Australia - Day 6

Our sixth day in Australia proved to be kind of dreary, but that wasn't going to stop our fun! Oh no. We were off to do some spelunkering (if that is a word) and to check out a nearby lighthouse.
In this area of Australia, the southwest corner, there are several caves. Some are big. Some are small. Some are set up for touring with a guide and others you explore on your own. We decided to visit Lake Cave as it also has a small tourist center there.

It was drizzling when we arrived so we went right into the visitors center and checked in for the next available tour. We looked around the displays at the center while we waited and the kids practiced their cave crawling techniques. At the appointed time, we headed out the meet our guide. And it turned out to be a good thing that we didn't go look at the cave for we signed up and paid for the tour. Why, you ask. Well in order to get to the cave, you had to descend some long steep stairways that were rather precarious. I think if I had seen them first, I might not have thought the kids could handle it, especially since it had been drizzling some, making the steps a little slippery too. But once again, the triplets surprised me with their abilities and did a great job. There were no slips and falls, bumps or bruises.

Luke practicing his cave crawling techniques

Look way down and you can see the entrance to the cave.

The cave itself was pretty neat. A lot of well preserved rock formations. It was not a huge cave. Only took maybe 10 minutes to walk to the back. Once we were there, the tour guide turned out the lights so that we could get a good feel for what it was really like in a cave. Isaac didn't like that so much. So the boys and I gave him a group hug to comfort him until the lights came back on. Then Isaac said the funniest thing. In a sniffly voice he said, "That was fun." I couldn't help but laughing. Funny guy.

Alex led the charge out of the cave and beat us all to the top while Justin and I took turns carrying Jack and getting our workout for the day as we climbed all the stairs.

Here's Isaac getting his "group hug"

This is the neatest rock formation in the cave. Looked even cooler in person.

Next we were off to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.

We navigated our way further south to the southwestern most point in Australia. On the way, Justin led us down the scenic path which took us on the bumpiest road I have ever been on. It was sooo bumpy that Isaac is still talking about it. I think the road had been graded for safety. I was just glad that we were not driving our own cars.

Our path took us past Slippery Rock, so Justin climbed down the rock for a picture. This spot also afforded us a good picture of the lighthouse we were driving to. Too bad it wasn't a nicer day outside.

We (and our cars) finally made it to the lighthouse. Upon entering we learned that the kids were too young to take the tour of the lighthouse, so Justin and I agreed that I would represent the family on the tour and then share what I learned. While I took the long stair climb to the top of the lighthouse, Justin entertained the boys on the rocks below.

This lighthouse is located on the southwestern most tip of Australia. From the top you got a good view of the 2 oceans that lie on either side. The ocean to the south is called the Southern Ocean (go figure) and the ocean to the west is the Indian Ocean. The tour guide said that you can actually see where the 2 oceans meet against the rocks by the direction of the waves. But the day we went, the wind was coming in strong from the south so you couldn't see it. This lighthouse is also the tallest lighthouse on mainland Australia.

So, ended our 6th day of adventures.

Day 7

We stopped by the Margaret River Chocolate Company on the way back to the airport. Nothing too special but we got to eat some yummy chocolate.

Getting back to the airport proved to be a little more difficult as we tried to navigate through some towns to find a place to stop for lunch. In the confusion I did what I figured I would eventually do. All my family will not be surprised to hear this...I drove on the wrong side of the road. It was just a short distance on a side road coming out of a parking lot but it sure did make one lady mad. I could see her glaring at me with a mean look on her face as she waited for me to get out of the way so she could turn. Oh well.

Also on our way home, I saw the funniest sign. It was on the side of a main freeway. It read "No livestock to be ridden or driven on roadside reserve".

We made it back to the airport safely, arriving in plenty of time for our flight. We had a great time in Australia and would love to go back.