Category Archives: Travel

Australia New Zealand, Travel

More Adventures in W.A

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Day 11 Whale Watching

06/11/2024

It was time to make up for the disappointment of the cancellation of our whale watching trip from Fremantle. We booked tickets for a trip with Naturaliste Charters. They run expeditions out of Dunsborough, about 40 km north of Margaret River.

The BIG QUESTION still remained…. would Diane finally see a whale?

We drove up to Dunsborough. We stopped at a bakery and had pies for lunch. This way, we would have something to bring up if it got rough. Then, we headed out to the meeting place for 14:00 hrs.

We were met by a couple of friendly crew members to take us out to the catamaran Alison Marie.

Boarding*

Off we went in search of the Great White Whale. Call me Ishmael.

We were much more likely to meet Humpback Whales than a white Sperm Whale. With Diane on board doing her Jonah in reverse, we might encounter none.

For a while it looked as if that was the case. I went and got myself a cup of tea and sat down to wait. After about half an hour we spotted some blows. It was a Humpback mother and her calf. Diane had finally seen a whale. 🤩🥳🤩.

We saw a few more Humpbacks, some with calves some without. Then we saw another couple of blows, and the crew began to get excited. These were Blue Whales. Even now, after years of protection, they are still rare. There are probably about ten thousand in the world. A big improvement on the three hundred that were estimated to be left when hunting was banned. Humpback Whales have recovered more spectacularly. There are estimated to be around thirty to forty-five thousand whales in existence. It’s probably because Humpbacks breed more frequently.

We saw a mother and her calf. And another two whales. The crew thought that the mother and calf were probably Pygmy Blue Whales. They believed the others were probably true Blue Whales. Pygmy is a relative term. They can reach up to 24 meters in length. In contrast, the true Blue Whales can reach 30 meters. They can also weigh 200 tonnes.

Unfortunately, I had a problem with my camera, so I only got one quarter decent photo.

My only decent photo

All the other photos have been borrowed.

Humpback *
Humpback*
Spotting a blow

No one seems to have taken any decent shots of the Blues. Unfortunately, you will have to take my word for it. It is something that I feel incredibly privileged to have seen. In some ways, it is better not to have photos.

It was a great day out and worth every cent of the $95. I thoroughly recommend Natuaraliste Charters if you are in W.A.

Photos and videos marked with an* were borrowed from the Natuaraliste Facebook page

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Lake Cave: A Hidden Gem of Margaret River

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Day 10 Going Underground.

05/11/2024

The rock around Margaret River is young (geologically) and pourous limestone. This means that as the rainfall seeps through the rock, it dissolves the rock. Caves are formed after enough time.

There are over three hundred caves in the Margaret River region. A reasonable number of them are accessible to the general public. Our friend Brian is slightly claustrophobic. We left him to do his own thing. Diane and I set off for Lake Cave.

Lake Cave is so named because it has an underground lake in the middle of it.

Ten thousand or so years ago, the cave would have been much larger. At some point, the roof collapsed. This left behind a massive sinkhole called a doline. This means that there is a long climb down to the cave and an even longer climb back up.

It is worth the effort and the cost ($25) though. the cave is spectacular. Apart from the eponymous lake there are stalactites, stalagmites, a suspended table and other geological features.

Suspended table
Inside the cave

We just had approximately 300 steps back to the top to negotiate.

Stopped to admire the view.

By this time we needed lunch and as the White Elephant was nearby, we decided to go there. Diane’s fish and chips were some of the best she had ever had. My cheeseburger was pretty good as well. After lunch we set off along the beach to try and walk off the effects, before heading home.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Kangaroos and Waterfalls: Margaret River Highlights

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Margaret River Day 9

4  November 2024

Day 9 More exploration.

After breakfast, the first objective was to find some kangaroos. We set off for the place that our taxi driver recommended. Diane was on tenterhooks. Given that she has this ability to make wildlife vanish we were not too confident.

Much to our surprise, when we turned the corner, there they were.

We moved on and found a waterfall on the Margaret River.

Waterfalls

After the waterfalls, we decided to go surfing. Margaret River is home to one of the best surf beaches in the world. Prevelly Beach is home to some impressive breaks.

We did not go surfing. This was partially due to a lack of surfboards. In my case, it was also due to an inability to swim. We did watch some people who had surfboards and could swim.

I wanted to see the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse from the land. I have seen it often enough from the sea. We headed south.

We stopped off in Augusta to play golf. Sorry, wrong Augusta, we stopped off to buy wine and beer before heading out to Flinders Bay. Named after Commander Matthew Flinders, who charted the coast of Australia. Either that, or it was named after a ship that I sailed on, the SS Flinders Bay. We carried on south until we got to Cape Leeuwin, where we had to stop. Cape Leeuwin is the point where the Indian and the Southern Oceans meet.

If you have enough imagination, you can see where they meet.

The lighthouse, opened in 1896,  is still in use but is now fully automated. They exhibition includes stories told by the former lighthouse keepers. Shows various artifacts and gives a good idea of the work it took to keep the place running. It is worth the $7 entry fee if you are ever down that way.

Australia New Zealand, Travel, Uncategorized

A Weekend in Margaret River: Weddings and Local Delights

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Margaret River – weddings and the recovery.

We arrived at Margaret River on the evening of the 31st. We dropped our bags at the apartment (Margaret’s in Town). After doing some basic shopping, we went off to say hello to the family. They were already out here. It was only supposed to be a brief hello, but we ended up staying a couple of hours.  We got back to the apartment and went straight to bed.

Day 6, 1/11 – Exploring

Today, we went exploring the region around Margaret River. Diane had read about the stingrays that live in Hamelin Bay. She also watched videos of them. So, we set off to find them.  We had a paddle in the bay, looked very closely for stingrays, but alas, did not see a single ray. The best we managed was a poster by the jetty, where they are supposed to congregate.

The nearest we got to stingrays.

We did see a couple of whales, probably humpbacks, breaching off beyond the reef. Though Diane does not consider that to be “seeing a whale”.

Lunch time beckoned. We had been told that the White Elephant  Café, at Gnarabup beach, was very good, so we headed there. Something we are finding out about West Australia is that everything happens earlier than we expect it to. The White Elephant opens for breakfast at 7:00 a.m., much earlier than I would expect a beach café in the UK to do and closes at 3:00 p.m. We nearly missed lunch.

I did some more paddling while Diane went snorkelling, completely ignoring the signs. Her ability to avoid wildlife continues, fortunately.

Didn’t find a shark, saw some fish.

Later on, we discovered the delights of Royal Haze, a local beer.

Day 7 – The Wedding

The reason for our trip finally arrived. Rob and Georgia’s wedding.

I spent the morning trying to remove the creases from my suit and shirt. Then, I walked up the street to find something for lunch. We settled on pies from a local bakery. Then, we wandered back to the apartment to get ready.

Scrubbed up OK

The wedding was held at 4:30 p.m. at a resort outside Margaret River called Tana Marah. Rob and Georgia arranged a bus to get everyone there.

While waiting for the bus, we met this guy.

Our grandson was quite impressed when we sent him the photo.

The wedding took place in a eucalyptus grove. Quite a romantic setting.  The flowers looked great. They were all native Australian flowers.

Green frog, found by Diane

The reception went well. Rob had sourced various beers from local breweries, Georgia’s stepfather, who works in the wine industry, sourced the wine. Both did a good job. The venue did excellent food, and the D.Js played good music. What more could we want.

Bride and groom showing us how to do it.
Diane getting down to it.

The bus came back to collect us about midnight. A good time was had by all.

Day 8 Recovering

A recovery session was organised for today. At a place called the Beerfarm. It was quite a way out of town. We couldn’t find the WA equivalent of a 131 bus, so we got a taxi.

An old shearing shed has been repurposed as a brewery and bar/ restaurant. The beer was good, as was the food. I would definitely recommend the place if you are in the Margaret River region.

Another beer tasting paddle.
All their beers. some weren’t currently available
A better use for a shearing shed?

After lunch, we decided to head back to Margaret River.  The taxi back proved useful for Diane’s search for wildlife. 

Being in Australia, one of the things that was on our “must do” list was see a kangaroo. We asked the taxi driver if he knew where we might find some. He basically said they’re everywhere, but if we went down a specific road, we would almost definitely find some. Did we find them? Follow the next exciting episode…..

After all of yesterday’s excitement, we were tired, so we just came back to the apartment and chilled.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Busselton Jetty: A Must-Visit on Your Margaret River Trip

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Day 5 31/10/2024

Perth to Margaret River

It was time to leave Perth and head south to Margaret River, or Margs, as Australians apparently refer to it.

We enjoyed our hotel, the QT, where we had been for the past three nights. It was comfortable, central, and slightly quirky. The staff were friendly, and the food was good. My only gripe was over coffee at breakfast. They serve barista coffee at breakfast. It takes too long to arrive and there is not enough of it when it does arrive. I like a pot of coffee on the table that I can serve myself from. That aside, I would recommend the place wholeheartedly.

Roof Top Bar, rumored to be the trendiest spot in Perth

We got a taxi along to the car hire depot as it was bit far to walk with our bags. Our friend Brian was waiting there for us. He was also traveling down to Margaret River for Rob and Georgia’s wedding. After sorting out a minor issue with the booking, we were on our way. In the worlds most environmentally friendly car.

Land Cruiser

It was fine to drive. However, getting used to 2m of bonnet sticking out in front took a moment or two.

Australian Road Sign

We headed south and decided to stop at a town called Busselton for lunch. We found a brewery called Shelter to have lunch. I find it amazing the number of small craft type breweries that there are in West Australia. There seems to be one on every corner. Forty or fifty years ago, I used to come out here regularly. To the best of my knowledge, there was only one brewery, the Swan Brewery in Perth.

Another day, another tasting paddle.

After enjoying a toasty and a paddle of beer for lunch, we decided it was time to walk. The goal was to cover the full length of Busselton Jetty.  This is the longest woodpiled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.It extends 1.841km out into the Indian Ocean. If you are unable to walk the full length, there is a train. It will take you there and back for $17. Walking along costs $4.

The jetty was originally built in 1865 to facilitate exports and imports from Busselton. Now, however, it is preserved for tourism and recreation.

Walking along and back got our steps in for the day. By the time we got back on shore, it was getting late. Margaret River was waiting for us. We had not planned on spending quite as long as we did in Busselton and the Jetty. We wanted to check out the underwater observatory at the end of the jetty. Unfortunately, we ran out of time.

We arrived in Margaret River about 40 minutes later. We checked into the apartments that would be home for the next week.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Quokkas and Scenic Tours: Discover Rottnest Island

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Day 4 30/10/2024

Rottnest Island

If you are in Perth for more than a day, a trip to Rottnest is apparently compulsory. Our travel agents booked us on the trip. So, today, we took the trip to Rottnest.

Rottnest is named this way because of a Dutch explorer. He was the first European to land there. He thought that it was overrun with rats the size of cats (some of which had two heads). He had actually met the main inhabitants, the Quokkas,. a rather cute miniature wallaby.

Not a rat

We had an early start to catch the ferry, which left at 9:00. Leaving from Barrack Street wharf we had a cruise down the Swan River. Our guide pointed out the various sights as we cruised down to Fremantle. We saw pelicans but didn’t see any of the black swans that give the river its name.

Our ferry

We picked up some extra passengers in Fremantle. From there it  was about half an hour over to Rottnest. We landed in the main town (village?), imaginatively named The Settlement. We had a look around. We found a walking tour led by a volunteer guide, telling the stories of various shipwrecks around the island. After that we had lunch. Edible, but nothing to enthuse about.

The bus tour of the island that followed was more exciting. We saw a couple of Ospreys and some King Skinks. If your eyesight was good, you might have seen some whales breaching beyond the reef. Those with a vivid imagination could have pictured it. We also saw some Quokkas. Apparently, quokka in the local Aboriginal dialect, means “meat”.

The main lighthouse is in the middle of the island at its highest point. The coastline is rugged and reasonably attractive.

Probably, the best way to see the island would be by bike. It is more or less flat. However, wind could be a problem. There are literally hundreds of bikes available for hire.

Sail on Silver Gull

After we got back from our bus tour, there was time for Diane to have a swim. Then we caught the ferry back to Perth. The way back was rougher because of the onshore breeze. This breeze is known as the “Fremantle Doctor” and it picks up in the afternoon.

To sum up our trip, the Quokkas are undoubtedly cute. The scenery is attractive, but the island is quite crowded, especially around The Settlement. I think that there are probably better options for a day out from Perth.

Australia New Zealand, Uncategorized

Whale Watching in Fremantle: A Missed Adventure

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Day 3… 29/10/24

Fremantle…..or will Diane ever see a whale.

We didn’t have a plan when we woke up this morning. Probably because we weren’t sure how we would be feeling. 

We are here for a wedding, as you may remember. The groom’s brother posted something on WhatsApp. He mentioned having gone whale watching off Fremantle and said he had seen Humpback Whales. One of Diane’s ambitions is to see a whale. When she read that our day was decided. A whale watching trip was booked.

The boat left from Fremantle at One o’clock. Perth Railway station is about a five minute walk from the hotel. We decided to take the train. It takes about 30 minutes. The trains are basic but comfortable and air conditioned. As you arrive into Fremantle there is a good view of the container port.

I don’t suppose that anyone other than me would be that interested. Way back in the day, I was a Merchant Seaman. Fremantle was one of the ports I visited quite often. It doesn’t look as if it has changed too much since then. The ships are bigger, and there are more cranes. But, it is still recognizable as the port I used to visit.

Maersk Forteleza

That wasn’t why we were here. Neither was buying clothes in charity shops. We were walking down Market Street looking for somewhere to have a coffee. We passed an Australian Red Cross charity shop. Diane disappeared. I knew exactly where she had gone. After a quarter of an hour, she reappeared with a blouse and a grin on her face.

We also had a trip into a shop selling opals. The ladies who ran the shop told us a lot about their product. All very interesting, but I don’t think anything caught Diane’s eye. We did buy something for ‘Tilda. I hope she will like it. It has an opal chip rather than a proper opal. Hence, it was a lot cheaper.

Then disaster struck. While we were having coffee, Diane took out her phone. She wanted to find out where to go to catch the whale-watching boat. On it was an email telling us that the trip had been canceled. Will Diane ever get to see a whale?? 

We decided to explore Fremantle instead. 

When I said that Fremantle hadn’t changed very much, I forgot something significant. The event happened in 1987, or more exactly in 1983, when Australia 2 beat the American yacht. It became the first yacht, other than the United States’, to win America’s Cup. This meant that Australia’s defense of America’s Cup would take place in West Australia. To be more exact, it happened in Fremantle. Overnight, Fremantle transformed from a pretty sleepy commercial/fishing port. It became the trendiest spot of waterfront property in the entire world. The yachting community descended on Fremantle to watch and take part in America’s Cup.

The area along the river front, which had been quite run down, was transformed into high end apartments. It now features expensive restaurants and high end coffee shops. That has quietened down but the effects can still be seen and felt.

One of the by-products of this activity is the Little Creatures brewery. As it was about lunch time we decided to visit. Tasting paddles seemed to be the way to go. I chose the ten sample paddle. That is about eight or nine more beers compared to what was available in Fremantle the last time I was here. It seemed to be an improvement.

One of them was Swan Draught. It was about the only beer that could be bought in WA 40 or 50 years ago.

The ship used to buy it canned for the trip home. It was known as a hangover in every can. It wasn’t too bad. Most of them were quite drinkable, the Freo Lager and the Pacific Ale were very good. As was the pizza we had to eat.

Diane was more conservative. She had the four beer paddle sampler.

Having had lunch, we continued our wander around Fremantle, or Freo, to its friends.

It still has quite few traditional Australian pub/hotel buildings with balconies all the way round.

This is actually Fremantle Market

We bumped into the West Australian Premier, but he didn’t seem to want to talk us, so we ignored him. We couldn’t go whale-watching. There wasn’t much else to do in Freo. We got the train back to Perth.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

From London to Perth: Travel Diary Day 1

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Day 1 Sunday 27th Oct

Getting there.

It has been a long time since I wrote anything on my blog. But I think that heading off to Australia and New Zealand makes it worth restarting.

We have been invited to Diane’s cousin’s wedding in Margaret River next Saturday (2nd Nov). That is the reason for the trip. But, we weren’t coming all this way just for the wedding and to fly home the next day. So we planned a trip around it.

Today is hopefully the boring part. A sixteen hour flight from London to Perth.

The clocks went back, giving us about an hour longer in bed than usual. But, we were still up pretty early. The car arrived at 08:15 to take us to Heathrow for our flight which was leaving at 11:50. No hassles other than the normal queues at security.  We were on our way.

We are now about six and a half hours into the flight, somewhere over Afghanistan. We had lunch. I read my book for a while but started to doze off. I decided that a sleep was a good idea. I did sleep for a while. It is six in the afternoon UK time, I am awake again.

How do you know we are on a Qantas flight?

Day 2 .. or is it Day 1 continued.

We are now in Australia. We spent sixteen hours on an airplane with not a lot of sleep. Diane had a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop. A rather lovely Australian doctor named Clair helped us. Her five-month-old son was also with her. Thanks to them, it eventually stopped.

We were met by a pre-booked car (thank you, Audley Travel), which made getting to the hotel quite painless. The hotel, Qt Perth, is pleasant, slightly upmarket and close to the centre of the city. We dumped our bags on the floor and ourselves on the bed. I think we were overtired. We couldn’t get to sleep. Instead, we had a shower and went out to explore the local area.

We wandered down to the waterfront through a forest of steel and glass office blocks. In some ways, they were quite impressive. But, they could have been in any business district in any city in the world.

We could be anywhere.

Wandering along the waterfront as the sun was setting was very enjoyable. We found a micro-brewery and stopped. We had a beer; it would have been rude not to. Then we carried on our walk into the sunset.

We thought about eating at the brewery, but decided that we would eat at the hotel for tonight.

We went back to the hotel, changed, because the restaurant is moderately posh and had a pleasant Italian meal. We finished the evening with a night cap in the hotel’s rooftop bar.

They didn’t have coffee, so D had to have an espresso martini.

After that we went to bed and straight to sleep.

Campervan Adventures, Food, Restaurants, Travel

Spain Day Five

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After a leisurely breakfast, we decided to go for a walk along the river that runs beside the campsite.

The path lead us to a village called Labuerda.

The road to Labuerda

I suppose it took us about half an hour to walk to the village. It is small (according to Wikipedia it has 172 inhabitants). It is attractive, set around a square with a c12th church as its focal point.

Behind the village is the massive Peña Montañesa.

We had a mooch around the village, found the Parque de Mayores (Park for Oldies) and a few interesting doors.

We decided that we like lunch and a cold beer. The only place that appeared to be open was a bar/restaurant called Fonda Carrera. Neither Diane nor I speak much Spanish, “dos cervezas por favor” is about my limit. As a result, we couldn’t make it clear that we wanted a cold beer. We also wanted something light to eat. We were ushered downstairs to a table in this covered courtyard, where lunch was being served. We ended up having a very good lunch of five, six or seven courses, depending on how you counted. I had manitas, which according to Google translate means handymen, slightly disturbing. It can also mean trotters, pig’s trotters to be precise. I almost chickened out and ordered the chicken. But I thought that pig’s trotters don’t often show up on menus in the United Kingdom. So, why not go for it? I’m glad that I did. They were slightly gelatinous, but tasted magnificent. The meal, which included half a litre of wine each and coffee, came to €26 each.

Handymen (Manitas)

After lunch, we wandered back the way we had come. We stopped for a while, so I could do a watercolor sketch of Peña Montañesa.

Later on, as the sun was setting, it took on a wonderful rose colour.

Another enjoyable day, completely unplanned.

Campervan Adventures, Travel

Spain- Days Three and Four.

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Day Three

It was time to say goodbye to Playa Arenillas and start, gradually working our way to France. The plan today was to drive along the North Coast to San Sebastian, where we would have a stop for lunch and some sightseeing, before heading about fifty kilometers further south to our campsite for the night.

The plan worked well until we arrived in San Sebastian. Almost all the car parks in San Sebastian are underground and consequently have a maximum head room of two metres. The van not including the television antenna is 2.3 metres. We drove around for a wee while before we eventually found some on street parking, with the added bonus of being next to a bus route into the city centre.

We liked San Sebastian a lot. Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time to explore.

Diane found a 👞 shop.

We spent about two hours there before we decided we needed to head off to our next campsite. It was about sixty kilometres south. At a place called Urbasa. The drive south was fairly flat, but as soon as we left the motorway the road went up, rapidly. After negotiating a series of very tight hairpins the road levelled out on to a plateau about a thousand metres above where we started. On the way up we got stuck behind a cyclist, I say stuck but he was going as fast as we were, about twenty five to thirty kilometres an hour, up a significant climb. It was only as we passed him I noticed that he was wearing a Caja Rural (a Spanish pro team) jersey. I suspect that he might have been a professional out on a training ride.

It is a lovely campsite which we shared with a herd of donkeys, one of which thought that our windscreen wipers might make a tasty snack.

It might have been a good place to spend a day or two. There were lots of walks and bike rides, around the site, but we were only using it as a break in the journey.

The next morning, after breakfast in the site café we headed off, back down the hairpins and into the Pyrenees.

Day Four

We had a longish trip ahead of us. We were trying to work out where to stop for lunch when Diane saw a sign for Castillo di Javier. So we had to visit.

It is very well preserved/restored. It was the birth place of St. Francis Xavier. (Javier is the Navarra spelling) I think it is now owned by the Jesuits. There is a Jesuit seminary next door. It is an interesting place to visit (and only cost €3). The story of his life is well, if a bit hagiographically told through artefacts and art.

There is a good restaurant next door. Well worth a detour

After a tour of the castle, the associated chapel and a good lunch we headed off into the Pyrenees. After couple of hours driving through increasingly beautiful scenery (and increasingly challenging roads) we arrived at our home for the next two nights, Camping Peña Montañesa in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

The view from the site

As we had arrived late and couldn’t be bothered to cook, we had dinner at the campsite restaurant. It was OK, but nothing special. The beer was cold and the food that was supposed to be hot was hot. We could have hung around after dinner to watch the Champions League Final, but decided to go back to the van. We knew when Real Madrid scored by the noise.

The campsite is also situated in a dark area. After dark the stars were spectacular. It was good to go to sleep with the skylight open looking up at the stars.