Enjoying the coast

Monday 13^th February, 2017.

It rained through the night, so hopes weren’t too high for the day’s plans, but by the time we got going, the sun had broken through. Silly us, we thought it would last all day……………

Time to start prioritising our sightseeing. Canal Rocks is top of the list so we head that way, stopping off along the way. Yallingup was the first turn off we came to, so we turned, We pulled into each vantage point that we came to, so we saw the coastline at Torpedo Rock, looking south to the Super Tubes (surf break, not pumping today)and Smith’s Beach; and Slippery Rock before driving in to Yallingup and being very impressed with the place. If we come back, I think we might stay here. So tempted to have a swim, it was 28 degrees by this point, but didn’t want to spend the rest of the morning in wet swimmers. Definitely have to come back…………. Next stop is Canal Rocks. Finally, I’ve waited so long to see them! Noting the turnoff for Smith’s Beach to investigate on the way back. Canal Rocks is an amazing place, with a boardwalk built across the ‘canal’ which has been created over hundreds of years by wave action. I heard a lady say something about taking a photo from over near the boat ramp “on the old jetty”. My ears prick up, old jetties are always good for a photo! The fly in the ointment is the fact that someone seems to have caught a fish and word has gotten around, because there’s a sudden flurry of activity at the boat ramp, either side of the jetty. Patience is a virtue though, and I have developed great patience when it comes to getting a good photo. I could have watched the water move around here for ages, it was always changing. 

Smith’s Beach was a bit of a disappointment, nice beach, but nothing much else other than some ritzy looking accommodation. Mel had suggested we visit the Yallingup Cheese Company on Wildwood Rd and it turned out to be on the same property as Abbey Vale Wines, just across the road from Forester Wines. We tried some cheeses that were very good, but as we’re leaving the day after tomorrow, there was no point in buying any, but I did buy some port soaked prunes that were delicious. This mixed wine box is becoming more of a drama than we were led to believe it would be. The lady at Abbey Vale has never heard of the concept, but she’d happily freight a full carton of her wine over to NSW for us! We went back to Yallingup General Store for a sandwich for lunch and there’s a Post Office agency there, so Trevor quizzed them about the best way to get our wine home. A 12 bottle box will cost around $100!!!! We need to find a winery who knows about the mixed box freighting! We found the PO in Dunsborough and the very helpful Justin gave us a lead to follow up tomorrow, Palmer’s Wines, and the lady at Yallingup PO told us to try Cape Naturaliste Wines. So, fingers crossed. If all else fails, Justin said to come back and see him and he’d see what he could do for us.

When we were in Augusta, we purchased a 2 lighthouse pass, covering Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste, so we still had our ticket for Cape Naturaliste. On our way there, yes, you guessed it, just like yesterday, it started to rain! We could see a coach ahead of us on the road. O-oh!! Turns out, the Queen Mary 2 had arrived in Busselton this morning and this coachload of tourists were from the ship, many of them English. We had a chat with a couple from Guernsey. Our lighthouse guide was good enough to bring out some raincoats for us to use on the walk up the hill. Cape Naturaliste is a very different lighthouse to Cape Leeuwin. Disappointingly, you can’t see it from the road at any point on the drive up and really, not from anywhere else either. It’s on a higher headland too, so it’s a much shorter, stockier looking building, thankfully with fewer steps to the top. The rain had brought his friend Fog with him, so visibility was very limited. Our guide, Faye said that if it was a better day tomorrow, we should come back and we’d probably be able to go back up to the top. She also said that we should go to Sugarloaf on the way back to town, even though the weather was still not the best. Any weather condition is good to see Sugarloaf. 

On the way to Sugarloaf a bird flew up from the side of the road, very close to the car and just when we thought it had managed to turn itself away from the car it hit the passenger side rear view mirror and then hit the window. Good job the window was wound up. These birds out here are a bit crazy! Yesterday when we were driving back from Sugarloaf, a bird flew in front of us, flying in the same direction as us, just like a cartoon bird. Flapping for all it was worth, trying to escape the big white beast. And today, it happened again when we were leaving! Crazy! I wonder if we go out there tomorrow will it happen again??

Our host, Bruce arrived home as we were getting out of the car so he asked us what we’d been doing and how everything was going. Michelle must have heard us because she came out with fresh towels for us. They’ve been good hosts, leaving us to it once they’d shown us around. If the style of this studio is any indication, I’d love to see inside their home. From the outside it’s very interesting, a Japanese inspired building at the front, almost floating above the land. There are little hints of some Asian travels in the yard too.  

Crumbed chicken kievs from the local butcher cooked in our own little home for dinner, with salad. Yum!