Sad goodbye to Aunty Ann and Uncle Steve, their warm house and wonderful hospitality-off on the next stage of the journey! Excited to meet up with the Monks again, in Bunbury. Fond reunion, and Barb gave us our trip hoodies (she had printed in Perth). They look awesome, and we are now officially "MonkFoots", and look like a tour group when all 10 of us are wearing our jumpers!! A number of people commented, and the kids have worn them 4 days straight now!

We continued through the beautiful forest scenery into the Margaret River region. Beautiful karri, jarrah and tall trees everywhere-such a contrast to the coast. We headed through the town of Margaret River, into the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, and our campground Conto. Wow!! Everything is bright green, with white lillies growing randomly, everywhere!!! Kids all saying it looks like a fairy garden. They have found snails, adopted them as pets, and play with them every time we are at the campground.

Spent the next 3 days exploring the delights of the region, and eating and drinking till we couldn't eat/drink anymore fine food!! First stop was the 3 Oceans Winery, and we giggled and pretended our way through our first wine tasting!! The kids were awesome, at each winery we visited, they sat by the fire, played with the dog (seemed to be one at each winery), and generally entertained themselves-without a whinge. It may have helped that there is so much for kids to do here too. Our next stop was a cheese factory. They loved tasting all the cheeses, and looked like little conisuers , deciding if they preferred the Brie, or the matured chedders!! Of course we bought up big, and the sales people were lovely to us and the kids. Next stop was the Margaret River Chocolate factory-free samples, all you can eat. And we ate all we could eat!! Had a decadent morning tea, rocky road cheesecake, and chocolate fondue for the kids. Off to the silk worm factory for a silk lesson (school work done for the day!). Learnt all about the the making of silk, and was nice to see these people making a go of it in Australia. They send there silk to Cambodia, as part of an underprivileged aid program. It was a fascinating insight into the industry. We managed to pack all this into one morning, so we headed to the Cheeky Monkey Brewery for lunch. Made us all think of Tim and Helen, and here we enjoyed lovely food, a log fire and a bit more wine tasting!! Drove back to camp, the long way, to a town called Cowingup. Cute little place with painted cow statues everywhere-and that made us all think of Selina.....moooooo. Few poses with cows, then back to camp for dinner cooked on the camp fire, and......more wine.

Next day was as food/action packed as the last one. Started the day at the Leuwin Estate Winery. An amazing spot, so well manicured, and image conscious-everything I imagine a top winery to be. The gardens were beautifully landscaped and there was a massive area of lush grass. The kids threw their shoes off and headed straight to the "oval" for a great game of tiggy. The winery/ restaurant overlooked this "oval" and the gardens, then further on to the Karri/ Jarrah Forest. The kids were more than happy to run around and play-so we booked ourselves in for a food and wine experience. We were seated in an area of the winery, with wood fire, and blankets. And we were served the most exquisite pieces of food, with 5 different wines. I chose the white "flight", and Craig had a red and white combo. The food matched the wines perfectly. And it felt totally indulgent and some nice time with the four of us. The kids were delighted to hear what we ate with each wine taste, and vowed next time they would come too, instead of playing tiggy!

Next stop was a pine tree hedge maze. A hilarious place , trying hard to find our way through the maze, all trying to get there first. It actually proved to be quite difficult-and we all ended up running into each other over and over again! Craig and I made it out first, and Craig went in to help the others!! Was just hilarious!
We spent the afternoon checking out the town, then headed back to camp to make sure it was still standing! There were 90km/hr winds this day, and the weather was cold and rainy. Funny-didn't really bother us til we were back at camp.

We managed to squeeze in a tour of one of the limestone caves in the area. We ventured down deep into Lake Cave. The only cave in the world, (open to the public, there is one other) where you can see a suspended platform formed by stalactites. It was all very impressive, perhaps a bit commercial. But you can understand the need for guided tours, just to keep such a fragile place safe.

We also did a tourist drive from Cape Naturaliste in the north to Cape Leuwin in the south. Spectacular scenery, and lovely places to stop along the way. Found a little olive farm, with olive tastings, and lots if nice produce. A walk at Cape Naturaliste, took us through Beautiful wild flower country, down the cliff face to the ocean lookout, where we could watch the seals play on the rocks. We also spotted whales breaching, always an awesome sight. Even though we packed in heaps, there is still so much more to explore in the area-another spot we need to come back too!

We left Margaret River and popped in to Cape Leuwin. The spot where the Indian and Southern oceans meet. A picturesque spot, and we said our goodbyes to the Indian Ocean! This felt like a real turning point in the trip, turning our heads for home as we start to head east. Mixed feelings, having such a wonderful time, but also missing family and friends at home. Still lots to do, and many more new places to visit along the way.