How many of those “World’s best <whatever>!!” have you seen? Hundreds? Thousands? And who decides anyway—who says that the <whatever> is the BEST in the ENTIRE world?
Well, a burger bar in nearby Manjimup won’t proclaim that they’re the world’s best – they think they ‘possibly’ are! Maybe, maybe not… who’s to say. No, I haven’t tried a burger from there yet – though I’m tempted!
| Summer is coming and we know we’re about 75 mins from the Busselton beaches and a similar distance from the Bunbury beaches. Busselton would be my preference—the beaches are calmer being in the corner of Geographe Bay, and there are cafes etc. pretty much on the beach. I grew up on Bunbury beaches and the back beaches are notorious for rips, dumping etc. Not pretty. |  |
But there’s another beach within two hours of Bridgetown—on the south coast of Western Australia. So we took a drive to Windy Harbour today to check it out. The drive was a little longer than I’d expected based on the distance (90 mins), but that’s because the road is fairly narrow and winding. Beautiful drive though, through some fantastic forested areas especially between Pemberton and Northcliffe. Of course, a glorious spring day helped!
We checked out the Windy Harbour beach, but that’s not for us. The fishing boats come in and out of there, there’s seasonal seaweed piled up and stinking on the beach, and it’s bloody windy!!! Guess it’s not called Windy Harbour for nothing…
Oh well. We figured we may never be back, so we took a drive to the Point d’Entrecasteaux lighthouse and checked out the stunning views of the Southern Ocean (next stop, Antarctica!) from the cliffs. And then we spotted it! Salmon Beach. Sheltered from the wind, in a bay, clean white sand for miles and miles, no rocks, no seaweed and no fishermen. We didn’t go on to the beach itself though a couple of people were fishing from it, but it’s a definite possibility. The only detraction—that water will be icy cold ALL year round, including at the height of summer.
Here’s my pathetic attempt at a panorama of Salmon Beach. For the full size (and better quality) photos click here and continue on the next couple of pages.
Despite pulling some 15 bags of weeds out of the front yard the past four days, they’re still winning!
I won’t even mention the back yard, especially the section down by the fruit trees. The lawnmowing people will slash that this week. It may not get rid of the weeds (oats and similar grasses, mostly, and the remnants of soursob), but at least we’ll be able to see any snakes! Until the weeds grow back again, of course…
The green patches that look like lawn (ha!) above the retaining wall in the picture below are some of the remaining weeds out the front. It’s been a wet winter, and our soil is very clay-ey so I haven’t been able to get out and attack them until now. I’ve cut a swathe through them, but it’s a big job. “Roundup” is looking increasingly attractive, even though I’m loathe to put poison into the ecosystem.
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 