Katanning, Bunbury. Cape Naturaliste. 19.11.12

We have followed the road inland and south to Katanning and have spent two nights in a row under the trees in the wheat belt. The first was at Crossman and the second between Wagin and Katanning. It's great to be out in the bush again under the stars at night.

Along the way we have admired the stunning roses along the streets and in every garden at Williams, a beautiful town with an op shop which was closed, sadly! Wagin was interesting because of the imaginative junk sculptures along the road into town and the huge emporium carrying everything imaginable from furniture to incense, ladies underwear and dog bowls! Fascinating.

I am (reluctantly) informing you of the card score at Glenn's request ..... GLENN 25. Jenni 24.

In Katanning we went to visit Ron, (second cousin) and his wife Ruth, wonderfully welcoming people who parked us in their driveway, plugged us into power and fed us dinner and breakfast. We talked our heads off piecing family history together for Glenn and hearing about their very busy lives spent donating time to community projects. Ron was instrumental in setting up the Men's Shed and is an active voice in local government affairs while Ruth devotes time and energy to church affairs, local hospital cooking to raise funds, and to feed elderly neighbours and grandsons. Ron gave us a guided tour of the town they have spent most their lives in. They are amazing people and we loved spending time with them.

Next stop was Bunbury to see the childhood home of Glenn's mum Laurel. Unfortunately, there was no one home but we spoke to a neighbour whose son lives next door and will pass on information of our visit. We took lots of photos of the house and garden.

We followed the coast road south looking for a place for the night. Eventually we found a spot in the Tuart Forest which already had quite a few vans. We were joined by a Wicked van with a bunch of German kids in tents who squeezed in behind us. We spent a pleasant time having a drink with two other couples, one of which had been on the road in a small motor home for six years. The Tuart trees have a beautifully patterned bark, a bit like paving and most had moss on the southern side. They smelled spicy.

Next day we drove into Yallingup to check out the beach. The sand is pure white as we remembered from 41 years ago when we came here on our honeymoon but the town has grown of course.

Then to The Cape Naturaliste NP, well known for its working lighthouse which offers panoramic views of the formidable coastline. We walked the tracks around the headland, spotted several sun baking lizards which were loath to move off the track for us and enjoyed the bush flowers. The vegetation became scrubber as we got closer to the windswept coast and we spent some time at the Whale Lookout spotting whales migrating to the Southern Ocean for the summer. This is the starting point for the CapeTo Cape walk which ends at Cape Leeuwin, south of Augusta. It would be a great walk to do.