augusta

Augusta was a 3 hour drive away from Valley of the Giants. As accommodation was foremost on our minds, we went hunting for one the minute we arrived in the Shire of Augusta. What a nice LOTRish sounding name, eh?

After flipping through some tourist guides, and consulting the resident tourist information kiosk, we decided on the Leeuwin Ridge Chalets. Self-contained chalets complete with kitchen, fireplace and a DVD player wor…

It was simply a.m.a.z.i.n.g. The chalet was at the other end of the spectrum to what we experienced at the Premier “My Ass” Hotel. Overlooking lush greenery with rich fauna in the form of birds, I would highly recommend the Leeuwin Ridge Chalets to anyone who’s looking for a nice, clean and comfortable place at a very affordable rate of A$130 (just divide it amongst your party and you’ll see how value-for-money it is!). The "locals" are so friendly, look who came to greet us! :)

Welcome to my neighbourhood, where's the food? Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Or I'll shite all over your car! :p


How many blue birds can you count?


Aussie name: Blue Wren
Hokkien name: LJ


Eh! Kwah simi lan jiao? !#$@!?!




View of the great outdoors from our veranda.

If I ever had a kitchen with a view like this, damn! I'd be cooking your breakfast, lunch AND dinner ;)
(To SFC: We bought the dijhonnaise but thanks for the ketchup!)

Homecooked steak & spaghetti. Yums. Paiseh, I had no part in this, except chopping of the onions :/ Mostly conjured up by fatboy's bro-in-law.

Do not disturb. Men at work.

Early the next morn, we left for Margaret River but made a stop by the Leeuwin Lighthouse. Note to tourists: Check opening times of attractions beforehand.




Don't have lighthouse, so take picture with the signboard lor.

Lake Caves.

From what I've seen so far, aussies take a lot of pride in their tourists attractions. Creatively designed walkways and displays are the common theme. One can see that a lot of effort and moolah's been pumped into them. So unlike certain attractions in Ipoh. hehe



Got my point? ;) Anyhoo, it was difficult taking photos inside Lake Cave cuz of the poor lighting :/ Once everyone made it to the end of the cave, the guide asked for all to switch off any light-emitting devices and then he turned off all the lights in the cave. Then, he proceeded to swtich them on, starting from the furthest side. It was beautiful and everyone was quietly admiring the ancient artwork of mother nature.


Nah, I did not dig that from my nose. It's a huge-ass piece of crystal!

Next stop: Fine-dining (or lunching, rather) at Voyager Estate, Margaret River.

Now, this was recommended by 8 days and I had some sort of expectations like GREAT food and nice wine...sigh. Perhaps a can of Yeo's Winter Melon Teo and a bowl of Boon Kee prawn noodle from stall #01-21 at Amoy St would have given me a lot more satisfaction baby. Or, I'm just not cut out to be high-society. teehee.










Yea, I had the 2002 Semillion. Pui! Tasted more like "similan" (oh, pardon my french!)

As roses have been associated with premium win making for centuries, Voyager Estate has two formal gardens with over 1,600 roses planted! And If you hadn't noticed at all, I love taking photos of flowers :p Not very creative with the shots, but I think flowers look best taken from the top...







Looks like I wasn't the only rose amongst the thorns ;)