On our Sunday off in Margaret River we had a fantastic day, taking in some magnificent caves, fancy wineries and a sunset at the beach to finish it off. Fi, Neridah, Cam and I woke up before the others and ventured to Mammoth Cave which was about 15 minutes out of town. The fee was about $22 and for that you got to go into the cave with an audio headset that gave you information about the cave and played spooky music and had interviews from scientists. I don't remember ever going to a cave like this, with stalectites and speleothems. It was all lit up and it was amazing! I would love to visit more caves, perhaps the Jenolan Caves which the others said were even more impressive. Some of the coolest things about the caves were that they found bones and remnants of various superfauna - which are massive animals from the past. This included a giant kangaroo, and something I thought was pretty cool - the marsupial lion. There was even the jaw of one of these superfauna jutting out of the cave wall. I tried to take some photos but they didn't turn out so well, but here is what the cave actually looked like (photo from a website).
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| Marsupial Lion |
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| Zygomaturus - Another Superfauna found in and around the cave |
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| Inside Mammoth Cave |
The next winery we headed to was Vasse Felix which was also where we booked for lunch. We had a wine tasting, I think the wines here weren't as good as the first place even though it was very fancy. They didn't have as much body I think. I can't remember which wine I bought here whether it was a Chardonnay or another Savignon Blanc Semillon. I guess I will see when I unpack them all! We all had a three course lunch which was very fancy and delicious. I had duck fat potatoes for entree, rabbit parpadelle for main and a lemon meringue for dessert with the champagne for wine. Lucky for me the others paid for my meal for my birthday! The setting was quite cool, the building looked like a big treehouse.
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| My Lunch |
It was time for our final winery stop and we headed to Leeuwin Estate. We got there just in time as they were about to close so we tasted quickly. I bought one last bottle (so I had at least one from everywhere) which was a Riesling ("Freshly cut limes, lemon sorbet and hints of Granny Smith apples combine with heightened floral notes, hints of sweet spice and fragrant kaffir lime leaf.
The palate is taut and fine with bursting Tahitian lime and lemon pith. Lively and racy acid underpins the palate throughout. Mineral and flint characters make this vintage one of our finest.").
We finished off the day by driving to the beach to eat some cheese, cured meats and crackers, drink a free bottle of wine we got at Cape Mantelle and watch the sun go down. It was a bit of a cloudy day but luckily for us the sun made an appearance. We sat there until the mozzies started to get too much and then drove back to the hotel. All wined and dined a few of us spent the evening by the fireplace playing games a bit similar to charades I guess, where you had to pick a celebrity or characters name out of the hat and then describe them without using their name. In the second round you could only use one word to describe them and in the third round you could only use actions. It was pretty hilarious!
The next morning we all got up to begin the journey to Bunbury. I was a bit sad to leave Margaret River, it was a beautiful place with lots to do. After breakfast at a cafe we set off on the road. We arrived in Bunbury at about 12 midday and went and got some food and groceries from Woolworths. I spent the afternoon in my room watching movies. I watched the end of one called The Fifth Estate about Julian Assange and the beginning of one called Now You See Me about magicians. I didn't get to see the end of that one but I would like to. We had our lighting plot that evening and then I headed back to my room to watch Q&A and eat my microwave curry.
The next morning I got up a bit early than I needed to and went for a walk to the lighthouse and beach near Bunbury. It was maybe a 10 minute walk and it was hot! The beach was pretty though and there were a few dogs around. The lighthouse was all checkered and looked like something out of Noddy.
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| The beach at Bunbury |
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| My pelican friend |
Saturday saw us up at 7am to get on the road to Carnarvon. We were worried that our trip might be lengthened significantly by detours due to flooding. Luckily for us we could go on the highway and the trip ended up taking about five hours. It was an eventful drive however as Thom left his wallet on the roof of the car and it flung off as soon as they started driving! We were in the car behind and had to ring them to say something had flown off the top of the car. When they realised it was Thom's wallet they turned around to go retrieve it. The whole thing had flown open and apparently his cards were all over the road and his money was stuck to bushes! All up he lost about $75 but they all thought it was hilarious! Our car was more in shock at having a UFO flying at us on the highway.
The landscape here is quite different to what I've seen before, such red earth and searing sun. I have never seen so many dead cows on the road (I saw about 5 in various states of decay) with their legs up in the air. We arrived in Carnarvon around 130pm and sat in the pool area at our hotel to have sandwiches. The afternoon consisted of a nap and some yoga. My knees and back have been really sore lately and I think it's a combination of doing the show and not stretching. I've never realised how important stretching is until now - it was pretty painful squatting and crawling in the show with sore knees! Dinner at the hotel restaurant was yummy and fun, we had a very bizarre waiter who wasn't a very good waiter at all! But he was pretty strange!
Today we had a free continental breakfast at the hotel and Neridah and I went for a drive around Carnarvon to see what the town was like. It's quite empty feeling and strange because there are some streets and parts of town which are full of older poorer looking houses and then right across the road are massive fancy houses on the water. I think there are lots of different types of people here. It is also actually strange seeing Aboriginal people around town. I never quite realised before how white Brisbane is, whereas a lot of other cities I've visited over the past few months have people from all different cultures mixed up together (Indigenous, Lebanese, Italian, Greek, Chinese etc). It's good to see other towns and the mixes of people there. Neridah and I went to the One Mile Jetty which goes off the coast into the water. We had a coffee and walked along the jetty. There were lots of old trains and trucks in the precinct which were interesting. The water here in WA is beautiful! I'm not sure why it is a different colour? Maybe to do with the salinity or what else is in the water? I got excited when there were brochures for swimming with Whale Sharks at Ningaloo Reef in reception but then I realised that is a few hours away and was a bit disappointed. Oh well, I'll have to come back.
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| One Mile Jetty |
What's going on with you?
Steph x
Bright
and concentrated flavours including lime, star fruit and gun smoke
balanced by a tight minerally structure with incredible length and
intensity. - See more at:
http://www.capementelle.com.au/product/Wallcliffe-Sauvignon-Blanc-Semillon-2011#sthash.WUUUxYRt.dpuf
Bright
and concentrated flavours including lime, star fruit and gun smoke
balanced by a tight minerally structure with incredible length and
intensity. - See more at:
http://www.capementelle.com.au/product/Wallcliffe-Sauvignon-Blanc-Semillon-2011#sthash.WUUUxYRt.dpuf
Bright
and concentrated flavours including lime, star fruit and gun smoke
balanced by a tight minerally structure with incredible length and
intensity. - See more at:
http://www.capementelle.com.au/product/Wallcliffe-Sauvignon-Blanc-Semillon-2011#sthash.WUUUxYRt.dpuf
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