Sunday November 2 (Bunbury to Pemberton)

We were soon on the road from Bunbury so we said goodbye and thank you to our hosts Jackie and Les. It started off as another lovely day with some cloud as well as some sun. We drove round the coast through Busselton, Margaret River and Karridale to Pemberton so it was about a 300 km drive today.

In the south west of Australia the landscape seems to comprise of miles of state forest and farms for hay (the biggest crop)/wheat/oats/cattle/sheep. Nearer the towns there are large areas being opened up by land developers and a number of new estates are appearing everywhere. We passed so many 'For Sale' signs it was unbelievable.

So many of the places we have travelled through either Margaret or Edgar or both had relatives that lived or had lived there. They both grew up in the south west region and come from fairly large families. We even drove past the farm where Edgar grew up.

We stopped at Busselton and went down to the coast to see the remaining Jetty, there were two but the other got swept away by a tornado. They are so long as the water is shallow and the seagoing ships could only tie up so close to shore. 


We then took a detour to Yallingup to see the Canals on the coast. The Indian Ocean has cut through the land and created rocky islands and inlets in this area. 

Beneath the waters lies one of the most temperate marine environments in Australia, hence a wide variety of marine life. Many divers come to this area to study the underwater life. Some of the spring wild flowers were still in evidence,
 
We stopped at Margaret River for lunch but by this time the weather had turned for the worst and it was raining on and off, the clouds were grey and quite low. This area is very pretty but the weather meant we did not explore as we might have done. The state forest, which continued to accompany us, comprises mainly Karri trees, these grow tall and straight up to the sky. 

There are also many Peppermint Trees and many were showing off their lovely white blossom. We stopped at Karridale to take some photos of some of the largest trees in the area.


We then took a slight detour to Augusta and got caught up in the end of the Augusta Adventure Race. It comprises run, swim, kayak and bike and I have never seen so many caravans, camper vans and cars with kayaks and bikes aboard. 

We drove out to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet and boy was it windy!!! Just stayed out long enough to get a couple of photos before hopping back in the car.

We then headed to Pemberton, where we were staying the night and it was pouring when we reached our hotel, the local pub, about 5.30 pm. After our meal, I went up for a shower and an early night as I was feeling very tired.