Sunday 5th November – The South coast of Western Australia

I need to live like this permanently.  I relax so well on the road. So much so that, despite an early night, I slept for nine hours solid.  We don’t have far to drive today so there was no rush to start the day.

We eventually headed for the nearby ex-whaling station in Discovery Bay, now affectionally named ‘Whaleworld’.  A tricky one this.  Whaling is seen as an important part of WA history but we only wanted to pay to go in if it meant that we could celebrate the fact that there is no more whaling in Australia anymore!  I didn’t particularly want to learn the ins and outs of a day’s whaling.  But straight away the lady giving our guided tour made it clear that the nation is proud to say that whaling is a thing of the past.  But I couldn’t help but notice that the reason for the industry’s demise in 1978 was due to it not bringing in enough money anymore and because international whaling had wiped out several species, not through any sudden change in the moral compass!  Anyhow, I briefly hovered over exhibits showing gory pictures and examples of deadly harpoons whilst Simon read every detail about everything!  I took more of an interest when it came to the whale skeletons and the opportunity to explore the last whaling ship that sailed out of this harbour, Cheynes IV.

Above - a blue whale skeleton with Simon for scale & below - the Cheynes IV evil whaling ship!

Bush Stone-curlew

As a bonus, the ticket also got us entry into an Australian wildlife collection of fauna and flora.  This gave us an opportunity to see some of the more peculiar Aussie wildlife up close and personal, as well as seeing some of the classics, like Simon’s first koala for example (but does it count if it's not in the wild?).

This friendly fellow helpfully posed in front of his identification plaque!

A long-nosed potoroo

Honeyeater

The visit to discovery bay had taken the majority of the day but there were still places of interest to see all along the coast, luckily within a close range.  We started off at the blowholes.  In a carbon copy of when we’d tried to see the same phenomenon on the east coast of the US the weather conditions did not want to play ball.  Worth it for the stunning sea views and wildlife the only experience we had at the blowholes was to hear the rush of waves now and again below, no spray at all.

Our first wild snake

From there we went on to the Natural bridge and the Gap. A nerve-wracking one for those scared of heights.  It consists of a platform jutting out over a crevice in the rock so that you can see the crashing waves roaring in under your feet.

Natural Bridge (or one of... turns out there's loads!)

Again, this doesn't do justice for how high up you feel looking over this ledge!

Budget update – we’re already getting near the limit for week one! So, tonight we are sampling our first ‘freebie’ campsite but with the minimum requirement of toilet facilities.  It was heading for 6pm when we reached Cosy Corner on the way down the peninsula towards the southernmost point in WA.  We only just managed to squeeze into a spot, the rest of the campsite was full.   It was a very blustery evening which meant that we didn’t really make the most of the fact we were metres away from the sea and a gorgeous sandy beach. Si made us a chilli and we relaxed in the camper playing cards. The rest of the campsite must’ve turned in extra early because when we ventured to the bathroom there wasn’t another soul about, the only light was from the full moon and the only sound was the waves crashing on the beach.