Life in a Humpback

Day 106: Prevelly to Denmark

Today we left the west coast for the last time and headed to our first stop on the southern coast of Western Australia. Along the way we stopped in Pemberton to have a look at the Gloucester Tree. Unfortunately the Gloucester tree climb was closed due to renovations of the top platform. Instead we went on a short walk around the forest before piling back into the car.

We made it to our campsite at Riverbend Chalets and Caravan Park just after 5:00pm. We were met by Jo one of the lovely owners who walked us down to our site near the river.

Day 105: Margaret River (Day 4)

Today we got up early and headed north towards Ngilgi Cave (near Yallingup) for an Aboriginal cultural tour provided by Koomal Dreaming. We learned about the local Aboriginal history of the area before we took the stairs down into the cave. Because it was school holidays the tour started at 8.30, which meant we had a bit of time in the cave to ourselves before it got busy. When we got to one of the bigger "rooms" in the cave Josh played the didgeridoo for us. It sounded amazing bouncing off the walls of the cave. Afterwards he left us to explore the cave on our own before we continued to the meeting place above ground to learn more about different Aboriginal tools and listen to a few more didgeridoo songs before finishing the tour.

After saying good bye to Josh, we drove further north through Dunsborough to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse and Heritage site. We had lunch while being watched carefully by the local magpies, then wandered up the hill to the lighthouse. From the lookout we could see a few humpback whales playing in the water off the coast in the distance. We then had a look in the museum and learned about what is was like to be a lighthouse keeper.

Next we made our way to the coast near Yallingup. Here we walked down to Canal Rocks to watch the waves roll in and look in a few of the rock pools. We then back-tracked at bit to a carpark used the access "The Aquarium" (a water channel surrounded by rocks that protect it from the large ocean). From here we grabbed our snorkelling gear was walked down to the beach. Although the water was much colder than up at Ningaloo we had much better visibility. We saw a sea slug, an eel, lots of fish, and cool seaweed everywhere. By the time we were out of the water and heading back to the car it was getting late in the day.

Our last stop of the day was at Injidup Natural Spa. As it was almost sunset we did not go for a swim. Instead just watched the water rolling over the rocks into the pool, while Theo found lots and lots of crabs. It was a nice spot to watch the sunset.

Day 104: Margaret River (Day 3: Olivia)

This morning we went surfing!! It was amazing. Our instructor, Heather, helped me and Theo a lot. And we all stood up at one point! I had the longest stand and I really enjoyed it. The water was also not that cold which was great! The board was really big though. There was 5 steps to get to standing, which were:

1. Look for the wave
2. Paddle
3. Get on to knees,
4. Put front foot in front
5. Move into standing/surfer pose.

The fourth step was the hardest.

Day 104: Margaret River (Day 3: Theo)

We did surfing today. It was fun. We all stood up in the end. We did it for two hours. Me and Olivia worked together to grab two boards and bring them down to the beach. I grabbed the front of them and Olivia the back because I had shorter arms and she had longer arms. We had to walk about one kilometer to get to the beach (ed: it was actually 400m). It felt very far.

The waves were medium sized and there was five steps for standing up on a surf board. The first one was to paddle four times when the wave was coming at you. Then lie down and get up on your knees. Then put one foot out in front and stand up. It was easier to do on land than on the water. I would like to do surfing again it was lots of fun 😄.

Day 103: Margaret River (Day 2: Olivia)

Today we went to do soccer golf. It was fun! Soccer golf is where you kick the ball through obstacles and into the hole. Dad said if we got a hole in 1 he would buy us a stuffed animal! But none of us did 🙁. Mum came first, Theo was second, I came third, and Dad was last.

Then we had froyo for the fist time and it was delicious. Froyo is frozen yogart with toppings. I got a vanilla and mango froyo with strawberrys, marshmellows and sprinkles.

Day 103: Margaret River (Day 2: Theo)

Today we went to Soccer Golf where we did 18 holes. They all had a obstacle. I thought that they got harder as you went.

There was one hole that was really tricky that you had to kick it over walls and between poles. The logs went from one side of the pole to the other so you couldn't kick it around it you had to go over it. Then you had to go through poles that didn't have logs and then shoot through an octagon hoop in the air like a Quidditch goal.

There was another hole where you had to kick it straight through two rocks to get it to the hole. Dad said that if we got a hole-in-one than we would be able to get a stuffed toy. So far we only have gotten one stuff toy each on the trip and that was the limit. But if we had gotten a hole-in-one we would have gotten two stuff toys.

Day 102: Margaret River (Day 1)

This morning the kids and I started our day at the Margaret River Farmers Market. Where we picked up some fruit and veg and the kids talked me into getting them some pancakes.

We then collected John from camp and made our way to The Hairy Marron Bike Shop to rent mountain bikes. We had a great four hours in the Wooditjup and Pines trail networks. Similar to Dwellingup we could ride from the bike shop to the trailhead, but the trails were closer to town and there were more options for linking shorter trails together.

The kid's favourites trails were Pugsley and Pineocchio. I really enjoyed the downhill trails Line Manager, Pineocchio, and Pumpty Dumpty and the climb on Beanstalk. John's top picks were Bluega and Pumpty Dumpty.

We all had a great afternoon riding but with all the ups and downs we were all pretty tired.

Day 101: Dwellingup to Prevelly

Today we drove further south towards the Margaret River area. Along the way we stopped in Busselton. While there we checked out the new shipwreck playground, the historical buildings on Queen Street, and stocked up on groceries. We did not walk out to the end of the jetty because we did it last time we were in Busselton (back in 2018).

We pulled into the Prevelly Caravan park late in the afternoon. It was the start of a long weekend in WA so the park was very full!