Southwestern Australia Road Trip - Chose Your Own Adventure!

In the spirit of spontaneity that guided us on our trip I have created a ‘choose your own adventure’ so you, too, can join in the fun!  Additional pictures have been posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/smichelle.manning/AussieRoadTrip?feat=directlink, as well as a map of our actual route at http://mapq.st/h/3-9aMQcUHs.

It’s a cool Tuesday morning in East Fremantle.  After a cappuccino at the café down the street you and Mar decide to pack up a couple backpacks and hit the road.  You have one plan – head south.  Keeping the coast on your right you drive until discovering a giant wooden sailboat by the side of the road that says, “Welcome to Rockingham.”  Inspired, you drive into town and down to the beach. It is breathtaking.  You walk out to the end of the jetty and find… a bus stop?  Yes, there is a bus stop at the end of the jetty.  Overcoming the urge to wait and see if a bus arrives, you get lunch at a little bistro on the water where Mar meets a Chilean waiter named Claudio and proceeds to carry on an entire conversation, in Spanish, about the government in Chile.  Eventually, you pry Mar away from this exhilarating chat and get back in the car.  Where to next?  If you decide to go to Bunbury (highlights according to the tourist map: Dolphin Discovery Center, Mangrove Boardwalk, Big Swamp Wildlife Park) continue to part 2.  If you decide to go to Busselton (highlights according to the tourist map: Busselton Jetty, Underwater Observatory, Old Butter Factory Museum) skip ahead to part 3.

PART 2

Oh no! It’s raining in Bunbury!  Fortunately you packed an umbrella and will not be deterred by a little bit of rain.  After finding a room for the night at the Lighthouse Beach Resort you go for a walk along Lighthouse Beach.  The coastline here is rugged, reminiscent of the rocky coasts of Maine.  The waves crash against the rocks forming little pools in the patches of sand.  Further down the beach there is a small crowd of surfers and kayakers in the breaks. Later in the evening you go into town for a quiet dinner returning to the hotel fairly early as you are both quite tired from the drive.  The next morning you get up, have breakfast in town and hit the road again.  If you decide to go to Busselton continue to part 3.  If you decide to go explore some caves and drive through the Boranup Karri Forest skip ahead to part 4.

PART 3

Welcome to Busselton and the famous Busselton Jetty.  The Busselton Jetty is the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. It is nearly 2 km long and was built for loading timber onto ships that couldn’t come into the shallow port. (If you’d like to read more about it, there’s an interesting article on Wikipedia)  After a coffee overlooking the Jetty you jump back in the car and head towards Cape Naturaliste, the northernmost point of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge.  It is a beautiful drive along a small winding road that leads to yet another stunning beach.  The forest meets the ocean as you walk through thick trees to reach the shore.  Looking out at this pristine view you reach for your camera and it is missing!  You left it in Busselton!  You have to turn around and go back.  

After a successful camera recovery you decide to head directly south along the Bussel Highway towards Cape Leeuwin, the southernmost point of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge as well as the most south-westerly point of the Australian continent.  Cape Leeuwin marks the division of the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean.  (There is a 360° video of the cape and lighthouse in picasa that is a must see) You spend the night in a little cabin up the road in Augusta, population 1,068. 

The next morning you wake up early, have breakfast in town, and drive down to the jetty.  After spending some time on the water it’s time to decide where to go next!  If you decide to go to Bunbury, return to part 2.  If you decide to explore some caves and drive through the Boranup Karri Forest continue on to part 4. If you have already done both of these….I’m not very good at writing choose your own adventures….read on to part 5 to make your way home!

PART 4

Your first stop driving north along Caves Road is Hamelin Bay!  Hamelin Bay fits in perfectly with the theme of this trip – breathtaking abandoned beaches. Every view could be a post card.  Despite being sunny, it’s pretty chilly on the beach so you keep driving north until you reach Mammoth Cave.  Mammoth Cave is one of the most famous caves in the area as it was found to contain rare fossils dating back over 35,000 years. The self-guided audio tour takes about 90 minutes, after which you decide to continue driving north towards the mouth of the Margaret River.  When you reach Gnarabup Beach, you walk up to an overlook to watch the windsurfers and take in the stunning scenery.  

Having spent so much of the road trip along the coast you decide it’s time to head inland.  You drive toward Margaret River, then continue along a tiny country road through the Boranup Karri Forest and on toward Capel.  A detour around Capel inspires a change of plans and you turn back south toward Nannup.  Following the directions on GPS you find yourselves on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.  Fortunately, you have a vast library of Girl Scout songs in your head to keep Mar entertained. Finally, you emerge on the other side of the ‘outback’ and find the esteemed Nannup Hotel/Bar/Restaurant. Deciding to branch out from the hotel restaurant, you go for a walk through this thriving metropolis, but alas everything else is closed. And so, the rest of the night is spent socializing with the local lumber workers over a game of pool and some frosty beverages.

You wake up to a beautiful sunny morning and hit the road!  If you haven’t seen Bunbury yet, go back to part 2.  If you missed Busselton, go back to part 3.  If you’ve made it all the way through, carry on to part 5; you get to go home!

PART 5

You continue your drive northwest, lured by a sign for the Old Cheese Factory in Balingup.  Finally reaching your destination you discover that you have been fooled!  The Old Cheese Factory is not, in fact, an old cheese factory!  It is the largest craft center in Western Australia!  All is not lost though as a new friend joins the gang for the rest of the journey (see pictures for further explanation). Carrying on north from Balingup your next stop is in Donnybrook, the home of the Granny Smith and the center of apple production in Western Australia.  As you are both getting a bit anxious to head towards home you point the car north until the need for gas can no longer be ignored. You pull off the highway to follow signs for a gas station and end up in Preston Beach.  After filling up the car you decide to take a look at the beach and discover…wait for it… yet another breathtaking and abandoned beach.  You get back on the road, making one final stop at Silver Sands Beach in Mandurah to stretch your legs, and arrive home Friday afternoon to crash on the couch!

THE END =)