South to Margaret River

We left Fremantle after the prison tour and headed for Bunbury. After an overnight stop; a morning coffee and a walk through the town in the damp weather we left for Margaret River via Busselton and Simmo's Ice Cream.

We arrived in Busselton around lunchtime and ate looking out to sea and the longest wooden pier in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately it was closed for renovations and the weather was pretty windy anyway so we didn't venture down it.

On our way to Simmo's (recommended by Frommers 2010 guide) the wind picked up even more and when we parked up sizeable branches were being blown off the trees into the car park and narrowly missed us! The Ice Cream parlour was worth the visit - they had so many flavours to choose from, it took us a while to order. In the end I opted for a waffle with Ferrero Rocher ice cream and Rich went for a waffle with Malteaser ice cream. These were throughly enjoyed but as the power kept cutting out and the doors kept being blown open we decided it was probably best to head to the campsite asap!

The journey down to Margaret River was fun avoiding all the falling branches and fighting the wind as it buffeted the van. We arrived at a lovely campsite but due to the weather we weren't able to walk into town so we spent the evening in the camp kitchen and van. That night we met a nice couple from Halifax who took all our $1 coins for the dryer and then plied us with freebies in the morning as they were flying home that night.

The following day the weather had settled down and the sun even made an appearance from time to time. We went on a day tour which was discounted through the campsite. We went to four wineries, a venison farm, a chocolate factory, a cheese shop and finished up at a brewery. We met a couple from Ireland on the tour who were also staying at the campsite. Earlier that morning we also met a couple from the USA who were travelling. As it turned out it would not be the last time that we would see either couple as they were heading in the same direction as us.