Aussie road trip: Roo with a view

Kangaroos. Real. Live. Roos in the wild! If the kids remember one thing about this part of the journey, my money is on seeing kangaroos bounding around in the unusual way that they do.

We set out from Perth heading south seeking Australian adventures. Truth is that we’ve barely scratched the surface of this region, let alone north of Perth. One thing is clear – it is a wonderful part of the world.

Flinders Bay, Augusta and the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

Our first stop was to be a few days around this peninsula. It had it all – glorious beaches, wine country, sights and nature. Granny’s Pool is a welcome little bay with a playpark but most importantly a short wharf with steps into the sea at its end. From here one can swim out to the bathing platform – it really is set up as a ‘pool’ in the sea. The location is within a hamlet known as ‘whaling’ because it was here that one of the first whaling stations was set up in the 18th century. Indeed all along this part of the coast are memorials, plaques and statues to various seafarers that either discovered, mapped or otherwise colonised western Australia from here.

A very short drive southwest took us to the picturesque Cape Leeuwin lighthouse. To be honest we couldn’t justify the entry fee so can’t comment much on the historical lighthouse itself; instead we explored a little along the two coastlines that it protects and taking in the stunning views. The cape marks the point where the chilly Southern Ocean meets the warmer Indian Ocean. The Cape to Cape walk covering 123 Km of impressive coastal scenery sets out from here north to Cape Naturaliste. We walked a few short patches of the trail as we ventured north up the coast and were rewarded with some beautiful views.

Molloy Island

We stayed these few days at the Molloy Island Hideaway. Set on the banks of the Blackwood river, Malloy Island Hideaway is an ideal place for getting into nature. It is a touring site with a mix of tent pitches, RV stands and static caravans. The setting, the friendly people and the wildlife set this place apart.

The site seems particularly popular with people looking to get out onto the river and out into Flinders Bay to fish, water ski or otherwise enjoy the water. While we were there a small kayak-fishing club pitched up, and several people arrived with small boats on trailers, taking advantage of the boat ramp straight into the river. Talking to some of the regulars, Christmas here is very popular with Santa arriving by boat bedecked in the traditional red coat bearing gifts for the kids. We made do with cooking up on the communal barbie, a couple of walks out into the nearby bush, and marvelling at the wildlife on site.

What will live long in the memory for us all was our first close-up with kangaroos in the wild. On the drive down a couple had been spotted fleetingly in roadside fields (fortunately that’s where they stayed). Arriving into Molloy Hideaway though we immediately came to a group of perhaps five or so just hanging around amongst the campers chewing on grass. It seems that each morning the roos, ducks and parrots are fed on the site, so they are quite friendly.

Glenarty Road winery

When in wine country on a rainy midweek morning, there’s only one thing for it – go sample some wine. We had passed countless acres of vines driving down and around the Margaret River region so it was about time. The region itself had been identified as fertile wine territory by a visiting wine expert in the 1960’s, and since then plenty of vines have been planted and winemaking techniques refined. Today Margaret River is very well regarded in wine circles, and rightly so as we were to find out.

Of course we had the kids with us, so we had to find somewhere that had some distractions while we got stuck in to the wine. Universally Glenarty Road had come up as a good bet for a family visit, online but also through word of mouth at the local bottle shop. They were right. We arrived at opening time one midweek morning, something which was easier when we discovered Glenarty was only fifteen minutes away from our digs at Malloy Hideaway. No sooner had we got there and the kids were whisked away to feed the sheep, see the pigs and play in the grounds – incredibly welcome for us. Our budget didn’t stretch to a meal, but we did taste a good number of the wines. The whites, roses and sparkling wines really appealed and so we bought a bottle for each of the remaining days of the trip. Quite an investment but on balance not much more than the cost of buying beers in these parts. Overall the Glenarty Road experience couldn’t have been better.

Hamelin Bay

We were originally drawn to Hamelin Bay hoping to see the stingrays that tend to gather in the shallow waters of the coastline there. We didn’t see any rays primarily as we didn’t get in the sea in the stiff breeze we faced there, but the beach and the scene were awesome nevertheless.