Bremer Bay

Should be spelt Bremmer for the way it's pronounced, but now that I'm (John) not teaching I'm learning to let these things go...

We arrived late as there was a few things to do on the way here after our stay at the winery.

We drove into Albany where we unhitched the van to visit a few local spots. 

It's Australia Day. We took in some fun free activities for people to participate in. Like being able to climb a fire-lookout tree, this can ONLY be explained by WA having different laws regarding personal injury. Great fun. 

Just along from the beach, there's a beautiful WWI Light Horse lookout over the town. Well worth the steps.

We then went to The Gap, a great overhanging lookout over the ocean, and Natural Bridge . Another really well done WA tourist spot... it's so clearly a rich state. #mining

We then drove to Porongurup and walked the hour up the hill to visit the granite lookout there.
Puffing... but well worth the walk.

John's climbing shoes firmly in place

The last 90 minutes saw us driving through detours because of fires... surprising because we had had such a drizzly few days including this morning.

However, the smoke we smelt in the car and the sun we glimpsed through a cloudy sky was very real.

It was a long day and a late (6pm) arrival after these stops along the way at Bremer Bay.

Bremer Bay, the beaches and water is beautiful.

Nice large, sunny spot. Nice for a few days. 

On to Esperance tomorrow (Tuesday).

Denmark

Velkommen til Danmark 

No, not that Denmark. 

Just west of Albany is the town of Denmark. 

We filled with water at the visitors' centre

and made our way to Rockcliffe winery where we free camped in a paddock. 

We were fortunate to be here on a warm, dry, Friday night as they had a pop-up pizza oven and a band. We bought a bottle of their merlot and enjoyed the atmosphere. 

Denmark is close to Elephant Rocks and Greens Pool so we spent an afternoon there, swimming and walking. 

We spent the afternoon back at our little home and watched a movie in the drizzle.

Greenbushes

With a new caravan door that we can lock (buggered since El Questro in September), we left Perth (thanks again for the hospitality, Ross and Wendy!).

We drove to Greenbushes, a spot we heard about from talking to a couple of honeymooning campers we met at Ellendale Pool. They live here and work in the lithium mine and recommended it as a good free spot. 

There's four different spots to camp around the town; we chose by an oval with half a dozen others. Another 40+ degree day in Perth so very glad it stayed a little cooler here, three hours south-east. 

We took the opportunity to move the blind and latch from the old door to the new one. 

We went in to town of Donnybrook for the morning. 

Lovely.

We spent the afternoon chatting to our neighbours.

On to Denmark next. 

Perth (again for a few days)

We had to swing back to Perth to drop Emily off at the airport for her flight home, and also to get the caravan door repaired.

We were fortunate to be able to stay with the same friends in the suburbs - we hadn't worn out our welcome!

Emily and Robyn went to High Tea for her (belated) birthday.

Perth's done a great job with brightly coloured LEDs on some of their bridges and buildings. We did a loop walk one warm evening after another 40+ degree day.

We put the van in for repair 30 mins south of Perth and then spent the majority of the day going for a walk around the Uni of WA, which is in a nice part of Perth by the river.

Bunbury

We drove to Bunbury and used it as a base to explore this region. 

Bunbury is a big town (small city).

It's famous for its dolphin experience.

Nice spot to shelter from the wind and walk and read a book by the water

This funky art installation along the water front took our fancy.

Canal Rocks.
A well known spot for snorkeling and being washed through the various channels.
Apparently a few people manage to drown here each year.

Generous sized camp site made it easy to have Emily with us in the tent.

Bridge over the canal at Bunbury.
Flooding is a problem when there's a storm surge (they get cyclones this far south!!) and they are now able to close the city off from the harbour with these lock-type gates beneath this bridge.

We did a day trip to Busselton and had a swim and a walk along the famous jetty.

 

Busselton Jetty

Our friends from Forster were there on a day trip from a Perth holiday!.
These are the people we stayed with on night #1 nine months ago!
What a small world!

We drove down to Margaret River for the day from Bunbury. It feels a bit like Berry on the NSW south coast. It's grown enormously since we were last here. 

Wine tasting at House of Cards in the Margaret River region. 

Lunchtime at Margaret River surf break. Beautiful temperature. 

We went to the Bunbury tip shop and bought a left handed 5 iron so Robyn can play a hole or two in a few weeks as we cross the Nullabor.

We'd heard from a lot of travellers about Collie so ventured out for the day. 

Coffee shop background :)

Collie has an extensive art mural walk. 

One of two coal mines at Collie

Electric (! Cable) digger

Stockton Lake

Next, back to Perth for a few days to drop Emily off and get the caravan door repaired.