From Peaceful Bay, we drove back through Denmark and on to lovely Cosy Corner, a free camp site near West Cape Howe National Park, though not part of the park itself. It's a small and unsurprisingly popular camp ground as not only is it free, but it is very sheltered and only metres from the beach, and as a bonus the loos were pretty OK too!!! We camped amid peppermint trees which had intertwined to form a perfect canopy over the camp ground and as there aren't many camping spots, we were lucky to have arrived when we did. Tom will attest to the fact that I can be annoyingly particular when it comes to camp spots, but on this occasion there was really only one to choose from! Being a freebie, we opted to spend two nights here even though it was still quite rainy.
When the rain eased, we explored the beach and tried to do a bit of fishing but our only catch was seaweed and lots of it. We also admired the nocturnal visitors, particularly a brave little marsupial which I first thought was a rat. Then I was convinced it was a Gilbert's Potaroo, Australia's rarest marsupial, but later research showed it to be a Quenda, a type of Bandicoot. Nonetheless, he was cute and pretty fearless as he foraged by our feet.
After a nice couple of days in Cosy Corner, it was on to Albany, our last stop on the South Coast. A nice, reasonably large town with lots of beautiful old buildings and very friendly locals who shared with us their enthusiasm for the town and the region. First stop was the Boatshed market to check out some local produce and so on before heading to the Albany outpost of the Museum of WA. They had a very interesting exhibition about the Second World War and the role of Australian soldiers in East Timor. It is fascinating to learn about the war from this part of the world and it really brings home the reality of the worldwide impact of a part of history that we are really only taught a snapshot of.
Being a Sunday, not much was open in Albany so we decided to head to another free campsite, Norman's beach set in the beautiful Whydachincup National Park. We drove about 50km out of our way along mostly dirt track for this site for no reason other than it was free, but it was worth it as we had the place to ourselves! We pulled up to a small parking area /camp ground and read the info about the beach, named for the three Norman brothers who at one time owned much of the land nearby. The parking area was lined to one side with trees and as the ground sloped away, it became evident that some of the trees were standing in water, as though there was a lake there, though no lake was marked on the map. We took the path over the dunes that led to the beach and from this higher vantage point we realised that this was Norman's inlet, once connected to the ocean, it is now separated by the sandy beach and so it makes it more lake than inlet. As we followed the path round and reached the staircase that led us to the beach, we both let out a WOW at the scenery around us. It felt very remote and it was very beautiful. To our left, a high rocky hilltop half covered by cloud, dark green trees interspersed with large granite outcrops. In front of and below us, a pristine sandy beach and the azure blue of the ocean with pounding surf. To our right, the bay curved round with more rocks protruding into the sea and more hillsides rising in the distance. All along the beach, big granite rocks were emerging from the sand and even in the greyness and drizzle of the afternoon, we couldn't fail to be in awe of some of the best scenery we have seen thus far. It is a thoroughly special place and I hope to add some photos before too long.
The following day was back to Albany to stock up before we began to head North. It occurs to me that Albany is a very friendly town for us travellers. Free internet in the library and WiFi that works outside as well. Free plugs to charge your gadgets, free showers and loos, free drinking water for campers and a microbrewery! Or so we thought, it turns out that they don't have a brewer right now which is a real shame! Anyway, Albany seems like a pretty great place to me.
That afternoon we drove up to Mount Barker to visit the marvellous winery known as Plantagenet. As luck would have it, I was tasting again, such a hardship. They have some amazing wines and pretty good value too, I would say that though (we did get 15% off!). We came away with 4 bottles: An Off-dry Riesling, an oaked Sauvignon Blanc, a Cabernet Merlot and a Syrah. While in Mt Barker, we paid a visit to the butcher and bought some Jarrah smoked bacon for the next day's breakfast and lunch. It was delicious!
From there it was 20km down the road to Porongurup, a very small settlement nestled in the hills of Porongurup National Park, somewhere we weren't even planning to visit until we saw some pictures of it in Albany and were recommended it by some locals. On our arrival at the little caravan park, we were assured by the owner we had chosen a good time to arrive as there forecast was good for the following day. She was right and we woke to blue skies for the first time on the trip! We climbed up to Castle Rock in the National Park and walked to its summit where there is The Granite Skywalk, an amazing metal walkway attached to the granite rocks and allowing impressive views over the surrounding areas. From there, to the South we could see Norman's inlet and we also looked North toward the dramatic Stirling Range, where we were heading. Access to the Stirling Range National Park is somewhat limited so we decided to just drive a little closer and have our picnic lunch with a good view. They rise dramatically from the flat plains and are covered with such thick green scrub they look as though they are wrapped in wool. We drove for a few more hours, picking up the Great Southern Highway and stopping on the way at Gnowangerup and Wagin. Wagin is home to another of Australia's big things which we have mentioned before, Wagon is home Rambo, the big ram. Wagin is in the heart of a region that seems to exclusively have Merino sheep and Rambo came into being in 1985. From Wagon we realised we were in easy reach of another free camp, Yornaning Dam so headed there for the night.
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