Incredible Scenery EVERYWHERE!

G’day, Everyone!

And WOW, what a day it has been! First off, we absolutely LOVE Western Australia. I think, honestly, it’s our new favorite part of the country – even after the rather rocky start we had in Perth! So, to recap…

Got up this morning in Albany, and started repacking and re-organizing. As it was a rather small room, even with kitchen and dining areas, we had thoroughly trashed the poor room 10 minutes after arrival! I HATE when that happens! Much prefer to have everything in its place – even if only for a while! Got things packed and out to the car, and R decided to take the laptop over to the main office to see if the wi-fi would work – and naturally, it did (albeit a bit sporadically!). As a result, we were both able to check email, and I was able to post yesterday’s blog, including pictures – which took only minutes to download, rather than the really long time it took yesterday. Once we had had all of our computer needs met, we hit the road, aiming to hit Dunsborough about 2 p.m. (check-in time at our house).

R found a really beautiful route up through the rolling hills of cattle country; lovely roads, very little traffic, and lots of things to see. We stopped several times, including once at Lake Muir (hopefully see picture!) – where the flies were VICIOUS! We have decided that if the flies get any worse, we’ll be forced to wear fly netting over our heads and faces!!! Won’t we look the sight! But BOY, are the flies everywhere! Made it to Manjimup (most towns end in –up here; think it must be Aboriginal for something like “place” or “spot.”) in time for lunch, which we had at the Déjà vu Café. R talked them into changing the seafood basket into a prawn basket, with chips; he said it was great! I had their spinach and ricotta quiche with chips (French fries) and salad; several kinds, including a good rice salad. Very good! Then back on the road heading to Busselton, which is one town over from our final spot, Dunsborough.

Made very good time on the highway and pulled into Dunsborough Beach Cottages right at 2 p.m. We had reserved Sandpiper cottage, #8, and it is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Truly amazing! It seems that there are lots of these types of places in OZ – rental chalets or vacation homes, suitable for families and including kitchens et.al. This place is a stand-alone house, two bedrooms on the first floor, a huge loft bedroom (with twin beds) above, then a really good-sized kitchen, dining area and living room! Also: patio with table/chairs, backyard, side yard with clothes line for laundry, separate laundry room with sliding door outside to hang clothes, as well as one large full bathroom, and a separate toilet off the laundry room! There is a stack of games and puzzles, and two shelves full of books to read! And, we’re only steps from the beach! It’s amazing! And we only get to stay here 3 nights!!! (Editor’s note: There is one drawback: VERY poor TV; only 4 or 5 broadcast channels…where is FoxSports 1,2&3 when I need them?! Also no telephone or wi-fi reception; we have to go to the office for that, and they are only open from 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m…but we’ll manage!)

Settled in to the house – got all unpacked and put things away, then went for a walk. First headed for the beach – it’s truly steps away, and just beautiful. After reading Bill Bryson’s book, I didn’t want to put as much as a toe in the water, but the tide was WAY out, and looking relatively harmless…hmmm….Then thought we’d head for the lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste. Made it in time for the last tour. Julie, our tour guide, was great. The lighthouse was built in 1903 and is still in operation today. The double Fresnel lenses are floating on top of a tank full of mercury, which brought up Mount Wilson Observatory memories. We asked her about other places to see in the area, and she recommended Ngilgi (pronounced: Nil-gee) cave, where we’re heading tomorrow morning. After the lighthouse, we drove to several other lookouts (see pictures); just truly spectacular scenery, and we don’t know if it’s the time of year or what, but we had some places virtually all to ourselves! Wow! The scenery is truly spectacular; so glad we’re here!

We’ve decided that with the two full days that we’re here, we will do something on the nature side – walks, caves (of which the area is full), lighthouses, etc. in the morning, and then have a nice lunch somewhere and then taste a bit of wine in the afternoons! Sounds like something we could easily get used to! So, Ngilgi Cave in the morning, as we work our way down towards Augusta and the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse.

Returned to the cottage, and had a nice talk with the innkeeper, who gave us some recommendations about dinner places and wineries in the area. Back to the cottage to change for dinner (polo shirt rather than tee-shirts; that’s as far as we’ll go!) and headed out to one of the recommended places. Got there about 6:10 p.m. which was too early, as they didn’t open until 6:30 – so R reserved us a place then, and we headed a few blocks away to the Coles shopping plaza to get a bottle of wine, as the Bay Cottage Restaurant is definitely BYO! (So many places here in OZ like that!)

Picked out a Vasse Felix Cabernet Merlot, and headed back to the Cottage. Surprise! First ones there! Run by a really neat Aussie guy and his wife and daughter … she’s about 5 and was being a fairy for the evening; a real cutie! Place was lovely; great fairy lights in the ceiling; casual but classy (even with us in our shorts!). Ordered bread first – it’s homemade, very light, with sun dried tomatoes running through it. It comes with EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil) and durrah … had to ask what that was! It’s from the East … as in middle east; when the camels brought in all the spices from the Orient, and the spice bags would be moved around, there was always some spillage. However, the frugal traders, not wanting to waste anything, would sweep everything up and grind it together, making a spice dip for bread! Who knew?? So, we had homemade bread warm from the oven with EVOO and durrah – dipped first into the EVOO and then into the durrah – and it was WONDERFUL! We followed that with a dish of scallops with prosciutto and melon for me, and some garlic-broiled prawns for R. We got the same main course – beef fillet steak with mushrooms and sauce Bernaise on top of potatoes. Everything was GREAT, but we ate so much that we had (unfortunately!) absolutely NO room for dessert! Really a wonderful dinner (see pictures!) – also got some really good wine recommendations from the owner/chef, which we will try tomorrow!

Back to the cottage, and yes, folks, once again, MORE laundry! (You all know by know, I’m sure, that I have laundry issues – but R dropped some sauce on his shirt, and we wanted to get it out, so thought I would try yet another washer/dryer!) Even with some basic instructions, it was hard to figure out, but by jove, I think I got it – at least it looked and sounded like the real thing, and now we’re in the VERY noisy dryer – but at least I am hopeful that our clothes will actually DRY!

So, on that note, with R gently snoring away on the couch, and me starting to fall asleep at the keyboard, I will close for the evening! More tomorrow –

Much love,

m