Albany to Perth

Days 28 - 35
1st March 2009 - 8th March 2009

Albany to Pemberton

On 1st of March we travelled 291 klms to Pemberton. Along the way were some beautiful forests and plenty of rain. We stopped at a toffee factory and had lunch in Nornalup. Kim found Pemberton fairly disappointing so we headed to a campsite in the foothills outside of town called the Big Brooke Arboretum. The site was along a dirt track in the middle of a dense tall forest and it was quite magical in the rain camping out in the middle of no-where. Kim's bike was cleaned in Albany but is now covered in mud from the dirt track and wet roads.

Pemberton to Alexandria Bridge

On 2nd of March we travelled to a campsite on the banks of the Blackwood River near the Alexandria Bridge. The Blackwood river is beautiful, deep, full bodied and navigable 50-60 kms to the southern ocean. We stayed on the banks of the river and fished/kayaked for two days but didn't catch a thing.

Alexandria Bridge to Bunbury



We left Alexandria Bridge after spending 3 days without ac power or other conveniences. We travelled through Margaret River and spent time wandering around the shopping centre before leaving for the coast and checking out the Indian Ocean for our first time (above).

We travelled through alot of wine country and decided to stop at a wine tasting centre for a look.
We were shocked by the opulence of the winery as we drove up through a kilometre avenue of stately treeline road to a massive centre which appeared to be worth many millions of dollars. We felt a bit out of place and left after a quick look around while wondering how people are prepared to part with so much money for a bottle of wine.



Bunbury to Kelmscott (Perth south-eastern suburb)

Before leaving Bunbury we visited the Dolpin Discovery Centre and waited 2 hours in vain for the dophins to visit. Even though the dolpins didn't come we had a good morning in the sun and enjoyed the discovery centre.



We finally arrived at Kelmscott Caravan Park on the southern outskirts of Perth. Our first port of call on Friday, was to visit Westfields Carousel to have our modem replaced. I was expecting it to be a pain, but it all went quite smoothly after finding the right shop. The shopping centre was absolutely massive and most importantly - airconditioned! We are finding the heat a little hard to handle but the nights cool down well.

While we were here we visited Donna, Gav and Maddie. It was really good to be able to catch up with them and to meet Maddie ( a true little character who I wish I could have spent much more time with).

On Saturday, I (Kim) went into Perth. We were going to leave that day, but the wind had kept us awake pretty much all night so we decided to stay another day which let me visit Perth. The 2 best places I saw were the Swan Bells (a bell tower near the water) and an aboriginal shop.





Today, we travelled to Cervantes and are staying in the caravan park. We went out to see the Pinnacles which I really liked but Chris was disappointed in. He thought they would be much bigger. It was very very hot but for me, a real experience.