Tuesday, 27th May
Feeling adventurous this morning so we walked a couple of kilometres through Gloucester National Park along the Bibbulmun Track - one of the world's great long distance walks, stretching from Albany in the south to Kalamunda in the Perth hills. We stopped at the famous Gloucester Tree, a giant Karri tree which is one of the worlds tallest (nearly 60 metres high) and used as a 'fire lookout' tree with a viewing platform at the top. It's climbed by stepping up onto steel spikes that spiral round the tree all the way to the top.... with very little in the way of safety features.... hmm... well, I gave it a go but I didn't go all the way up to the top. I'm not daft.
In the afternoon, we went for a trip on the Pemberton Tram through the Karri and Marri forests and over trestle bridges... blah...blah...blah... it was all a bit boring (to a fearless thrill-seeker like me). The fact it was absolutely pouring with rain for the full one and a half hours of the trip in an open carriage was just the icing on the cake.
Oh well.

Wednesday, 28th May
We set off on the drive from Pemberton to Margaret River - the city and the region famous for its breweries and wineries - and settled into our cabin by the river in, appropriately enough, Riverview Tourist Park. We said hello to our neighbours - a family of ducks and a couple of parrots before going out for the evening to visit a couple of breweries (the Colonial and Coweramup) where I had the pleasure of partaking in a 'tasting tray' - samples of the ales being brewed.

Thursday, 29th May
This morning, we were picked up by the 'Bushtucker Tours' bus at 10.30 for a visit round some of the local wineries where our palates were to be tickled by some of the regions finest wines. Tony, our driver, was in fine form as he regaled us with stories of the region's history, gesticulating wildly as he did so which I found a little disconcerting as he happened to be driving a busload of tourists along country roads at around 100km an hour.
We visited various wineries - all set in beautiful countryside - learning all about that wineries' wines, genteelly sipping samples of each (and of which there were many.......). My particular favourite wineries were 'Windy Nook' where we had lunch consisting of salad and a selection of meats including emu, crocodile and kangaroo. I also shared a witchity grub with a couple of my fellow wine tasters; my share still had the head which I had to bite off before swallowing....it wasn't bad but I don't think I could eat a whole one. The other place I liked was the 'Cheeky Monkey' brewery where it's catchphrase was 'it would be cheeky not to' - my very response when offered a 'middy' (half-pint) before moving on.
All in all, by the end of the evening.... for it was now evening... I (we.... ie....everyone) had had a very relaxing time....

Friday, 30th May
Had a leisurely walk along the Margaret River before breakfast this morning. As it was a lovely, sunny day the rest of the morning was spent sitting by the river in front of our cabin. In the afternoon, we had a drive along the coast passing through places like Prevelly beach, famous for its surfing and lovely little towns such as Gracetown. We stopped off at the 'Bush Shack Brewery' in Yallingup where we sat outside and I had a pint of 'Twisted Lemon' whilst listening to the Beachboys before carrying on up to 'The Eagle Bay Brewery where I sampled a beer tasting tray. On the way back to Margaret River, we stopped off in the evening for a 10-dollar pizza. A hard day for sure.

Saturday, 31st May
Laura prepared a barbecue breakfast whilst Aaron and I packed up ready for the drive back to Perth. Afterwards, we set off stopping briefly at Busselton, famous for its jetty which, at 1.8 km long, is the longest in the Western Hemisphere. Very impressive. Back in Perth by mid-afternoon we paid a visit to nearby Freemantle and it's market. In the evening, we met up with some of Laura and Aaron's friends there in the Sail and Anchor where we had a meal and I slurped a pint of Feral Hop Hog. Another hard day.

Sunday, 1st June
Had a lie-in and a late breakfast followed by a walk along the beach. In the afternoon I sat in the garden and just chilled out. Laura made tuna and pasta for lunch and, with fruit from Jason's farm in Albany, she made passion-fruit muffins and kiwi and banana smoothies. In the evening (ie. this evening) we had a Thai curry and watched a movie. Another damned hard day. I don't know if I can take the pace.