Day 136 - Sunday 19th May 2024

Today has been a good day. Awake with the alarm, and the first job was to totally repack my luggage (as I've had to do each time I've done a load of laundry). That done, I had a light breakfast and checked out of the resort at 09:30.

The plan was to head to the cafe on the beach for a coffee and muffin, but being a Sunday there was a massive queue waiting to order so I took my cameras to a lookout that provided a great view of the beach and coast.

Returning to the car park, I could see that the cafe queue situation had worsened, so I abandoned the idea of a coffee, and headed onto the road southwards. The first planned stop today was at Mammoth Cave. 

There is a limestone ridge running the length of the Leeuwin Naturaliste peninsula that's riddled with caves, many of which are open to the public. Into Mammoth Cave, and there was a self guided tour with a player and headphones guiding me around the various chambers. The commentary was very interesting, telling me that this limestone ridge is the youngest such ridge in the world.

Once past the entrance, the cave opened up with loads of stalagmites and stalactites decorating the chambers. I learned how when they were opening the cave up for the public they discovered thousands of animal bones, many of species that are now extinct. The path lead through the cave, up and down staircases to different chambers and levels.

The path took me out of the cave via a different exit with a series of staircases up to the top of the limestone ridge before a path bought me back to the starting point. All in all, a very good experience where I've learned a few things.

Back onto the road again, and I headed for the coast at Hamelin Bay. The car park here was by the boat ramp, so I took some shots here before heading for a short hike to a lookout just down the coast at the top of a small cliff. Hamelin had a history of being a lumber port taking the Karri trees felled here to India, Africa and Europe. The view from the lookout was great, and there was a window through the cliff which was an unexpected bonus ..... I do like my holes through rocks!

Back to the road, and my next stop was at the South-Western corner of Australia, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean at Cape Leeuwin. I explored the area around the lighthouse, and managed to get some good shots.

A stop off in the town of Augusta for fuel and tyre pressures (the warning had returned today), then it was time to head towards Pemberton and my overnight digs. On the way was a waterfall that looked good, so I thought I'd stop to see whether there was any water. In the middle of a Karri forest, I parked up the car and followed the loop path. I could hear water running, so I knew it wasn't bone dry. Down some stairs, then across a wonderful rickety swing bridge just below the falls. There wasn't a huge amount of water flowing, but there was definitely a fall this time. 

Back to the car and I was offline, so Google Maps couldn't search for where I'm staying, so I thought that I may have to find it the old fashioned way; I have a tongue in my head if nothing else works. As I approached the town of Pemberton, there was a sign indicating that where I'm saying was 5km away, so I followed the road and found it with no problem, checking in at just after 15:30.

Into dinner, and I then received a video call from my nephew Ben just after returning to my room. Today has been a good day; I've rediscovered the empty roads following the traffic of the last few days. I've also started to jettison items that don't need to come home with me to save a bit of weight in my luggage; today the aftersun made a mysterious journey to a rubbish bin before I left this morning! More weight will be shed over the next few days.