Albany 11/11/18

Good morning people,
Well we have slowly motored our way down the west coast from Cape Naturaliste, took in 4 more caves which are everywhere along this limestone coast, no wonder their beaches are brilliant white sand. Booked into a nice quiet van park just out of Margaret River and did the wine tour by bus so no driving was involved, we only found 1 port we liked and the wines were not to our taste, sorry about that as their motto is " our wine only comes in a bottle as it is too good to put in a box "
One winery has a female figure on top of a post in the middle of a dam, which looks really good we thought, however a nearby town, Cowramup in the middle of the dairy area had a different  idea, so tongue in cheek raised a figure of a cow in a similar position in the middle of park in town. ( see the photo's)
The winery are not impressed as the town calls theirs ' the chick on a stick' so the winery calls theirs   ' The rump on a stump'.

We did yet another self guided tour of a cave, I think you have seen enough of them for now so no photos.
Next day we did the Boranup Forest drive, spectacular country with huge Karri and Marri trees, those trees have to be seen to be believed, the base of some were as wide as my Toyata is long!
After yet another cave excursion we ventured out in a really bright clear day ! wow no wind, clear sunny sky, it made for a very welcome change from the cold winds and drizzle. The shore line there is amazing and rugged, a few Korean tourists decided to go off the lookout platform for some selfies down on the rocks above waves, a lady working there is also the local Coast Guard Commander and when she spotted them, she marched down and gave them the biggest broadside about stupidity as they (CG) had been hit most of the previous weekend looking for the body of a fisherman washed off the rocks a little north of there. She was not a happy camper. The seas are pristine and support a very viable Abalone industry. There was even a bloody pirate cow there as well !
There is the remains of a water wheel nearby that used to pump water from a spring up to the lighthouse, first used to make the cement for the buildings then water supply for the cottages, if you look closely at the photo, the shaft is above the remains of a piston pump housing.
 This light is the most southerly one in mainland Australia and is the point where the southern ocean and the Indian Ocean meet, apparently on some days the line is visible from the top. You see it in the drone photo.

Camped at a great little spot called Grass Tree National Park, experienced 5.4 earth quake early in the morning, about 5am which shook things for about 5 - 6 seconds or so and then on to Pemberton for the scenic rail trip into the Jarra forest, the remains of the saw mill are beside the town, the line itself part of the original Perth line but when the Government of the day stopped that service it was used as a haul line until the mill closed in the 80's, then purchased by the tramway company and used as it is today, a relaxing and informative trip down memory lane amongst truely majestic trees.
That afternoon we were out to the Gloschester Tree, well Kath climbed a little way up, photo shoot then back down, don't blame her as to is 63 meters high with a lookout at the top, however it is accessed by climbing steel spikes driven into the side of the tree and basically does 2 complete spirals from bottom to top. We met a couple of locals while having lunch, these are wild birds but the love both apple and vita wheat with cheese. Absolutely beautiful to look at these little ones so close up.

 Then on to the Tindle tree park to see the largest living tree in Australia, it has been burnt out in the base by bush fires and the hole is large enough to park my Toyota in side! Spent quite a bit of time exploring that area as there were quite a few of them nearly as large, hard to get my head around the sheer size of those trees.
Decided to get a better look at them so oft the tree top walk up into the canopy, excellent views however the whole structure sways as people walk along it and there are load limits of 20 people on the actual span but only 10 on the platforms between them, I was counting but most weren't and that made it a little nerve wracking.

After a quiet night night we travelled on to Albany.
Getting late so I will sign off
Stay safe my friends.