We left Albany and headed for our final base before returning to the Perth area. A few nights in Margaret River, a town on the river of the same name, in a great central location for all sorts of places of interest.

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Albany to Margaret River

The drive from Albany to Margaret River was relatively straight forward – apart from my right knee being incredibly painful. Driving an automatic car when you left leg is injured is quite easy. You simply don’t have to use it. It’s different with your right leg however. I needed to lift the leg from one foot pedal to another in order to brake and then accelerate. It was painful but we had a good run with reduced need for stop-start driving. It was still the best part of a 4 hour drive.

Margaret River is definitely one of those places that has come a long way in recent times. The town centre although still very small is mostly new looking. The area is famous for its wines but there are also some amazing coastal areas within easy reach. I guess this is a great base for so many things to see and do within just over an hour of driving.

It is not a very picturesque town but the location of Margaret River is fantastic.

History

The town is named after the river, which is presumed to be named after Margaret Whicher, cousin of John Garrett Bussell (founder of Busselton – watch out for a future post for this place) in 1831. The name is first shown on a map of the region as recently as 1839. The first settlers arrived around 1850 and timber logging soon followed around 1870. By 1910, the town had a hotel which also operated as a post office. In earlier days the area was widely known for hardwood timber and agricultural produce. You can still see examples of just about any food produce in the region.

These days the area is best known for its wine production, surfing and tourism; attracting (so they claim) an estimated 500,000 visitors a year. The coast to the west of the town is famous the world over for its surfing locations.

There is nothing of great interest in the town of Margaret River itself, but it is definitely a pleasant place to stay with enough places to eat and drink. And it’s a great base for the many vineyards and awesome beaches in this part of WA.

The Big Climb.

No. Not another one of “The Bigs of Australia”. This one refers to what for me was more of an ordeal than a touristy visit. We visited the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. One of the few I have ever seen that allows you to enter and climb the spiral staircase to the top. The Lighthouse precinct is heritage listed. The climb to the viewing deck consists of 176 steps. It was not easy with my injured knee – tougher coming down actually – but I had to do it. It is not often you get the chance to go to the top of one of these old lighthouses. Daniel meanwhile practically ran up.

Cape Leeuwin lighthouse is directly south (about 53km) from Margaret River and occupies the corner of a peninsula at the southwestern most point of the continent. This spot marks the dividing line between two huge bodies of water – The Indian and the Antarctic oceans. To the right the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean (as they refer to it here) lies to the left.

Here the headland that the lighthouse is built on draws a distinct line between the two great oceans (see below). To the right is the Antarctic Ocean. To the left the Indian Ocean

Before we left we took a peek inside the lighthouse museum where there was a scaled down version of the lighthouse as well as a LEGO model.

Wine and Craft Beer

Wine has long been a big attraction in the Margaret River region with plenty of wines on offer. More recently craft beer breweries have popped up all over the area. We visited one or three…

So many breweries and vineyards. So little time…

Pioneer Cemetery at Augusta

Yes folks. Another! This time it’s in the small town of Augusta near the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse. We stopped in Augusta for lunch and passed this place so I felt obliged to take a look…

I suppose I do have some morbid fascination for these type of places but mostly I  just like to pay homage to the brave – and often dirt poor – people who built these areas that we so freely enjoy nowadays. Anyway, anyone interested can study these information plaques. It’s all part of the history of Western Australia..