MargaretRiver - Wednesday 7th

Left Fremantle and drove in to Perth to collect our credit cards, then headed back down south towards MargaretRiver.The places that had sounded quite interesting on the way down didn't quite measure up to what we were looking for, so we continued on.There were many road signs alerting drivers to the Kangaroo's and Emu's that may suddenly cross your path and lots of road-kill at the sides of the roads to prove the point.We're sure however, that while going at 110kms in a little hatchback it is us who could end up as road kill if Skippy did happen to bounce in front of us.Arrived at the beautiful little town of MargaretRiver and were glad we had decided to make the effort to get down here.Went to an excellent restaurant and enjoyed some good food, great wines and a share-sy desert of ice cream and Muscat liquor that Stephen wasn't so keen to play shares-ies with.It really was all a little embarrassing, as we were continually clashing spoons to get in there first and measure-mouthing (a phrase that comes from the days when Suz and three sisters were arguing about who had the most roast potatoes for dinner).

Thursday 8th

We drove out to the coast to walk along a small stretch of the Cape to Cape walk. Again the scenery was stunning.We passed through low shrub along the rugged coastline and walked down to a beach full of small boulders.We sat and watched the sea and decided that this was a Kodak moment to take back with us when our lives go back to reality.We saw quite a few skinks around, which are really just short fat snakes with legs. We also spotted a whale a short way off the coast.As we walked back there were lots of surfer's bobbing about in the bay, but no real waves to speak of around that side, so all they did for half an hour was just bob.

Friday 9th

'The liver is evil and needs to be punished'

In other words today is time for another wine tasting tour. Well it has to be done, as we are in a different state.Interesting and friendly group of people, with the camaraderie helped by the excellent tour guide, who did his best to make sure it was a lively day.We stopped at the Pitchfork vineyard and tried some decent wines, then Knotting Hill for tasting's and lunch, where the tour guide prepared salads, dips, cold meats and cheese.He then came out with a Witchety grub on a plate and said that he will go off and cut off the head and tail and come back and the first two to hold their hand up will taste it.As Stephen had a bet with Kofi before we left Dubai that he would eat one, his hand shot up and was a lucky recipient of half a Witchety grub, which he said tasted like nutty hummus.[Note to Kofi - the jury is out on whether this actually counts as part of your bet because it was dead and it looked like a piece of white chocolate on the plate and not the live wriggly little creature complete with eyes and tail that Suz thought he would be eating], After that bit of excitement we went to a vineyard, who's name we can't remember (hic) and were given a variety of different cocktails to try by a very entertaining and humorous barman. (just remembered it was The Grove Vineyard). We had decided not to buy anything, as we only have a few days left in Oz, but that all went out of the window when we tried the Chocolate Port.We then went to a cheese factory and then on to a very touristy chocolate factory where the chocolate was really sweet and actually not that good.Maybe it has something to do with the wine we've been necking.After stopping at one more vineyard, which was a small family run one called Churchview, we then had a final stop at Saracen's, which is a brewery for some beer tasting just to confuse the taste buds.It was a good stop, as we sat around a table in the sunshine out by the lake and talked with the tour group.In the evening we went to the local where we had arranged to meet up with some of the people from the tour and danced the night away to the live band.

Saturday 10th

Headed down to the south coast and went to the most south westerly point in Australia to the Leewin Cape Lighthouse.It's also where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern ocean and the ring of granite around the coast has claimed many lives from the ships that have been wrecked by them.We drove on along the coast and then through the forest and hardly passed a soul on the road. For that matter we didn't pass any petrol stations either and Suz was getting nervous about spending the night out there as the needle was heading fast towards empty.We made it to a town just as we got down to thin air in the petrol tank, as the petrol light had been flashing away for some time.We were feeling weary from the long drive, so stopped in Denmark for the night, which as far as the author of the guide book was concerned, was quite a happening place.Wrong! The town was quiet and not many people were out for the evening - a bit of a recurring theme during our time here.

Sunday 11th

Drove on to Albany and then for some lunch at Emu Point, which is a pleasant headland in a saltwater creek. Followed the signs to a lookout point on the coast and nearly got blown off the top of the cliff in really fierce winds.There were run off points for the hang gliders, so we guess it is partial to a bit of wind up there!Had a walk along the sandy beach below and then tried to find our way to MountBarker and the National Parks in the area.There were so many unsealed roads and the thought of crawling for 34kms dodging potholes and large stones put us off.The longer route we did take didn't pay off either as somehow we managed to bypass the elusive MountBarker.The next stop off that Suz had read in the guide book was a place called ArthurRiver about 200kms further north.It didn't quite add up when we reached a town called ArthurRiver which only had one petrol station and a café.Re-reading the book Stephen realised that the Arthur River that Suz had read up on was the one in Tasmania (oh well turn right at the next junction and drive for 3 weeks in an easterly direction ….) After many more km's we eventually stopped at sleepy Mandurah for the night.

Monday 12th

Continued on to Perth and checked in to a motel near the airport.We drove back in to the city to go to lunch with Steve Mercier and Tony Brania, who Stephen had worked with in London, now working out of the Perth office.We spent the rest of the day preparing for the next leg of the trip to SE Asia.