We did a driving tour of some of the Busselton-Yallingup area on our second day. We started at the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse where we did a tour. Our guide was a wealth of knowledge and made the facts about the lighthouse so interesting. Cape Naturaliste lighthouse was built in 1903 and had 3 lighthouse keepers at the time. They each worked a 4 hour shift during the day and a 4 hour shift at night. They used kerosene, which made the tower quite smoky and the lighthouse keepers very sleepy. The spiral staircase was so small, with tiny treads on each of the steps, I can't imagine how sleepy men managed to make their way up and down the stairs without falling. The lighthouse was shipped from England as a flat pack to be assembled on arrival, by men who had never put one together before. I think that is amazing! The lens is still perfect today and the light can be seen 46km away. We got to climb up inside it. It was left in its original state inside, complete with an oak cupboard (also shipped flat pack from England). The wives of the lighthouse keepers also had to know the job, as they had to take over if their husband was sick and unable to do his shift. The other lighthouse keepers didn't do it for them. It was a tough life in pretty harsh and isolated conditions. We even got to go outside at the top, which would have been fantastic if it wasn't blowing a gale! The view would have been beautiful if you could take your time to enjoy it. We all huddled on the sheltered side of the lighthouse while our guide told us more of the story. When I went around to the other side to take a photo the wind was almost blowing me over and certainly was buffeting the camera and making it impossible to take a photo.
(Note: I said "lets get the kids jackets" when we left the car and Greg said "they'll be OK. It's not that bad" .... just in case you notice how cold they look and how rugged up I am)
After leaving the lighthouse we drove to Yallingup, which is quite a pretty little place and I would imagine it gets very busy in the summer holidays. Despite the wind and the waves it was causing, the beach looked very beautiful and I would have loved to be able to explore it. But it was the sort of wind where you get sand in your eyes, despite sunnies, and it was just too blustery to enjoy. We stopped and let the kids have a play at their pretty awesome ship themed playground.
From there we ventured a bit further south to Canal Rocks. The girl at the Observatory had told me about it and I am so glad we went. The sea was rough and the coastline is pretty rugged, but it was beautiful. You could really see the raw and wild power of the ocean as the waves pounded the rocks and spray flew up into the air. It would be am pretty good spot to snorkel in the right conditions but when we were there, the waves were rushing through the canal and it would have been very dangerous.
View north-east from Canal Rocks
Looking east off the bridge across the "canal"
The bridge across
The water funnels in through here pretty fast in rough seas. There were some amazing splashes up over the rocks on the right hand side while we were there
Just south of canal rocks (around the other side of them really) is this little spot. You can really see the waves pounding the rocky coastline in this photo and the one below
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