Day 158 – Cape Lleuwin – Thierings on Tour

This morning the girls finally got to catch up with their friends, the Douglass boys and they were super happy about it!

The rope swing was a particular hit and it seemed like they would have been happy just staying there the entire day, ha ha. We walked down to the beach if we might be any luckier in spotting stingrays today, but it was the same windy, overcast and seaweed heavy beach as yesterday. The only excitement was a rescue helicopter flying overhead.

Instead we ventured out past Augusta and to Cape Lleuwin Lighthouse. It was a scenic drive, first through the forest and then along the coast. What’s special about this area is that it’s where the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. The current at the two meeting points is very noticeable!

The big kids had a lighthouse tour booked, but sadly Scarly was too little to go, much to her disappointment! So we dropped the big kids and dads off and went for a walk around. We admired the view out to the water and looked for whales, but didn’t see any on this occasion. From here, the whales head to Antarctica which is only about 3,500 kilometres away…

Soon enough we saw the gang at the top of the lighthouse and as we waved to each other Scarly couldn’t believe how high they had climbed. From the photos Chris took and what they shared, it was an incredible view.
No one shared anything about the history of the lighthouse from the tour, so I can’t comment on that.

Back on land, we had a further look at some of the different vantage points and admired the views. Then it was off to the museum to explore how the lighthouse keepers lived and worked. Scarly particularly liked listening to the radio signals, while the big kids loved seeing the footage about how signals worked and the slow automation of the process.

After a busy morning it was off to the bakery for a well-earned lunch and treat. With full bellies we started driving back to camp, but as Scarly fell asleep the rest of us decided on a new plan and instead drove to Mammoth Cave. It is a self-guided tour, which was a big hit with the kids and we all said how incredible it is that the caves can look so different to each other.

There were some incredible stalagmites, stalactites, columns, straws and other formations here too. The other difference was the water! Whilst Jewel cave has completely dried out over the years, there was plenty of water in Mammoth Cave.

It was also cool to see all the specimen of fish bones, jaws and other fossils in the rocks. It’s incredible to think how long these have been preserved so well.

The way out of the cave included 160 stairs up and of course that was the time she needed only mama to carry her. Lucky me 🤪

Then it was a beautiful walk through some lush vegetation. Izzy’s hay fever was getting real by the end of the walk though, so we got through there quickly and headed back to camp.