Dec 27, 2016: Jewel Cave and Augusta

After the first cold and uncomfortable night in the car, the next destination was the Jewel Cave near Margaret River. On the way there, two kangaroos crossed the road in front of us.

Margaret River is supposed to be an absolute highlight and is especially known for its good wine. However, as mentioned before, the area south of Perth is the most popular tourist area for the Christmas holiday season, so we only bought snorkeling equipment in this completely overcrowded little town.

There was really too much going on here. After that, we immediately headed to the Jewel Cave. A completely inconspicuous building in the middle of the forest served as the entrance.

This cave structure was only discovered in 1957. That's because the only access was a small hole in the ground. And who will quickly find a small hole in the ground in the vastness of Australia? However, two years after the discovery, an entrance for the public was created. The cave has many special rock formations that are rarely found. One of them is the longest thin stalagmite (1 cm in diameter and 5.90 m long). Another special feature is some skeletal remains. For example, the remains of the Tasmanian Tiger, which became extinct 25,000 years ago, were discovered here. This specimen probably fell through the entrance hole and died in the cave. The skeleton could be preserved well estimated because of the cave. It was very interesting and much more impressive than can be seen in the pictures uploaded here. Down here, there is a little too little light on the lens of an amateur camera.

Afterwards, we spontaneously made our way to Augusta, at the southern tip of the west coast. The scenery was breathtaking and the waves were the wildest I've seen in Australia so far.

On the rock from which the lower photo was taken, we cooked our dinner before heading towards the forests of Western Australia.

The next day, a visit to the Tree Top Walks was planned. This is a walkway through the treetops of the largest trees in Australia. We chose a rest area as our sleeping spot again.