Week 579 · Torndirrup · Elephant Rocks · Cape Leeuwin · Margaret River
Albany & the
In our short time in Perth, we will only have one holiday weekend with both Sharon and I in town and we wanted to visit some of the coast on the Great Southern Ocean — the "best" beaches at Esperance being about 7 hours from Perth, so we plotted a trip to Albany and Torndirrup National Park and work our way back along the coast. But Sharon ended up having to make a quick trip back to the USA so we kept the plans loose.
Sharon landed about 3pm, after 30-plus hours she was a champ as she was up for the trip. We repacked her and then drove about 5 hours to the coast town of Albany.
The next day we went to Torndirrup National Park — a peninsula with protected beaches bayside and ocean side with beaches on the Great Southern Ocean that were too rough for swimming. Spectacular beaches on both the bay and the ocean.
After Torndirrup, we drove over to some other recommended beaches — Elephant Rocks and Green Pool. Although these were oceanside, they were protected by reefs and good swimming areas for a great sunset.
On Sunday we went to the most southwestern point of Australia where the Great Southern Ocean met the Indian Ocean, at Cape Leeuwin, and started working our way up the coast.
We spent a day in Margaret River town and it was a bit surprising when we arrived that there were no wine tasting rooms. We could barely find a place to eat at 2pm on a Sunday and ended up at a Kabob place. So we drove to a couple of wineries, both were very nice. Once back in town, we couldn't find a good place to eat until 8:45pm — so we were walking along the river and heard some music and saw some 5-year-olds running around unsupervised in the forest. We followed them and ultimately came across the Margaret River Brewing Company (and they went back to their parents who weren't too concerned — a very 1970s vibe). Stayed there and listened to music before dinner at La Scarpetta Trattoria — highly recommended in an old hotel with good food.
"We could find a brewery but not a proper wine bar in one of the top wine towns in Australia."
We then followed the river to the Indian Ocean — similar to other places in Australia, the river does not spill into the ocean directly as there is a large sand bar and only during flooding does the river flow into the ocean. So surfing on one side and kayaking in calm water on the other side.
Our last stop before heading back north to Perth was Yallingup, which has one of the best reputations for near-shore snorkeling (although a little cold this far south). It was good — probably best that I found in the greater Perth area, but they aren't coral reefs — just rock reefs that protect you from the waves. The attraction is clear, calm water and white sand with grassy areas — but all of the fish are white, silver, or black with no bright colours.
