Another perfect weather day today! These days have been hard to come by lately but the last couple have been so good.

We started the day with a bike ride back to the eucalyptus plantation we saw on the way in yesterday. Great conditions for an explore.

We headed back to camp and executed a quick turnaround and headed back out to check out the Margaret River precinct sights. We all enjoyed some time at Cowaramup – a small town that has capitalised on the Cow part of its name….. Chocolate was purchased here and a great lunch at the old petrol station which is now The Servo Taphouse.

We were on a bit of a timeline as we had tickets booked at the Lake Cave as part of the experience I had organised for today – so our planned stop in at Margaret River was deferred till another day. We did pass through though and are looking forward to a longer visit.

We arrived in time for our 2pm Lake Cave tour. There were around 300 steps down through the sink hole that provides access to the cave. I was (rightly) concerned about the ascent later on with post-covid lungs that are being hard to get along with.

The cave itself was super impressive. First time I’ve been in a cave with an underground lake. There were many unique formations in this cave, but the most impressive (from my perspective) was the ‘suspended table’. This 5-6 tonne formation hovers above the lake and was so amazing.

We finished at the cave around 3pm and bounded up the 325 steps (haha) where we started the second component of my experience. We drove the Boranup Karri Forest loop in late afternoon light. We hiked a non-existent lookout walk and Jason found another cave entrance that we didn’t go down….

The karri forest was so lovely. I had packed ingredients for a charcuterie board with some wine to enjoy from Jarvis Estate. We set up in the sun at a lookout over to the ocean and enjoyed the last of our experiences together. Tomorrow Jase and Sue move ahead of us as they need to head back east for the first birthday of their gorgeous first grandchild Charlotte. I can say Charlotte will be enjoying mementos from this trip for years to come that have been purchased with a lot of thought and love.

We headed back to camp and arrived after sunset. Priority was a toasty fire that we could enjoy our dinner at. Given the weather we’ve had over the last few weeks we are really appreciating the opportunity to have a campfire again without howling winds. First though, a photo with Sue, with my exclusive Ningaloo hat and hers that she bought in Busselton, which fully matches Melissa’s Lake Macquarie hat….. I’ve been dudded.

Tomorrow we and the Scott’s will continue checking out the local area after farewelling the Allen’s. It’s been an amazing 12 weeks of experiences we have shared. Such a privilege to experience this amazing country with friends!