A week in South West, WA… by car!
Merry and I have spent the last week touring South West WA. It’s wonderful for me to have Merry here and also good to have a rest from riding Azulo. The quality of food and lodging has also improved significantly.
This is just a quick update …not much commentary. Just a few photos from our trip for the record.
We spent our first night in Eaton, near Bunbury with my cousin (once removed) Alex and his wife Rachel. We phoned Juliet, my cousin in England. Alex and Rachel have a lovely home in Eaton and a 6 acre block in the hills nearby, Currently they have a shed and 9 Alpacas on the property, but their dream house is in the planning phase!
Photo – Busselton Pier… It’s very long…2 kilometres!
Photos: Vasse Félix Vineyard in the Margaret River district
We saw some lovely beaches… this one is Hamlyn Beach
The Karri Tree forests are superb. The trees grow up to 80 metres!
We visited a 500 year old Jarrah tree… it was saved in the nick of time from being cut down!
We visited the Jewel Cave… there are many others but one was enough! It is spectacular. We chose well!
We visited a Truffle Farm, the largest in Australia and one of the largest in the world. They have Labrador dogs to sniff out the truffles and tours are possible but unfortunately the season starts in June.
We stayed in a variety of places from a very nice Airbnb in Fremantle to comfy a cottage near Nanup
It was pizza night in Nanup. The local café lays it on every now and then. There was loud live music of very doubtful quality but the pizza was terrific. As you see they made a fuss of us with the table sign
We saw this sign outside a beach shop which amused us (sign enlarged on second photo below).
Our last three nights were spent in Fremantle. I am really impressed with Fremantle. It’s got lots of character and is full of life, restaurants, lovely old buildings etc.
We took the “hop on tram” ….an amazing coincidence happened…The tram driver RECOGNISED ME….He said… “You were in the same hotel as me in Kalgoorlie… just a few days ago… you set the smoke alarm off burning your toast didn’t you.”
It turned out that I even slept in the same room as him…Don’t worry, he left a day earlier than me. Just to complete the coincidence, his name is also Geoff.
We visited the Gaol which has been welcoming guests since 1850’s and only closed in 1991. It was built by the convicts.
Some more photos of “Freo”
Swan River Cruise to Perth and Perth hop on bus
Merry and I are very impressed with the quality of the infrastructure here. The trains and stations are clean, the busses are excellent…there is a free bus service called the CAT They are building a superb new Football/Cricket stadium which looks impressive. There are good roads and more!….Also there is very little graffiti!
They had a free wine tasting on board..
Magnificent meals
Naturally, we’ve had lots of good food and wine on this trip… as always!
Perhaps the pick of the restaurants’ though is “Bread in Common” in Fremantle.
It is modern and the food is fantastic. Food prices are reasonable but wine is expensive.
It is packed out all day from breakfast till dinner. You must go there if you are in Fremantle!
Now sadly Merry leaves and I start the journey again. Merry will meet me again in Darwin in three weeks. I’m looking forward to that already!
I just added this blog site to my rss reader, excellent stuff. Cannot get enough!
What is the giant donut in the first picture and the rainbow of shipping containers?
Freemantle looks lovely and is now on my places to visit if we come back to Oz.
What a fun coincidence bumping into Geoff!
Karen x
No idea about the shipping containers…i rather like them though
Nice post and pictures ! Bread in Common is great. Hope you enjoyed 🙂
Terrific photos again, Geoff, they paint such a wonderful picture of your travels.
So glad you and Merry had such a great week together, it was good to catch up
with her this morning. Coffee and travel stories are always most enjoyable.
Ride safely.
Love,
Wendy and Rod.
Thanks Wenners
Looks like great weather, and the photos are marvellous. W A is such a beautiful place , a good time ‘had by all’. Keep up the good work…..thanks Geoff.
Hi Margartet
Actually the weather hasn’t been terrific…cold with showers. i just managed to take most of the photos when there was blue sky!
Those caves look fantastic; love to see them in the “flesh”
I don’t think you mentioned anything about setting of the smoke alarm in an earlier blog; what else are you keeping to yourself! But what a coincidence.
Very impressed with the photos of the prison; Gill has always wanted to visit a prison with “real” inmates.
You seemed to be doing all right with the wine tasting – 5 glasses on the table and one in your hand, together with a satisfied grin!
But, time to stop enjoying yourself – get back on the bike!
Love to you and Merry.
Vic & Gill
Thanks Vic
A great area. Brings back memories as I last was there in 2000.
Thanks Pete. …didn’t know you had been to Geraldton….
WA is a great place and the SW is really special with the trees etc.
I hope you enjoy your ride up north – there is some fantastic scenery to see and very different to what you have been through. The Kimberleys are our favourite place in the world – unique!.
Look forward to your next post.
Thanks Geoff…Looking forward to the NT
Brings back many happy memories of a wonderful part of Australia with so much to see and do
Wineries are sensational!
Glad you both have had a great week together
Hearty Cheers
Thanks Roger