We started the morning with a jaunt down to the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse to climb its 186 steps to the top.
This is the most south-westerly point of mainland Australia and is where the Southern Ocean meets meets the Indian Ocean.
A few interesting notes about this lighthouse:
– It’s Australia’s tallest lighthouse (about sea level)
– It wasn’t electrified until 1982 and wasn’t automated until 1992
– It’s light can be seen up to 25 Nautical Miles away
– The stone walls are 2m thick at its base and 1m thick at the top
Back on the road, Stephen had a morning nap in the car as we headed along Caves Road to the Mammoth Cave where we did a self-guided tour of the cave (mp3 playing units). Mammoth Cave is one of many caves in the region that are open to visitors to wander down and see the spectacular formations.
It was good to go through another cave to refresh my memory as the next show I’m doing, Floyd Collins, is about the American caver Floyd Collins.
Moving on, we dropped past the Leeuwin Estate & Flying Fish Cove wineries and squeezed in lunch overlooking the sea.
Next planned stop was the Cap Naturaliste lighthouse but we were disappointed to find it was closed and we couldn’t get anywhere near the lighthouse. It seemed to be a very small lighthouse as the bluff / cliff is very high above the ocean already.
Sugarloaf rock near Cap Naturaliste lighthouse (look for the three people on top)
Final destination for the day was Busselton, to catch the sunset at the jetty and stay the night.
One response to “Day 11 – up and down the Margaret River region”
A well rounded trip. I highly recommend coming back in spring September and October as the wild flowers in the region are stunning and you can have your own guided tour at Mammoth Cave just as you did for the cave. The whales are now breeding and migrating past Cape Leeuwin light house so you could have some amazing sightings other than the lighthouse now. Thanks for sharing and we look forward to you visiting again.