In our short time in Perth, we will only have one holiday weekend with both Sharon and I in town and we wanted to visit some of the coast on the Great Southern Ocean – the “best” beaches on the Great Southern Ocean at about 7 hours from Perth at Esperance, so we plotted out a trip to Albany and the Torndirrup National Park and work our way back along the coast back up to the west coast and Indian Ocean. But Sharon ended up having to make a quick trip back to the USA so we kept the plans loose
Sharon landed about 3pm, after 30 plus hours she was a champ as she was up for the trip. We repacked her and then drove about 5 hours to the coast town of Albany.
Torndirrup National Park
The next day we went to Torndirrup National Park – which was a peninsula with protected beaches bayside and ocean side with beaches on the Great Southern Ocean that were too rough for swimming. Spectacular beaches on both the bay and the ocean.
Elephant Rocks and Green Pool
After Torndirrup, we drove over to some other recommended beaches – Elephant Rocks and Green pool. Although these were oceanside, they were protected by reefs and good swimming areas for a great sunset.
Manijumup
We ended up in the middle of no where to spent the night – Manijumup – 8:30pm on a Saturday night everywhere was closed. So we had a big gas station breakfast the next morning.
Cape Leeuwin
On Sunday we went to the most southwestern point of Australia where the Great Southern Ocean met the Indian Ocean, at Cape Leeuwin and started working our way up the coast.
Margaret River Town
We spend a day in Margaret River town and it was a bit surprising when we arrived in Margaret River town that there were no wine tasting rooms. We could barely find a place to eat at 2pm on a Sunday and ended up at a Kabob place. So we drove to a couple of wineries, both were very nice where we relaxed the rest of the afternoon. Once back in town, we couldn’t find a good place to eat until 8:45pm – so we were walking along the river in town and heard some music and saw some 5 year olds running around unsupervised in the forest. We followed them for a bit and ultimately came across the Margaret River Brewing company (and they went back to the parents who weren’t too concerned – a very 1970s vibe). Stayed there and listened to music for a bit before dinner at La Scarpetta Trattoria – highly recommended in an old hotel with good food.
Wandering down by the river, heard music and saw some small children and we followed into the forest and ended up at the Margret River brewing company that had a band and nice outside area. Ironically we could find a brewery but not a proper wine bar in one of the top wine towns in Australia.
Mouth of the Margaret River
We then followed the river to the Indian Ocean – similar to other places in Australia, the river does not spill into the ocean directly as there is a large sand bar and only during flooding does the river flow into the ocean. So surfing on one side and kayaking in calm water on the other side.
Yallingup Beach
Our last stop before heading back north to Perth was Yallingup, which has one of the best reputations for near shore snorkling (although a little cold this far south). It was good – probably best that I found in the greater Perth area, but the aren’t coral reefs – just rock reefs that protect you from the waves. The attraction is clear, calm water and white sand with grassy areas – but all of the fish are white, silver, or black no bright colors.
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