The South West Corner - WA

Joey & Sam @ Hamelin Bay. This beach is noted for the visitors that come in of an afternoon - stingrays....they come right up to the shore.

The main surf beach in the Margaret River area is Prevelly Park where competitions are held as part of the pro surfing circuit. Very nice beach with powerful waves.

Right down at the bottom corner of WA is where you will see this lighthouse. Many ships were wrecked off this coast where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean until the installation of this lighthouse which is the tallest in WA.

A safe swimming area for kids is the Blackwood River where it comes out at Augusta at the bottom end of the southwest. The Blackwood River is one of WA's perennial rivers.

All along the coast are grape vineyards. This one, the Vasse Felix (odd names) is apparently the oldest in the region...they all look quite expensive and well constructed with lovely gardens, ponds and the like...

Some more magnificent Karri Trees...

Along the southern end of this coastline is a beautiful Karri forest. Lee is in front of the 'Pixie Sign that some budding artist created....

The lovely Yallingup Beach....no words required....

A sample of the beautiful limestone colour found in Ngilgi Cave...

Sam having a top time doing the boy thing - crawling around the cave!!

Ngilgi Caves near Yallingup is where this shot was taken. All along this picturesque coast there are a variety of caves. This one was very interesting and Lee took some nice shots of the limestone formations (stalactites, stalagmites, & columns of various sizes and colours!!

One of the features of the SW Margaret River area - the chocolate factory. Another is Simmo's Ice Creamery...direct hit to the saddle bags!!

We have been 'leap-frogging' a nice family from Townsville. Ben & Wendy. Here are Bailey, Josh, Sam, Ollie, & Joey at Big Valley. They love the place...

Joey and one of the locals at Big Valley....

We arrived at Big Valley Campsite and it has been one of the highlights of the trip. A working sheep farm with fantastic views and great hosts - very friendly folks!!

Bunbury, Busselton, & Dunsborough WA

Further around from the Cape visitors can walk to a whale viewing platform. We did see some whales on the day. Probably Humpbacks as the information showed they are the type of whale that likes to breach the water and drop back into it again. Quite spectacular to see!!

Continuing through Dunsborough to the Cape Naturaliste area which is the northern end of the 'Cape to Cape' (Leeuwin in the south) 100km walking trail. We thought about doing it - for a millisecond...

Here is the lighthouse at the Cape Naturaliste...

At Dunsborough we visited the lovely Meelup Beach which is normally full of people during the tourist season and school holidays. Lovely spot for a picnic lunch. We thought so anyway!!

About 50km south of Bunbury brings one to the tourist areas of Busselton and Dunsborough, two very popular seaside towns with beautiful beaches and very blue skies. This shot is of the Busselton Pier which is the longest in WA at nearly 2km!! Amazing...

From the lookout in town looking north towards the port area of Bunbury...

We left Perth and headed south to Bunbury. It is a modern, pretty town of about 35,000 people. A nice atmosphere about the town and lots of work being generated by Alumina production and the busy port area. Access to the famous South West area of WA is via Bunbury which also services the smaller communities in the region.

Kings Park - Perth

The beautiful Perth skyline from Kings Park at night....

It's hard to believe you are so close to the city in Kings Park but here's the view from in front of the war memorial - amazing!!

Lee is seated at Synergy Park. Within Kings Park it has magnificent lawns and play areas for children. A great family place to visit...

This shot is of the war memorial at Kings Park - excellent park and memorial. Kings Park is a beautiful place and is one of the largest inner city parklands in the world!

Rottnest Island Visit

The boys near the wharf area for embarking the ferry back to Perth. The city skyline is just visible in the background. It's about 19km from the mainland to Rottnest Island...

A very pretty local of Rottnest Island!! The amazing peacock who seemed to ham it up for Lee's camera!!

This little guy is called a Quokka. Common on Rottnest Island

The boys had a great day out touring around Rottnest Island on the pushbikes. Awesome fun and beautiful scenery....

Random Sight's - Perth

This view is of the Swan River from 'Wireless Hill' a local viewing spot...

We visited the Gravity Centre near GinGin town and Lee has promised to cut back on the snacks and exercise when we get home....that's if she survives!!

One of the locals at the WA Aquarium Centre - a Grey Nurse Shark...

One of Perth's premier beaches, the lovely Cottesloe Beach. Quite pretty and amazing that it's in a large capital city.

Here we are at Fremantle, the busy port that supplies and exports goods for Perth and abroad. Also the take off point for the Rottnest Island Ferry.

Perth Mint and Swan River Walk

During the river walk we came across these exercise machines. First bit of exercise for six months!! Very short session indeed....

Perth is a very clean modern city with some different architecture. The 'Bell Tower' is one example of this...

Lee, Joey & Sam @ the famous WACA Cricket Ground...

On the banks of the Swan River we came across the State Emblem for WA - The Black Swan. Lovely big fella' too!!

Sam in the typical miners tent. The guys that came from all over had to be admired!! Some came from Wales, where as Welsh miners they worked in temperatures around 50 degrees fahrenheit. They arrived in Albany or Fremantle to discover the work was a further 600km inland where the summer temperatures could reach 50 degrees Celsius!! Some died, mainly through lack of water and disease...

Lee making off with the 'Welcome Stranger' on the standard transport of the time. That's if you could get hold of one.

Here are the Durnies at the Perth Mint where the guides give a bit of history about the various Gold Rushes in Australia's past. The West Australian scene is prominent even today with the 'Super Pit' at Kalgoorlie still producing large quantities. This shot show the villians melting down the 'Welcome Stranger' nugget...

The Pinnacles

This is a sample of the 'desert wanderer' fashion that will be hitting the shelves in 2011. This sample is modelled by the lovely Leeanne and as you can see does a good job of it!! A much better alternative to having 2000 of the most persistant flies on earth trying to drink from your eyes!! Urghh...

If you're wondering what this is, well so am I!! Leeanne is convinced that it is an emu footprint. I reckon she drew it in the sand. You will have to make your own mind up about it...there were a trail of these leading away....still a bit suspect though!!

A sample of the bigger pinnacles found in the Nambung National Park...

A short drive from the fishing village Jurien Bay will take you to 'The Pinnacles'. An unusual landscape indeed. Made of limestone. It could well be another world. Very dry and really looks like a desert!! An essential item here is the trusty fly net. Otherwise the little critters will try to get their next drink from the corner of your eye!!

This is a quick view of a small section of the Pinnacles....

Geraldton

Geraldton Town Centre is literally only metres from the beach. It's a well serviced modern city with a lot going for it...

This old church is a typical example of the structures at Greenough...

Some more information on the Alinta Wind Farm...

Nearby to Greenough is the massive wind generation farm. These are each about 78m high and at 14 RPM the tips are travelling at 220kmph!! The information says that these 54 windmills could run 60,000 homes....amazing!!

Here's another of those lazy trees!! This one is found south of Geraldton near the little township of Greenough, itself a historic reminder of pioneer days gone by...

Youngest son Paul at home with his son Brody...

Here's John & Dawn at the local Irish Club which they help to run...

We looked up dad's cousin Jack Regan whilst in Geraldton. Also saw Jack's wife Kathleen, and sons Paul & his wife Jade, and John & his wife Dawn. We'll hopefully see oldest son Phil in Perth...

In Geraldton there is one outstanding weather feature...wind...and plenty of it!! The tourist Information staff reckon it's the 3rd windiest city in the world (not sure about this), there are wind surfers who travel from all over to take advantage of the regular strong winds in the region....look what happens to the trees!!

Some more details on the Memorial to HMAS Sydney II.

This is the memorial to HMAS Sydney. The remains were only found in 2008 about 200 Nautical Miles West of Shark Bay area. It was sunk in 1940's by the German ship Kormoran which disguised itself before striking. All crew were killed...