DAY 217 - 22/09/2010 - Dunsborough, WA

Another beautiful and awesome day. A perfect day for some pancakes for brekky then off to do some whale watching on a boat charter.

As the boat was zooming across the water we could see the whales breaching on the horizon. We were so excited.

As soon as we got up close to them, the buggers stopped breaching and seemed to swim away from the boat. We could see their humps and the spray mist from their blowholes every now and then but that was it for what seemed like ages.

The captain cut the engine hoping this will make them come close to the boat but this didn't work. They restarted the engine hoping the vibrations will make them curious. Suddenly out of no where one appears right next to the boat.

It swam under us, around us and kept showing its face and checking us out.

It would show off its tail and fin regularily. It was an absolutely awesome experience. One that will be hard to top.

On our way back to shore we came across seals basking on some rocks and a pod of whales playing and constantly showing their fins. They appeared to be waving to us. The girls thought this was very cool.

Back to the van for lunch and Waz and I fell asleep basking in the sun. Nothing beats an afternoon cat nap. This life is tough.

We finally found our reserve tank of energy and headed off for a drive around the area. The Margaret River wine region in particular.

We left it quite late in the afternoon and managed to only get as far as the Bootleg Brewery and there we tried their selection of beers. Great little place to spend the afternoon. Relaxing atmosphere and scenic surrounds. Should of come here earlier in the day and spent more time here I say.

Our favourites were the Sou' West Wheat and the Wils Pils. They were both award winning beers. The Raging Bull beer was disgusting. The Brewery is kid friendly and has a playground for them to enjoy. Needless to say it was a great afternoon for the Jelfs family.

We ended the night with a woodfired bbq dinner and an early bedtime for all.

DAY 216 - 21/09/2010 - Busselton, WA & Dunsborough, WA

Woke up to a beautiful cloudless day, showers, breakfast and back on the road again and our next stop is only a short distance away, Dunsborough.

We are staying at the Dunsborough Lakes Caravan Park. This park is very quiet. It feels like we are the only travellors here as we are surrounded by vacant sites. There are lots of resident vans and dongers and this place has a Quentin Tarantino eery feel. I would imagine this place is popular in the summer months and school holiday period as I am told Dunsborough is a popular holiday destination. We want to get out and sight see so we only unpack a few things while the girls play on the playground directly opposite our site. The playground is very retro and they love it. Tyre swings, wooden see-saw, spinning chairs, timber forts and so on.

We drive out to the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park and we take in the lookouts along the way. Here we see Smiths Beach, Yallingup Reef and Cape Naturaliste. We also follow a walking trail near the lighthouse to check out the views from there.

Smiths Beach - A popular surf break here

Yallingup Reef

Yallingup Reef

Yallingup Reef - Can't remember what we are laughing at.

There are a lot of winerys and brewerys in Dunsborough. Its such a pretty town and its a little bit posh.

We spent the afternoon at the Countrylife Farm. Here the girls could hold, pat and feed many farm animals.

One of many cool chickens

The llamas and the alpacas were a crowd favourite. One in particular was huge and if he caught glimpse of the girls coming his way he would bolt down to the fence and boy did he look funny when he got a run up. The girls thought he was hilarious.

This goat was a real guts.

This place also had huge inflatable slides and an indoor and outdoor play area.

We returned home and the girls got to play in the playground some more while we unpack some more and get dinner organised.