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Heather and Gary's Travel Homepage Heather and Gary in Australia 2009

A day with a big climb... the back to Perth Feb 21, 2009

Saturday February 21 This morning was an early get away as we left the motel at 7:30am. We had a long way to go as our end of day destination was Perth, 408 kilometres away, though we did not have a direct route. Our first stop was just a short drive down the road from the motel, at Middleton Beach. The beach stretches along the bay for a couple of kilometres and appeared to be a popular spot for walking the dog, cycling along the bike path behind the dunes, or running along the beach. We were certainly not alone at that early hour of the morning. Back in the car we drove to our destination for the morning hoping that the cafe in the Stirling Ranges National Park would be open for breakfast. Alas, the cafe was closed and we had to make do with our own supplies. Our plan was to climb the highest point in South-West Australia, Bluff Knoll, at a height of 1073 metres. We completed the walk/climb in just over three and a half hours return. The trail was well marked, though it had many steep steps that were really quite a workout. The track wound through the forest, across the front of the peak, and then around the back of the mountain, coming to an end at the sheer drop of the bluff. The view across the surrounding countryside was inspiring and we could see down to the car park where our “rolling red tomato” was a clearly visible ‘speck’. While on the summit, we were fortunate to see three wedge-tailed eagles soaring above us. After having a bite to eat (nuts, apples, dark chocolate) and plenty of water, we headed down. We met a few other folks coming up and going down, though for the most part we were on our own. Towards the bottom we met a young German girl whose friends were on their way to the top, but she had only recently arrived in Australia and found the heat of the day too oppressive, it was 37 degrees and sunny. Back in the car, we finally pointed towards Perth, stopping at a small country winery for a bite to eat (no tastings this day!). A second stop en route to Perth was at Wagin, where we had to take a photo of an enormous blue ram (an Aussie equivalent of the Wawa goose or the Sudbury nickel). The ram is huge and dominates a park in the centre of the community. One of the assistants at the Information Centre in Albany used to live in Wagin and told us about the ram and how all the kids had a day off school when it was put in place back in 1985. Then it was back on the road and off to Perth. Today we did share a bit of the driving and Heather got a turn at the wheel of the “rolling red tomato”. We arrived back at Chris and Don’s place after dinner and spent a relaxing evening outside by the pool, drinking back a welcome beer and catching up on events over the past few days.

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