With a rain radar map like this, you have to wonder if the weather gods are targeting us. It was nothing short of appalling outside the car. We made our way south towards the tourist mecca of Margaret River. This whole area is a picture postcard (albeit soaked with torrential rain) of vineyards, galleries, cafes, restaurants, hippies, and of course very, very good surf. Except for right now, when the surf is very, very bad. I can hear Anthony sniggering from here! Comes around, goes around.

We stopped at Gracetown where it was so wet and wild, we just stayed in the car. Then it was Prevally. Same. It was so yucky, I never even considered taking a photo. The rainfall recorded will be well below the real amount, as it was so significantly horizontal that it would not have fallen in a rain gauge.

Despite the rain, it was a scenic drive. There are huge patches of arum lilies, which look quite beautiful against the green pastures. Unfortunately, they are a weed and are rather out of control in some areas.

Further south we drove through the Boranup Forest. This is a spectacular karri forest, and a lesser known feature of the region. This led us on to Hamelin Bay, a picturesque beach with a big history. It used to be the export point for harvested timber from the region. The remnants of the jetty, once a bustling port, are one of the most recognisable photos from the region. I look forward to comparing this to the state of the jetty in 1987, when I was last here.

Hamelin Bay

The rain had stopped, but the wind sure kept on coming. It even ruffles the feathers of this seagull who dared to face away from the wind.

We settled on a campsite near Conto’s Beach. It’s a National Park, with many campsites dotted through the scrub. It would have been much nicer if it hadn’t rained so much. And hadn’t blown so hard.

Harry and John went to see Calgardup Cave on their bikes. The region has a number of caves with the usual offer of stalactites and stalagmites. They were looking forward to a bit of exploring, but it turned out to be more of a “stay on the boardwalk” kind of cave. The heavens opened again just as they started to ride back to camp, and the rain set in for the night.

Given that the main attraction here is surfing (for the majority of people in our car, including the one in control of the steering wheel) and the surf at Supertubes Yallingup was trashed out, we went seeking a wave somewhere else – and found it at Point Picquet at Meelup Bay. I call this the Old Dudes Wave because I’ve never seen so many longboards and grey hair in one place. They say bad things about the bike riding MAMILS (middle aged men in lycra), but I think middle aged men in wetsuits might just take top billing (my husband excluded).

Anyway, all my boys – the young ones with blonde hair and the old one who denies he has grey hair – went in for a surf at this neat little point break. It was small, punchy and a perfectly shaped left hander.

Fergus on a wave

Here’s Ferg – learning how to drop in. Who taught him that, I wonder.

And Harry – almost catching wave of the day

From the surf, we made it to the end of the Cape – not far. This is where you find the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse. It’s a recent one – only built in 1903. We also learnt that the mercury they used to use to float the heavy clockwork mechanism sent the lighthouse keepers crazy. And they thought it was the isolation all this time. Crazy!

The Lighthouse still uses the original crystal glass prism from 1903

Next up – we conquered the Yallingup Maze. It’s a bit like the one we have near us on the Bellarine Peninsula. If you happen to go there – they have two secret doors. It would have been nice to know this before we started, so just giving you the heads up.

Harry and Dad beat Ferg and Mum through the Maze.

We meandered back to the Four Star Accommodation stopping at Canal Rocks where Mother Nature was unleashing herself on the coastline.

Canal Rocks

They say the diving is good amongst these rocks. Guessing that’s when Mother Nature isn’t so angry.

Today’s wildflower is from the tracks around the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse. The book I use to find the names is in the car and it’s pouring, so I’m leaving this unnamed for now.

We knew the weather was going to stay bad, but with less than four weeks till we get home, we thought we better hit the road.

As a rule, when you see a Severe Weather Warning, you would generally avoid camping. Nah, not us. We pushed on through the rain and wind down the freeway for a few hours to Dunsborough where I demanded a coffee stop and refused to set up camp in the dreadful stormy weather. Then on to Yallingup, just 8km down the road. Fergus, Harry and I all thought that this sort of weather should cause us to stop in at one of the many 4 star resorts in the region. However, this must have got lost in translation, as John found us a spot (there were many available) at the 4 star Yallingup Holiday Park – for campers! Yay!

Looking on the bright side, this gave us the opportunity to use another piece of equipment. We put up all the canvas sides to the trailer! That’s just what you want on a Severe Weather Warning night – a good piece of canvas.

Together with the previously mentioned warning, there was also a Marine Weather Warning from Bunbury to Cape Leeuwin, with bad stuff going on out there on the water. This means a big swell, but the crazy wind means no surf. It was pretty tough to be at such a supremo surfing location and have nothing to surf. You could only describe the water as “a mess” .

That’s the genuine colour of the sky. It produced a lot of rain!

Nonetheless, Yallingup is an absolutely beautiful place. The homes are nestled around the beach and for a couple of million, you could have yourself a nice shack.

When it rains in Perth, it really rains. And that’s what it did today. Lucky I did the washing on our first day here. Lucky weren’t sailing to Rottnest today.

Instead, we went underground. Well, John and the boys and Maff did. They went on the Fremantle Prison Tunnel Tour. This was a trip below the prison and the town via a network of tunnels built by the prisoners in the 1800s. Originally they were built to access a water supply for the prison, but it ended up being a good supply for the town of Fremantle. They walked through small tunnels and paddled along in small canoes. There were exceptional Health and Safety police on the case.

Me? It was retail therapy and coffee of course! I gave the coffee 8/10 – so good in fact that I had a second.

It’s Sea Kayak Tuesday at Maff’s house (every Tuesday) followed by Burger Night. So being good guests, the paddlers in our family joined in. Maff paddles every week with some like-minded mates from North Fremantle beach to Fremantle Harbour. The boys paddled hard and kept good time with John in the three person sit-on-top kayak while the others were in sea kayaks. “Only a matter of time” I hear you say. Indeed. Then it was Burger and Beer time at their groovy little local haunt.

John decided to bond with the Landcruiser out in the street and rotated the tyres and changed the oil and filters. We needed a thingy to get the oil filter cap off. Maff (that’s Andrew) has one of these thingy things on the yacht. So he took me for a spin in another of his toys.

This is an impeccably restored MG. I don’t know what year (sorry Maff). We burbled off down the road to the Fremantle Yacht Club, taking the corners very hard of course. It had a slightly different feel to my Audi!

Nice toys Maff!