The South West was an awesome introduction to Australia, with undoubtedly the most stunning beaches that we have seen yet (we're now in Broome!). Each beach got better and better, and surprisingly, considering it was peak season, they were pretty much deserted. The sun shone every day, but we were lucky that WA is famous for windsports in summer, so there was always a strong, cool breeze blowing, and wind or kitesurfing to watch. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to get involved ourselves.

Our first stop was Bunbury, famous for its Dolphin Interaction Centre, so we called in to see if the dolphins were near the beach, and if we could book a trip to swim with the dolphins out in the bay. Unfortunately the dolphins weren't about, so we booked the trip for on our way back to Perth and then carried on to Busselton, a family seaside resort. Busselton boasts the longest wooden jetty in the world, at 1.8km long, so we walked to the end of that, and enjoyed the strengthening wind that blew away the vast quantities of maddening flies, which seem to be the only downside of Oz so far! Next stop was Dunsborough, where we eventually found ourselves a bed for the night!

The next morning we explored Cape Naturaliste, supposedly the less impressive of the two capes of SW Australia, but still spectacular for us! We took in Meelup Beach, Eagle Bay, Bunkers Bay and Sugarloaf Rock, before stopping in Yallingup for lunch. It was then time for some more amazing and almost completely deserted coastline - Smiths Beach, Indijup Point and Canal Rocks. Next stop was Margaret River, famous for windsurfing and wine! We checked out Prevelly Beach and all the action there for a while, with me deciding it was all a bit carnage-like and wavy for my limited sea sailing experience, so we moved on to Cape Leeuwin and the town of Augusta, via Hamelin Bay, another stunner!

This is the cape where the Indian and Southern oceans meet, so the seas were pretty impressive! We took a tour up the lighthouse before heading inland to Pemberton, home of the 60m high Gloucester Tree, which used to be used as a fire lookout. Obviously, we had to climb it! Luckily there were metal stakes winding up the tree which could be used as a ladder, and the climb up was definitely worth it to be able to look out over the extent of the karri forest. We also took a walk around Big Brook Dam, before heading back to the Southern coast and the impressive Mandalay Beach. That night, New Years Eve, we stopped in Walpole, a small town with one pub! A local band was playing so we managed to find it by following the noise! They turned out to be pretty good so it was a fun night.

Our first stop on New Years Day was the Walpole and Nornalup Inlets, large areas of shallow calm water and lots of pelicans! We then went to the Giant Tingle Tree and also took a walk through the forest, before heading to Conspicuous Cliffs and Beach. We then headed inland to the Valley of the Giants, where we took the Treetop Walk and then a forest floor walk in the Ancient Empire. Closer to the town of Denmark, we visited yet more beautiful beaches - Waterfall Beach, Madfish Island and Bay, Elephant Rocks, Green Pools and Ocean Beach. Our final stop of the day was Albany, from where we explored Torndirrup National Park - highlights of which were the blowholes (which unfortunately weren't really blowing!) and the Natural Bridge, which has formed in the rocks over the years.

We woke the next morning to find the weather had turned on us, so instead of hitting the beach as planned, we decided to start the long drive back to Bunbury. We arrived late afternoon, but the weather was still a bit rubbish, so we watched a film that was showing in the Backpackers.

An early start the next morning in the hope of finding the dolphins out in the bay, and then that they would actually be interested enough to come over and swim with us! The dolphins are protected in the bay and we were told it was totally up to them whether they wanted to come over to us or not, so we crossed fingers! The first part of the boat ride out was fairly unsuccessful, with no dolphins found in their regular haunts, but we eventually saw a few groups out in the middle of the bay. Unfortunately, they were all either fishing or trying to mate, so we weren't allowed in the water as we would interrupt them. We finally found some relaxing, so quickly got into our wetsuits thank God we had them - the water was freezing compared to the Andaman Sea! - and jumped in. Despite our best efforts to appear interesting, the dolphins never really came particularly close, and we couldn't see more than their distant fins which was a bit disappointing, but at least we saw some! Back on shore we checked out the information centre, hoping that some dolphins may come into the interaction zone on the beach, but they didn't so we showered and started the three hour trip back to Perth to meet up with John, Greg, Nat, Belinda and Josh.