Western Australia to South Australia Days 9 & 10

I hope I did not let down my regular readers with no blog yesterday but we were travelling from Perth to Adelaide and did not get into our hotel until midnight.

So after our day of gourmet delights on Sunday it was with sadness that we left Margaret River, it probably deserved another day. It was a really vibrant place with beautiful surrounding countryside. On the way north we visited the beach about five miles out of town.

This was a classic Australian surfing beach, there were about twenty surfers in the water, and we watched several surf down the huge breaking waves. With the sun out it made a lovely scene.

As we travelled north we drove through rolling countryside with a huge number of vineyards. For an area that only started wine production fifty years ago it has certainly grown exponentially. Even now though it comprises less than three per-cent of total Australian wine production.

Our coffee stop was at the seaside town of Busselton that boasts a pier of almost two kilometres in length. Being Australia there is of course a round the pier swimming challenge. It was then onto Perth airport to end the Western Australian segment of our trip. We loved the state, the remote beaches of Esperance were unique, Albany was a historian’s mecca, and the Margaret River gourmet experience was great. The vastness and emptiness of the countryside was amazing, while the food and hospitality was lovely.

Our flight to Adelaide on Virgin Australia was not to bad on a crowded aircraft, although I did have possibly the worst beer that I have ever tasted. It was punctual and our bags arrived quickly. 

In Adelaide we have had to acclimatise to a two and a half hour time difference, and as usual we brought rain. However the hotel was very close to the car hire office so the hiring of a new car was easy. We did not see much of Adelaide, but I did note with some horror that the fine station building is being turned into a casino!!!

We left Adelaide for the south coast. Surprisingly once we were out of the suburbs the countryside was as empty as Western Australia. After we reached the coast we drove for miles alongside a shallow lagoon, cut off from the sea by a sandbar. It was a mecca for wildlife particularly pelicans, and lobster.

After a coffee stop we drove into Robe in the late afternoon. This was a delightful surprise. It is a small town (1700 people) that swells to fifteen thousand people in summer. Our B & B is situated next to a small mixed pleasure/fishing harbour. From there, there are walks along the cliff top from where the surf is beating against stunning rock formations. 

The town has a rich history; it was the major disembarkation point for 150,000 Chinese who were travelling to the Victorian gold rush in the nineteenth century. To commemorate this there is an arch inscribed in Chinese near the waters edge.

The coastline was and is treacherous with many boats lost on the local rocks and reefs. They’re on the steps that lead up to the town’s flagpole. I could imagine spending an extended visit here.

Finally this evening we ate very well in the local pub. The fish, smoked trout and red mullet were excellent, while Marion had an very tender lamb rump. More surprising were the local wines from the Mount Benson, Cape Jaffa area a very good Sauvignon Blanc and a quaffable Pinot Noir. Off to the bottle shop tomorrow!!!