Perth and SW Australia 1-10 July '11

We are recovering from our first morning in Bangkok (by lying down), with the evening to plan. but before that - 10 days in Perth and further south with Rose and Elliot.
Hard to remember all we did let alone describe in one blog. The highlight was the company of Rose and Elliot, then add in transport and an itinerary of travel through some wonderful country with nice accommodation, more food and wine than strictly necessary and lots of playing with the camera!
We started with a couple of nights in Perth seeing where Rose and Elliot live, seeing the city and some of their haunts, then we headed south to Margaret River, initially on the freeway then onto a more coastal road. We loved seeing again the red earth and Eucalyptus forests that make driving there such a pleasure. Margaret River has a distinctly coastal feel with it's cooler, lusher vegetation and our accommodation was in a park like setting with a sizable pond in front. We went straight outside with the binocs, to look around, then into town for a meal and the first of a sequence of wine tasting events as we battled round many vineyards over the following two days. Unanimous agreement - wines are good with Cab Sav excelling.
Some of the vineyards are grand and expensive to say the least, others less so and some still family run businesses. but all in a beautiful park like region with stands of tall trees, rolling pasture and a generally well off rural look.
One highlight among many was visiting Lavender Farm - a garden and cafe - and eventually to find the tiny fairy wrens - two species- in residence. A tiny creature with a long tail held up at a rakish angle, and moving in family groups in a constant state of excitement. Life is never dull when you weigh only a few grams and look as enchanting as they do. But a photographic challenge to even get one in the photo, in focus and not blurred or just departing.
Rose and Elliot had also planned a treat, a visit to a bird of prey sanctuary where we were stunned by a display of Kites who flew around their trainer and caught items of food in the air and off the ground. we had a chance to hold one on a gloved arm and view it face to face. This is a bird we will see a lot of in the Darwin region.
The sanitary also had a collection of other raptors, most recovering birds that would be released back into the wild. The owls in particular thrilled us, with a range of specie including the very alien looking and endangered grassland owl from the northern territories.

Rather stunned by that experience we had more to come, including seeing migratory humpbacks very clearly off the coast from out next location in Augusta, then a half day trip getting up close to them by boat. There are plenty around and it seemed to be not a problem to get within 100m of a number of whales as they tracked north, surfacing regularly and showing their backs as they rolled up to breathe and with the occasional flash of a tail.

The coast also included a visit to the Cape Leeuwen lighthouse where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet in the SW corner, along a treacherous reef extending kilometers out to sea. A classic lighthouse beauty, very tall, old, white and sited on a peninsula with sea on both sides. We climbed to the top and saw the original mechanism that rotated the lens, and the lens itself which is still a working unit.

From Augusta we tracked further south to Nornalup, close to Walpole. This took us deep into the southern forests where the Eucalyptus must make some of Australia's greatest forests of tall trees. They are ancient Gondwanaland forests and certainly feel it with their close spaced massive trees and cool, dimly lit interiors. We visited an area where the forest was particularly good, with an elevated walkway, and a ground level trail also.

All this time we were taking our usual interest in the bird life and enjoying in particular some of the species restricted to the area. A few were photographed successfully, many not. Perhaps the best shot was Elliots when we visited the coast near Nornalup (to a place called Conspicuous Cliff). A Nankeen Kestrel came in within meters and hung motionless, in flight, on an updraft.

The final days travel was a longer drive back to Perth but much of it through good forested country, then a last night on the town. Sadly we were off the next day but having had some treasured time together and now feeling somewhat familiar with and appreciative of that south west corner of the continent.
Thanks Rose and Elliot, you planned a memorable trip and looked after us a treat.
S and S xx