Blog 9.

We’ve turned the corner and are now heading for home, the corner being marked by Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse on mainland Australia, which is at the extreme south-westerly point of our country. It is also the point at which the Indian Ocean meets The Southern Ocean and is another great location for spotting migrating whales. It also marks the conclusion of our west coast sojourn.

Our journey down the west coast has been an amazing experience. We have learnt such an enormous amount about this part of our country that I think we now have a pinprick of knowledge on the page that is the ecology of the Western Australian Coast.

I was surprised by the number of young Europeans (particularly German, Italian and Scandinavians) travelling in this part of the country, soaking up all it has to offer. One Austrian couple we met, both biologists told us “It is a biologist’s dream.” They had been swimming with the Whale Sharks on Ningaloo Reef and like us, had been out in the glass bottom boat from Coral Cove and seen the amazingly dense coral gardens, extraordinary marine life, and sharks, dolphins and turtles. We were also fortunate enough to see two dugong from a cliff top position in Shark Bay. Rudifina told me, as she stalked a rare bird , camera at the ready, that she had already sent home to Vienna, 8kg of field guides. We ran into this couple again at the Mullewa Wildflower Show and they were just off to find a man in the area who was an expert in, and collector of Australian orchids. She was so excited about all she was learning because, as she said, “If you know nothing you see nothing.” How true! And again I regret my lack of geological knowledge. I desperately want to know what all those fabulous rock formations are telling me.

We have learnt that Western Australia has the oldest rocks on earth and now that we have met Stromatalites, (we had never heard of these before) living rocks, which are the oldest living things (3 1/2 billion years old) on earth, it brings home to one what a short time we have here on earth and what a tiny speck of dust each of us is in relation to the history of the earth.

Shark Bay is a fabulous World Heritage Area. The Discovery Centre in Denham gives a second day’s entrance, which we certainly used to help with the information overload. There is just so much to see there. Because Shark Bay is on the 26^th parallel, tropical species, (flora, fauna and marine) are found at their most southerly extremity as well as temperate species, which are at their most northerly extremity. As a consequence, all life there is prolific. Added to this is the indigenous, cultural significance of the area as well as European discoveries dating back to Dirk Hartog,(1616) for whom the island to the east of Denham is named. The coast here also has a fair share of famous shipwrecks.

Coquina was an important building material the early settlers of the area and St Andrews church in Denham is built out of this wonderful material, literally blocks of compressed shells. The tiny shells, which have glued together over time to form coquina, make up the entire area of a huge beach, Shell Beach, and the material is ten metres deep. It is quarried now, only to repair historic buildings.

Monkey Mia, with its famous dolphins, of course was a must see, but we didn’t go right up The Peron Peninsula, as this is 4 wheel territory, as is Steep Point, the most westerly point in Australia.

At Kalbarri we particularly enjoyed Rainbow Jungle, a zoo, breeding centre, for parrots. At least the birds have large flight areas here and 44 different Australian species are being bred particularly to protect those being threatened with extinction in the wild.

It was south of Kalbarri that we saw the first significant splashes of wildflowers. The first were pads of white, everlastings, like patches of snow on the red dirt, then patches of yellow, then every other colour imaginable.  We enjoyed the walking trail around Mullewa, but all the locals agreed that the show of flowers was poor compared with other years because of the unusually cold and dry conditions.

We did hit cold in Geraldton and we have had our winter woollies on ever since.

Monsignor Hawes’ church and museum at Mullewa, was a special delight. This talented, hard working, architect priest was also responsible for the beautiful cathedral in Geraldton, and a number of other unusual churches in WA. Each is different and built from local materials. When he left WA to join the Franciscans, he left behind in his house in Mullewa all his worldly possessions, which make up the museum today. I thought it was his library that spoke most about the man. Apart from books on architecture, there were tomes on language and speech making, Axel Munthe’s “The Story of San Michele” (could this have influenced him to join the Franciscans) and amusingly, the ambiguously titled “The Problems of Anglicans”.  I would like to have peeked inside the cover of that one.

The Pinnacles in Nambung National Park covered a much more extensive area than I had imagined, but we enjoyed our long, long walk around, discovering animal shapes in the different formations.

For me, New Norcia was a special treat. Although I knew it was a monastery which housed some very lovely art works, I hadn’t realised that it is in fact an entire, self sufficient town, with its own blacksmith, orchards, apiary, vineyard etc, etc. Founded by Benedictines, the buildings have a distinctive Spanish flavour. The 2 ½  hour tour gave us not only access to the various buildings, but quite an insight into the early days of the catholic missions and their impact on the development of the area, and particularly their contribution to education, even today.

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We ran into Gail and Grant here, for the third time on our trip. I think they will beat us back to Sydney.

Perth is a really beautiful city; clean, attractive, easy to get around, free transport in the CBD, fabulous water playground on the broad stretches of the Swan, nearby and easily accessible parkland, friendly, easy-going, polite people who speak understandable English.

The trains run frequently, are on time, clean, comfortable and the fares are cheap. There is an atmosphere of calm. People make eye contact and readily greet strangers. Fewer people are attached to mobile phones and iPods. It seems to be a very good quality of life in that city.

Sydney could certainly do with a few of these attributes.

            Fremantle is a vibrant, fun city, with something to please almost anyone…. Markets, museums, breweries, theatre, historical sites, tours to Rottnest Is and along the Swan.

            We caught up with Gordon H here, and it was good to see him looking so well. He is really enjoying his new job, and learning all he can before he returns to Melbourne in the new year.

Hello Emily, James, Lachlan, Zali and Koby,

            We have seen so many wonderful animals and birds on our travels, but I thought you might like to see some of the wild horses living on farms in the middle of Western Australia.

            Which one do you like the most?

Love, Grandpa and Mazzie.