Day 171 : Scarborough and Christmas markets

• Went to the beach at Scarborough in the hope of finding some surf. No swell, but had a good swim.
• Walked into Perth centre for the evening Chistmas food market and brass band carols.

Day 169/170 : Little animals in the moonlight

Left the Denmark YHA on a windy and rainy day with a lack of direction having checked the surf it had (messy slop) we drove through random towns in the wheat belt. Stopped at a random restaurant / cafe called Henry Jones in Broomhill Tambellup and had a muffin, coffee and bought a $5 sale bottle of wine from their vinyard.
Ended up in Narrogin and booked onto a night tour of a nature reserve about an hours drive away. The only accomodation  in the area was $100+ so we decided we would sleep in our tiny car. Whiled away the afternoon in a garden centre cafe waiting for the tour.

Drove to Dryandra reserve (in a secret location – they only put the signs up at 7pm!) saw lots of kangaroos on the way. On the reserve we saw southern brown bandicoots, a bilby, rufous hair wallabies and borrowing bettongs it was cool. Parled up in an empty conservation camp and slept in the little car.

Up early at 5 as not that comfortable! Drove to Perth, checked in at the Witch's Hat hostel then dropped off the hire car. Used the free internet in the library and had a little wander around the centre. The mock tudor mall (c. 1920s) reminds me of the genuine thing in Gloucester.

Day 168 : Day of trees

Yesterday drove around looking for surf and surf hire around Margaret River. All the surf looked scary and most you had to paddle far over reef to get to it. Had a dip in the sea.

Today we drove from our hostel at Prevelly via the surf beaches and watched some big waves. Stopped in Pemberton and climbed the Gloucester Tree (it was free yay) - a fire tower tree with metal poles stuck in it like a spiral ladder made in the 1940s. To think there is nothing to stop you falling 58 metres down but your sweaty hands gripping hold of a thin metal rung! I hadn't really thought it would be scary until I thought about it and when I was about 10 metres up! Anyway we made it to the top viewing platform and the views were spectacular – we then climbed the long way down.

We drove on to the valley of the giants and a tree top walk. Prob not worth the $12 but you can see why it costs – it’s an amazing construction. It felt very high up but compared to the Gloucester tree it was only a mere 40 metres at its highest point. Walked among the ancient Karri trees that become hollow (but still alive) due to fires and infestations.

Drove on to Denmark and checked into a homely little YHA (had a twin room yey). Hired the last Harry Potter film which we finally watched - he didn’t really die now did he? Was preparing for him to die then he didn't (which I liked)!

Day 167 : Margaret River Wine Tour

Spent the day on a wine tour around the Margaret River region with Wine for Dudes. As a region MR produces a high end wine so the wineries are generally small, family run affairs. The area is also famous for its big wave surfing spots so a lot of the owners of the wineries are surfers / former surfers. This time, unlike our tour in Marlborough, we had a full mini bus so it was a bit more fun. We visited:

• Windance wines. Very nice unoaked Chardonnay and Cabernet Shiraz.
• Hay Shed Hill / Pitchfork – buffet lunch and experimented with mixing our own blends of Shiraz and Cabernet wine. Really liked the Semillon Sauvignon Blanc.
• Gabriel chocolate – quite similar to Haigh’s chocolates that we went around the other day but much smaller (almost a 1 man show). They are the only chocolate company in WA that imported cacao beans directly and does every part of the chocolate making process themselves. Bought ourselves a very tasty  bar of Ghanaian chocolate. Interesting to taste the cacao beans themselves.
• Margaret river dairy company – a cheese factory.
• The Grove / Margaret River distillery – tasted lots of different liqueurs. Favourite shooter was butterscotch / Turkish delight / cream mix.
• Saracen estates winery and brewery. Very nice Cab Sav but too pricey for us ($85 a bottle).

Day 166 : Margaret River / Prevelly

• Early flight to Perth from Adelaidge
• Picked up hire car (some kind of Australian Vauxhall thing) and headed south
• Drove through Dunsborough (not much there and sheltered beach so no surf) to Margaret River.
• Staying at a hostel on the beach in Prevelly, just down the road from MR. They had some serious bush fires here just last week and lots of the landscape is charred – the grass has burnt up to the door of our hostel room and it still smells of wood fire.

Day 165 : Adelaide

• Took advantage of the free cycle hire provided by the city to cycle along the Trorrens  river towards Adelaide Hills – lots of pretty parkland and a koala climbing a tree :-)
• Toured the Haigh chocolate factory (also free)
• Found screws and superglue and repaired the laptop – no more duct tape
• Evening trip with the hostel to the central markets / Chinatown - sampled some free food and wine

Day 164 : Port Elliot to Adelaide

• Drove along the Fleurieu Peninsula to Adelaide, stopping at Victor Harbour and Aldinga Beach for a swim. Lots of wineries and pretty towns.
• Checked into the YHA at Adelaide and dropped off the car. Adelaide seems to be sprawling, a bit like LA but nicer. The city centre seems quite regimented; a grid system with wide roads between the blocks.
• Walked around the centre of town for a bit, visiting the Art Gallery of South Australia and the state Museum.
• In the evening we went to a comedy night in a random basement / cafe near the hostel. I think we were the only people in the (small) audience not related to the performers! A fun night though.