A cloudy day, cooler but threaten to rain, driving down to stay in Margaret River. On the way down, went to Bunker Bay for a long walk on the sandy beach, water is refreshing but still a lot of people enjoying a swim there.
Take a trail at Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse to
see the cost and vegetation around. Nice to see the hilltops densely
covered with bushes, not barren dry earth in the Busselton area.
Next on the route is Ngilgi cave, walking gradually down the sprawling cavity in around 350 steps. The stalactites and stalagmites formation are amazing, so fine and so many of them, like millions of chandeliers! They appeared in different shapes and colours, so far the most beautiful cave I have seen.
Further down the coast is Canal Rock Bridge, an area along the sandy beach with unique rock formations.
The
place we stay at the outskirt of Margaret River has a huge front lawn
with mature trees that borders the river. It is so nice to relax on the
terrace to watch birds flying around and kangaroos jumping about. The
two old black mulberry trees are loaded with fruit and we can pick and
eat as much as we like. This is the third time I am so lucky to be
picking perfectly ripen mulberries from the tree, rich and deep flavour.
The easy walk along Margaret river with different wild local vegetation is enjoyable.
Got up early to go to Saturday Farmers market, before good things sold out, we were told. Indeed it is a lively market with a varieties of local produces, both raw and cooked. Some are organic, which we find it hard to find in supermarkets.
Bought fish, meat, vegetables and fruits for the next 2 days. The selection of fruits is a delight, being in full production season, and they are so much more tasty than the stuff from supermarkets.
Walked the Chimney loop trail in Wooditjup Park. A bright fresh green forest with moist ground, totally different environment than just 40 km north at Busselton area, where the ground is dried out and grass turned brown. Very pleasant to wander among fragrant Peppermint trees and watch birds flying around.
Walked on a trail along the coast from Gnarabup Beach to Margaret River Mouth. It is a wild stretch of coast with extreme conditions, sometimes hot sun, sometimes strong wind, alternating as we walked during the two hours. Appearance of the place reflected the conditions, fine sandy beach, cliffs, layered rocks, highly fragrant bushes, powerful waves, deep blue sea, attracted a lot of water sport players and hikers to admire the environment.
Close to Margaret River is Leeuwin
Naturaliste NP where Boranup forest is located. There are a few trails
there, a short one up the Boranup Lookout Point, for an elevated view of
a forest of dense trees. There is also a loop walk to go inside the
forest, to feel how small we are among old trees.
A huge fire went
through the area 3 years ago, only big trees survived. Regeneration is
fast, it is very green now, only some blackened tree trunks and dead
sticks left.
Joined a guided tour to see Lake cave, another one of the many cave system in this area. The entrance to is a long stairway via an ex-cave, where the roof of a near perfect round cave chamber collapsed, exposing stalactites and stalagmites. The inside has a layer of calcite saturated water from rain seeping through the surface layer, hence the name, absorbing calcium in its way, taking 10 months to reach inside.
A unique feature in this cave is a hanging stalactite with a big flat base, formed when there was rock below that eventually eroded by water flowing past, the amazing part is normally a structure like this will break with the weight but this one managed to gang on.
Back to our Airbnb in the late afternoon, just in time to watch 3 playful kangaroos alternating between grazing and fighting/boxing, in the lawn.
At night, the sky is dark, and for a short while we could see the Milky Way, before clouds close in, a memorable moment.
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