Aussirose Travel and Photography: 2013 - PERTH TO ALBANY 9 DAY ROAD TRIP.

WILDFLOWERS AND WINE.

Seven brave VT'ers and a stack of VA's headed off for an adventure in the WA outback.

Western Australia is well known for its unique wildflowers between September and October.

Margaret River, 4hrs south of Perth is well known for its wine.

Some of us had DSLR cameras and were looking forward to some fun macro photography.

This 9 day road trip would see us heading inland to Quarading and further inland to Hyden, then way down south to Albany at the bottom end of Australia and back to Perth along some stunning coastline and wineries.

Along the way we had a wildflower spotting challenge. Hubby bought us all small south WA wildflower booklets and set us a challenge. Of course when we spotted something else, we were welcome to find it in the book and tick it off.

Some of the things we also experienced –

A huge rock to rival Uluru, a tiny little Bank in the outback, a huge curvy rock, a pink lake, a dog cemetery and dog in the ute, unusual tin can art, maggies on poles, a funny nudist sign in the middle of nowhere, stunning beaches, dune bashing, wild southern winds at a rocky beach, riding an old steam train, walking amongst the tree tops, foodie heaven at a certain place. And of course gorgeous wildflowers and lots of fun at the wineries.

So. If you are planning to do a car trip south of Perth, then I would urge you to spend 7 days and do the same as us.

First things first.

PERTH

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DAY 1 - TO QUAIRADING VIA YORK

YORK

York was special to us for 2 reasons -

We had a lovely lunch at the old flour mill.
We stumbled across a wedding and played paparazzi
The bride and groom were happy that another stack of photographers were here to photograph their great day. 😁

Loved the old London cab!

Apart from the above, York has some nice old buildings that we enjoyed photographing as well.

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QUAIRADING

A few of us stayed at the Quairading hotel.

Cheap and comfortable.

The others had a 4x4 and camper trailer.

Now for a funny Aussirose story. 😁

The 'other' VT crew were setting up for the night.
Dorrise from Cairns, Allison from Sunshine Coast Queensland and Zig from outside of Darwin NT.

The rest of us had already booked into the Quairading Hotel.
Jumped into our beds. Ahhhhh, comfy.
That is Steve and Billy from Brisbane and hubby and I from Perth.

And the rain was about to set in. Not the best way to spend the first night on the road.

Next morning we rocked around to the camp site

to see how the others had faired.

Al greeted us with a smile. But we were yet to hear about the story. 😕

Dorrise joined Al with a brave smile. And the story unfolded.

They had set up for bed. Allison crawled into the bunk and it immediately sagged.

Someone had failed to set the stabilizer. Haha
Well after braving the wind and rain, Zig fixed the problem and they finally had a good night sleep.

Well apart from in the middle of the night when Al stole Dorrise's extra doona.

😮

Needless to say. The campervan idea soon made way for modern comforts for the rest of the trip.

I guess zig from the far hot NT hadn't planned on WA being so volatile in the weather department.

Anyway, the night before we enjoyed dinner at the local pub. Which was good for some.
Within staggering distance from bed. 😜

VA's - you'll get used to these as you read through my travel stories. Virtual attendees.

VA's are people from all around the world that could not be with us so the next best thing is to print out a pic of them, laminate and take them along for the ride.

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DAY 2 - OFF TO HYDEN VIA

SHACKLETON AND CORRIGIN

We had lots to see so we headed off early.

Just out of Quairading is The Pink Lake.

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SHACKLETON

This is where the smallest bank in Australia is

Bankwest - the bank I work for haha.

How cute is that.

😄

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KOKERBIN ROCK

Just out from Shackleton is the 3rd biggest rock in Australia..... Uluru being the 2nd! ...... True!

The biggest rock in Australia or monolith is in

Mount Augustus.... Northern WA.

And Our First Wildflower Spotting!

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CORRIGIN

This Is the Home of the Dog in the Ute and the

Dog Cemetery.

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WAVE ROCK HYDEN

The lakeside cabins at wave rock are quiet and clean. Recommended.

We headed back into Hyden to the wave rock motel bistro for dinner.

Here you can buy your steak and cook it yourself. Plenty of buffet salad too.

I had planned to try out some astro photography but there were too many clouds.

Plan b - light painting an old tanker.

WAVE ROCK AND WILDFLOWERS

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DAY 3 - OFF TO ALBANY VIA LAKE GRACE, BORDEN AND AMELUP

This was a long drive.

I had originally planned to drive via Kulin and Dumbleyung to Borden but that would have added an extra day to our trip and some were limited for time.

I strongly suggest that you go via Kulin and Dumbleyung as there are some unique things to see. Kulin tin can highway. Spot the farmer tin can creations.

Dumbleyung Inn is worth a night stay.

The owner is always up for a yarn.

Dumbleyung lake is where the world water speed record was broken.
It's also a great place for bird watching.

Anyway, we hit the road from Hyden, through Lake Grace towards Albany.

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LAKE GRACE

As you can see, the landscape here is flat and arid.

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BORDEN

Home of maggies on poles.

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AMELUP

No guesses as to what you may find here.

And hubby braved the cold.

5 minutes down the road we got our first glimpse

of the Stirling Ranges.

And a few wildflowers along the roadside.

The Lily – Old Dutch windmill is located here.

We didn't have time to visit this time but if you

are coming from Dumbleyung you will have time.

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ALBANY

We stayed 2 nights at the Emu Point Motel.

It is a little out of town so don't stay here if you

do not have your own transport.

However the price was right, it was clean and

located near the beach.

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DAY 4 - OUT AND ABOUT IN ALBANY

I have a lot of treasured memories of Albany that will stay in my heart. I had a big page on my previous website Virtual Tourist but for reasons not disclosed here, those memories to the public will be forever lost in the big black web hole. Below is a condensed version that hopefully will encourage you to visit Albany.

Albany has some stunning coastline. Pictured below are some of the beaches we visited. Check before you go because some are 4x4 only.

NANARUP BEACH - YOU CAN CAMP HERE.

LITTLE BEACH - MY FAVOURITE

LEDGE BEACH

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THE GAP & NATURAL ARCH

This place is dangerous. It is well known for wild

winds and there is a danger sign here.

We must have picked the worst day!

It was wild, wet and windy!!

Therefore we had a quick photo shoot and got

out of there.

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LITTLE NIPPERS CAFE

AND AN AUSSIROSE STORY

When visiting Albany you must take the time out to visit Little Nippers Cafe.

The food is delightful with fresh ingredients and marron.

If you don't know what marron is, then google Albany marron farm.

Our Dorrise has a nickname - chook whisperer.
Here she not only tamed the chooks but a llama and the birds too!

Now you know that llamas have a problem with spitting right?

Whilst we were waiting for lunch to be prepared, we took a stroll around the small farm here.
There were lots of animals to see.

The rest of us were a little intimidated by the huge llama. He looked real mean!
We strategically placed plenty of distance between us and that big llama.

Not Dorrise.
Llama made a bee-line for Dorrise.
We put out hands over our eyes and held our breath!

😬

No problem. The llama whisperer to the rescue and below is the llama and Dorrise kissing
and making up. 😉

Dorrise also made friends with the birds in the bird cage. There's no end to the animals that this whisperer can tame.

Lunch At The Nippers Cafe - Fresh Marron -

Yuuuum!

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DAY 5 - OFF TO PEMBERTON

VIA DENMARK AND WALPOLE

This part of the trip was most enjoyable.
We had past the flat arid landscape and were heading into shady tree lined roads and big forest gum trees.

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DENMARK

Denmark Cafe. Morning tea coffee and cake hit

the spot! Right on a nice river, it was a pretty

spot.

Denmark also has some stunning coastline.

Greens pool is well worth a visit.

Wilson Inlet was so serene.

Unfortunately Lights Beach was wild and windy.

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WALPOLE

Home of the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk.

At the tree top walk check out the bush nearby

and you will find plenty of wildflowers.

Walpole also has its own stunning beach.

Mandalay Bay.

Time to hit the road to Pemberton.

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PEMBERTON

Foodie heaven!! The marron here is absolutely

devine!!

Both restaurants in the main street are worth

going to.

Pemberton also has a tree climb for the

adventurous.

And an old steam train that we enjoyed.

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DAY 6 - OFF TO MARGARET RIVER

VIA AUGUSTA

AUGUSTA

Where the Indian Ocean meets the Great Southern Ocean.

I bought a new canon 50mm lens in Albany and used it here for the first time.

Very impressed with my first portrait shot of hubby close up.

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MARGARET RIVER

Wine country and foodie heaven.

There are so many choices here that I won't list

them.

You are spoilt for choices from the restaurants in

the main street, to the restaurants at the wineries and breweries.

The Information Centre in the main street is a

good place to start. We hired a bus and driver

and spent a day wine tasting.

Time for a funny Aussirose story.

Haha, stop groaning lol.

We had Ian the owner of Tassle Park Wines in hysterics.

This was our last stop of the day suggested by our bus driver. Ian was going to shut shop but kindly kept open for us.

So why was Ian in hysterics?

Ian introduced us to mulled wine.

Mmmm, never had that before but I quite

enjoyed it. So did Kathy.

It wasn't long before us and the VA's primed on

the mulled stuff.

Got up to all sorts of mischief.

😵

Ok guys. That's enough haha.

VA's were swept away. Stashed in the glove box.

😉

And we made back to the accommodation with our goodies.

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THE BERRY FARM

Devonshire tea at the Berry Farm is the best! And the gardens and flowers are a pleasure to walk around. They also sell all sorts of jams, chutneys and sauces. Mmmm, I was in heaven.