Day 10 - Margaret River Region

I must have hit a wall yesterday. But today, I found my second wind. I began at the “Myalup Beach Caravan Park and Indian Ocean Retreat” and soon found that development was limited to small towns, instead of a seemingly-endless sprawl that radiates out of bigger cities in this age. I reached Bunbury by 6:30 a.m. (I rise early, even when on vacation – must mean I’m an old guy now) and had to wait patiently for a café to open for my first long black. I read you can swim with wild dolphins here.

The trees are getting bigger as I drive south. It’s quite lovely, actually. Sometimes the landscape reminds me of Hawaii on its rainy side at the 3-4,000 foot level. There always seems to be evidence of sand dunes under the forest canopy – except for the vineyards of the Margaret River area. You can tell there’s money in the wine industry here. Some of the vineyards look like mansion estates, with features such as water fountains and stone walls with wrought iron gates to greet you.

I took a hike on a coastal trail at Cape Naturaliste. After 10 steps out of the car, I turned back for my head net. I’d read about Bill Bryson’s horrible experiences with the Australian flies in his book “In a Sunburned Country”. He almost goes mad trying to escape them, and then finally gives up to suffer pathetically. These flies sounded worse than the Alaskan mosquito. Thus, the head net – and I thanked myself for it today. (A few people also had head nets, and a few who braved the trail without definitely were not happy.)

I’m in Augusta tonight. It’s considered the SW corner of Mainland Australia. The surf’s much bigger here than near Perth. The dark horizon here looks ominous.

For my American followers: Say “moo”, like a cow. Now, eliminate the “m”. Say “oo”. Okay, now say the word “no”. Put them together seamlessly in one syllable: “no-oo”. That’s how the Aussies say “no”. They add that “oo” to it. Same thing with the word “so” (e.g. “so-oo”) and others like it. I love it!

The blood alcohol limit here is 0.05. It’s 0.08 back in the U.S.

They say “heaps” all the time (where we say “a lot”; e.g. “thanks heaps” instead of “thanks a lot”).

It’s quite amazing that Australia didn’t fall, at least partially, to the Dutch, Portuguese, and/or Spanish (who were active in this part of the world much earlier than the English). But when England was finally asserting herself with world naval power, it’s still amazing that France didn’t lay claims here. I read about two French ships that came upon the First Fleet just days after it arrived in Botany Bay, and they simply acknowledged the British and sailed away. Another example is the Baudin Expedition (see photo of plaque).

Return to Oz

Day 10 – Margaret River Region

< Previous Post         Next Post >