Augusta

Yesterday was a nice sunny day with a temperature of 18C, but it felt warmer. We spent our day drinving 45 kilometres down to the town of Augusta and calling into a number of coastal sights on the way back to Margaret River.

The road follows the coast and fossilised sand dunes through scenic forest and roadside shrubs like wattle that are well out in flower at this time of the year.

On the way south, we deviated to Hamelin Bay, a popular and attractive beach. 

A 600 metre long jetty was built there in the 1800s for shipping Karri timber from the local region. Only a tiny segment remains.

Cape Leeuwin was named by Flinders in 1801 after the Dutch exploration ship the Leeuwin (meaning ‘lioness’), that visited the area in 1622. The lighthouse on the Cape is the tallest lighthouse on mainland Australia. It is still in use and open daily for tours.

I understand that twenty two ships were wrecked around Cape Leeuwin before the lighthouse was officially opened in 1896 and only one shipwreck has occurred since.

Near the lighthouse is an old water wheel that was built to power an hydraulic ram that would pump water to supply the lighthouse and keepers’ cottages. It quickly became encrusted with a coating of limestone and is now frozen in rock.

Augusta is located on the Blackwood River which stretches, as a small stream, roughly 300 kilometres from its origin in Western Australia’s wheatbelt. It flows into the Hardy Inlet and out to Flinders Bay in Augusta where it is tidal. A local company runs tours to see dolphins that live in the river. We found the old jetty is in the river car park.

On our way back to Mararet River, we followed a number of gravel roads to see a variety of coastal sights – mainly rocky headlands with stunning views of rocks and crashing waves. The roads were firm, although corrugated and bumpy in patches. This just meant that it was best to drive slowly.

Apart from the coast, there is plenty to see in this region. There are cleared areas of farmland, for example, which we will explore more today. Grass trees are common and they always make me think of that wonderful series of childrens stories about the Grug, the Birrawang (Black Boy) Tree and his adventures with local animals including Cara the python..