To 11-Sep-06 (Bunbury WA to Esperance WA)

9/11 and 2 recent fatalities
We take a brief but serious pause in our travel blog because today (9/11) we remember the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001 which killed so many people and shattered our peace paradigm. Also in the last week or so, two well-known Australians (Steve Irwin and Peter Brock) have died. Each one passing from this life to the next.

Often, we in the western world tend to avoid thinking about our own mortality because it can be largely unknown. There are many theories about what happens after death and the shortage of people who’ve been there and back to tell us about it means they stay just theories – all but one that is. Jesus did die and his dead body was guarded for 3 days. Then he came back to life and was seen by many people, including over 500 people at one time (that’s pretty convincing proof). Christianity is the only religion in the world where the “prime mover” has been proven to have conquered death and who then provides His followers with the promise of eternal life through faith in Him. We really encourage you to investigate Jesus and His claim on your life if you haven’t already. You can start checking it out for yourself at www.christianityworks.com.au, ask a Christian friend or send us an Email at MADDRELL_S_R@bigpond.com).


NOW, BACK TO OUR TRAVELS


MARGARET RIVER WA (Taunton Farm Holiday Park)
On the way south from Bunbury, we stopped for morning tea at Busselton, walked the whole 1.9k jetty (it’s a VERY long way there & back you know!), then did some serious munching on lunch before setting off for Margaret River.

A gentle drive south brought us to Cowaramup - where do we hear you say? . . . it is just a few kilometers north of Margaret River.



We stayed in a caravan park on a working farm. It was a very beautiful, peaceful place complete with cattle, sheep, ducks and even a camel. Here are some of the “locals” just outside our van window.

The Margaret River area is very lush, rich country with many tourist attractions – beautiful natural features plus vineyards, cheese tastings, a chocolate factory and a coffee roasting centre. We were nearly blown off the gantry atop Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse because it was sooooo very windy.


AUGUSTA WA (Flinders Bay Caravan Park)



We were delighted to find a sheltered caravan park beside this beautiful beach. We settled on a big double site with bottle-brush hedges on 3 sides – very private and we enjoyed watching New Holland Honeyeaters and Wattle birds feeding as we sipped our morning coffees and chatted.

We also managed to see some whales from the whale-watch lookouts – in fact, Spencer has quite a few videos of what he now calls “rock” whales i.e., big rocks at sea level which really did look like whales in the surging see (that’s what he says anyway!).




Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly point in Australia and boasts a high lighthouse to protect the shore from ships (or maybe the other way around). A kind German tourist took this photo with the Lighthouse in the background. We thought we’d share it with you.



It was also interesting to see the petrified water wheel near the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse. The wheel was built in 1895 and powered a water pump for the lighthouse construction. Limestone from the water flowing over the wheel has calcified and frozen it with much of the wooden wheel being petrified already – demonstrating that this process can happen quickly when the conditions are right.


PEMBERTON WA (Pemberton Caravan Park)
A very leafy area and we nestled amongst the trees in this caravan park. We drove heaps through the tall Karri forests and visited the Gloucester Tree (60m high with a 2 story tree house on top) and the Bicentennial Tree (75m high with a 4-storey tree house on top). Spencer just had to climb them both (Rhonda wasn’t wearing the right shoes that day . . . rats!). He was very impressed with both the climb and how the steel climbing spikes had been driven into the tree trunk. The views from the top were really spectacular.


This photo shows the view looking down the Gloucester tree from near the top – Spencer’s joggers are getting ready to continue the descent. The lady disappearing down the climbing spikes is deaf – a seriously impressive feat for her to have climbed this tree.

We also met Brigitte and helped start her car when she accidentally left the fridge connected to her car battery overnight. Then we managed to do the same when we too forgot to switch off the power feed to the van while we visited a wood-work shop for coffee and a browse. Thank goodness for the caravan battery – car started no probs.


WALPOLE WA (Treetop Walk Turnoff Free-Camp)
Fresh from the big tree climbs, we just had to stop at the Tree-Top Walk – a 40m high steel walkway through the tops of huge Tingle Trees. The splendour of these tall trees was remarkable. Also, the height and structure of the walk plus the fact that it was erected without cranes or helicopters was impressive.

We met Brigitte again and then spent the rest of the day together. She told us that she came to Australia 25 years ago with a life expectancy of 5 years (praise God that she is still powering on). We enjoyed a very encouraging meal together at the free-camp and discovered that she is a delightful lady who is on-fire for God.


This is part of the Tree-Top walk. The gantry wobbles quite a bit, especially when a group of young Irish tourists decided to try skipping along one section. The lady was out of her office in a flash and escorted them along the rest of their circuit.








ALBANY WA (Middleton Beach Holiday Park)
It was so windy and cold here that we broke out our parkas (anoraks for our WA friends) for the first time. We saw some whales very close to the beach beside the caravan park and one waved at us – we waved back of course!

Albany has grown heaps since we were last here. We really enjoyed our 3 days there and saw most of the touristy sights.


Spencer liked the name of this pub, though he felt that something a bit more regal than “Earl” would be better. The pub was located on the corner of Earl and Spencer Streets – so no prizes for guessing where its name came from.










BREMER BAY WA (Bremer Bay Tourist Park)
We stayed 3 nights here and visited the beautiful Fitzgerald River National Park. There are so many wildflowers here. Whenever you stop on the roadside and take a moment to look around, you discover that wildflowers are everywhere.


This is Native Dog Beach with the wind making spectacular plumes from the wave spray.









RAVENSTHORPE WA (Ravensthorpe East Rest Area Free Camp)
We were lucky to visit Ravensthorpe just as their Wildflower Show started. There were over 600 different wildflower blooms on display and some very knowledgeable and enthusiastic locals to help us enjoy them. We spent ages in the hall and really enjoyed it. Rhonda also added many more photos to her already large wildflower collection, the building of which helps explain why it can take us some time to arrive at our destinations.



ESPERANCE WA (Esperance Bay Caravan Park)
Only arrived today so we’ll give the Esperance info next update.



May you each enjoy life and care for each other well,

With best wishes & God bless,





Spencer & Rhonda




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