South Western Jewels

We all had the most wonderful sleep! Linda woke to share a cuppa out on the balcony with Olga while the kids helped themselves to breakfast. The kids, once we separated Benj from the TV (not much has changed!) went off on Olga's bikes to explore the island and us adults explored by foot. Apparently you can walk around the island in an hour. There is the road and there is a walking track. The kids, under the guidance of Jack, discovered a small BMX track, the play ground, the tarzan rope into the river and the swimming pontoon. Boaz advised us all that he thinks Molloy is his most favourite spot and when he is married he is going to buy himself a holiday house and bring his family here. Of course there would be a room for us too!!!!!!

Breakfast time.

This was the most relaxing spot, out on the balcony amongst the trees, featuring Olga's beloved black boys.

Off on our walk. Timna decided that she desperately wanted to swim off the pontoon, so she discarded bike riding for some adult supervision.

The Molloy bike gang. The bikes were all put together by Jack's dad, who created them from scraps. The kids loved the individuality of each kooky looking bike.

Boaz, having done this part of the track once this morning, felt so comfortable he took over as tour leader. We eventually head back to the house, being greeted by hungry children all wanting some more chicken soup!!!!

Awaiting the ferry to cross back into Augusta. We were having way too much fun in Molloy so we do not find ourselves leaving till nearly 1pm!! We are not too sure how much we are really going to see of the coastline, but we have had such a memorable time with Olga and Jack, that nobody is at all too concerned!!!

Our first stop this morning is at the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. Cape Leeuwin is regarded as one of the most dangerous coastlines in the world and is where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. The lighthouse is situated on the most extreme south west point. The lighthouse was built in 1895, and was fully functional by 1896 in safely guiding ships travelling to Australian's eastern ports. It is mainland Australia's tallest lighthouse and the lighthouse lamp flashes every 7.5 seconds with a warning light that is visible from over 47 klms away.  

It is also the home of this crazy cow. None of us can remember the significance  of this masterpiece, but we had to include it because you have to admit it is pretty cool. 

It really is a very impressive structure. As it is still a functioning lighthouse you can only enter during a tour which we opted out of doing, or perhaps we were unable to get in cause it is everyone elses holidays now too!!!!

Not very far from Augusta we find ourselves at Jewel Cave. There are numerous caves you can expore within this region. We decided to go to only one, and Jewel Cave was voted the winner (as it was the closest!). We are all extremely proud of Benji. At the beginning of this trip the mere thought of a cave, let alone actually entering one would send him into a panic. As our trip continued we remembered a special spray, Rescue Remedy, that we had used in the past for stressful situations. Today, with the spray in his pocket, we proceed towards the cave.

Jewel Cave was first discovered in 1957. We are informed that it is one of the most decorated caves in Australia and is home to the largest straw stalactite decorations. As we walk down into the cave, we nudge each other, Benj has not used the spray yet!!

Photos once again do not do this justice. All we could think about was the person that discovered this. There is a permanent walkway that you follow through the cave, at times you need to duck or walk very gingerly as you find yourself almost rubbing against some of the limestone.

This decoration has many names, jelly fish and brocolli are just a few examples.

This region is home to over 100 caves which were formed over 1 million years ago by the constant movement of water through the limestone.

The remains of local extinct megafauna and even the Tasmanian Tiger have been found in these caves.

To look at these they appear so fragile, that even the mere vibration of footsteps would break them off. Apparently not even Linda and Timna's elephant  clomping seem to rock them. It goes to show how geologically stable the area is, for one good earthquake would destroy it all!

At one point during the tour, our guide asked us to turn off all phones and camera as he wanted to demonstrate how dark, dark could actually be. The answer, very, except for one glow in the dark bracelet on the arm of she who shall remain nameless, Timna.

On the road again......

 As we continue on the road, we realise how close we are to Prevelly beach, one of the residential areas most recently affected by the recent fires. Once again the picture does not tell the whole story. From the shore you can see all the black trees surrounding the dunes.

This picture is taken looking back up to the street from the beach. You can quite clearly see the devastation from the fire. On the street level, it is scary to see how close the fires actually came to peoples front doors. It appears the saving grace for a lot of these properties was the size of their front yards.

The Gore Harry Potter obsession still continues. Our latest dilemma is that even with 3 kindles in the family it appears to still not be enough. With Boaz finishing his book, and Timna using one kindle, Benj using the other and Robbie and Linda fighting for the other, where does that leave poor Boaz. Well, thanks to the town of Margaret River and a very beautiful and interesting book store, we were able to purchase the next book in the series. Judging by the size of the next book, about the size of the one in the picture, we should be well covered for the rest of the trip. One can hope!!

So after a full 2 days, we head back to Pemberton to prepare ourselves for our long journey heading eastwards home. Our next destination is Esperance, reputedly, the home of Australia's best beaches. It is hard to imagine such a thing after having already seen and played on some pretty spectacular beaches. It seems a very large call, but it has been one of those places, excluding the Ningaloo, that travellers along the way have said, "make sure you go to Esperance". Ok, Esperance here we come!