimpse of Two People’s Bay near Albany, with its sudden unexpected vibrant blue water and sparkling white sand in the midst of a sea of dull green shrubbery. Here we had a picnic before walking from Lucky Bay to Thistle Cove and back (1:30 return, moderate, thousands of flies). This is part of a 15 km coastal trail that extends from Cape Le Grand Beach to Rossiter Bay.

We discovered that we could ditch the flies by walking along the beach (which is the complete opposite of New Zealand!), so we walked along Lucky Bay for awhile, keeping our eyes open for those beach loving kangaroos we’d read about. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any sunbathing ‘roos, but we did see a few in the bush near the campground.

After visiting Rossiter Bay, we turned back, and briefly stopped to eyeball Frenchman Peak. There’s a trail to the top of Frenchman Peak, and I figured Bill would want to try it out, but it looked to be rather tough, and I didn’t think my knee could hack it, so we scratched that one.

We’d hoped to try out the Kebab and Turkish Bakery in Esperance for dinner, but it was closed, so we tried Emperor’s Garden instead. Bad idea.

2) We checked our e-mail at a computer store in town ($5.50 per hour) then got on Fisheries Road with the Woody Lakes Nature Reserve in our sights. Five minutes later we were walking the Kepwari Wetland Trail, which as advertised, is ‘nestled out of the wind’. This is an easy, one way interpretative trail that winds through wetlands and has a few bird hides. Our GPS pedometer clocked the walk at 3.6 miles (return), 1:30. In addition to the colorful birds, we saw two Tiger snakes and one brown snake (no idea what it was, didn’t stick around to figure it out). There’s a strategically positioned picnic table at the end of the one-way walk, which suited us perfectly for lunch.

We then drove to Lake Monjingup Nature Reserve where we walked the boardwalk and several less developed trails in the Stage 1 Conservation Area (2.10 miles, 1:15 return). It was just us and some very interesting birds. We both enjoyed this incredibly peaceful walk, although I’m always a little creeped out in swampy areas. I was fascinated with the paperbark trees submerged in the totally black water (and we saw no snakes!).

3) We returned to Lake Monjingup Reserve to walk a trail we’d missed the previous day. We drove through the Monjingup Flora Park where we admired the plants, walked the Monji Maze (took all of 12 minutes), paid our respects at the Pet Cemetery (we’d never seen one before), and then continued on to the reserve. We walked the Boundary Circuit trail in the Stage 3 Rehabilitation Area (1.44 miles, 35 minutes). This was a nice wide path, flat and easy, with lots of plantings from local school groups.

Back in town we drove to the tanker jetty (start of the 38 km Great Ocean Drive) where we met Esperance’s resident seal, Sammy, sacked out on the foreshore without a care in the world. We walked the length of the jetty, then popped into the Taylor Street Jetty Café for some caffeine and sugar in the form of flat whites and a really sweet slice of chocolate peppermint cake.

Back on the Great Ocean Drive, we headed to the Salmon Beach Wind Farm aka ‘the old wind farm’, where we embarked on a walk amongst the dismantled wind turbines (just over a mile, 30 minutes). I loved it up here – fantastic views of the Southern Ocean shared by a handful of lucky homeowners. We saw the first of the biggest ants we’ve ever seen and a tiny brown snake that had an epileptic fit trying to get away from us (my kind of snake!).

Our next stop was deserted Blue Haven, yet another gorgeous sparkling white sand beach. We continued on to Twilight Beach, where we found a much needed public toilet and a nicely placed picnic table, where we soaked up those gorgeous sea views over lunch.

Then it was off to Observatory Point, where we took the 175 steps down to the beach and the 75 steps up to the lookout. It was seriously blowy up here, but the views were drop dead gorgeous. This would be an ideal spot for whale watching had there been any.

I dare say that Esperance’s Great Ocean Drive rivals the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. No dramatic cliffs here, but man, those views!

Our next stop was Esperance’s working wind farm which I’ve seen referenced as both the Nine Mile Beach Wind Farm and the Ten Mile Lagoon Wind Farm, so I’m not clear on the actual name. Here we walked amongst the operating wind turbines that supply power to the town of Esperance.

Our final stop was at Ten Mile Lagoon, where we discovered a side path to Free Beach, a clothing optional beach for the uninhibited.

On our return to town, we drove by Pink Lake, which wasn’t pink at all, but more of an opaque white.

4) There’s a paved walk/bike path that runs along the Esperance Esplanade, but I’m not clear on exactly where it starts and ends or how long it is. We parked in a residential area below Rotary Lookout and walked the path from there to Salmon Beach and back (5.5 miles, 2:15). This is a beautiful coastal walk that winds below Twilight Beach Road offering fantastic views of those pristine white sand beaches and tranquil turquoise bays. Other than two hills, this section was easy and we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

After a quick shower, we found ourselves back at the Taylor Street Jetty Café, enjoying a leisurely lunch of mango chicken, chili prawns and chorizo, washed down with a nice glass of chardonnay from Esperance’s only vineyard, Dalyup River Wines, aka Western Australia’s most isolated winery.

Then it was back to the holiday house for some serious relaxation.

Esperance seemed to be gearing up for the weekend, so we checked on the Kebab place again (located on Andrew Street) to see if they might be open for dinner. They were, so that evening we popped in for some takeaway – a chicken kebab for Bill and a spinach and feta pide for me (very good, but too big for one person) - $25.

Some practical information for anyone wanting to visit Esperance:

Esperance is surrounded by National Parks, but they’re not particularly close (Cape Le Grand is 50 km east, Stokes is 80 km west, Peak Charles is 100 km inland from Stokes, and Cape Arid is 120 kms east). Many roads within these parks are unsealed, and some are inaccessible without a 4x4 vehicle.

A parks pass is required for many parks within WA. A range of parks passes are available. We’d planned to purchase an annual pass for $75, but because the pass must be affixed to the vehicle’s windscreen and we were driving a rental car, we decided to instead purchase the four week holiday pass at $35. For more info on passes, take a look at this site:

http://www.westernaustralia.com/en/A..._and_Fees.aspx

Tours of the Esperance port are offered on Saturdays and Sundays only, at 1:30 pm and 4 pm.

There are more accommodation options than is readily apparent. We found several inviting B&Bs tucked away in the hills overlooking the Southern Ocean.

Next: Wining and dining in Denmark

Some photos (note, still under construction):

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/349715/index.html

HI-
I like this report and one day want to visit Western Australia, but now I am completely not able to knowing there are snakes everywhere. Can you please pin point exactly where you saw them so I know to avoid them if I plan a trip? 3,397 KM is a lot of road to cover. Glad you have gotten to Perth safely!!!
Skiergirl

You get snakes everywhere Skiergirl but they will not usually bother you unless you have disturbed them, like near treading on them or they otherwise feel threatened.

I've had a snake slither across a path just as I was about to put my forward foot down and have you ever tried a one foot leap as you're taking the weight of your trailing leg! - necessity is the invention of amazing feats!

And then on another recent thread about a budgie I've told of the one that got a canary and another half in a cage trying to get a love bird - a broom beating at about 4.30AM changing the intent.

But most city people rarely see them and even if out bush they'll feel you coming through ground vibrations.

Actually, the funniest snake story I've heard comes from Missouri where some friends live on a farm and they have Copper Heads about, and anyway a city living sister visits and goes to the loo - there being one accessed by a breezeway and so sis is on the throne and notices what she thinks is a nice piece of artwork, snake being coiled up on the wall, and she is admiring it intently, quite taken by it's intricate pattern.

The admiration became something of a scream when the artwork suddenly got a life!

Hi Skiergirl -

Most of the snake sightings were on hikes. We saw a total of five snakes on trails - most promptly slithered away, but one particularly large snake was stretched out the width of the trail and had no intention of leaving. We had to wait that one out as there was no way I was going to step over it.

I'll post that photo on the link above, and maybe Bushranger can help me identify it.

We saw a few snakes while driving too - we ran over one, but somehow it managed to survive.

I'm from rattlesnake country (Colorado) but I've never seen one, even while hiking.

Don't let the snakes deter you from visiting WA. You may not even see one unless you're out in the bush.

Any idea what kind of snake this is Bushranger?

http://www.worldisround.com/edit/349...ml?photo=41-42

Oops, wrong link, just click on the link I posted earlier.

Not working for me Mel, looks like you need to be registeres/logged on with the round ball.

I'm no identification expert other than that you could have a common black/brown and eastern brown snake that along with pythons can get reasonably big.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~bush/ID_index.htm gives you some idea of the different ones and scroll down the left side and you get a listing for different areas
They call the Brown/eastern brown a Mulga over there, and the Dugite or versions of Tigers are larger ones too.

You did the sensible thing waiting for the biggie to move on and when I said about having to leap over one it was because of no option as he had just come out from the side of a track right under my lifted leg! - probably stand back a bit and do some bunny hops to make ground vibrations might be the go if one is snoozing on a path soaking up some sun.

Thought I'd share a python and cockatoo with you
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f2..._PythonOne.jpg and then there's babies or midgets - http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...rent=NT042.jpg and just for Shiela, even the spiders attack birds - [have to do another upload]

Looks like a harmless old carpet snake to me, Mel.
Google (images) "carpet snake"

Skiergirl: A couple of points you might also want to note:

1. Snakes are not "all over everywhere" in WA or elsewhere. Melnq8 was well off the normal beaten tracks that you would be traversing.

2. Of the snakes in Australia, only a very few are venemous.

3. I lived in the far north west for some 30 years, on several large stations and saw probably a dozen or fewer snakes in all those years of riding horses, motor bikes and walking through paddocks.

4. Like sharks, spiders, box jellyfish and crocodiles - there are some snakes in their habitats.
You'd be extremely lucky/unlucky to see one on the usual tourist routes.

Like anything else, you just need to keep your eyes open and if you do happen to see one, don't approach it or get between it and it's escape route. Just stand move away quietly and stand still until it goes away, which it will do if it has heard you approach. Believe it or not, they are MUCH more frightened of you than you could be of them. Justifiably so; many more native animals of all types are killed by humans than vice versa.

So don't let the fact that Mel has seen a few scare you unnecessarily and cause you to frighten yourself out of a wonderful experience. Clearly the one she photographed wasn't too dangerous .... or she'd be posting from Heaven ;)

Yes Skiergirl I have to back up Bokhara here as she is absolutely right.

We did a 12 month trip around Australia and in all that time and in all that bush we probably only saw two snakes!

Mel has had more troubles with the flies than with the snakes! And to be honest, you just don't here of tourists (or even residents for that matter) being bumped off by snakes - very rare indeed.

Time to concentrate more on our beautiful wildlife - kangaroos, kookaburras and koalas etc. In fact Skiergirl come on over and visit and I'll take you to visit some Koalas who live just down the road from me!

Excellent report and photos Mel - a thoroughly good read.

(I had to wear a fly net at Devils Marbles - they were just disgusting and wished I'd had my net when we went to the old whaling station at Albany as they were out in force there too.)

Glad to hear my mystery snake is probably harmless. I can identify Tiger snakes, but that's about it, so I treat them all with the utmost respect. That photo was captured with a zoom lens, as I wasn't getting an inch closer.

Now about those spiders...

We left Esperance under gloomy skies and began working our way west via the South Coast Highway. This section wasn’t particularly scenic and reminded us a bit of South Dakota with its miles and miles of endless road, where you drive over one hill just to discover that 100 more identical hills stretch before you.

We perked up when we saw a sign that told us we were entering the Fitzgerald Biosphere, thinking something interesting lay ahead. Instead we saw thousands of naked trees protruding from the surrounding shrubbery. At first I thought it was a burn area, but nothing else looked burnt; there were just thousands upon thousands of these sad naked sticks.

The landscape became considerably greener just east of Ravensthorpe, and as we drove through town, once again I was amazed at the abundance of roses in Western Australia. I’ve always thought roses were difficult to grow, but they really seem to thrive here. Maybe I’ll try planting some in my garden.

After consulting the map, we turned around, backtracked three kilometers to Ravensthorpe and detoured to Hopetoun, as I was curious about this Biosphere thing.

Forty-nine kilometers later, we were in the sleepy holiday village of Hopetoun; Bill scowling because there was nothing there and me looking sheepish for suggesting the detour in the first place.

Instead of returning to the highway the way we’d come (Ravensthorpe/Hopetoun Road) we decided to go back via Hammersley Drive (mostly unsealed), which took us directly through Fitzgerald River National Park.

Now, this was interesting! There were beaches, cliffs, sand dunes, inlets, gnarled bare trees, and some really unusual vegetation that we’d never seen before. And the flowers! Of course I had to stop and take pictures, so this little detour added about 90 minutes to an already long drive day. It was a fascinating, yet inhospitable looking place.

I’ve since done some research on the park and discovered that it’s a world Biosphere Reserve with UNESCO. Some interesting facts:

More than 20% of WA’s plant species grow in Fitzgerald River National Park, even though it’s only 0.2% of WA’s land mass.

Sixty-two percent of the 1,800 flowering plant species are found only in Fitzgerald River National Park and 81 types of orchids, 70 of which appear nowhere else on earth.

Fitzgerald River National Park is home to 209 listed birds and some animals found no where else in the world.

Wow. Good detour, huh?

Back on the South Coast Highway, the landscape became more agricultural after Jerramungup and we were soon off the map, scrambling for map #2.

About 70 kms east of Albany it got really green and lush, and we both commented that Albany was a whole lot prettier than Esperance (pristine beaches aside) and seemed almost big in comparison.

We needed some caffeine and sugar, so we popped into Dome for flat whites and a really nice slice of chocolate cake. Dome has now redeemed itself to Bill, who had a bad lunch experience at a location in Perth.

Then it was back on the South Coast Highway, where we continued on to Denmark, arriving some eight hours and 498 kilometers after leaving Esperance.

Lord Hopetoun, John Hope, was the first Governor General of Australia Mel and I'm wondering if Hopetoun was named after him?

You're good Stormbird. According to Wikipedia:

"Hopetoun is a town on the south coast of Western Australia in the Shire of Ravensthorpe. It was established in 1900 as a coastal town servicing the Phillips River Mining District, and named after the 7th Earl of Hopetoun and first Governor General of Australia, John Hope."

Mel.....about those spiders
just for Skiergal too
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ting_sp_lg.jpg
Sort of that look there "is this dentist about to tickle or not!!"

And then another one wants in too
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...t=PC110091.jpg

So skiergal, you just take care
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ccidents10.jpg

And look, whilst it is very unlikely that you'll run into snakes, they are about out in the bush and they also can be urban dwellers, a lot just more nocturnal and though many are not deathly poisonous - there are many poisonous to make you a bit ill and still those tha can cause death quickly if untreated.

The rule of thumb for all snakes is to treat them all with respect and consider all venomous.

After getting directions to our accommodation at the fantastic new Denmark Visitor’s Center, we checked into Karma Chalets, where we’d booked “Wonder”. Their usual rate for this particular chalet is $200 per night, but they were offering a spring special, so we received 50% off the third night.
http://www.karmachalets.com.au/

Karma Chalets is located outside of Denmark in a peaceful country setting. Our chalet was very comfortable, and had a rustic feel due to the cedar exterior, timber walls, doors and cabinets. It felt as if we were in the mountains (we even needed that electric blanket) and the birdfeeder and birdseed was a nice touch. We fell asleep to the sound of frog croaks and woke to birdsong (and more frog croaks).

Wonder has a second bedroom upstairs, but I wouldn’t want to be the person staying up there. There was limited head space due to the sloping roof and it felt like a stuffy attic.

Likewise, because the chalets are made of wood, sleeping with someone over head wouldn’t be much fun either – those creaky floors and stairs were really loud.

When we checked in we asked the owner if she could make a dinner recommendation. She suggested Forest Hill Winery right next door, made a booking for us and even gave us vouchers for a free glass of wine. It seems that Forest Hill only serves dinner on Friday nights, and this night’s theme was Italian. Works for me.

Our meal at Forest Hill Winery was excellent. I had the Mt. Barker Chicken Breast, served with a roasted vegetable caponata (whatever that is) with mandarin caper sauce. Bill had the Wood Oven Braised Veal Osso Bucco, served with root vegetable puree, garlic mushrooms and Forest Hill Cabernet jus. For dessert we shared the Quince and Vanilla Bean panna cotta, with marsala zabaglione and almond anise gravel. The food was divine, the service painfully slow. Dinner with drinks, dessert and coffee came to $93. During our meal we were serenaded by a local singer, who as it turned out, was the daughter of the woman who’d helped us at the Visitor’s Center, who was also dining at Forest Hill that evening.

Denmark is my new favorite place in Western Australia. We’d been here before while staying in Albany, but this was the first time we’d based ourselves there. I absolutely love this area – the huge trees, rolling hills and meadows – it’s incredibly pretty, very green, generally cool and it offers so much to see and do. I knew the minute we arrived three nights was not going to be enough.

We visited the Pentland Alpaca Stud Animal Farm – we got there right at 10 am so we could see the koalas feeding, and we weren’t disappointed. The farm has three koalas and a plantation of 3,000 eucalyptus trees to feed them (koalas don’t live in the wild in WA). I was even invited into their enclosure to pet them. We wandered around for some time, feeding rabbits, goats, sheep, the emus (Em and Mu), the alpacas and Kimba the camel. It was a lot of fun, but the highlight for me was getting to bottle feed Madeline, a six month old orphaned kangaroo. The farm isn’t an official rescue shelter, but occasionally someone will bring them an orphaned animal. They had two orphaned kangaroos at the time of our visit, Madeline and Darcy, and they were a lot of fun to watch as they roamed the grounds. They were like pets, following the owners around the farm, never far from Mom. I really enjoyed our visit here.

Our next stop was the Toffee Factory, as I can’t seem to visit Denmark without indulging my sweet tooth. They have some really interesting flavors like chili chocolate, Kahlua, lemon myrtle, and WA wildflower, honey and ginger.

Then it was off to Rickety Gate Winery for no other reason than we liked the name. This turned out to be a great stop. We tried some wines, and then decided to stay on for lunch, which incidentally, was served to us by Katie, the singer from Forest Hill Winery the night before. We asked her for a lunch recommendation for the following day and she suggested Karriview Winery, where she also works. That’s one busy girl.

We enjoyed the platter we shared (cheese, bread, olives, crackers, vegetables, dips, chicken wings and savory filled puff pastry - $49) accompanied with a nice 2007 Sauvignon Blanc. We had a nice chat with the owners (Russell and Linda) and we left with several bottles of wine.

*We drove! We could actually take more than two bottles of wine home with us!

Our next stop was Somerset Winery, where we fell in love with their sparkling wine, and the very friendly owner gave us some pointers on where to look for kangaroos.

As promised, we found loads of kangaroos in Highland Park, a subdivision off of Mt Shadforth Road and Peace Street. We also found a nice lookout at the top of Mohr Drive – great views from up here.

Dinner that evening was at The Southern End, located at the Observatory Point Resort on Mt Shadforth Road. We didn’t have a booking, but lucked into a fabulous table overlooking the valley, Wilson Inlet and the Southern Ocean.
We shared an appetizer of bread and a warm dip with garlic and sweet chili, and Bill had some natural oysters. For the main I had the Scottsdale Chicken – ‘Breast of chicken French trimmed, pocketed with local Over the Moon feta cheese and sundried tomatoes with local honey and cream herb sauce on a bed of seasonal greens’. Bill had the Tagliatelle pasta – ‘Fresh pasta, succulent chicken tossed with toasted cashew nuts and mushrooms in a light creamy garlic herb sauce garnished with shaved parmesan cheese and a little salad’. Who comes up with this stuff?

The food was excellent, as was the service - $121 with wine.

Feeling guilty from all the wining and dining, the next morning we decided we’d better get some exercise, so we set off to climb Mt Lindsay. The track was longer than advertised, but not nearly as strenuous as we expected. It was a nice walk on a wide, well marked path. The only dicey bit was a section that crossed the granite rocks towards the top. It was slippery in spots (moss) and I definitely wouldn’t want to walk this one in wet weather. Our efforts were rewarded with some great views from the top of Mt Lindsay and loads of wildflowers. It was a peaceful trek with just us, the birds and the flies (6.3 miles return, just under three hours).

We had a late lunch at Karriview Winery overlooking the vineyard, where we shared a nice dip platter, some delicious chorizo and a bottle of champers. There are worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon.

After lunch we took the Harwood Forest Walk (1 mile, 35 minute return), a nice forest walk just down the road from Karriview Winery.

Then it was back to The Southern End for coffee and some decadently rich mud cake (yes, I put on a few pounds this trip), before heading back to our chalet to relax.

Next: Taking the scenic route to Pemberton

Stop it Mel!! Come on!!!
It's nearly dinner time here now and you are making my mouth water but the tragedy is knowing that I am most likely not going to be having anything for dinner remotely as lovely as you describe.

Oooh I am definitely going to have to talk the old man in to taking me out to dinner now! I think we might try the new Turkish place down the road.

Oooh won't have to cook - Thanks Mel!!! :)

Always happy to help Stormbird.

I just got a chance to catch up on your trip. I've loved your report so far. I'm glad you got a chance to see the area around Fitzgerald and report back. It sounds a lot like what we expected - pretty boring outside the park but rugged, remote and botanically interesting inside.

I checked out your pictures. the tall plant you saw in Fitzgerald is Royal Hakea, a plant that is native to the park.

I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Thank you travel4flowers!

We weren’t quite ready to leave Denmark. After checking out of our chalet, we enjoyed flat whites and muffins at Lilly Dilly while we waited for the Telecentre to open (located next to the library and civic center, opens at 10 am, $6 an hour for internet). We caught up on e-mail, and then made a stop at the Car and Dog Wash to de-bugify our poor rental car. We were surprised to discover they had a special high powered ‘bug cleaner’, which worked like a charm.

We started to leave Denmark via Scottsdale Road, only to get sidetracked at the Lake House, a nice little winery surrounded by beautiful gardens overlooking a lake. Heck, it was already noon, so after a wine tasting we decided to stay on for lunch. We shared a cheese platter with crackers, fruit, a lovely Chardonnay, rosemary jelly (tasted like ginger) and merlot jelly ($16). We accompanied our feast with a glass of fantastic 2007 Pinot Noir. Heavy sigh…

We started to leave Denmark again, only to get sidetracked at Whitfield Winery, where we had a long discussion about snakes with the Kiwi transplant who ran the place. Seems she likes these Aussie snakes even less than I do.

By now we had a virtual rolling wine cellar in our trunk and prayed that we could make it back to Perth without getting rear-ended.

It was after 2 pm, so we figured we should quit dawdling and get in gear, so we left Denmark for the third time, running over a Tiger snake in the process. It had taken us three hours to drive 12 km.

Back on Scottsdale Road, we joined the South Coast Highway in the direction of Walpole. We didn’t make it far, as once again we were sidetracked, this time by the Conspicuous Cliffs. We took the rough, unsealed road to the car park, then walked to the lookout and then down to the beach. Gorgeous! This is a good place for spotting Southern Right Whales during October and November, but unfortunately, we didn’t know to look for any until we got back to the car (probably too late in the season anyway). Lots of flies around here, but the views were fantastic.

Back on the South Coast Highway, we passed through the tiny shire of Nornalup and crossed the Frankland River, entering the Southern Forests, where we were shaded by a canopy of trees towering overhead.
We passed through the quaint one block town of Walpole, and then entered a controlled burn area, where the fires were burning right up next to the highway. We passed through Mt Frankland National Park and entered Shannon National Park, all the while surrounded by massive trees. I love this area and I had the sudden urge to go camping. Soon we were on #10 pointed towards Northcliffe, and we arrived in Pemberton seven hours after leaving our chalet in Denmark.

We had a booking at Big Brook Cottages, which is located 6 km from the township of Pemberton, and a short distance from Big Brook Dam - $180 per night.

www.bigbrookcottages.com.au/

Our cottage (#2) was clean,
spacious, well equipped and surrounded by a lovely, well tended garden. We enjoyed our stay there –it was peaceful, comfortable and the grounds were just gorgeous with masses of flowers. Kailey, the friendly resident dog, came to visit us regularly.

Our day began with an early morning walk right outside our door. We merely crossed the street and walked the Tramway Track towards Big Brook Dam. We picked up the Bibbulmun Track and just wandered for awhile, enjoying the peace, the gentle birdsong and the occasional startling screech from birds that sounded suspiciously like primates. We saw a fleeting glimpse of two emus as they tore across the path and thrashed through the trees. It was a nice walk and a good way to start the day (4.12 miles, 1:30 return).

We then headed to Fonty’s Pool in Manjimup, a winery that had sparked our interest after we picked up a bottle of their Shiraz in a Perth bottle shop. We loved almost every wine we tasted and bought several bottles.

Our next stop was the Wine and Truffle Company, which is located up the road from Fonty’s Pool. Here we were treated to liberal pours of their huge range of wines and educated about the truffle industry, of which we were both completely ignorant.

As it wasn’t truffle season we couldn’t try fresh truffles, so we did the next best thing. We shared a truffle honey pannacotta with hazelnuts (life is short, eat dessert first!). It was good and gave us just a tiny taste of those elusive truffles.

We needed food, but nothing on the menu at the Wine and Truffle Company appealed to us, so we went to the Warren Vineyard, which our tourist info indicated served lunch. Not the case, so the owner suggested the Millhouse Café or the Gloucester Motel. So off we went only to find that the Millhouse was closed for the day for maintenance and the Gloucester Motel only served dinner. The woman there suggested we try Jan’s Diner, so off we went. Unfortunately, Jan’s was indeed open for lunch and we ended up eating there. Ick.

We then headed to Jarrah’s Jacks to wash the bad taste out of our mouths with some of their wonderful wheat beer, only to find they were out of stock. It was just that kind of day.

Our next stop was the Fine Wood Craft gallery, where I drooled over their $5,000 Jarrah tables and $1,500 Marri chairs. And surprise! There was an inviting open café right next door, set amidst a tranquil garden (The Coffee Connection). Oh well, next time.

Then it was back to our cottage to take a much needed nap and to recover from those Jan’s chicken burgers, which as Bill so delicately put it, were ‘still trying to climb out’.

Next: More food and wine in Yallingup and that very big snake

Melnq8,

I am enjoying you wonderful report and taking food and wine notes.....can wait! We leave in 5 weeks!

Thanks

cwn - where will be you visiting?

Really interesting to read - thanks very much. My youngest sons school friend and family moved to Kalgoorlie last week. In search of streets paved with gold. Nice little family. Heaps and heaps of Kiwis work there for a few years and retire early.

Melnq8,

We leave for Wellington New Zealand on the morring of Jan 9 and will send time there and on the South Island. Then we head to W Australia.

Thursday, January 22 - Fly to Sydney, Australia. Stay at Marriott Hotel at the Rocks for two nights.
Friday, January 23 - Sydney

Saturday, January 24 - Depart for Perth, W Australia. Board the India Pacific Train at 2:10.
Sunday, January 25 - On the Train. Stops at Broken Hill and Adelaide.
Monday, January 26 - On the Train. Stop at Kalgoorlie.

Tuesday, January 27 - Travel to Lowlands Beach. Stay at Cape Howe Cottages ("The Wardroom") for four nights.
Wednesday, January 28 - Lowlands Beach
Thursday, January 29 - Lowlands Beach
Friday, January 30 - Lowlands Beach

Saturday, January 31 - Drive to Yallingup. Stay at Wildwood Valley, Honeybee Cottage for two nights. February 1 - Yallingup

Monday, February 2 - Drive to Fremantle. Stay at Quest Harbor Village Apartments for three nights.
Tuesday, February 3 - Fremantle
Wednesday, February 4 - Fremantle

Thursday, February 5 - Fly to Darwin, NT Australia for two nights.

From there we go to Adelaide for more good food and wine on the train then back to Sydney on Feb 17.

As you can tell, my husband loves to travel by train!

I copied lots of food and other points of intrest from your trips..they all sound so nice. We love wine and good food, but I can't do as much walking as you all do. Though I have made notes of the shorter walks in scenic areas.

Thanks for all the wonderful information in your reports!

cwn -

Wow, sounds like quite an adventure. What happens between Kalgoorlie and West Cape Howe? I mean, how are you getting down south?

I took a look at Wildwood Valley just now and it looks fantastic. I was just at Smith's Beach, but didn't see it.

We hope to get to Adelaide ourselves this winter (as in June, July, August). Figured we'd like it better in the cooler months, being hot weather wimps and all.

Although, we're talking about maybe going back to Denmark after Christmas for a few days. We'll see how it goes.

I'm glad to hear my long-winded trip reports have helped someone. Guess I need to buckle down and finish this one.

Have a wonderful trip!

We left Pemberton around 9 am via the Vasse Highway (10). In true nq8 style, it wasn’t long before we were sidetracked; this time at Beedelup Falls. We parked, walked to the falls, and then just kept on walking. We took the ‘Walk through Tree’ path, which leads to a 75 meter, 400 year old karri tree with a hole cut through the center. We continued walking to the Karri Valley Resort, where we’d hoped to have a cup of coffee (it was not to be, the resort’s restaurant is closed from 9:30 am until 5pm). So, we forged on without the benefit of caffeine, eventually returning to where we started. This was an enjoyable, slightly hilly walk through the forest, past the resort and back alongside the lake (3.5 mile loop, 1:30).

Back on the Vasse Highway, we worked our way towards Karridale. The imposing trees gradually disappeared and were replaced with one winery after another as we turned towards Margaret River, where we arrived less than two hours after leaving Beedelup Falls.

Bill insisted that our first stop be at Kappadokia, his all time favorite Turkish kebab establishment. He had one for lunch and took s second away to have for dinner (the man really likes these particular kebabs).

After Bill’s chicken kebab fix, we got on Caves Road and headed to Windance Winery and Cottages in Yallingup, our home for the next three nights - $175 per night, with the third night free thanks to a spring special.

We were given cottage #4 overlooking an open field; which proved to be a source of endless entertainment in the form of guinea fowl (which we mistook for wild turkeys).

Our cottage was spacious, with two large bedrooms with queen sized beds, two bathrooms (one with spa), a spacious lounge with large plasma TV, and an open kitchen/dining area. This place would be perfect for two couples traveling together. It's well laid out, and would give both couples plenty of privacy and personal space.

The wall of windows in the lounge/dining area made the cottage very airy and allowed expansive views of the country.

Melnq8.

Thanks for the good word on Wildwood. The website looked good and the hostess was vry helpful so...

We will arrive in Perth about 9, pick up our rent car and drive down to Cape Howe Cottages.

We have cars for our time in W Australia, Darwin and Adelaide area.

I know it will be hot duing our stay in Australia, but we live on the Texas Gulf Coast so we are use to hot and humid. Plus we will be traveling out of the country until the end of May,so we couldn't make it work for the best weather everywhere.

If you wind up in the Denmark area while we are there, give a heads up on the forum, maybe we can share a bottle of wine with you somewhere...

Meanwhile keep up the great posts, I am enjoying them!