Margaret River Road Trip
Our first Australian road trip
Limestone stalactites and helictites in Jewel Cave
✒️ Written by: Abbie
While spending a month in Western Australia, we knew we wanted to embark on a lil' road trip—a practice run for the eight weeks on the road we would be tackling later. We considered trying to make it to Exmouth or Esperance, but decided we didn't have enough time to do those places justice, and didn't quite trust the car we'd be using to take us that far! We settled on three days in the Margaret River region to get our feet wet, which left us plenty more time to keep enjoying Fremantle. We packed our bags and hit the road, ultimately making it quite a spontaneous expedition.
Day 1
We started off with a Woolies trip in Freo to buy enough food to last us three days. With a packed cool bag and a full tank of fuel, we started driving south and our first stop was Busselton Jetty. This is the longest pier in the southern hemisphere at 1.841km, extending out into Geographe Bay in the Indian Ocean. Honestly, the weather was not great, with the weather gods deciding we'd been spoiled with sunny days in NZ and Perth, and the start of the cooler months making themselves known. It was windy out at sea on the jetty, and the clouds threatened rain. Luckily, they only gave in and started pouring just as we arrived back to the car after the long walk up and down the jetty. (No, we did not pay to get the little train to the end, we're too fit and poor for that.)
It was a lovely walk filled with history and the blustery ocean. From one of the fishing platforms, we saw a crab taking refuge from the waves on a beam underneath the jetty. The gift shop was well-stocked and the cafe looked quaint, but we opted for a bread and cheese picnic in the car instead.
Afterwards, we kept driving south and made it to Margaret River. As a famous wine region, obviously wine tasting was on our to-do list. We stopped at Stella Bella winery and sampled a few glorious whites and reds, while enjoying their rustic atmosphere. With our campsite nearby, we got pitched up for the night in time for some kangaroo spotting at dusk.
With a tip-off from a seasoned Margaret River visitor, we found Kevill Road which loops round outback houses and sprawling gardens where kangaroos gather at dawn and dusk. Still new to Oz, we'd not seen many kangaroos in the wild yet and were thrilled to see so many grazing in peoples' gardens here. We returned to the campsite for a cosy night in our tent.
Day 2
Get ready for a jampacked day!
After scrambling to disassemble our tent and re-pack the car in time for checkout, we started our day at Mammoth Cave. This incredible limestone cave is around 500m long inside, and is probably the most impressive cave we have ever visited. We embarked on the self-guided tour, equipped with headsets which provided running commentary on each section of the cave. We took our time moseying through, our jaws dropping at the sheer amount of stalactites dangling from the ceiling and stalagmites reaching up to try and meet them.
The coolest part of the cave is the zygomaturus jawbone: a large marsupial which once roamed these parts. The jawbone is around 50,000 years old and preserved in the wall of the cave. This giant wombat-like creature is now extinct, so it was amazing to see evidence of its existence in the cave.
The exit of the cave takes you out into Australian forest, for a short bush walk back to the centre (and gift shop, of course!).
Our next stop was in Boranup Karri Forest, where towering karri trees stretch for miles across the undulating forest floor. These impressive eucalyptus trees with smooth trunks lined the side of Caves Road as we drove through, enjoying every second of the forest drive. We stopped at a lookout for an in-car picnic and a wander through the trees, some of which reach 60m in height.
We continued our drive south through the forest, and made it to Jewel Cave for the second cave tour of the day. This time, it was a guided tour, so we browsed the gift shop while waiting for our tour to begin. A large group of us gathered, eager to see what the cave had in store. Spoiler alert: we were not disappointed.
Though both limestone, Mammoth Cave and Jewel Cave were totally different vibes inside. While Mammoth Cave took us on a winding tour through 500 metres of underground wonderland, Jewel Cave opened up into huge chambers between tiny tunnels. The latter also boasts the fact it is the largest viewable cave in Western Australia.
This beautiful organ-like structure was our favourite part.
And these natural tree (or broccoli) shaped formations in the stone were incredibly fascinating.
It was amazing to hear about the cave's history from the tour guide, including how the cave was first discovered by someone needing to literally abseil down a tiny hole in the ground into the cavern they knew existed below. No thanks!
However, once again the most impressive part of this cave was the remains of now-extinct animals. The skeleton of a thylacine, also known as a Tasmanian tiger, was discovered in Jewel Cave, and now on display in the visitor centre above ground. It was much smaller than I imagined a Tasmanian tiger to be, but proves the existence of these legendary animals sadly no longer with us. While the last thylacine passed away in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936, they have been extinct on mainland Australia for over 3000 years, so this skeleton is certainly aged.
After Jewel Cave, we headed the furthest south we will go in Western Australia (on this trip!) and arrived at Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse for the final tour of the day.
This beautiful lighthouse sits on the most south-westerly point of Australia and sees the Indian Ocean meet the Southern Ocean. It's also the tallest lighthouse in mainland Australia.
The immensity of this place along with the power of the ocean surrounding it was undeniably evident, as the wind blew a gale and we felt how far away we were from civilisation. Three little houses dotted the road leading up to the lighthouse, where the lighthouse workers and their families once lived full-time, far away from any other towns or villages. It was difficult to truly fathom what life would have been like for those families. Ever-windy, ever-loud, and ever-lonely sprang to mind.
We met our tour guide and started the ascent up the spiral staircase encircling the inner walls of the lighthouse. Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is 39m in height, with lots of stairs to get to the top. We made it, and James had his nerd moment looking at the beacon and its mechanics. We stepped outside onto the gallery deck and—without getting blown away—admired the 360 degrees views. Luckily, we found the sheltered side to take non-windswept photos.
With the lighthouse mission complete, we took the winding road back to populated parts and pitched up our tent at the next campsite in Augusta. After a quick sunset walk by the bay to see if we could spot any stingrays (no luck), we enjoyed a glass of wine and campsite cooking to chill out after such a great day.
Day 3
After deconstructing our tent once again, we started the final day of our road trip driving back up north towards Hamelin Bay. This beach is well known for stingray sightings, so we took a morning stroll along the sand to try our luck. And lucky we were, as we managed to spot a couple of stingrays and watched as the grey circular blobs swam along the shallow coastline, floating in the waves.
Continuing north, we drove back through Margaret River and parked up at The Margaret River Chocolate Factory. We feasted on the location's delicacies not only with our eyes, but also with our mouths at the free tasting desk where three big tubs of chocolate buttons in milk, white, and dark flavours awaited hungry visitors. This chocolate was truly delicious, and we went a little crazy in the shop buying chocolate quokkas, numbats, buttons, and even cupcakes made purely from cashew nuts set into chocolate.
Of course, the visit wasn't complete without a few minutes staring through the big glass windows into the chocolate factory and watching everything being crafted. We sat outside in the factory's garden to eat some of our purchases, and spotted a large kookaburra eyeing up our goods.
Next up, we headed to Injidup Natural Spa, hoping to stop for a swim and capture some Instagram worthy shots. However, the weather was not on our side. While this can be a stunning place to swim in a natural spa pool carved out by the sea, by this point in our travels the Australian autumn had fully set in and we were met with a cold wind and some splatters of rain. Nevermind, it's just another reason to come back to the west coast some day!
The weather was not going to truly spoil our road trip, though. We drove up to Meelup Beach which, usually, exhibits the gorgeous turquoise sea and warm sand of these parts. With the cloud coverage, I can't truthfully say the sea was anything incredible, but we went for a swim nonetheless. Us British folks can handle a cold dip, and it honestly wasn't even that bad. Of course, James still complained it was too cold, while simultaneously lathering himself in suncream to escape the nonexistent sun.
Having ticked off these adventures earlier in the day than anticipated, we decided to add a further stop to our journey before making it all the way back up to Perth. We'd heard loads of good stuff about Mandurah and not yet had chance to visit, so we found a car park on Google Maps and made our way there. Of course, just as we left the beach the sun came out...
It was still sunny when we arrived in Mandurah, and very busy. We ducked in and out of car parks till we found one with a spot. Grabbing the sunglasses and popping back to the car for the ketchup in our cool bag, we snapped up some fish and chips from a nearby chippy and sat on the harbour wall to eat.
Afterwards, we strolled along the water's edge, crossed quaint footbridges over waterways where dolphins swam and tourists crowded, and found ourselves at a waterside bar in the marina. Cocktails in hand, we watched as the sun faded from view and left the dusky sky pale blue and orange.
Content with our incredible road trip introducing us to the southern end of Western Australia, we strolled back along the waterfront, walking off the drinks and fish and chip bloat. We finished off the short remainder of the journey home to Fremantle, and called our first Australian road trip a true success.