This morning we said goodbye to Jase and Sue as they move ahead of us on the tail end of their trip. It was another perfect weather day here so the rest of us jumped in the Scott vehicle and spent the day exploring further into the south west.

We started at Margaret River where the boys enjoyed a coffee and pie from the local bakery. Then it was a case of heading down and calling into every coastal spot. We started at Hamelin Bay. This place is very well known for the multitudes of stingrays that come in to shore and mill around in very shallow water. Unfortunately, the water temp is a bit cool at the moment so we only saw a couple from the drone, and none from shore. The beach and bay was still pretty though. There are the ruins of the old jetty that was used to export Jarrah and Karri timber before Busselton and Bunbury became the preferred ports. The sand is white and the cliffs here are white limestone as well.

We then moved around to the next point at Knobby Head. More rugged coastline. We sat and enjoyed the lunch we bought with us here.

Then it was through to Cape Leeuwin lighthouse. This lighthouse structure stands 39m above the surface and 7m below ground. It is the tallest lighthouse in mainland Australia and was commissioned in 1895. It was eventually unmanned in the early 90’s. We did a tour here and climbed to the top. My lungs are still recovering 😉 . This is the most south western location in Australia and is where the currents from the Indian and Southern Oceans meet.

Just near the lighthouse was the location of the old water wheel that was used to supply fresh water to the 3 homesteads of the lighthouse keepers. It was fed from a natural spring adjacent to shore.

The rocks here were pretty cool too. So many different textures.

We then started heading slowly back towards camp. We stopped in at Augusta whale memorial. There was information on the mass whale stranding in 1986, where over 500 volunteers relocated the entire pod of stranded whales by trucks and sent almost 100 successfully out to sea. One of the most successful whale stranding rescues in the world.

This evening we are enjoying a fire for the third day in a row! We had a lovely chat with Tani before dinner as well. Tomorrow we will do our own things as Karen is very keen to kayak in Margaret River and I am very keen to visit one or two wineries in the region.