Western Australia Trip - Perth and the South West

 We 'farewelled' Ledge Point and headed south toward Perth... the weather continued to be miserable.. and to be honest so did our moods. It marked the end of the 'new and exciting' part of the trip because we had holidayed in the South West previously and although it is an absolutely stunning part of the world we were pining for the warm lazy days of the North.

Perth was a right-off for us - we found parking the motorhome next to impossible and the rain meant walking from a distant parking spot wasn't feasible so we hightailed out of there as fast as possible. I had hoped to visit the Freemantle markets but after circling around for 30mins with no likelihood of a park we gave up on that idea.

Mandurah was a beautiful spot .. we loved Thomas Dambos Giants and walked our way to finding a couple of them. I also caught up with a beautiful online friend Denise for coffee... it was so nice to chat in real life over a cuppa.

It was still pouring rain when left for Bunbury but we spent a few days there. On one of those days we took a drive out into the Ferguson Valley and visited Gnomesville and the Wellington Dam. I had never seen so many gnomes in my life. There had been some recent flooding rains and a lot of the gnomes had been washed over .. I thought if there was ever a working bee to tidy up I'd gladly put my hand up.

The next few days went in a blur of dreary weather and wiper blades. We stayed overnight in Margaret River and Pemberton. A lot of the 'attractions' were closed due to the weather but it was still a nice drive through the region and we enjoyed a look through Jewel Cave and a stop at the Augusta Lighthouse. 

Check out these cheeky birds at Pemberton.

We loved Denmark .. it had a lovely alternate feel with lots of quirky stores and cafes. Its also a beautiful part of the coastline - we loved Elephant Rocks and the Green Pools as much this time as the first. 

From Denmark we started making our way toward Albany via the Porongurup National Park home to Castle Rock. This steep 4.7km return walk climbs through the forest.. past Balancing rock to the base of Castle rock. There is then a challenging climb and a 6m ladder that brings you to the granite skywalk and an incredible panoramic view. I wont lie... it was a challenging hike - I likened it to relentlessly climbing stairs for 4 kms.... but it was so worth it in the end.

Next stop was Albany where we did the touristy things like visit the National Anzac Centre (well worth a visit) .. The Gap and Natural Bridge. This time we also took the drive through the bloody amazing chainsaw sculptures created by Darrel Radcliffe.

Most expensive fuel - 

• $2.29 at Jerramungup

Caravan Parks - 9

Low Cost / Free Camps / Rest Stops - 0