We started off with sunny skies and a cosy coffee and breakfast at our local Blue Ginger Fine Foods & Cafe before rain clouds gathered and the skies darkened as we headed down the road. By the time we got to the majestic karri forests of Boranup it was pelting down rain.
I had to wait for a break in the downpour to take these pics - all thoughts of our nature trail walk through the forest had to be put aside .......
But even through a rain-soaked windscreen the forest was a beautiful sight ........
The worst of the downpour had abated by the time we got to the beach at Hamelin Bay. Hamelin Bay is part of the Ngari Capes Marine Park and in this protected zone, smooth and black stingrays and eagle rays regularly come in to feed close to the shore. They prefer calm tide times and obviously we were here at the wrong time today to see them feeding!
We walked for a while on the 135 klm long Cape Naturaliste - Cape Leeuwin coastal trail at this point .....
Looking across to Hamelin Island ....
... and south towards Foul Bay (and why is it called that?)
As we got back on the road again the skies started to clear and by the time we'd reached Augusta and the Flinders Bay Foreshore, the sun even came out for a while .........
Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse in the distance ......
Me, looking forward to seeing another lighthouse ........
Unfortunately for us the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is undergoing a once in a hundred (and twenty) years upgrade and was covered in scaffolding for our visit today. Although we understand the upgrade is a great thing for the lighthouse itself and the continuing role it has in ensuring safe passage around this wild SW point of Australia.
The Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in WA and the third tallest in Australia. It towers 56 metres above sea level, and in the pictures we saw it looks a beauty!
I am standing at the furthest most SW point in Australia here ....... and a nice bookend point for our visit to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse yesterday afternoon.
.. where the Indian Ocean meets the great Southern Ocean ......
Looking back due north from the cape ......
There was an excellent "interpretive centre" set up in one of the old keeper's cottages. It was interesting to read/see what life was like for the live in keepers and their families before the lighthouses were automated in more recent times.
We ended off the day's sightseeing with a coffee at the Karridale Tavern, which is quite an institution in the region apparently - but not so much today - it was super quiet and no kitchen service/live music in evidence, although we did make friends with a lovely dog belonging to one of the other (much younger) patrons.
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