Far Horizons
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday May 8, 2004
On Australia's west coast, Andrew Harvey drinks beer at wineries, while the tourist spots leave him perplexed.
The plan was to fly into Perth and assess the options. On landing we discover a curious thing: there are no options. Unless you have six months - or a Ferrari - there are no agonising decisions about which direction to travel from Perth. To the north lies 1300 kilometres of barren road to the dolphins at Monkey Mia. East is a seven-hour drive to Kalgoorlie. South is a compact landscape of pristine beaches, karri forests and wineries. So we head south.
Busselton faces Geographe Bay, three hours' south of Perth. Sightseeing in the town revolves around the main attraction, the Busselton jetty. At 1.8 kilometres long, it is advertised as the largest timber jetty in the southern hemisphere. It is not advertised as the only tolled jetty in either hemisphere, but there is a charge for walking down it. Many take umbrage at this charge. Disgruntled tourists see the box office on shore and shake their heads in disgust. They turn around and face the town, a motley collection of anonymous shops. They gaze at the endless sand in either direction along the beach. They turn back, consult their partner, then pay the fare. It is hard to beat a monopoly.
The only way around this injustice is to catch the train, a little red caboose transporting elderly and curious people the length of the jetty. Of course, there is also a charge for this journey, but it attracts less hostility. People expect to pay for trains, even miniature ones. Most visitors proceed to the underwater observatory at the end of the jetty, where their wallets are opened again.
The newly opened observatory provides an underwater view of the bay from a depth of eight metres. Informed staff patiently explain the colourful marine life, the recent fire which engulfed the jetty, and why the dolphins have not yet arrived. Leaving the tour, I gaze back to shore past two kilometres of fishing lines. Below the jetty must be the 38th parallel of the fish world. No wonder dolphins avoid it.
At Margaret River I discover a curious thing: I really don't like wine. I do like wine if the beer has run out, but not particularly before that point. Here, at the home of sauvignon blanc, I imbibe wheat beer at the Bootleg Brewery and scoff cake at the Margaret River Chocolate Company. We stay long enough to discover who Margaret was (a cousin of the pioneering Bussell family), but no longer. It is time to escape the heat.
Caves Road is the scenic coastal road running from Cape Naturaliste, near Busselton, towards Augusta in the south. Extraordinary limestone caves can be explored in this area. Their Aboriginal names reflect complex myths and mysteries of the underworld where giant wombats and other strange fauna once roamed.
Unfortunately, much has been lost in translation. True, Lake Cave has a lake in it, and Mammoth Cave is a very large cave. At 500 metres by 30 metres, a self-guided tour through this grotto is a fascinating, eerie experience. The historic significance of preserved fossils and footprints is explained and soft lighting reveals dramatically formed stalactites. Still, we must be able to do better than One Tree Hill, Big River and Mammoth Cave. I scan the map looking for Dark Cave, but it seems a line has at least been drawn somewhere.
Near the caves looms an unusual karri forest. Tall trees completely fill the canvas, a dense mass of karri trunks and leaves. From the road, the outlook lacks a dimension: brown poles divide the lush mass but depth cannot be perceived. No sky, no cloud, no background is visible through the trees. Such arresting diversions are constant in this corner of the world.
Augusta is not exciting. The town of the far south is a fantastic place to watch whales, if there are whales. If not, it is simply a place to watch the Southern and Indian oceans meet. The sleepiest of hollows has one major attraction: the 19th-century Cape Leeuwin waterwheel built to pump water to the nearby lighthouse. This feature is apparently the most photographed object in the state. Tourists whale-watch in winter and wheel-watch in summer.
Three hours east is the riverside town of Denmark. There is nothing rotten in the town of Denmark, except the trunks of the red tingle trees. Unique to the area, the huge hollowed tingles form part of the famous Valley of the Giants. The sight of such towering forests seems incongruous. Before arriving I had imagined Western Australia as a state of ocean and desert, where the idea was to stay closer to the former. Yet the diversity of species is striking: tall tuart and tingle trees are unique to the state, as are thousands of wildflower species.
We pass through the valley via the famed Tree Top Walk. An elevated walkway loops around a section of the tingle forest via a suspension bridge supported by four broad pillars. The whole structure is deliberately designed to sway so the experience feels more natural for visitors. There is, however, nothing natural about walking 100 feet above solid ground. Children shake the rails for fun and families race each other around the loop, stopping only to take blurry photos of blurs further ahead of them. Some look down, others do not. For some, the great outdoors will look better from the great indoors, when the photos are viewed from the safety of the sofa.
More relaxing is a visit to nearby Green's Pool. This tranquil and turquoise lagoon lies on the otherwise wild Southern Ocean. A sheltered bay and granite islands have completely sheltered the beach from ocean swells. Flat, cool and quiet, this is surely one of the finest swimming holes in the country. The water is not warm and it is 400 kilometres from Perth, but Green's Pool is the best-kept secret of the south-west.
The easternmost point of our journey is Albany, WA's oldest settlement. Founded in 1826, the town's beginnings as a whaling centre are commemorated at Whale World. There are no fluffy toy whales for children to cuddle here; instead there are three giant tanks which still smell of whale oil, a whaling ship complete with harpoon and guided tours of the flensing deck.
Flensing may sound like a fun Scandinavian sport but it involves cutting the blubber off the whale's carcass. Needless to say, this was a messy and unpleasant job and its intricacies are conveyed in great detail. Whaling was conducted here until 1978 and the tour highlights the cruelty and crudity of the practice. The display focuses on whaling rather than whales though - animal lovers may prefer the alpaca farm back at Denmark.
In Albany, the options are stark. Esperance is too far, another five hours' west. The alternative is to return directly to Perth along the lone, straight highway. The tyranny of distance has again liberated us from decision-making. There is to be no map-reading angst and no poring over navigational possibilities. In the south-west corner, all is one obvious, glorious route through nature, culture and history.
Destination Western Australia
Getting there: Both Qantas (131 313) and Virgin Blue (136 789) fly from Sydney to Perth. Contact the airlines for schedule and fare details.
Being there: Margaret River is a popular base from which to explore the south-west. Contact the Margaret River Visitor Centre on (08) 9757 2911 or www.margaretriver.com for details of accommodation and touring options.
© 2004 Sydney Morning Herald
