Adventures on the West Coast of Australia
After leaving India and Thailand, we flew to Perth, Australia to visit friends and check out the Margaret River wine region before we took the Indian Pacific to Sydney. Dave Young joined us for the drive to Margaret River after a few days in Fremantle.
Wade and Robyn in Fremantle were kind enough to host us for a few days and show us the Fremantle scene. It’s a suburb of Perth but certainly has its own unique vibe – beachy, boaty, lots of coffee shops, laidback like Hawaii in many ways – including the cost of housing!
An art project in Fremantle. It only makes sense from one spot in the city. Otherwise, it looks like someone is trying to figure out whether yellow looks good on the building.
A statue of Bon Scott of ACDC fame and raised in Fremantle
One street in Fremantle is labelled “Cappuccino Row”. This was a latte holder.
After Dave showed up and we rescued him from the Perth Airport after his 30+ hour flight, we headed to Margaret River for sightseeing and wine tasting. One of the stops was Lake Clifton is in the Yalgorup Lakes National Park to see the thrombolites, some of the earliest living creatures on earth.
Dave Young at Lake Clifton
Some of the thrombolites in Lake Clifton
Twilight sailing was a special surprise! We met Rob in Split while wandering around looking for a restaurant. We had several meals together and shared a few bottles of wine, a few beers at sunset, and a splash of Croatian grappa while in Split. He and Justin live in Melbourne but Rob happened to be in Fremantle doing some consulting at the same time we were in Fremantle. Rob knows lots of people there and invited us along on a twilight sail. What a treat!
Rob, Mark and Susan enjoying plastic cups of wine on the sail.
The boat won the casual race. Prize? A bottle of wine. We were NO help at all in the race. My goal was to not fall in the water.
Twilight sailing at the Fresh Water Yacht Club in Perth.