Having planned to travel to Europe this year (a trip that did not eventuate due to Covid 19), we booked a short holiday in the state’s southwest region instead.
In this corner of the state, there are tall trees, lush growth, waterfalls, moss, full rivers, and immaculately maintained walk trails and tracks.
This country and its landscape are simply spectacular. It is just an over an hour’s drive from the more popular seaside towns of Dunsborough, Yallingup, and Busselton.
The destination was Pemberton in the deep, dark south. We had rented Eucalyptus House for a three-day sojourn. The whole trip however took almost 10 days, starting in the city, and ending up back on the farm.
Leaving the city, our first lunch stop was at the Crooked Carrot, a local ‘paddock to plate’ cafe/restaurant, that uses fresh locally sourced ingredients. There is a huge, impressively designed and equipped playground for children, space, and an abundance of fresh, cool air.
On arrival at our accommodation, the temperature had dropped to a max of 13 degrees. The fire had been lit and we were in for a warm stay.
We had planned to ride our mountain bikes through the Pemberton Mountain Bike Park, bushwalk, climb the Gloucester Tree and explore the forests and national parks. On leaving Perth, we discovered we had left our bikes behind and the Gloucester Tree had been closed down due to evidence of dieback.
The town is adequately equipped but many of the breweries and restaurants were closed over the winter period. That didn’t matter, as there was lots of bush trails, rivers, and waterfalls to explore.
Like many beautiful holiday experiences, we promised to return to this part of the world. On leaving Pemberton, we traveled westwards to Nannup. The drive was winding with almost vertical hillside drops on one side and a river running parallel to the road. We stopped at Pickle & O for lunch and were welcomed by a beautiful little family-run cafe with the freshest of food and best of coffees.
Like, Pemberton, Nannup is a very pretty town and hosts the Nannup Flower and Garden Festival in August to September each year. Clearly there are lots of other things happening in Nannup but as an avid gardener, I took most notice of this event.
An hour later, we were in Dunsborough, meeting up with family. At sunset, we took the well-worn track to Yallingup to watch the sunset. Finding it hard to leave such a beautifully chilled, surfing environment, we made our way up to Caves House Hotel for dinner.
