We left Busselton, heading further south towards Augusta (not Port Augusta), the town at the bottom southwest corner. This was famous for its very tall lighthouse and various caves along the way.

We had done both the lighthouse and the caves twelve years ago with the kids, so decided to concentrate more on the town of Augusta itself and the little towns in between.

First town was Dunsborough, just west of Busselton. It consisted almost entirely of cafés, and one small IGA. Just out from Dunssborough on the point was the smallest lighthouse I have ever seen. It was maybe just 2-3 storeys high, as compared to the one at Augusta which was one of the tallest in Australia - over 60 metres.

Between Busselton and Dunsborough was a series of church camp grounds, one beside the other, each belonging to a different denomination. Very ecumenical.

Down from Dunsborough, on the west coast and open to the ocean, was Yallingup. The road in was steep and winding, and as we drove down a beautiful surf beach opened up in front of us. It was very windy, and the kite surfers were out in force. We tried to find the town centre, but could only find a park with one small café in front of it. After asking, we were informed this was the town centre. Apparently they get this question a lot. The locals go into the big smoke at Dunsborough when they need to shop.

We worked our way down the coast and found a few more beach towns - Gracetown, Prevelly and Gnarabup - all of which consisted of a sprinkling of houses near a beach, and the occasional café. At this stage we gave up and headed inland towards Margaret River.

Just north of Margaret River there is a little town called Cowaramup which was actually having a Christmas market. Not only were we very excited to see a market, but the whole town was themed around cows - with cow statues and pictures everywhere, cow themed crafts, and the Candy Cow sweet shop. I was in heaven.

Augusta itself was a nice town with some lovely beaches and water views where the river opened onto the ocean. Although it was warm, it was also very windy and swimming was not an option. It also had a brand new boat harbour that had just been built and looked very snazzy.

That night we stayed at a farm stay campground just a few kms out of town, and met several nice families as well as Dutch and German backpackers. We had a lovely night around a campfire, then pulled out the generator for a communal coffee in the morning. This is getting to be a habit.

GeorgeY's Bit

Yallingup is a nice surfing beach but hardly qualifies to be classed as a town, Whisperingup is a more suitable name. Cowaramup's Christmas market is the biggest on the calendar with about five stalls outdoors, plus the seven tables inside the hall. Wow!