Augusta and Dunsborough

 Augusta 

Does Augusta mean gust? It sits on both the West and South coasts, it is blustery and today, also very cold. The late afternoon seems dark as we follow the narrow road between the shorn paddocks, a pair of roos bound across in front of us, leaping over the fence like its a low garden wall away from our shiny roo bars. We learn later they’re found on one property around here as the owner doesn’t shoot them. It’s sheep country here too so the paddocks are neatly trimmed and sand runs along the fence lines. Kelly and Marie welcome us at their front door, it’s been a few years so we enjoy a good catch-up and a wonderful roast dinner followed up by a colourful fruit salad and ice cream, yum. 

Before dinner we head out with Marie to let the dog have a run. We head down the lane past Marie’s parents house through the gate and tread carefully through the trees to the edge of the bay. Someone quickly spots a fin offshore and we watch in amazement as several dolphins eagerly approach, they’re soon leaping after the fish they’ve chased into the crescent we stand in. It happens so fast Ben barely has  time to capture it. 

We thoroughly enjoy catching up with Kelly and Marie - thank you for welcoming us into your home and for a scrumptious dinner. In the morning we say goodbye and trundle off to check out the Leeuwin lighthouse, which is said to be the tallest in Australia, but we find it shrouded in scaffolding which looks like a permanent staircase, the little people scurrying up and down the multitude of levels demonstrate the true height of it. We can’t get close and the wind is howling anyways so I fire up the pan and we enjoy some bacon and eggs whilst looking out over the windy point where the huge waves are crashing. 

We find ourselves in Margaret River later in the morning where we nosey around the shops and find lunch at a delicious cafe, I even got my first coffee in years and it was so good. We spend the afternoon parked up by Bunnings and the camping store where Ben buys supplies and tools to fix a few things and has a power nap. Meanwhile we smash out 2 hours of schoolwork which is great. 

Dunsborough 

We head to Dunsborough in the afternoon, which comes highly recommended and Bens uncle Scott has a lawn to camp on. We squeeze the van down the side of the house and can only manage to get half the slide out but it’s the perfect spot. We are a block from the beach in one direction and town the other. We also have a private lawn and large deck which is a great spot of our school day. 

Dunsborough is cool, Ben has Tuesday morning meetings so at 7am us girls tiptoe out of the van into the chill of the morning and head to the ‘meeting place’ which is a playground featuring lots of wooden structures, stumps, rocks and ropes to play on. It also has info boards about the local Noonga people and we read and discuss these as part of our learning for the day. After an hour here we skip over to the other play ground nearer town where the girls make a friend and soon I realise we’ve whiled away another hour. The morning is warm and this feels like a special place. 

Ben finds us in town and him and the girls sneak a doughnut before heading back to do our bookwork and all too soon we're heading out of town. It’s a great little place and we really enjoy our stop - thanks Scott and Pearl for the cool place to park, epic spot. 

Ben has our afternoon planned and it’s like something out of The Amazing Race, we swing by the Maze and make it through with fastest time in the West - 26 min, we stop by the Chocolate Factory but no one is making chocolate today, but we can't not get one of their delicious ice creams which we have to eat in the car as we have exactly four minutes to spare before our booking at the Busselton Jetty. The worlds slowest train on the longest jetty takes us the 1.8km to the Aquarium hidden deep beneath the end of the pier. 

The kids are hoping to see a shark, but only spot lots of interesting little fish and various interesting coral. Alila and Ben opt to walk back, while I wait 'patiently' with April who is keen to wait for the train. Alila finds a 10/10 adventure playground with a ship, a whale, a squid and a jetty - it was very cool. 

The kids are napping in the back after a solid fun day, the sun is setting out my window, its balmy out and there's 2.2 hrs on google maps till Coogee Beach.