This is the second half of my trip to Western Australia, my hosts had planned the itinerary according to my love of nature and art. We often we travel with companions whose taste differs from ours, so what a treat to have friends who shared my interests and accommodated all my photo stops.

The following day we drive along a scenic route through the Margaret River Vineyards to the Chocolate Company.  I had never seen so much chocolate in my life, we watched them making these tasty treats and finished off experiencing the most exquisite Mocha coffee with chocolate buttons at the bottom which we had to stir to melt. It was too tempting to stay here much longer so we then took the Caves Road which took us to my host’s favorite place on earth, which he called Jerusalem Hollow, which is part of the Boranup Karri Forest in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. I could see why he enjoyed this so much it was a view to behold with the sunlight filtering through the leaves onto the trunks of these enormous Karri and Jarrah Trees, beautiful tall straight trees with mottled gold and grey bark, their wood is exceptionally hard and is quite often used for furniture and railway sleepers. In the days of sailing ships, they made good masts.

We went up to the viewing point and appreciated this part of God’s creation, before heading on to the Boyanup Gallery where furniture and objects made from these woods was on exhibition, such beautiful grain in the polished surfaces of the wooden furniture. There were also paintings by local artists as well on Exhibition. We carried on back up the coast to Surfer’s Point and the Margaret River Mouth which was not as big as I had expected. Big surfing competitions are held in this area which had plenty of parking and view places for the competitors and supporters of the surfers. We saw someone skimming the waves on his orange surf kite, the wind was the strongest I had experienced in Australia at this point, so we sheltered in a very artistic shelter designed rather like a shell! 

Driving though Prevelly we saw the damage to the areas that had had fires two years before where several homes were lost, the vegetation had started to grow again, but the evidence of dead trees with their ghostly heads rising out of the carpet of green was a reminder and caution of the recent devastation of fires in Australia 

We drove into Margaret River town for lunch where we enjoyed a Subway Sandwich and then went for a taster at the Fudge Factory shop which we considered dessert, they had a large variety of fudges and nougat for sale. On the return drive home, we went through a place called Cowaramup “Cow Town”, this unique town that has 42 life-sized models of cows all around the town in different positions, grazing or sitting! I took some pictures to prove this! I am not sure how this came about. It is a wine growing area and in 2012 broke the Guiness World Record of largest gathering of people dressed as cows!

After a cup of tea at home, we walked to the local golf course to see the kangaroos, which had obviously made this their home, they were quite comfortable with us walking past them as they lay about the greens, bounding off when they were bored of watching us. Spooky fire burnt trees lined the golf course evidence of a fire in previous years as well.  

The next day we drove to Canal Rock, a geological masterpiece of fault lines bisecting the rocks in two directions, leaving channels for the sea to flow through as the water crashes through the gaps.  A little wooden bridge crossed the channel to a viewing platform, this was a very special place for my hosts as their son had proposed to his girlfriend there.  They had put tea lights and rose petals along the bridge to lead her to the platform where their son went down on bended knee to propose – she accepted! We then drove down to Smith’s Beach which was a lovely Holiday Resort and caravan park, also with a nice surfing beach.  Our journey progressed to Yallinup where we looked at the town and then went to the Art Gallery which was quite extensive, with some lovely paintings and different styles. After lunch at home we walked into Dunsborough to look at the Christian Fletcher Gallery, a local nature photographer, with some amazing almost abstract photographs which had had put onto products. We competed the day at the Dunsborough Tavern, where I had a very nice meal of vegetarian hamburger.  

As all good things come to an end so did this wonderful artsy time away. We packed up and left Dunsborough behind us driving along the coastal road to Bussleton where we stopped and walked along the foreshore and Jetty.  The historical Jetty is 1.50 miles long and has a train that runs along its length so you can enjoy the ride and go out to see the corals. This was quite expensive and would take up a bit of time so we just went into the museum where we could enjoy looking at the history on an interactive map, which was really interesting. The Bussleton Iron Man Triathlons are held here and one can hire bikes if required, as there are many good cycle paths around the area, and the ocean around the jetty is where the swim takes place, with grandstands built into the beach for spectators. 

After a coffee we walked along the esplanade for a bit licking our ice creams before setting off again back to Perth. We drove past the Vasse Estuary which was enormous with its cute settlement just outside of Bussleton. Then it was time to hit the highway again breaking our journey at the Miami Bakehouse with its award-winning pies, where I had the most delicious croissant. The gardens were decorated with brightly colored Art Kangaroos. We arrived back to Perth, and after a cup of tea we walked along the shore of the lagoon in the opposite direction to what we have previously done, enjoying the views of the marina and open water.    

Saturday morning, we took an early trip to Cottesloe Beach to see the Sculptures by the Sea Exhibition, Elizabeth Gilbert the author had been here the day before! We had an inspiring time looking at this extensive Exhibition with its large works of art placed along the beach and the jetty, some pieces were quite moving, especially one by an Iraqi artist symbolizing the freedom of relationships in Australia. My hosts had invited some of their family over in the afternoon where we had a good catch up chat on our life in Rhodesia and the good old days at the Geological Survey before my farewell dinner at the Bull Creek Chinese Restaurant. We had a delicious meal, I had my favorite Chicken and Cashew, they served such big portions we had to take some home with us.  We were up very early next morning to head for the airport and my flight back to Brisbane after my creative well had been well and truly filled thanks to my awesome hosts.