So, just got back from Margaret River and since I forgot to bring my journal, going to try to get everything down while its still fresh.

Wednesday May 28 - We (Alan, Michael, and I) left Murdoch around 11:30 am to get to the Esplanade bus station and get our tickets from South West Coach (only $15 to MR- not too bad). Got the tix then had to wait around until 1:15 where we got on the bus and prepared to sleep for the next 5 hours. Reading and sleeping on the bus, had to stop a couple of times to drop people off/pick people up and had to switch busses once as well but overall not a horrible trip. Got to MR around 6:15pm and walked over to where we were staying (the Margaret River Backpackers - a really nice new hostel). Got checked in and us 3 had the room to ourselves. Went out to get some dinner (fish and chips) and then to the Coles to get food for the rest of our stay. At night we played some cards, Uno, and Scrabble. We also booked a wine tour with Bensen (the manager of the hostel) for Thursday. Went to bed semi early in order to both make up for lost sleep and ensure we got up early enough to make the tour.

Thursday May 29 - Got up around 9am, showered and got ready to get picked up around 10:30 by the "Bushtucker Winery Tours." They were a bit late picking us up but that was soon forgotten. Went around in a bus-van type thing to four different wineries - with wine tasting at each one (my stance on alcohol hasn't changed yet but I still tasted). We had a "bushtucker" lunch at the second winery - full of native Australian meats and plants (kangaroo, bush turkey, etc). The grand finale to the meal was a sort of grub that our tour guide (Silvano) named Henry. Two guys in the trip split it in half and each ate half of it. We saw Xanadu, Redgate, Voyager, and Watershed Wineries. After Watershed, we went to the MR chocolate factory - and there I was in heaven. Delicious - Alan and I purchased some dark chocolate buttons. Next was the cheese factory where I got some vintage cheddar and bagel chips (or crisps as they call them here)! Very delicious - ate it in various forms over the past couple days. Finally we stopped at the Colonial Brewery, where Michael sampled all 5 of their beers; Alan and I watched. Back to the Backpackers after that - very good tour. After just resting for awhile, Alan and Michael made dinner (chicken, rice, broccoli, and gravy). Chicken was a bit dry and rice was undercooked but it was definitely edible. After that we went over to the video rental store and took out Cloverfield to watch in the lounge. I'd seen it in theatres but it was really good and worth seeing again. We had no real plans for the next day so after that we watched another movie (the name of which escapes me at the moment). Finally went to bed.

Friday May 30 - Slept in this morning and slowly formulated a plan. We decided to rent a car in order to go see some caves and potentially go horse riding. Michael had to do the renting (as Alan and I were too young) but we realized that he didn't actually have his Danish driver's license with him. We told the car rental guy and his response was "No worries, I'll take your word for it." Yep. So we got the car rented (a gorgeous purple Hyundai we named 'Bobbi Sue') and called one of the horseriding places. They didnt know if they had any openings (and were more expensive than I expected) so instead we just drove to one of the caves - Calgarup? Cave. Michael was driving because it was a manual drive car and neither Alan nor myself could drive it - it was interesting because its the wrong side of the road for Michael as well... very interesting. We went on a "self-guided tour" through the cave- they gave us a quick explanation of the layout as well as helmets and torches (flashlights!). They also gave me an emergency headlamp. We went exploring in the cave which was very interesting and fun. Got out and then decided to just drive down to Augusta because, why not? Got down there, realized there wasn't really anything there, so kept driving to Leeuwin Lighthouse. Apparently some whales were seen in the bay there that morning (we didn't see any though ). That is the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean, and the furthest SW corner of Australia. So now I've gotten to see 4 oceans. After that it started to get dark so we headed back to MR. On the way we saw a sign for a horse riding place and decided to detour to check it out. Their "office" was the stable but they had an opening for Saturday morning at 9:30 am and were also a more reasonable price so we booked it. Got back to the backpackers and we all cooked dinner this time. Michael chopped and cooked carrots, I peeled - boiled- mashed potatoes (and grated some cheddar to go into them also adding milk and butter), and Alan cooked the lamb. That meal was exceptionally delicious. Afterwards we played a couple games of 3's, Uno, BS, and then I taught the boys how to play Golf. I'm regretting that decision now because both last night and today they beat me horribly, at my own game! Went to bed fairly early again in order to get up the next morning. - Side note! We had to switch rooms for our last night in the hostel and had to share with 2 other guys, they were very courteous roommates though.

Saturday May 31 - Today we got up early (8am) to get ready to leave by 9am to get to the horses. Got all packed up and checked out of our room and threw the bags in the car. Ate the rest of the cheese etc with bread for breakfast then headed to the horses. Got there, and of course the guide puts me on the tiniest horse there while Michael is on the beautiful giant. Got one picture of Michael on Alf? before my camera died. Alan's horse was named Jack and an old scraggly furry one he was. Mine was named Blondie and was a tiny little mare. Our guide mostly walked his horse (a tiny black horse) and occasionally rode bareback. English style riding - the first trail ride where I've been on that hasn't been Western style. Was a nice change. We saw a big mob of kangaroos in a field and then a giant red kangaroo in the woods. It was a very nice ride - just walking and trotting. After the horses we drove down to Giants Cave. Another "self-guided tour" but this cave went down to 86m below the surface and was a lot more adventurous. We had to climb over rocks and squeeze between gigantic boulders - a bit claustrophobic not to mention the signs in the cave warning us that the rocks were unstable - that was a nice touch. Anyway - was very cool and interesting and huge. We then had to drive back to MR and return the rental. We then just chilled at the backpacker's for awhile (we had checked out but Bensen said we could hang out still). After our rest, we went down to get some lunch (Subway) and then to the glass art exhibit and to watch the glassblower at work. That got a bit boring so while Alan stayed to watch more, Michael and I went around town and found a Lolly shop. Soooo much candy... mmmmm. So after we indulged a bit we went to a touristy souvenir shop and succumbed to the evil cuddlies. I fell in love with a bilby named Brenda and Michael fell for the wombat named Russell. Later, Alan went there and got the koala named Little Nell. We're such softies. After that, it got very rainy out so we just waited in the backpackers until it was time to catch the bus home. Bus ride was from 4:40 - 9pm and was fairly uneventful. Got back to flat 1, ordered Domino's for dinner, and then played some more Golf - teaching Sarah how to play as well. Sarah won, I got 2nd to last. Beginner's luck I say. Anyway, now I'm just unpacking and probably heading to bed fairly soon. Wow this was a long blog...