Perth revisited - Great South Western

Unraveling the morning with a stroll along the Blackwood River, the town still asleep but nature was at full bloom. I almost felt as if I was intruding the tranquility of the river. After soaking in the morning hours, there awaiting us was Jewel Cave, just off Augusta. I’ve explored a few caves but never one with an immediate descent upon entry. An excellent limestone cave for my first try. The chambers were wide and tall with stalactites hanging from the ceiling and large stalagmites growing from beneath. The cave was given its name from a treasure chest formation at the top of the cave. It was unusually captivating with a well versed guide weaving us into the history of the cave.

Making our way to the Valley of Giant Trees, the landscape around us changed from coastal to ‘rainforest’ like. I brought them to the Giant Tingle Tree standing at least 5 to 6 storey high with the center of its bark gapping hollow. I felt intimidated by its monstrous sight. Imagine taking a picture within the tree, only made me feel smaller. What a wonder!

Onto Nornalup National Park where Aunty Ooi swallowed her fear of heights and clambered on the Tree Top Walk 40m above the Karri forest. It was quite a funny sight with Uncle Ooi playfully teasing his wife by hanging on a tree branch just across the bridge we were on, Esther and Terence jumping and skipping on the bridge obviously oblivious of the height.

Like father like son!

Having been surrounded by trees, it was time to move on to our final destination of our southern road trip – the shire of Albany. On the way there, I told Terence that he would gawk and gasp at the views we would be approaching. True enough… he did as our car weaved through the rugged roads leading to the tip of Albany where the Gap and Natural Bridge are. If you haven’t been to Albany and was wondering what these two natural wonders are, let me try and describe them to you (although pictures and words puts the real scene to shame)

The Gap is a mesmerizing block of rock divided by thunderous waves over the century. One can actually watch the mighty waves pound on the Gap’s box-like walls and recoil in white froth over the Southern Ocean.

The Natural Bridge just a few boulders away is a huge hanging rock lying horizontally midway from the ocean’s floor.

We stood there a few minutes simply ooohing and aaahing at the magnificent backdrop. This is my 4^th time there and the splendor of it hits me like a fresh gasp of wind every time. I remember stepping foot at the ridge of the gap the very first time. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours – 3 hours to be exact. Such captivating power nature holds (how much more the Maker of it?!)

We peeled ourselves to visit the Western Power Wind Farm before sundown that day. A man made marvel of twelve 80m wind turbines spinning to the currents of the wind. Was quite a sight but I wasn’t too amuse with how they built it and the technicalities of it though.

We drove along Frenchman’s Bay for our last night in Western Australia. People often say ‘save the best for last’, I’d say ‘save the second best for last’ (since the farm stay was the best for me). We drove up to our double storey cottage by the bay and retired for the night in a cozy home with comfy beds.