Day 22 Margaret River

Surfer's Point Beach.

Tree palms.

The entrance to Lake Cave.

Lake Cave.

Mamouth Cave.

A stand of Karri trees.

The third largest type of tree in the world.

Saturday, October 1^st.

I stayed at the YHA. I decided to rent a car and drive south to Margaret River. This is wine growing region full of wineries, and breweries too. It is a very touristy area in a beautiful area of WA. Along the coast there are beautiful beaches and inland there are forests of tall trees and caves.

I drove for about three hours along the state highway through a variety of farms and forests before reaching the Cave Road. This is a secondary road that winds its way south. It felt strange to be driving again and to be alone. I listened to music and enjoyed my time. I drove to Surfers Point Beach, where they host an international surfing competition every year. Unfortunately, the weather was really cool and windy. The surf was huge and there was no sign of any surfers. Obviously too dangerous even for the best.

Then I bought a ticket to see two of the caves. I chose Lake Cave and Mammouth Cave. To enter Lake Cave I had to descend 300 steps. Inside were stalactites and stalagmites formed as the slightly acidic water from above leeched through the rock and dissolved it. The process takes about a year for the water to seep through from the surface and thousands of years for the stalactites to grow. The walk through took about a half hour. Then I drove further to Mammouth Cave. This one is easier to access and has a huge cavern inside that could hold a ten story building. There was an even better display of stalactites in it. The exit took a path back to the car park through a karri tree forest. These trees are beautiful and a light grey in colour.

I continued to drive around and eventually got to the town of Margaret River. This is a small tourist town full of shops, restaurants and bars. I found a little pizza place and had a pizza and a local beer. Then I found a room in a motel and holed up for the night.