Day 134 - Friday 17th May 2024

Well, today has felt like a bit of an odd day. Not least because on Friday next week I'll get into a metal tube for the 17 hour flight from Perth to Heathrow. Where has that time gone; in some ways it feels like only yesterday that I sat on the train pulling out of Norwich station and recording the first video of my big trip. 

But it's not time to reminisce yet; I still have a weeks worth of memories to make. I was awake before the alarm again, and headed down to breakfast before packing, loading the car 13 floors below and checking out at 09:30 to miss the madness of a city rush hour.

Out of the CBD, and onto the freeway; at the first services area I opted to get fuel and to check in with the last paid excursion of the trip that I have tomorrow (assuming that I don't add any, which is a possibility for Thursday).

Once again, I was in amongst the traffic and longing for the days (only yesterday) when I was on the road alone ..... the lyrics of the song say 'you don't know what you've got til' it's gone', and this felt true. What looked on Google Maps to be a straightforward three and a quarter hour journey turned into a bit of a bad dream with the volume of traffic, and the number of roadworks.

I did have a plan for the day, and the first stop was at Mandurah; they have some giant sculptures here so I thought that they may be worth a look so stopped at the information office at 11.00. Some of the giants were closed for renovation, and the others were a bit spread around the area, so I decided against looking at them and headed onwards.

I did decide to visit a few coastal lookouts, and the first entered into Google Maps was Castle Bay which was still over two hours away. A tedious drive with loads of traffic and roadworks followed, and I arrived at Castle Bay at 13:50; 265 km into the day (165 miles).

I had a wander along the beach to stretch my legs, and to get a shot of Castle Rock at the far end of the bay. This felt a bit more like the coastal scenery that I enjoy!

Next up was Gannet Rock just 10 minutes up the road; a not dissimilar view that I clambered over some rocks to capture.

Then a few more minutes onwards to the point in the photo above that provided a great view back to where I'd just been.

From here, the next location I keyed in was Sugarloaf Rock. As I drove down the hill, this fantastic vista opened up to my right, and I thought 'that's more like it!'.

Down to the car park, and Sugarloaf Rock itself was magnificent, as was the view back along the coastline.

By now it was 15:00, I still had an hour to drive to my accommodation at Margaret River, and I was feeling the fatigue of the drive. So, I set the destination for where I'm staying the next two nights and drove the winding road that was limited to 80kph. It was through trees, and the constant change from sunlit to shaded and back was starting to make my eyes ache.

None too soon, I arrived at my accommodation and checked in at 16:00. There is a washing machine in my bathroom, so the first load of two load went straight in, and I headed to the restaurant/bar for a beer and dinner. Back to the room at just after 18:00 to put the first load of laundry in the dryer, and the second in to wash. By the time they are done, that'll be the end of my laundry on this trip.

So, into the final week. I guess there will be a lot of 'lasts' over the next few days. Tomorrow I have a dolphin eco cruise that's an hour and a half back in the direction I've just come from (through all the roadworks on a Saturday!) ..... at least I booked it for midday and not 9AM!