Day Two

Margaret River Surfing

DAY TWO

I arose to birds singing and a couple of sheep baaing.  Have a quick stroll around the property, and admire the tall Karri trees surrounding the grounds.Not to photograph at the moment so I left Rentia to make breakfast. She makes us  a lovely meal of bacon and eggs and coffee.

We sit  outside on the verandah for awhile, feeling the warmth of the sun on our backs, hearing the Kookaburra laughing watching the Jacki Winter flying and trilling from his branch, we make several attempts  to take  a photo but he flies away speedily as soon as we approach.. Rentia looks through her bird book  so we areable to look up what the bird with the black bill and black eye liner is called.   In the distance cars are travelling or turning in from Caves Road. For a moment there is silence then the cacophony of sounds start up again.

After breakfast we find  we have locked ourselves out of the house and I ask the land lady to come and let us back in to the house.  She doesn't want to leave us a spare key so she walks over to the cottage with me. I go inside and Rentia is met with a barrage of questions from our hostess. Finally we escape to set off on our holiday adventure  exploring  the wineries and the beaches which this region is  famous for.
First stop is  Xanadu, a pleasant winery with restaurant.  After a brief stop we move on to Redgate where we find we are the only visitors. Only one woman is serving and she is constantly being called on to answer the phone, welcome other visitors and assist with the wine tasting. We decide we probably wont go back there.

Following the Winery visits stop and being fortified we drive to Prevelly Park and follow the coast line as far as we can. We watch and photograph a group of surfers catching the breaks far out in the ocean, and discover the family beach  with its own special allure. Glennys considers a dip in the ocean but finds she has a whoos of a companion with her on the day.
We drive past a gracious little old church at Prevelly and then we are on our way to Gracetown  We walk under a canopy of trees and visit the memorial for the collapsed cliff victims, at the same time talking and eating our fast melting ice creams.

Then off to the last and the most impressive winery at Laurance Estate.
We meet lovely and friendly staff as well as the Owner.We gaze at the Chandeliers made of made of many wine glasses.  After a quick but memorable visits to the  toilets we walk outside and visit the lovely  rose gardens, olive trees, and water fountain with cascading flowers.

After a simply gorgeous day with Rentia doing all the hard work driving again we set off for Smith's Beach.
As we drive past the entrance I note the unit Jamie and I had stayed in, it was a surprise birthday present for him when he turned 60.

Sunset on Smith's Beach

Smith's beach is wide and long.  The sand as on all our beaches is soft and white. The day has been hot and it is still warm even though it is  late in the afternoon so there is a second top up of sun cream for both of us.
A family arrived with a dog which obviously knew its way  around and wasn't going to be kept back waiting for it's owners.  It rushes hastily past us and runs a kilometre along the beach, swimming and enjoying the crowd.
We see a lovely young couple on the beach and discover she is from France and he is from Sydney.  They had a towel wrapped around themselves and were holding each other in a soft warm embrace.  It is a moment suspended in time, a moment that wont be repeated so  Rentia takes  a lovely shot of them.  They were happy for her to send them a copy as a memory of a perfect day.

Back  home to relax over a Wild Turkey then Rentia cooks another tasty meal. Squash with fresh thyme and lemon drizzled over it, onion cheese tomato and cous cous.

After dinner Rentia finds an enormous huntsman spider on the ceiling.  Guess who stood on a chair and caught it and took it outside to the sound of Rentia calling 'you will fall be careful' and 'it might be dangerous, don't get bitten.'

Later on in the evening, we find a cockroach which wasn't so easy to catch, mainly because I can't stand the sight of them and don't ever want to go near them. This time it is Rentia's turn to remove it.

 I am happy to report Rentia moves from her bed on the floor and we both spend a comfortable last night.  Early in the morning we pack up the car and head for home. With happy memories and many photographs.