Western Australia

Perth, Serpentine, Bunbury, Margaret River, Kojonup, Pemberton, Denmark

October 10 to October 29, 2025

Perth. What a delightful city.
Cycling is an amazing way to explore its environs

Kings Park and the Botanic Garden were in full bloom

The floral clock.
It actually works but you have to be elevated to appreciate!

The War Memorial with Perth city in the background

WACA Gazzy!

The Second Eleven WA vs ACT happened to be playing

Another day cycling....
this time from Scarborough Beach to Fremantle

G watching the port activities

Outside Fremantle Prison.
Now a tourist attraction but with a dark history of brutality

We have long been intrigued by the story of The Golden Pipeline which stretches 560km from Mundaring Weir (in Perth Hills) to Kalgoorlie, providing water to the gold fields.

It's regarded as one of the most important engineering projects in Australia.

Tragically, its architect CY O'Connor, who was falsely accused of corruption and incompetence, committed suicide three weeks before the water began flowing.

Jen on the wall of Mundaring Weir

The No. 1 Pump Station
which today houses the story of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme

G marvelling at the mechanical ingenuity

A little further south to Serpentine

Waterfall at Serpentine National Park

Swim time!

Hiking up the gorge

Hoo roo to you two ...
Are you related to the one who tried to steal my sandwich 10 years ago?

We decided to do a bush walk near Armadale

It started very well ....

Very pretty ...

... but then we got lost ...

.... and I had to use Google maps to get us home :(

One for my school buddies. Ravenswood near Mandurah.

Ten years ago we did a seven-week house close by.

We camped at a macadamia farm near Bunbury

and explored Wellington Forest and Collie

My favourite Mangels Kangaroo Paw

These images are from a beautiful walk in the Crooked Brook Forest

Pee Pee Gee Gee :)

The forest is home to a marsupial called a quenda. Very cute.
This one visited us while in Perth

Also many yellow-tailed black cockatoos

The mural decorating the Wellington Dam Wall is quite fantastic.
Called Reflections by artist Guido van Helten, it is a collage of the local history

Many of the murals in Collie reflect its coal mining history ...

... but also the natural habitat

We came across Gnomesville on the edge of the forest

Tens of thousands of gnomes camped on the side of the road

People just keep adding to the collection.
It's now a major tourist attraction

Lots of good humour and interesting characters

Gnaughty gnudie gnomies!

On to Margaret River

Cape Naturaliste light house

The beginning (or end) of the 123km Cape to Cape trail
from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin

Canal Rocks
where the Indian Ocean surges endlessly through a granite-girt channel

Our camp site was on a sheep farm called Big Valley

Each evening a very sweet, very curious Ringneck Parrot paid us a visit

It was cold but a fire pit kept us cosy at night

Our most favourite trek so far was part of the Cape to Cape walk,

from Redgate Beach to Conto. Absolutely stunning

In 2023 this area of the track was devastated by fire.
The regrowth is extraordinary

We met Mr Emu along the way

G gently urged him on

Limestone caves at every turn

All of it gob-smacking stunning!

A quieter day around Prevelly Beach ...

... with a sculpture entitled Stick

... involving a yoga practice

... visitations from scaly friends, the Western blue-tongued skink

... and a swim for Jen

We couldn't return to Margaret River without at least one cave tour

Lake Cave

... with its incredible limestone Suspended Table

... and the dragon (left) breathing fire onto it

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. G lurking in the doorway

Where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean.
A calm day for a generally tempestuous sea

On to the Southern Forests

But it was looking wet and cold there so we made the impulsive decision to head east for 150kms (where it was drier and warmer) before tracking south

Some interesting art work along the way.
A thylacine in Nannup

Emu made from road signs in Bridgetown

Farmers art on the way to Kojonup

This one's for G.
He is fascinated by the way sheep follow each other

Collecting firewood in anticipation...

Lunch spot ... in the middle of nowhere

Looking for the trees despite the forest near Manjimup

(Southern Forests)

A row of mighty 300-year-old Karris

G contemplates a fallen giant

This King Jarrah is estimated to be 500 years old
and was only saved from loggers in the early 1900s by the some quick thinking and
an official broad arrow that signified it was Crown property