Giant Trees, Wine and Beaches - 1750km through Southwestern Australia

It was a nice day to start driving down South, we heard that it can get very busy down South during Xmas holiday, because lots tend to escape the high temperatures from Perth and seek the cooler environment in mainly Margret River. Busy..??...cooler...??, we did not notice anything of that, it just kept getting hotter each day with over 40 degrees over several days.

No cars on the road towards Denmark.... geen auto's onderweg behalve wij langs de bossen zuidelijk van Perth.

First break in the Southern Wheat Belt

Denmark, Western Australia Bed & Breakfast

Valley of the Giants - Tree Top Walk: 40m above the ground you can walk along a 420-metre-long steel-truss walkway. In addition to the giant trees we spotted one of the many native giants...

Native giant

Franklin River and Walpole inlet

Elephant Rocks near Walpole- the 'Seychelles-like' beach in Australia - giant granite boulders and turquoise water of 25 degrees

 Porongurup Hike of just 5km

We met a couple in their 70-ties on Christmas day at this spot. They have been coming here for years on Christmas day. We felt confident of doing the hike after the elderly couple told us that the hike is just a bit steep but certainly manageable. That day it was about 35 degrees but with some clouds. It turned out to be much more than a challenge, it was an almost-disaster.

Pemberton Bed & Breakfast with Kangurus in the fields

Forest Fire lookouts in the giant Karri trees - Gloucester Tree max. height 61m

We tried to climb up a bit, unfortunately Jens has Vertigo and cannot climb up much, anyway he made 7-8m, Andrew a bit higher, but Andrew was lazy to go further...

Bicentennial Tree - Lookout 75m - een 6 jaarige beklimt de 75m met moder en vader

Diamond Tree - 50m Lookout

Verrassing op de parkeerplaats, iemand heeft zijn busje geparkeert met 6 baby kangurus erin die geen ouders meer hebben, zegr zij of hij, ik kon niet herkennen welk geslecht die person was....









Auf dem Weg von Pemberton nach Margret River haben wir ein Abstecher gemacht nach Cape Leeuwin (most southwestern corner of Australia), dem suedwestlichste Zipfel vom Australischen Kontinent. Das war Jens' Wunsch, schliesslich arbeitet er ueber den Leewin Current welcher warmes tropisches Wasser bis in den Southern Ocean transportiert. So ist die Wassertemperatur dort 5-10 Grad hoeher als normal verglichen zum gleichen Breitengrad weltweit.

De grotten van de Margret River regio - Jewel en Lake Cave - het water is in de laatste 40 jaaren dramatisch gedaald door de verdroging van zuidwest Australie, en goede plek om klimaatsverandering ter werking te zien. Ze gaan nu kunstmatig water opvangen en in de grotten leiden om het leven in de grotten meertjes te helpen - kleine blinde diertjes leven erin.

de enige vrij schwevende tafel der wereld (stalagmite en stalagtite zijn in elkaar gegoied) in en toegangelijke grot, ze sveeft boven het ondiepe water en paar centimeter boven Lake Cave oppervlakte...

Margret River - our last Bed & Breakfast at Vintners - a bottle of wine and a cheese platter as a welcome present to the town that gives the name to the entire Wine region of Margret River with >150 Boutique wineries, small wineries that produce high quality wines.

The Wine tasting tour with Guide - first stop Leeuwin Estate - one of the top on the list, we liked it but not all of the collection. The 'Art Series' wines have a lable with a painting from regional artists. 

2nd Winery: Watershed - excellent Shiraz en Rose plus superb Sommelier met humor

3rd stop: Knotting Hill Winery - viel Wein, aber nicht so unser Favorit

4th stop: Fermoy Estate Winery - they served the Prince and Princess of Denmark during their marriage dinner in 2004 the Princess Edition Cabernet Sauvignon, we bought 2 bottles of the 2010 edition...

The beaches of Margret River - Prevelly and Hamelin Bay

Hamelin Bay, waching out for Stingrays (Stachelrochen)

Jens Bond - watering elegnatly like Daniel Craig, is'nt it?

As comparison

The stingrays come all the way to the beach at sunset to feed on mollusks and small fish in the sand,  and people feed them with the scraps left by fisherman and they love it...just watch out for the tail, as it can kill you... Some were small, but others were more than 1.5m in width! So you must be a real James Bond to try and touch these very ugly and weird looking creatures. Ozie kids are raised without fear, as they are encouraged to feed and pet these scary looking animals. Watch our video below.

Back home, stop at Busselton Jetty, 1.8km lang mit einem kuenstlichen Unterwasserriff wo man all Tiere und Korallen sehen kann.