The attractions of Margaret River in WA's south-west corner are twofold: fine surfing beaches and fine vineyards. After a couple of days attacking the former (we have now acquired a second boogie-board!), we set out on our bikes to explore the latter.
We indulged in wine-tastings at several vineyards within cycling distance of our chosen camp-site. However, our bicycles mysteriously became quite unstable after a few tastings, so we headed back to camp to cool off with an ice-cream from the dairy farm next door.
In the neighbouring town of Busselton the main attraction is the 2km long jetty – “the longest in the Southern Hemisphere” was the proud boast in the tourist literature.
Charming Busselton carried a faded yet defiant air. Quite tangible was the sense of civic pride in the town's crumbling jetty, now so dilapidated that it is unable to support the train that was the town's lifeblood for many years – first serving the local timber export industry, then later the tourist trade. Making our way to the end of the jetty on foot nevertheless felt like participating in a great Australian pilgrimage.
At Bunbury we visited a beach where a pod of dolphins habitually comes to the shore, apparently for the sole purpose of interacting with humans. The procedure that has evolved between man and dolphin since the 1960s begins when one or more dolphins approaches the beach. When dolphins are spotted, the humans go and stand shoulder-to-shoulder, knee-deep in the water, in a line parallel with the shore. The dolphins can then approach and interact as they choose, but the humans do not initiate any interaction (all this is policed by volunteers from the nearby Dolphin Discovery Centre). We were told this bizarre ritual happens most days, often more than once. However, in the few hours we were there, only one dolphin approached. All the dolphins are recognisable from their dorsal fin shape, and we were informed this particular animal's name was Tangles (her fin was mangled by a fishing line). She chose not to come close (hence the poor quality photo!), but it was nonetheless exhilarating to share the water with her.
After Bunbury we headed north through the sprawling and soulless resort-towns of Mandurah and Rockingham to mellow Freemantle. The city is home to some of the oldest and most treasured buidings in WA, mostly constructed by convict labour in the mid-1800s. After perusing the engaging Maritime Museum, we took a sedate stroll around the quiet city-centre streets.
Neighbouring Perth on the other hand, was a different kettle of fish entirely. Thanks to WA's resources boom, Perth is no longer the dull cousin of the other state capitals. To take in the sites of the gleaming metropolis, we embarked on a walking tour around the compact city centre.
On the banks of the Swan River stands the copper and glass Swan Bell Tower. The tower stands at the city's heart proclaiming Perth's ultra-modern, cosmopolitan flavour in a voice that harks back to a distant European past – the bells that chime in the tower are from London's St-Martin-in-the-Fields and date back to the 14th century.
If the hustle-and-bustle ever becomes too much for the residents of Perth, they can escape to serene King's Park atop a hill adjacent to the city centre. Our climb up Jacobs Ladder – a seemingly endless flight of stairs up the steep hill – was rewarded with spectacular views of the city, as well as delightfully manicured gardens encompassing arboreal marvels like this fig tree.
And if that wasn't enough time-out for the Perthians, pristine (and almost empty!) City Beach is just a few kilometres away.
Having had a pleasant dinner with Jonathan (who you may recall from the “Christmas down under” post), we headed north out of Perth. At Yanchep National Park we had a close encounter of the furry kind with some koalas. Koalas are native only to the eastern states of Australia, so these here in WA were captive.
Our next stop along the north-bound highway was the Gravity Discovery Centre, home of the leaning tower of Gingin (Gingin is the nearest town). The centre is located on the site of AIGO (Australian International Gravitational Observatory), which is part of an international effort to detect the flexing of space-time caused by gravitational waves. It is thought that gravity, like light, travels in waves, which warp the fabric of the universe as they pass. At AIGO scientists hope to detect gravity waves through the alteration of interference patterns between two 60 metre long laser beams that would announce the passing of a gravitational wave.
Among the entertaining exhibits-cum-experiments was the opportunity to recreate Gallileo's famous experiment by dropping different weights (in this case water balloons) off the leaning tower, to demonstrate that all objects fall with the same speed due to gravity.
After our geek-fest at the leaning tower, we headed out to the Pinnacles Desert near Cervantes. Nobody knows for sure how this array of natural tombstone-like rocks came to be scattered in the sand behind the coastal dunes, but the geologists do know that they are relatively young at around 500,000 years old. The experts' best guess as to their origins is that the limestone bedrock became hardened around tree-roots, and that hardened rock is now all that remains after the surrounding softer rock eroded away.
From here we continue north up the coral coast toward the Kimberley.
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