Hello World!
It almost didn’t work out, but because of my wonderful hostfamily me and my friends still managed to go to Margaret River last weekend, and it was AMAZING!
We basically only had one whole and two halve days, but we did the best out of it and it’s still better than not going there at all. Around midday we left Perth and arrived in Busselton at 3pm. If you have more time I would suggest to walk along the massive jetty, but because time was a real issue for us, we skiped that bit and continued driving to Cape Naturaliste.
On our way we made a short stop and Eagle Bay, which is a nice beach – but who knows me, also knows that most beaches don’t blow my mind away.
Cape Naturaliste is indeed a lovely spot and I guess if you do one of the walks it’ll be really beautiful. There is a cute Lighthouse, but I guess if you don’t have time for the walk (like us) it’s just a lighthouse.
It was almost time for sunset so we quickly hopped in the car and made our way to Sugarloaf Rock and I may say this was the most magnificent place from the whole trip. The waves, the nature, the view and just all those mind blowing colours. No matter where you look it’s like you’re in the middle of a postcard, honestly.
After this spectacular sunset we had the most stunning dinner ever. Well our dinner itself wasn’t that fascinating – pasta – but where we were and what we saw was just… WOW! We drove to the Canal Rocks and we took our first ever stunning night-star-sky pictures. I can’t even describe how great that was.
When we arrived at out Campground in middle of nowhere – Canebrake Pool – we had some struggles finding a free spot and we almost walked directly down a cliff into a lake, but who cares, right?! That Campground usually costs $5 pp but we were on the Overflood-Campground-Spot so it was kinda free.
Next morning – after no sleep at all – we sat at 9am in the car on our way to the next attraction: Surfers Point. The view was again stunning and especially my Dutchie-Friend would probably still be standing there today, enjoying the view, if I hadn’t pushed her back into the car.
Around Margaret River are a few beautiful caves and if we had more time (and me more money) we would have seen more than only one, but I think we made a decent choice with Lake Cave. There are over 250 steps to get down there and believe me, going up is SO hard! But worth every step. You should book this cave in advance via phone or internet and it’ll cost you $22.50 which is not too bad.
We drove a kinda-4WD Conto Road afterwards and stopped at one of the carparks on the way, climbed down to the water and the rocks – huge, HUGE wave were slammed against the rocks. CRAZY! – and took some pictures… my other german friend and I (the Dutchie was sunbathing in a save area) got a bit too adventurous and climbed closer and closer to the waves, ended up sitting on a big rock which seemed to be mostly dry. And then it happend: the biggest wave of wave-history hit the rock and I thought I would die. We actually also have it videotaped. I – obviously – surrvived, not so my GoPro. I forgot it on one of the rocks closer to the beach and the wave must have washed it away. GONE.
Shocked, upset and laughing we drove to Cape Leeuwin, saw the second lighthouse of the day – first one was better in my opinion – and enjoyed a almost-sunset at the waterwheel close-by – where my Camera decided it saw enough and switched itself off (battery flat).
A longer drive than expected brought us to our next campground near Pemberton (Northcliffe) – Roundtu-it Eco Caravan Park – where we even had a toilet, shower, campkitchen and a washingline to dry our wet-wave-clothes. Llamas were all-inclusive 😀 $5 pp
The next morning we woke up at 6.15am and drove during sunrise and crazy fog-conditions back up to Pemberton to the Gloucester NP or to be more specific the Gloucester Tree which is a dizzy height tree which you’re free to climb without any security. Dutchie and I tried our best but it was hell scray and by the way freezing cold – I mean we’re talking about sunrise-time in winter! If there’d been any Rangers at all or at least SOMETHING we may’d gone higher, but well we were probably over 10m over ground, that’s something, guys, right?! Therefore we made a quick walk around the NP and saw some impressive Karri Trees. Climbing the tree is free but you have to pay $12 park-entry-fees per car.
Cause we had to be back by noon we made no further stops and I arrived at my home by 2pm and super tired.
I can recommend this trip to everybody who’s in Perth at some stage. But lets be real: if you can choose WHEN to go, ALWAYS choose summertime! It was freezing cold during the night and going for a swim would have been kinda crazy.
We did not need to hire a car, which was real good for my bankaccount, so the expenses weren’t too bad in the end: each of us (so devided by three) paid $92 for petrol, food, park fees and CaveTour.
In not even two weeks Dutchie and I are driving to Esperance and Albany with an hired van, hope we won’t freeze to death!
Have you already seen Margaret River? What was your favourite part?
See you, Saskia xxx
P.S. why do there travelposts always turn out being soooo long?!
TravelWithSaskia 