Augusta and Alexandra Bridge

We drove from Margaret River to Hamelin Bay, a little bit further south. We are enjoying all these short distances again. Much like driving around Victoria. Even the scenery is very similar, lots of beautiful trees and very green. At Hamelin Bay we were lucky enough to see lots of enormous stingrays and eagle rays swimming in the shadows. They were so close that the kids could pat them.







Next stop was Augusta, which is where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean, at Cape Leeuwin. There his a lighthouse there, one of the tallest in the southern hemisphere. We had plank Ed to climb it but it was going to cost over $70 for the family so we decided to walk around the grounds instead. Like the last lighthouse, the kids were most interested in the resident ghosts. There are apparently a few around including a lady who died after a fall and one of the old lighthouse keepers. None of us saw them much to Jack's disappointment.






We then drove a bit further south to the Alexandra Bridge campground on the Blackwood River. This was a great place to stop. We had planned on just an overnight stop but ended up staying 2 nights and could have stayed a lot longer if we had more time. We could have a fire so the boys finally got to light a fire with the flints they got for their birthdays.




It was a peaceful bush setting with good facilities and only $20 a night. Well it was peaceful until we arrived anyway! There were even dolphins swimming in the river every morning.



A bit hard to see in the photo but those are the 2 dolphin's fins you can see on the other side of the river.

The boys drove into Augusta for a couple of hours to try fishing again but still nothing. Luckily we had bought some fresh fish from Augusta on the way through! As usual the kids weren't happy about leaving. We find they enjoys themselves so much more when we are bush camping than when we stay at caravan parks. But we needed to keep moving in order to see the southern forests and then get back to Perth for Christmas.