After the lazy days in Perth, Eve, Kate and I decided to make a trip down to Margaret River. Margaret River is an absolutely beautiful place about a 5 hour drive south of Perth. Its known for its Vineyards and its surfing! The town is really small, but perfectly filled with 3 pubs, some coffee shops, some information places, a couple of supermarkets and about 20 surf clothing shops - loved it!

When we were on the bus on our way down, we read that booking accomodation in December could be difficult - er, abit late to find that one out! Got into the town about 6pm and contacted all the guesthouses - having very little luck! The Surfer's Point Lodge had beds in two nights time, so we stayed in a cabin on a caravan park about a 10 minute walk outside the town. We bought up two days worth of food and red wine, and pretty much did that for 2 nights. We did venture into town in the day, but the nights were so cold, we felt like we were caravaning in Wales! Nice to have somewhere so lovely to stay, but a little out of our price range for too long.

We moved down to the Surfer's Lodge on the 7th and stayed there for the next 3 nights. The Surfer's Lodge was wicked, and really cool chilled out place. There were loads of very cool people staying there, and as it was the weekend, they weren't working, so alot of fun was had.

The town was a 2 hour walk away, so the first day we got a lift into town, and hired bikes. We rode around for 20 minutes spotting millions of kangaroos, but sadly this came to an abrupt end when Kate breaked too hard and went over the top of her handlebars! So our good intensions were quickley stopped and replaced by a big cafe lunch and lots of sympathy!! Eve and I then went swimming and we started the long walk home. After and hour of walking, we decided the thumb was a good option, and got a lift home with a fab guy Mark, who didn't just take us back, he showed us the sights too! Aussies are very helpful! Promise not to thumb it anywhere else though!

Had the fantastic pleasure of randomly bumping into Nick Madigan in the town, so arranged to meet him the next day. He picked me up on the Sunday and took me to all the stunning beaches in the area. A beach called Redgate has made my top 10 - it was the most beautiful beach I have seen (poss even rivalling Maya beach!). Sadly my camera is still being mended, so I have asked him to email me some of his pics for the album. Nick is great, and looks great. He's really happy, and I'm not suprised - he is living in one of the most chilled out, stunning places I have been!

After a big session in town (that nearly ended at 12am when the pubs shut), but managed to stay going untill 7am the next morning, ended a very good time in Margaret River. Now back to Perth in preparation for the flight to Sydney!!