Hey, everyone! This past week I went on a road trip with my travel buddy Mo down to Albany and Margaret River. Both areas were so different and yet very, very special. I have heard a lot about both places, so to finally get to check them out was definitely exciting.
Albany
Mo and I hit the road about 9.30am to begin our five hour(ish) journey down to Albany, where we’d be staying the night. Along the way, we passed through the Wheatbelt, where we were able to see some emus! I was able to snap a few pictures, too.
The further we got from Perth, the more the scenery started changing. We would drive through farm towns to forests, and eventually we were seeing mountain ranges from a distance. Before I looked it up on GoogleMaps to confirm, we had spotted the Stirling Range National Park. Lots of people hike up this spot called Bluff Knoll, but we decided to skip it this time as there was a lot to see down in Albany.
The weather had changed by the time we were almost to Albany. Much chillier, with overcast skies – something I haven’t seen in quite some time. The temperature was 20 degrees Celsius, but it felt really nice. After so many warm days up in Perth, the cool weather was a sweet relief.
We stopped at our motel and then went out for falafel kebabs before going on some adventures before the sun went down. These kebabs were SO much better than the ones I’ve had in Perth, which was surprising since Albany is a small town of 40,000.
Our first stop for the afternoon was to check out both The Gap and Natural Bridge at Torndirrup National Park. Much like my initial reaction upon seeing the Pink Lake up near Port Gregory and the Pinnacles, I was blown away. The terrain here was so different. To see the powerful ocean waves of the Southern Ocean crashing along beaches with towering, rocky hills was a sight to behold. The sun was lower in the sky and obscured by clouds, casting a soft glow over the surrounding area. Such magnificence.
After checking out The Gap and the Natural Bridge, we went to check out a spot that supposedly has some “blowholes” in the ground, but the tide wasn’t high enough, so we ventured further into the peninsula to go on a hike called Bald Head Trail. My former boss had told me about the trail when we went for coffee last week and after seeing a picture, I was keen to check it out.
Bald Head Trail
The Bald Head Trail was phenomenal. While it is a 12km hike, it was nearly 5pm and it wouldn’t be long before the sun set, so we decided to just check out a portion of the trail. Regardless, we were not disappointed.
There were some steep inclines and declines along the bits of the trail we walked, but it was so excellent. We hiked through some forested areas, and before long we had the ocean both to the left and right of us – walking down a (relatively) narrow strip of peninsula. At one point, there was a pod of dolphins swimming along the calmer, left side of the water. To the right, waves crashed onto the beaches at the bottom of the peninsula.
We almost descended down the beach, but after seeing how steep of a decline it was and the trail that led down to the beach, I decided against it. I was worried about my knees as I’ve had some issues with inclines/declines in the past when hiking at Denali National Park. The trail was also incredibly narrow, there would be no way I would spot a snake before it might bite me.
Instead, we thought it would be a good spot to turn around and head back to the car. We walked around town for a little bit and got Chinese food before retiring to the motel for the evening. It was a long day and we were both tired, so we crashed early after I had a phone call with my parents.
Denmark
The next morning, we began our slow journey up from Albany to Margaret River. Along the way, we had a few sights we wanted to see – with Elephant Rocks being high up on the list as Mo and I had both heard good things about the area.
We made a quick detour through Denmark to check out an attraction point called Black Hole Rock. It was quite cool, but we didn’t stay long since we wanted to head to Elephant Rocks.
Elephants are my favorite mammal, so when we got to Elephant Rocks and saw a cluster of boulders towering out of the water resembling elephant butts, I was tickled. We were able to walk atop the boulders, and I spotted a King’s skink. And then a little baby skink, too!
We also stopped at a spot called Waterfall Beach since it was only 2km away from Elephant Rocks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a waterfall that trickled onto a beach before. While the waterfall itself wasn’t impressive, I thought it was still cool. Mo was very disappointed by it hahaha.
Valley of the Giants
From Denmark, we drove up to the Valley of the Giants to check out the Tree Top Walk. It was a forested area with giant “tingle trees.” They had built a suspended walkway where you can walk amongst the trees. And apparently there are quokkas in the area, reminding me of my most recent farewell trip to Rottnest. We didn’t see any, nor any wildlife at all really. I was hoping we would be at a good vantage point to do some bird-watching or potentially spot owls, but to no avail. The walk itself was pretty cool, though! Although it’s $20, which I think is a little pricy considering it’s not a very long walk.
Margaret River
And thus began our journey to Margaret River! We still had 3 hours of driving to do. Along the drive, I spotted a cluster of emus in a field through some trees. We stopped the car and I went out to take some pictures. They were in a paddock, but that didn’t seem unusual at first to me, since kangaroos and emus alike can occasionally be found on farmer’s paddocks. Mo suggested it was actually an emu farm, as there didn’t seem to be any other livestock in the area. I am still not completely convinced, but emu farms do exist, so it very well could have been that! Was still cool to observe them from a pretty close distance.
The ride to Margaret River was pretty nice, but since we had also drove a lot the day before, I think we were ready to be at our destination. We drove through lots (I mean, LOTS) of national park boundaries and forests. We stopped at our AirBnB to drop off our stuff, but then decided to go to Hamelin Bay to see the stingrays and the sunset.
I would also like to mention that upon arrival to Margaret River, there was a literal kookaburra perched atop the “Margaret River” welcome sign. So funny! I wish I’d gotten a picture.
Hamelin Bay
Hamelin Bay is a beach with a stingray sanctuary zone, and lots of stingrays tend to hang out in the area. After hearing about it on a Facebook snorkeling group I’m a part of, I wasn’t sure if the stingrays would be hanging out or not. Sometimes they were there, other times they weren’t.
I was pleased when we arrived and saw people standing ankle-deep in the water, watching the stingrays as they came right up to shore. I took off my shoes and stepped in the water, too, and a massive stingray floated right up to me. Check out this link to see a video of it! It was shocking that it seemed to stop and acknowledge me before swimming away. That particular stingray didn’t have a tail and after posting the video to Instagram, my former coworker said how she called the stingray “Meme,” which means Grandma in French, as the stingray seemed much larger than the others and perhaps more of the matriarchal stingray of the area.
What an amazing place it was! We ended up returning the following day and I went for a snorkel, hoping to see the stingrays in the water. Unfortunately, the water was really murky and couldn’t see much of anything so I didn’t stay in long. That said, I did have some more stingrays come right up to me while I was standing in the water. Some people will bring bait and the stingrays will actually eat it out of their hands. Others will pet them. I opted for a pet instead. The stingray felt much different than I thought it would. It was as if it was covered in a layer of algae.
Mo loved Hamelin Bay, too, never having experienced anything like the stingrays coming right up to shore like that. It was pretty magical.
After Hamelin Bay, we went for food and then went back to the AirBnB to crash out for the night.
The Aquarium
The following morning, Mo and I stopped for breakfast and then drove up to The Aquarium in Yallingup which was about 30min from Margaret River. I have heard amazing things about this snorkeling spot and I was not disappointed at all. We had to hike down to the spot which took about 10min or so.
The water was so clear. I mean… the clearest ever, maybe? I think it was better than the Big Island of Hawaii although it’s hard to compare the two.
I saw some cute, little fish that I hadn’t seen before, but none of the bigger critters like octopus or cuttlefish. One day! I also saw nudibranches again which was funny since it was the second time in a row that I’ve seen nudibranches, after having never seen them before.
The water was cold, though, and since Mo can’t swim, I didn’t want to make him wait that long for me to snorkel so I cut the session short.
Jewel Cave
After The Aquarium, we drove down near the town of Augusta to check out Jewel Cave. There are a number of large caves around Margaret River. When researching online, it seemed like Jewel Cave was “the best” of the caves, so that’s where we went. It was $24, but definitely worth it as we got a tour guide to walk us down the caves and give us lots of information about it along the way. I was asking him lots of questions along the way.
When we first entered the cave, I wasn’t very impressed but the farther down we ventured, the more in awe I was of the cave. So many amazing formations – and so insane that an explorer decided to grapple down some little hole only to find this gigantic cavern.
One interest thing to note is that the employees do daily testing of the cave, but that the cave has quite low CO2 levels. The tour guide had said “if you feel winded after climbing up the stairs, it’s not because you’re out of shape.” And it’s true! I really felt quite winded after the stairs.
After Jewel Cave, Mo and I went up to Hamelin Bay (as mentioned previously), and then went for a drive through Boranup Forest before heading back to town for the evening.
Busselton
The next day was mostly for our voyage back to Perth. Along the way, we stopped in Busselton so Mo could check out the jetty. He opted to take the train out to edge of the jetty and back, but I said I wanted to snorkel instead while he did that since I’d already walked the jetty. I put my gear on but after getting in the water, I started seeing a few of the jellyfish that stung me the last time I was there and got spooked, deciding to just hang out in the grass instead.
The trip was so much fun, and I’m really glad Mo and I decided to head down that way. From Albany to Augusta to Margaret River – there’s so many amazing things to see and do!
Art of the Week
Nudibranches! I actually drew this nudibranch the day I was going to see Björk. I brought it to the concert, thinking I’d wait outside the venue after the show for a bit to give it to Björk if she came out to greet fans. She did not do any greeting haha, but that’s understandable as back in the 90s, she had a psycho stalker who tried to murder her.
Reflections
While driving back to Perth from Busselton… it started to rain. I was so happy! One of these days, I’ll experience a true thunderstorm again.
The road trip down south was really good for me – not just on an adventure level, but also because it got me out of Perth for a few days and reminded me of what I’m doing here in Australia. I’m here to explore, to be transient and to see/experience as much as I can during my visa. While Perth has been my Australian home thus far, it’s time for me to start the next leg of the journey and transition into an actual nomad of sorts.
Last night, Kory and I went to this park near us because I’ve always wanted to go down this huge slide. It was fun to act like we were kids again and go on the ziplines, swings, slides, etc.
It’s Thursday right now. On Monday, I meet up with my friend and former coworker Katelyn to drive up north. We’ll stay overnight in Kalbarri and then we’ll part ways in Coral Bay after the next night. I will be up there for at least two weeks, where I’ll be doing lots of snorkeling and hanging by the beach. I am really excited, although it will be weird to leave Perth. I will likely stop back in Perth on my way back down from Coral Bay, but it will only be briefly. A sort of “long goodbye,” if you will.
The next few days are filled with getting together with some friends I’ve made here, and organizing/packing things back into my backpack before leaving Monday morning.
That’s it for now! Sending my love to you all!