This delightful stretch of coast starts to the south in Augusta and runs straight up the rugged coastline to Eagle Bay & Dunsborough. Multiple national parks, numerous caves and, of course, the Margaret River food and wine district are the highlights of this little journey which is quite achievable in a day – depending on how much wine tasting you plan to indulge in!

We arrived at Augusta & Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse late in the day. This where the Southern & Indian Oceans meet.

This old waterwheel was built to transport water along a wooden channel from a spring to the lighthouse builders. The wheel is so salt encrusted now it looks like stone.

Our first glimpse of the Indian Ocean… not too bad!

We managed to find a most unlikely bush camp almost in the heart of Augusta near the airport and had our first taste of Marron (a large fresh water crayfish) we had purchased in Pemberton. Despite the overnight rains we packed up in the sunshine and headed north. First stop was the Jewel Cave just as the first tour was about to leave. Only 4 of us to enjoy the natural beauty of this amazing cave discovered in 1959 when a curious local went down the small open shaft that provided a cool breeze from the earth’s depths. To our amazement there is the tap root of a Karri tree penetrating the roof of this cave and imbedded in the floor, 15 to 20m below the surface!

We then meandered through an amazing mix of National Parks and farmland to the legendary Margaret River. This area has received the full gourmet food and wine makeover that makes it such a popular holiday destination. We followed the recommendation of locals we had met at a roadhouse on the Nullarbor and called at Brown Hill which has great wine without the resort makeover that some of the larger wineries have.

Master taster at work – all these bottles yet to sample. Can’t really remember much of the day after that!

I reckon you pay more for the wine at this place… pretty fancy mate!

The tasting was fun and a carton of their produce is on it’s way to our home in Melbourne as I type this. Lunch in the gardens at the nearby Berry Factory was delicious and a final stop at Yahava coffee roasters to top up our supply of beans.

Yes there is a “Maragaret River” and here she is flowing peacefully through the township.

On the way out of town we called at a Deer Farm which supplied all sorts of exotic game meats. Venison steaks and chorizo in the fridge for coming meals but Virginia would not entertain the crocodile sausages or goat, duck, rabbit, etc… Having done our little bit to bolster the local tourism trade (we really blew our budget this week) we drove through countless picture perfect vineyards with the sun low across the autumn vine leaves to arrive at days end at the northern lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste. A sunset walk around the lighthouse and headland was the perfect end to a day of stunning scenery, natural beauty and amazing tourist attractions.

Where do you camp at the end of a perfect day… try one of these amazingly cheap church-owned waterfront campsites just out of Busselton.        Ah the serenity!