On Monday 16th January we packed our stuff up and drove down to Margaret River. Tony had very kindly leant us his Holiday home in Prevelly (the beach next to Margaret River) for the week on the condition that I took lots of photo's to show my mum and persuade her to visit sometime. We arrived early afternoon after a nervous last few miles of driving with the petrol tank on red before we finally came across a petrol station. We opened the door and fought through the cobwebs to have a look around. It was a lovely cottage with everything we could need to have a nice relaxing week. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking through flyers to decide what to do for the week and then watched some 'Fawlty Towers' episodes in the evening with a pizza mmmmm.

The following day (Tuesday) we had a nice long lie in before getting up and ready. Foolishly while Rachel was in the shower I found a jigsaw puzzle and thought I would have a go. Rachel shortly later came in and joined me, we continued to put pieces in place then before we knew it, it was 4 o-clock and we still hadn't finished. We dragged ourselves away and had a nice walk along the sea front, where I nearly managed to loose one of me thongs (flip flop) when a big wave caught me by surprise. We continued our walk to a little peak on the end where there was a café, unfortunately our puzzle addiction meant it was closed so no cuppa for us. We headed back for a nice pasta and mince dinner before relaxing while watching the film 'men who stare at goats' before bed.

On the Wednesday (18th) we arose early and headed towards the South West forests. After a couple of hours we arrived at a little town called Pemberton, we leapt out of the car and raced up the road to the toilets. We then headed back down to the information centre and had a look around before jumping back in the car and heading to Gloucester Tree which is the highest fire lookout tree in the world. We climbed to the top up metal spikes, which had been drilled through it and got some spectacular views of the forest from above. We then had to wait for ages as another couple had decided to climb up after us and were taking forever, finally they arrived at the top and we descended the great height.

We then headed on to Pemberton Pool, which was a 4-meter high dam build to allow people to swim in. We had a look but the murky waters and amount of bugs swimming around in it put us of a swim. So we headed onwards and stopped off at another climbing tree called the Bicentennial Tree. This was similar to the first but with a viewing platform half way up as well, we started climbing but by the time we reached the first platform our legs were killing so we decided to miss out the rest assuming the view would be pretty similar to the first tree….. tops of trees for miles. We continued towards the town of Northcliffe, where we stopped briefly to top up with fuel before heading on to Walpole town. Here we did the Knoll Drive, which was a nice scenic drive around the inlets. We then continued on a bit to the Valley of the Giants. We got to walk around gigantic tingle trees, some of which had massive openings underneath which you could stand under, which was impressive. We then continued to another stop and after a short walk came to one of the largest tingle trees in the world. We then headed on the long drive back to the cottage, where we finished the jigsaw puzzle and ate pizza.

The next day (Thursday) we had another lie in and relaxed in the cottage for the morning before doing a bit of washing and then heading out for a walk by the sea and through the local town. We stopped at the local shop and enquired about wine tasting tours, and before we knew it the woman was getting us trying some nice red wines mmm. We caved and decided to buy a bottle. We then headed back to the house for dinner and wine.

On Friday 20th we arose and headed south to Augusta, after half an hour we came to a car park dead end. We soon realised we had gone the wrong way and had ended up at a lovely beach called Hamelin Bay, we had a little paddle and then headed on. This time we found Augusta, which was a lot smaller then we thought it would be so after 5 minutes we continued down to Cape Leeuwin to see Australia's tallest Lighthouse and where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. We then headed to a nearby beach at Flinders and found a nice quite part to relax for a bit before having a swim and doing a bit of snorkelling. After swimming round for a bit seeing more fish then I was expecting to see we got out and sunbathed some more with our books. We then got back on the road heading back North and stopped of at Lake Cave for a tour. It was a cool cave with a stream flowing through it and a stalactite table, apparently there are only two stalactite tables in the world and this one is the only one tourists can see. After wowing ourselves we headed back to the house for some grub and to play monopoly with wine while waiting for Martin and Sophie to arrive.

Martin and Sophie showed up on the Friday night and we had a bit of a chat before getting some sleep. The next morning we awoke and spent the day driving around the Margaret River area doing a winery tour, with Graeme kindly driving. We visited many wineries and also a chocolate, cheese and a nougat factory. You could try the wine and at the foody places you could also try the foods available. We were out for most of the day and we all returned back a little merry, (Graeme not so much as the driver bless him) and with many purchases to enjoy, including a large wooden barrel that Martin bought…I'm sure we'll see what he's used that for when we get back to his! We had bumped into a couple a few times in the wineries and got chatting to them and it turned out it was the guys birthday and they were staying on the campsite round the corner from the house. So we invited them round that night for a BBQ.
The lads got the BBQ going that evening and the ladies got the salad on the go, and we enjoyed a BBQ feast and wines for the night. The couple we'd met earlier also showed up so it was a nice evening chatting and sitting on the balcony.

On the Sunday morning we said goodbye to Martin and Sophie and then had a few games of yatzee and Trivial Pursuit. We then went for a long walk by the sea and had a seat on some rocks watching surfers. We then returned back for a relaxing evening.

On the Monday we went up north a bit to Busselton and paid to walk along the 1 mile pier. We then had a swim in the sea. Graeme did a bit of snorkelling. He then tried to swim over to the pier to snorkel but unfortunately got a bit stung by jelly fish. We then drove to another beach on the way home and walked through the sea as it started shallow, got a bit deeper, then shallow again which was quite cool. There was also a mini sand island that you could swim to.

On the Tuesday we had a relaxing day pottering and doing another jigsaw. We went to Margaret River to do a food shop. When we returned Graemes Uncle Tony had arrived so we chatted with him for the afternoon and evening finding out all about his travelling when he was young, and had some dinner.

Wednesday we left after doing more jigsaw puzzle. Thankyou again Tony for a lovely stay in your house. We drove back to Perth via a stop in Bunbury.