Days 281 to 293.
Our first stop after Perth was Mandurah. The main reason for this stop was The Cut golf course!! 
What a great course – even though Peter again complained about the occasional unsighted shots we had to play we both agreed it was one of the best courses we have played (even though we lost our way during the game – we ended up playing the 18th twice!
Mandurah’s marina precinct is something else. It has been very well designed and is dotted with cafes, restaurants and boardwalks.
We used Mandurah as a base to see the surrounding area. Harvey is the centre of an agricultural region. We did some historical stuff, did the obligatory Harvey Cheese tasting (yum), and visited the first of many wineries.
Did I mention the chocolate factory we visited in Mandurah?
Just down the road we went to see the thromolites (a close cousin of the stromatolites we saw at Hamelin Bay).
The Serpentine Falls National Park is another spot we visited!
Busselton was our next stop. Lots to do here as it was the beginning of the Margaret River wine region.
Our visit was made up of lots of wine tasting, some olive tastings, a lighthouse tour, caves and whale watching!!!
A typical day involved cheese, yoghurt, wine, nougat, chocolate AND chocolate liqueur!!(yum!).
A highlight was the Busselton Jetty.
(We travelled by train along the 1.8km wooden pier to an underwater observatory at the end! and…. we did this with Roger and Sue Macgibbon from Port Macquarie who we ‘bumped into’ as we were about to purchase our tickets!!! Talk about a small world.
The beginning of Sheena’s tree fascination began here with our attempt to find the Tuart trees. The world’s only tall Tuarts (a eucalyptus) grow in this area. They can grow to 40m tall!
We played golf at Dunsborough Lakes Golf Course. 
It had some great holes including the 18th! It jumps up on you. There is a water carry off the tee, then…… another unseen water carry into the green. It is rated index 1 and was definitely the hardest hole on the course!
The caves in the area were great to visit! The Yallingup Cave was spectacular and the Lakes Cave with its 300+ steps and the reflections in its underground lake was amazing! We had a tour of 2!!! Very personalized.
We stayed a couple of nights at Margaret River and did a drive to the coast. We saw great beaches but NO waves in site. 
A special winery visit was the Windance winery. It is owned by Drew who we played golf with. It had great wines and of course $ were spent.
We visited Margaret River Venison and indulged -our freezer became quite full!
We drove to Cape Leeuwen Lighthouse. It is the SW most point in Australia. 
The Indian and Southern Oceans meet here.
gunnsaroundaus 