Today we left our lovely Fremantle Coach House apartment to collect our car for the next stage of our trip. We are really sorry to say goodbye to Vicki and Bill who we now feel are friends and I think they feel the same way as they plan to keep in touch and hopefully we will meet in the future as they are planning to buy a place in Italy near the lakes.
We drove off in our sparkling clean virtually brand new Toyota Camry (popular in Australia) northwards towards Cervantes. Basically it rained all the way... sometimes heavily, sometimes not so heavily! It took just under three hours to reach the little town of Cervantes where we stopped briefly before heading to our next home for 2-nights - Amble Inn owned by Anne and Bill Murray. They live on their farm which consists of over 3,000 square acres both livestock of sheep and cattle and also arable. We were not sure where to park so I went in first and had a very friendly greeting from Fred the black sheep dog (a bit of a Heinz 57 but really friendly) and his two little friends Bella and Stella (look a little like Shitzus) and equally so friendly - I knew I’d like this place. I have to say that Anne and Bill also greeted us warmly but with less jumping up and down.
Our room has a stunning view over the gardens and into the distance towards the hills, all owned by Anne and Bill. Despite our long drive, after a chat (accompanied by tea and home made cake) we got back in the car and drove to the main reason for our visit - The Pinnacles National Park. This is a truly unusual place. It is a geological feature comprising of literally thousands of sandstone pillars (some just a foot high and others which tower above you. The sky was dark with rain clouds but I think this gave a rather impressive contrast to the yellow of the sand and Pinnacles.
The final excellent end to the day was the fact that as the light got less and we walked back to to the car I noticed some movement down a walkway, on looking closely I realised it was a kangaroo and her Joey. I was so excited and even more so when the Joey allowed me to get quite close for a photo. I was careful not to get to close though in case the mother was not happy. Apparently they are Western Grey kangaroos - I did not realise there were more than one sort until I checked my wildlife ID book.
I got to drive the car back... in the rain! We were greeting by Fred, Bella and Stella and then a superb meal. I had ordered a couple of Anne’s frozen home cooked meals but she also gave us started of home made soup and then a dessert of sticky toffee pudding... all washed down with a complimentary bottle of wine - lovely.
