A trip to Pemberton

A leisurely drive, with a lunch in an old cottage with a nice garden, hence this rose.

Then a drive to Pemberton to the Gloucester Tree,

Lots of bird life, being fed by tourists

I think this bird is a Shrike Thrush, a beautiful call from it was ringing around the forest.


This a 28 (or Twenty Eight Parrot/)

We did the touristy thing:


One of a pair of wrens.

Watershed Winery

We had a late lunch at the Watershed Winery, south of Margaret River. Its a very pretty winery complex

Wildlife at teatime

The Kookaburra shared our tea, the kangaroo grazed on the back lawn.

Around the house

This Kookaburra greets us everyday.

The house viewed from the drive

The forest around the house is a good place to walk in

"Bella" came around for breakfast as well

Plenty of flowers to see:

A sortie around Margaret River

The day started early with visits from kangaroos. Pam found a skink in the wood pile:


We went out and visted a number of wineries, including Cullen Winery,





Cullen Winery is a family winery that has a great reputation. Vanya Cullen is the now the chief winemaker following on from her parents Dianna and Kevin.It's been on my agenda for a number of years and I an glad that I finally got there. There are something like 84 wineries in the Margaret River area and we cannot possibly visit them all in our short stay so we will just visit a few.
After tasting their wines we enjoyed a nice morning tea.

Sunday breakfast

We had discovered a nice cafe "Angels" so we enjoyed an
al fresco breakfast before driving to Margaret River.

We had afternoon tea at Bunbury and arrived at The Red House, Margaret River at dusk.
What a house!!!



See this 360 degree photo
From an online site where you can book it:
"The Red House is an architect-designed straw bale home set on five acres of jarrah and mari forest mid-way between Margaret River town and the beaches.
Finished to the highest level, this is one of the most unusual homes in the district.
The huge open-plan living room has two sets of 5metre wide cafe-style bi-fold doors opening out to the north-facing gardens and the forest. The open-plan living room features a wide-screen, flat-screen TV with DVD player, stereo sound and hi-fi.
The solid jarrah dining table is 3metres long and seats 10 people in comfort. The second living area has a huge wood burning stove set against a granite wall.
Bedrooms are luxuriously appointed and all have big timber French doors that look out to the gardens. The beds are all hand-crafted jarrah or tuart beds with top-class linen including European pillows.
The main bathroom has a hydro-therapy spa bath with two pumps and 26 jets.
The gourmet kitchen has an Ilve six-burner range, an Asko dishwasher and solid jarrah benchtops.
This is a spectacular home in a gorgeous forest location close to everything."




Kangaroos, inckuding a pouched joey have greeted us. I got lost leaving on the property driving to get some food! It was lovely having a shower this morning looking out on the bush

Saturday evening in Fremantle

I met Pam and Terry at Perth Airport, we picked up our car and drove to Fremantle.
Terry had just come out of hospital so a wheelchair assists him. We took a stroll to the Fremantle markets.




I spoke with this busking soprano, a local lass who sang as she signed cd's!
Great voice and nice to talk to.
Then it was walk to the wharf area for a meal. I tried the famous Fremantle sardines as an entree.

Friday night outback at Alice

Jeanette, Claire and her partner, Marty and I headed for the hills near Alice Springs to toast the sunset with wine and cheese and beer and then I went out with the ladies for dinner, then a walk home.