Today was the most amazing day! I think all of us have really enjoyed it doing our own things. From my perspective, I have dragged the camera out (instead of using the iPhone exclusively) for what seems like the first time in ages.

We started the day with Bob dropping the car up the road for new tyres. We weren’t sure how long this process would take – we could be on foot in town for the day or it could be done quickly. Once he arrived back we headed straight out to walk the famous Busselton Jetty – 1.8km long and one of the longest jetty’s in the southern hemisphere. It was sunny when we started, rained on our way back and was sunny once we’d finished brekky overlooking the jetty. Such WA weather!

The jetty is so long there is a train that runs every hour to take tourists end to end!

We headed to the tourist info centre and got some invaluable information on places to visit. Luckily while we were there Bob got a message saying the car was ready to go so we could venture farther afield for the day.

We retrieved the car and prepped for a day trip and set off. First stop was Dunsborough. Another lovely coastal town with a sunny vibe. We continued through on our way to Cape Naturaliste. Next stop was Castle Rock. I loved this spot. The camera came out, the drone went up and the wind was still non-existent (unlike later) 🙂 .

We called in at every opportunity as we moved further towards the Cape. Gannet Rock was another impressive spot we stopped at.

We had the most amazing experience at Shelley Cove…. we had left the car and were significantly embedded in the climb to the lookout when we kept hearing sounds that had to be very close whales. We found a gap in the trees and looked out to confirm. I haven’t headed down bush steps so fast in a long time. I grabbed the drone from the car and sent it out (keeping required distances) and watched in awe as a mother fed her calf in close to shore. Unfortunately most of my photos focussed on the water rather than the whales, but there were a few ok shots. Such an incredible scene to observe.

We then headed to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse. There was heaps of info in the old lighthouse keepers cottage about life here over the years as well as a shipwreck where the crew turned up at the lighthouse after over 20 days at sea in life boats!

From here we moved to Sugarloaf Rock. I’ve been looking forward to photographing here for years! We arrived to bitter winds and absolutely terrible lighting with sun straight in our faces and reflections off the water. So we abandoned and continued through to the town of Yallingup where the Canal Rocks the lady at the visitor info told us about were. Wow! So many people here. Must be an insta or Tic Tok thing. It was pretty impressive I have to say. We spent ages here just mesmerised with the raw power of the ocean and the amazing rock formations. There was a boardwalk over the canal which once we got past all the instagrammers was also pretty impressive.

Just loved this place. Then Bob was very accomodating and took me back to Sugarloaf Rock for sunset. Very happy we did this (see feature photo). The wind was howling and I had to hold the camera tripod down so the photo didn’t blur, but my bucket list shot was at least possible.

Lot’s of photos today, but you should see how many others I took that I really like that I haven’t posted… We arrived back at camp at around 7pm exhausted but very content with the day.

Jase and Sue have also had a great day. They headed via Collie to the Arklow mountain bike trails.

Once they’d got their fill of mountain biking, they headed via the King Jarrah Tree to Gnomesville and Frogs Hollow (adding to the collections there). Finally, they headed via Donnybrook to Busselton.

Karen and Kieran had a slight hold up in plans while they addressed a transmission oil cooler leak in Fremantle that was identified yesterday during their car service. Once that was sorted they moved through to Mandurah where they found 3 of the giants by bike and car. Between us all, we’ve found 5 of the 6 giants. Unfortunately, time constraints have impacted our ability to cross them all off. Sue and Jase found them all last time they visited WA so as a group we’ve seen them all 🙂 .

We are all in Busselton now. Tomorrow is Sue’s experience day. Can’t wait to see what we get up to 🙂 .