Western Australia-- Day 2

We decided to take a day and do a canoe trip up the Margaret River with friends of ours from Singapore.  We booked for Monday, and when Monday came, it came cool and misty with rain as we made our way to the start.  It managed to stop by the time we met Kevin and Melina, but we all had our jackets on and had a good laugh.  Great day for a canoe outing, eh?

The Margaret River is a smaller river with crystal clear water.   Here is the mouth of the river where it joins the Indian Ocean:

Our guide told us that in the winter months, there is more water flowing and no sand dunes to play on at that time.  The totem poles are leftovers from a River festival that ended last week.

We walked a bit up the mouth of the river to our starting point.  Here we are getting ready to go!:

Here are the happy travelers:

By this time, the sun was coming out and it sure warmed us up!  Great day for a trip, eh?!

After a short time paddling, we made our first stop in a grove of trees called Melaleuca trees, or "paper bark".   This area is called the place of sorrows.  This type of tree likes to have its feet wet all the time and grows in swampy, wet areas.  The Aboriginal peoples would come here to release their sorrows, believing the trees absorbed the sorrow and set it free.  Interestingly, it would be a great place to hang out on Halloween given the creepy look!   

The boys were allowed to have climb time here:

                                                          John and his buddy, Davis.

Looking out across the river from the Place of Sorrows, you can see the Wallcliffe.  Supposedly,  you should be able to make out 7 faces out of the caves/holes in wallcliffe.  On top of this cliff runs Wallcliffe road that we drove along to get to the mouth of the river.  Didn't know we were on a cliff!  The views were blocked well by bush land.

More tree climbers:

We set off again in the canoes and made another stop on the Wallcliffe side for lunch.  At this point, Jim and the boys climbed up the cliff a bit and took this shot back at Margaret River:

Here's our Bush Tucker (lunch!):

I am surprised I could remember the name of the Melaleuca tree.  I wish I could remember the names of everything we tried for lunch.  No luck!  I do know we were served Kangaroo, Emu, and Venison sandwiches.  I also think we had Acacia seeds of some sort, and several other neat Australian Bush fruits/seeds.  Luckily he also served some cheese and crackers or the kids would have starved!

After we ate, he called for brave volunteers to try Witchetty Grub.  You may remember Witchetty Grub from Survivor.  Here is a lovely, plump, steamed version:

Here are two of the brave volunteers:  Kevin and Jim!  Yuck!  And yes, they did eat it!:

                                                   Tastes like chicken, right?

Our last stop was a small cave along the Margaret River.  It was damp and dirty and just okay.  The bee hives out in front of the cave we more interesting.

At that point, we raced back to the start.  Literally.  The winning canoe won a bottle of wine and though we put in a valiant effort, we lost.

Post race, we sat at the mouth of the Margaret River while our kids played in the sand.  Good times!
                                               Kevin, Melina, Vicki, and Jim

Up Next:    Giddy up!

Sunday exploring March 22, 2009

Sunday morning we were up early.  Too early.  We had set the alarm so we could get up and hit church in Dunsborough, which we did make.  After that, we came back and took a quick nap.   The weather was overcast and cool, and Joe and I required a coat today.  This was the only "chilly" day of the entire trip.  The rest were all very pleasant and warm with no humidity.

Post nap, we regrouped and headed out to grab lunch at the nearby Beach Cafe.  Here's Joe looking back toward our beach, Bunker Bay.  Our resort is a short walk down the beach to the right.  This was the most crowded we ever saw the beach:

Refueled, we drove over to Cape Naturalist Lighthouse, visible from our Bunker Bay.  The lighthouse was built in 1903 and we were able to take a tour.  It is still operational today.  The guide said that ships use lighthouses to back up their GPS.  Interesting! :

                                            The view of our beach, Bunker Bay.  Notice the charred area that is the result of a February bush fire.

                                       View of the Indian Ocean.

                           Charred bush, hence Joe's "sad" face.

Next stop, Ngilgi Cave in Yallingup.  Ngilgi is pronounced "Knee-Lee".   The boys were complaining on the drive here.  Why are we going to a cave?  Why do we have to do a tour?  A whole hour! 

                                                     

The entrance to the cave is just a hole in the ground.  An English guy, who owned the property in the 1800s discovered this hole.  The next day he returned with two friends, lanterns, and ropes to explore.  He fell in love with the cave, opened it up to visitors, and worked there his whole life.   Here is the entrance:

                                                                           

The entrance is surrounded by a cage now to keep possums out.  A guide took us into the cave and we were free to explore on our own after that!  The cave had a large chamber called the auditorium with many stalactites on top.  We winded our way up, down, over and through many spots.  Eventually we made it to the Main Hall where another guide allows you to hold a stalactite (very heavy!) and shines a "torch" (flashlight) through several to see the colors shine through.  He also pointed out many neat formations, such as Santa Clause, Dumbledore, a camel,  a scary face, Jabba the hut, and more.  He really took his time and you could tell he enjoys his job.  Fun!  

Pictures don't turn out so well inside! 

After cave exploring, we grabbed a drink at the Caves Cafe.  The boys went on about how they loved it and wanted to do it again.  This would be a recurring event during our week.--  ( the kids initial impressions and post-event reactions )

Up Next:  Canoe tour up the Margaret River with friends!  Who ate a Witchetty Grub?

Western Australia--prelude

Spring Break 2009.  Margaret River area, Australia.

We left at a nice 9:00 am Saturday from Singapore's Changi airport and got on our Qantas Flight 0072 to Perth.  

I should interrupt this blog at this time and explain to you that getting old is strange.  I cannot ride roller coasters indiscriminately anymore because some can make me wobbly.  Heights are starting to become more noticeable and less tolerable than before.  And flying in airplanes scares me.  Not enough to take drugs, but just enough.  If you're one of me, you know what I'm talking about.  Up and down turbulence is no problem for me.  I am fully knowledgeable and confident enough in Bernouli's principle to realize that the plane can drop hundreds of feet and be fine as long as it has forward motion and speed, no worries.  It's when the tail of the plane and the nose of the plane start playing games that makes me freak out.  You know, when the tail swings one direction and the nose is going another.  Almost like the plane is "crabbing" sideways.  That is not supposed to happen and can't mean anything good, right?

Anyway, Qantas has a bad record.  Don't believe me?  Look it up.  Several mid-air incidences that have resulted in quick landings, especially over the last 2 years or so.  I wasn't thrilled with our choice of airlines, but the frugal woman in me won.  Too bad she didn't get the cautious woman in me drunk before we took off.   Regardless, we did take off and land safely in Perth 4 or so hours later.  Yes, we did have freaky tail "crabbing" that made me want to scream like a sissy, but no worries.

After landing, getting our bags and our van, we were on our way!  Loved the drive.  3 1/2 hours of Australian countryside, two lane roads, no motorcycles and no taxis.  Heaven.  We got to our resort just as the sun was set, which means it was fairly dark and near 7:00 - 7:30 pm.   My great husband opened the door to the villa and immediately asked if I wanted to get pictures.  I have this thing of taking photos of where we stay just so we can remember down the road.  And we like to get clean photos.  You know, the kind of photos that look like you don't have kids.  

Oh well,   here are the not-so-clean photos taken on Sunday morning after church:

                                                        The villa 409 at Quay West Resort Bunker Bay

                                                             The grounds to our villa.

                                                              Family Room

                                                 Family room looking back toward entrance

                                             The main lodge as seen from the walk to the beach.

We really enjoyed this place.  The resort is built into the bush above the sand dunes that surround Bunker Bay.  They designed the resort to blend into the area.  The villas do not have ocean views at all because of the tall sand dunes and bush.  From the beach,  you can't see any of the resort-- just the walkway up into the area and maybe a few roofs of the buildings. 

Bunker Bay is very quiet.  Other than 2 or 3 houses, also in the bush, the entire area is not developed.  We felt like we had the place to ourselves.

More to come:  The rest of Sunday: lighthouse and cave exploration.