The most south westerly point of Australia, Cape Leeuwin is where Australia considers the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. Nobody else does apparently. Lots of ships lost off the coast here.
I was getting tired of photographing the sea. One wave looks much like another. This brave little plant caught our eye.
Where North meets South, East meets West. Boy, was it windy. The kind that blows and blows and makes you feel tired. 
We stayed in Dubsborough a couple of nights. The town is pretty, but didn't get photographed for some reason. Yallingup beach was a sunset opportunity. This picture is not a rock garden but a cliff top flora.
In the sunset wait, I was made bag captain,
whilst the youngsters went for a paddle.
The long and the short of it was we had had a brilliant day.
As had she.
The most irritating film I have watched for a long time, if ever.
Galileo Galilei is reputed to have said,
"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself."
Today he might have said,
"If it isn't in your gene bundle, you will never get it."
This film is proof positive. Perhaps evolution will eventually make all humans empathetic Spock's.
Then 60 seconds later this huge black fin rammed into the mother whale. I estimate it to be 6 feet high. A killer whale dorsal fin.
The camera was set on action shooting at 3 frames a second. The whole thing took less that 1 second. Needless to say I was a bit stunned.
I watched this drama for 15 mins in which time the orca made at least 7 surface runs at the mum or the calf.
Before I could get the camera to my eye, it would be all over. I did get 7 runs on film. These last two show the orca going for the calf's head. I couldn't be absolutely sure, but I think there were up to 3 orcas down there.
Having been joined by Harry and Sandie, we all headed south towards Dunsborough. But had to stop at this place on the way http://www.abingdonvillage.com.au/miniatures.html. Yes, 1/12 scale models of houses you can find in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. Yes it gets very confusing....which Abingdon?....Where? well this little set up is in Mandurah.
All set in to scale gardens. wonder how I can achieve the same effect? Huuummmm., Let me see.
Perth Hills to the east of the city are the citizens natural recreational area.
The early Victorian settlers built the dam and in those days there was a railway track laid to bring the city folks for a day out.
It being spring, we were lucky enough to have the flowering plants in full bloom.
Beautiful.
Kangaroos. Now how does this work? Hopping around in a forest? Would you let your kids loose in a forest on a pogo stick? Surely sprung legs are not at their best in a thicket of trees. We saw Kangs in almost every type of environment and most notably, dead on the road. One car passing every 5/10 mins and they still get hit. No other road kill seen, just Kangs. Very odd.
Terrible isn't it? Go all that way and on the first night eat Asian. Well, the other choices were Italian or some other European fare and anyway, we are not used to paying European prices for out dinning. Had to be done, given the name and all.
In fact, the whole of SW Australia is Anglo-Saxon. Faces, the architecture, even the farms look A-S. 
With palms in the grounds brings you back to where you are.
The old prison. It wouldn't look out of place in Chester. And that brings me to place names. Perth and Scarborough on the same road sign?
Could be Brighton, yes.
and then there are these wonderful Victorian houses.
Smug or what??? come to Fremantle and find delicious coffee. Vanilla nut, macadamia to name but two. And the biggest selection of Baccarat espresso makes I have even seen. Could not resist getting this sexy little stainless steel number.
We brought along, as we always do, our own well travelled pot. The apartment with everything came with one too. They all got on swimmingly. 
Gek has a knack of booking us absolutely fantastic accommodation. This apartment had everything. Washing m/c, drier, dishwasher.........a fridge that Gek could climb in....
and what a view over the marina from our own balcony.!!!!
A short walk to the beach and sit. Bliss.
You may remember that a group of us was raising money to take some of the Lotus children on a short holiday. Well, this happened last month when Alice and Mary-Ann went to UB.
Uuganaa, sitting on the horse, is certainly growing up. Good to see him looking happy.
Isabella Bird. What an extraordinary Victorian lady. This book is a very detailed account of her visit to the Malaysian Peninsular in 1879. At that time only the coastal areas were known to the Europeans. The book starts in Hong Kong and tracks her journey down the Chinese coast via Canton (today's Guangzhou) to Singapore, up through the Straits of Malacca via Malacca itself, Klang, Penang .....need to finish the book!!!!. Her description of the state of the goals in Canton makes harrowing reading. The Malaysia she describes does still exist, but boy, you have to look very hard for it. No more do tigers and black panthers terrorise the villages and towns. Even the mosquitoes are less in evidence.
On the way to Penang this last trip, we spent a couple of days at the Tanjung Sutera Resort on the east coast of Johore State. With Anne and Betty, we were the only guests. Wonderfully quiet place, on a small cliff by the sea. Behind the resort it is a short walk to the river estuary. The ultimate in sleepy places.
