1st – 9th Sept. - Perth & the South West

Having left Shark Bay our journey has been a mix of different experiences.  Our aim was to see as much of the wild flowers as possible while heading for Perth & Bunbury where we looked forward to seeing members of Alice’s family.

Our first stop was to have been Northampton – a small historic village north of Geraldton but when we arrived there was no vacancy in the camp ground.  We headed off 22 klms to Horrocks Beach and found a small recreational fishing village that we did not know existed. 

Horrocks Beach

We had only just set up camp when we were hit by a strong weather front with strong rain and gusty winds.  It had been our intention of this being an overnight stop only so that we could travel inland to see the wild flowers but after the heavy rain we chose to stay over another night  With roads sides wet & soft we set out to check the nearby country in the car and while we had some success we were cut off from the best publicised area but roads closed by the rain damage.  Some of our wild flower photos are included in this session below.

Farming has a history here too.

Roadside near Northampton.

And nearby.

They were everywhere.

Alice in Wonderland!!

 We have loaded more wild flower photos at the end of this entry. 

From Horrocks we headed towards Perth stopping overnight at Guilderton, a beach at the mouth of the Moore River.  Guilderton is located about 100klms north of Perth and is a favourite weekend away stay for Perthites.  It was a very pleasant stop.

Guilderton on the Moore River.

 Then off to Perth where we set up camp at Munster just south of Freemantle.  Here we were able to catch up with a niece of Alice and also her family.  This was a great time for us.  Then there was some shopping.  Comprehensive shopping had not been available to us since we left Darwin so there were a few things that were overdue. 

Perth has a wonderful central park (Kings Park) overlooking the Swan River and the city centre.  In the park there are wonderful displays of Western Australian wild flowers.  We enjoyed a short visit to see these displays. 

One of the gardens in Kings Park.

City Centre viewed from Kings Park

 From Perth we drove to Bunbury where Alice’s older brother lives.  We enjoyed a few days of chatting and drinking much tea.  It was a great reunion and an enjoyable visit.  We spent a good day visiting Margaret River and Dunsborough with Barry too.

The beach at Gracetown near Margaret River.

We enjoyed lunch at Yallingup near Margaret River.

Eagle Bay near Dunsborough.

Even the lillies go wild here at Margaret River area.

From Bunbury we turn eastward towards home and while there is still a while to go it really does feel good.

Please enjoy some of the wildflowers we have seen.

We hope you enjoyed this glimpse as much as we enjoyed seeing them in reality.