jasmeaan♥♥♥: ⒽⒿ 8 Days In Western Australia - Day 2: Jewel Cave, Lighthouses and Sugarloaf

Hello! Here's DAY 2 of our trip!
Arrival + Day 1: Magaret River, Winery and Chocolate

Took a long drive to Jewel Cave, checked out 2 lighthouses that were "nearby" and went to a place recommended by a local - the Sugarloaf Rock! The cave and lighthouses were very interesting, we learnt a few things about them that I now already forgot (lol), while Sugarloaf Rock is a calming and gorgeous place.

Before I go on, I realise I missed a detail from Day 1! It's not important, but I want to mention it anyway. Lol. So! On our way to Margaret River, we also dropped by to get some groceries. One other thing so convenient about having your own ride is just having everything with you on-the-go. We got the necessary items such as snacks, food and, especially, water and dumped them all in the back seat. Whenever we're thirsty or hungry, we just turn behind to grab them at any time during the entire trip! It's like going around with a house with you. Lol. Really enjoyed the convenience, I can't repeat enough.

ⒽⒿ 8 Days In Western Australia - Day 2:
Jewel Cave, Lighthouses and Sugarloaf

On the way out from Magaret River and we spotted flowers!
They were everywhere! Pretty flowers, not dull or dying ones.
Our late Founding Prime Minister had a vision for Singapore to become a 'Garden City' way back in 1967 (read here!). He wanted us to be a city with abundant lush greenery and a clean environment, of which, I'm proud that we actually are! So green. So clean!

Why am I suddenly mentioning this?

Because even though I'm glad and proud that we're all green and clean, I think he forgot that gardens have plenty of flowers too! :((

I love that we have plenty of trees, but I would love it more if we see plenty of flowers everywhere too! We do have flowers here and there, of course... But it's just... different! They have it everywhere in Australia that it's something they have to actually get rid of! So jealous.

THEY HAVE WILD LILIES LEH!!!! So pretty when they are all together.

After visiting Perth, it's like I realise this desire for flowers I never knew I had! Lol. I'm never a flower person... (Not even now actually.) When I saw them everywhere in Perth, I didn't go snapping a millions pictures of them (unlike Haniza hahahaha), but I love the sight of them along the road and at random corners! It's just so pleasing to the eyes.

It's like... when you're driving and go "I'm just going my way and turning around this corner. OH WAIT FLOWERS!!!!!!!"

✿✽❃❀❋❁
It adds colours to the road, to the day and to your view! Nature is a beautiful thing.

Okay fine, it'll not be special anymore if it's everywhere. But it'll still be beautiful! No one gets sick of beautiful things...

And.... I digress too much. LOL.

Anyway! I guess it's our climate that these flowers don't grow everywhere. :( Damn you climate! Then again, I'm actually glad we're humid here. My lips cracked so badly there. SOBS.

Selfie with a cow. Random cow. Not moving at all cow. Lol.
Check out my chapped lips!

So interested in us. They were just staring at us for a long time.

More cows that were interested in us. Lol.
For the record, we didn't do anything to attract their attention. We just went down to look at them.
It's like as if they've never seen humans get down from their vehicles to take pictures of them.

Okay fine. Maybe there are less people like us who'll take time to do this......... But we had ample time! And we needed breaks between places. So freaking big Australia is! We also took frequent stops to take pictures of flowers. HAHAHAHA.

Another selfie! Told you this cow just kept staring!
At some point I was afraid it would attack us though. There were no barricades or anything dividing us.

And we're off again!

Travelled all the way down to Augusta (the most south-western town in Australia) and checked out the largest show cave in Western Australia. It was a really long ride down from Magaret River......

You see these and start wondering if you're on the right track, but you don't doubt the local GPS.

Drive in futher and you see a different kind of trees. Quite amazing.
But seriously! It's so deep in that you start questioning your GPS.

There was also this stretch of wild lilies! And yes, we did stop to take pictures. LOL. This Haniza luh! She love lilies.

Anyway, we just went ahead because Google said the same thing.

AND THERE WE WERE!!!!

Jewel Cave
We were one of the earliest people... I think we were the first batch of visitors. There were quite a number of locals with us too! I like how in big countries you can just visit another town to see different things... For us? We have to fly somewhere else to widen our circle.

Here, you can't just go... "Hey, let's go the other side of Singapore for an adventure! Let's go Jurong to sightsee."

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.
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Sounded a lot funnier in my head. Meh.

Got our tickets for the cave and 2 nearby lighthouses (SO NOT NEARBY) and waited for our guided tour to start. You can't just go into the cave yourself, duh.

The cave was so amazing! The morning wasn't hot, but when they open the entrance to the cave, a sudden gush of really cold air blew out. It's so fasinating how caves have such low temperature while the land could be burning hot. Everything was so dark when we entered! Until they flick on the light switch. Whoa...

So, we got led into this dark dark place and slowly introduced to the various cave terms. I of course don't remember any one of them now. :X

The first thing we were shown: The bloody small hole where the man who discovered this cave came in through!
How is this even possible?!
In my head, I was wondering, how in the world did he just randomly find/dig a hole to realize that it's actually a cave underneath?! Like..... Whoa. Maybe there's science to backup how one can discover a cave in random places, but really...... way back in the years with limited technology AND THAT SMALL HOLE. I wonder how small was that man who discovered this cave...... And to actually build all the stairs and run the lights....... All without destroying the minerals inside the cave. AMAZING!

The railings were slightly moistured and a little sticky. A bit gross to touch.

But you can't really see shit, so you better hold on to that damn thing. Lol. Other than the railings, you're not suppose to touch anything else in the cave because human heat could cause some change to the formations.

What change?

No idea.

SO COOL RIGHT?! These are supposedly formed by the moisture.
Water can form such a hideous thing. :X Lol.

Califlowers spotted!!! Not.
They ran some lights to make this part interesting.
There are different names for all the various types of formation. There's a name for those than drips from the top, and another name for those that builds from below, and then another name for when they meet and connects. IT'S SO CRAZY. Lol. How many terms must a "caveman" remember?! I for one, don't remember any one at all.

Can you see the bacon strip?
Does look like it, doesn't it?

Yeah, instead of impressive cave terms, I can only relate these formation to food. LOL.

I like this part most... It's like some ice castle or some sort. White and icy looking.
You see all those lines....? They were formed by water droplets over the many years. They drip to the lowest and doesn't drop to the ground but stays there and eventually becomes solid!

Visit this cave now and come back a decade later, I bet it'll look all different then!

Our ~~caveman~~ tourguide!

Can't remember how long the tour was, but there was this last part where the lights were all off. IT'S CRAZY!!! Can't even see shit. Not even our own fingers. But it was such a fasinating experience... Seriously, how did the man discover this cave back then?! He probably only had a hand torch..

After the tour, we got to their cafe and bought some food! Sandwiches! Shared a tuna and shredded chicken sandwich! (See Shan, I remember even what we ate! lol.)
Date check: 02 August 2016. LMAO.

Cookies!Food in Australia is pricey. But thanks to their huge portion, Haniza and I shared every single meal. I'm easy, so she gets to choose. She told me that she'd actually ordered one meal each during her previous trip with another friend. So crazy. So expensive and so much food!

Check out this nice small piece of cookie... $3.50 FOR ONE!!!
Madness.

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I bought it...... Whuuuuut... It looked so pretty! How can one resist?
It tasted okay. Tasted like cookie. hahah.

Lucky for us, the rate during our trip was $1:1.003SGD

Next up, Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse - The tallest lighthouse in mainlain Australia (read here!)

The definition of nearby for us is probably walking distance.. But it's not the case for Australia. This lighthouse is nearby...... Many minutes drive away kind of nearby. Tsktsk.

And by the tallest lighthouse, it means..... A LONG CLIMB UP THAT THING!!!!

Tadaaah!!!
That's about 180 steps up.

Worth it, I tell you. No joke.. The view was awesome. Too bad we couldn't stay there for too long.

Shot taken from the entrance. Long walk in too!
We had to wait a little while for more people to gather before going up the lighthouse. The tourguide went through the history of the lighthouse and explained how people many years back had to operate the lighthouse. Not an y job... They actually had to go up and down to generate the light. Because it's such a time consuming job (they actually stays at the lighthouse for hours each shift!), they actually just lives nearby. And those small houses you see in the picture above? They belong to the people and their family back then.

The steps!

And we're up and out!

The lighthouse could close if the wind is too strong. I guess that's a precaution in case people actually fall off the light house... When we were up, it was at a acceptable wind speed, BUT IT WAS SO CRAZY WINDY!!!

See that rock there in the middle of the sea?
It's where the Southern sea meets the Indian ocean. That midpoint.

Amazing, right?

It's just a huge sea to me. Lol.

Y U SO BLUE, SEA.

GoPro is such a good camera for wide angle shots!

Hair blow until damn messy!

Watch this to hear how strong the wind is! Can see that my hair was just messily blown while I walk around the light house.

One way up, one way down.

Thought it would look nice at this spot, but nope. Overexposed window view. Dammit.

Back down to the ground.
That day was pretty windy. They sky looked gloomy too.
And then it drizzled while we were walking back. LUCKY US! Visitors probably can't go up the lighthouse when it rains, because a full blown downpour followed right before we reach our bird. Like one quick sprint away.

Blogging up till here, I suddenly recalled............

This trip had been nothing short of amazing, but it was not entirely smoothsailing.

Before the trip, Haniza and I were sure we would quarrel and fight during the 7 days because it seem to always happen back in Primary School when we hung out too much together. Too much is key. And we thought it could be the same when we grow up. Too much time together and we'll tick each other off. Truth be told, the trip actually started out a little bit awkward for us both. LOL. Funny right? Friends for so many years........

Right before going to the lighthouse, we actually had a little..... something going on. Lol. It wasn't a fight to call it a fight, or a dispute... or an argument.. We were just pissed at each other for a few minutes. Really! She couldn't stand that I was so muddleheaded while I was so frustrated with her unnecessary sarcastic tone.

I have to admit I'm quite blur though. She had passed me the lighthouse entrance ticket and I actually forgot... I said I didn't have it. LOL. Found it in pocket the next minute~~ She totally rolled her eyes at me la! TSK. There was also this incident about our accomodation the next night.. But not entirely my fault lo! Hmpf!

So yeah, something for me to remember. We talked all these out when we finally settled with each other though... On the third day, maybe? Or maybe the last day. hahaha. Honesty is what keeps people close. She said she'll not go on a long trip with me a long time though. Hmpf! I don't think I am that bad a travel companion la! Lol.

&Back to the trip!

Saw this creature while walking back to the bird.
Some locals told us the name of it, but....... I can't remember what is it anymore.

It's a reptile, I'm no fan of reptiles! But it has pretty nice skin.

THIS BRAVE WOMAN TOUCHED IT!!!!
Got balls!

We were cool with each other in no time, by the way...
Like after walking apart from each other for... 10 minutes?

Cape Leeuwin. A place worth visiting.
I would recommend just this lighthouse to people though.. The other lighthout we visiting pale in comparison.

Flowers on the ground!

We were off, then we saw this beautiful sight nearby.

Oh ya. The sky cleared up pretty fast. I think it poured only at the lighthouse area?

Check out the color of the sea! So gorgeous!
The sight was beautiful! But it was quite plain, so it didn't look as nice on pictures.

Flowers!!!

So yeah, we saw this beach and stopped to take pictures again. Lol.

The sea looks so clear, right?
There were people fishing too! Somewhere far away.

And back on the road!
Arrived at the other lighthouse that wasn't that nearby.... I just googled. Dammit, it was actually almost 2 hours away la! And that's the drive duration. So not nearby please!! Looking at the map, I can't believe we actually did this trip the way we did it! Hahahaha. There was so much unnecessary traveling that were repeated.

We first went to Magaret River, down to Cape Leeuwin (passed Hamelin Bay), then went all the way up to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse (passed Hamelin Bay again), next to Busselton Town, then to Perth City (my fault on the accomodation mistake), then back at Busselton Town again, then to Hamelin Bay (WE PASSED IT 2 TIMES LOL), before heading back to Perth City again. Like seriously... So much time spent on going back and forth. That's winging a trip, by the way. Lol.

We love Busselton Town by the way! More details on that in another post, but we went back again because the exhibit we wanted to visit was closed due to bad weather -.- Bummer. At least we got to visit the place again! Heh. And all that again in another post.

I disgressed.......................

And so we arrived and got our tickets... Had to wait for the next guided tour, so we took a break and had some icecream!!!

The best icecream eating experience is when they don't melt as quickly!
Get to enjoy it slowly. It was so cold, but it tasted so refreshing!

Haniza had something similar to a magnum.

Random bird that look like a penguin to me. Lol.

Taddaaah! The other lighthouse we visited.
Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse (read here!)

It is obviously very much shorter... but it had a different view!

This view!
This tour was shorter, the wind was a lot less strong, but the technology used to operate the lighthouse was quite different. I actually thought it'll be all the same... The lighthouse have different history too!

We were chatting with the tourguide when she recommended a place for us to visit. Shifted our plans and off we go! This was an actual nearby! 20 minutes drive away. And it was a really nice place. One of my favourite sightsaws in Australia! The whole area was gorgeous, not just the rock of course.

THIS ROCK!!!
Lol.

Walking to one side of it.

JUST LOOK AT THE COLOR OF THE SEA!!!!

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! Something i've never seen before.

Same pose, different backdrop.
Was different to walk around these rocks! So hard! And some weren't stable... Lose rocks. If you're not careful, you could easily fall.

Listen to the waves!
I think the video does no justice to how gorgeous the place really was. Made the colors look all so flat.

My pictures are slightly more saturated, but they are not so far off reality!

We stood there for a while trying to capture the beauty of this sight, and took some quiet time to enjoy the serenity.

Hearing the waves was very soothing.

This wasn't even the rock we were told to look at, but I think we spent more time here. Lol.
If it's not because of time constraint, I bet we would have just sat on the rock and chilled.

Lonely tree.

Lonely tree, not.

Took a few of such shots, I LOVE THEM ALL.
It was the right decision to bring my tripod along for this trip.

And it was not a burden AT ALL!! Guess why.... YESH! Because we had our 'house' with us everywhere!! Just chunk it in the boot and go retrieve it only when you need it. ♥.♥ Cannot emphasize enough on how convenient it is!

We look so puny here...

So... on the other side, there are bigger rocks! Higher..............

See this wild girl climbing... Doesn't look that far off, right?

IT WAS QUITE HIGH OKAY!
I didn't go up because even walking on the path to this rock had ruined my shoe.
MY FAVOURITE SHOE!!!

Shouldn't have been stubborn and changed to my other shoe. :(

That's the rock I was referring to... If we had time, we could have just sat there and chill for a longer time.....

Next up, a short walk to the actual Sugarloaf Rock!

We went at a perfect time!
Sun was almost setting...

The changes to the sky were very pretty.

Oh! We set up our camera and did a timelapse to capture that, but I was still trying to figure how to do it with my camera so it didnt' turn out as nice on mine... Sad.

Messyhair don't care.

The wind here was really strong. My tripod couldn't really stay still on it's own.

Colors so gentle.
This part of the vacation was unreal for that second.
Beautiful sight.
I think we were at this place for at least 30minutes? We spent a longer time at the other side, and at least 10 minutes here to take the time lapse shot. There wasn't many people when we were there... I think there were just 2 or 3 other couples.

I like when there's no people. Peaceful.

And so, we were off to Busselton!

Spot the ruined part of my shoes. :(
I'm still wearing this till date and I still love it! Should have gotten another pair.
I can actually shop for hours with this one! So rare.

Moistured chapped lips.

It's after so many freaking months that I realize I was going around that very day with this top .........

WRONGLY BUTTONED!!!
OH.EMM.GEE..................

Stopped again because there were pretty flowers sighted!
(Not me of course, lmao)

What is this Haniza doing behind?

Taking pictures of the wild lilies!!!!

And we're off again!
It was getting a little late (last shot ^ was taken slightly after 6PM), so we quickly hurried down to our next accomodation. It wasn't that far, but it was a little confusing to find. Plus, it was bloody late even though it's just 7PM when we arrived.... As you can see, the roads do not have night lamps to guide you. All you have is your beam, which could be dangerous. I'm so glad we managed to find our place though.

The accomodation. So, we only booked a place to stay on this very day itself... Madness, right? I still find it amazing how we did all that. Luckily, successfully.

This second accomodation was our favourite!!!!!

The host (check them out here!) were exceptional! They were extremely helpful and really friendly(&nice). The place was very neatly prepared and cleanly decorated. There were door gifts (homemade jam and sauces) and also bread for us!

I was intially a little skeptical because it was darn dark, and the place was very isolated; Each houses are located quite far away from each other. We also made a wrong turn at first! Explains why I mentioned it was a little confusing to reach here earlier.

Anyway, we arrived at the place and didn't know if we could just go in with the bird, so we went down and tried to knock on the door. At first, I didn't realize there was another small room located one garade away from the house. I was a little scared? Because it wae really quiet.... and dark. A petite lady came out, greeted us warmly and showed us our cozy room for the night. It was a short 2 minutes walk away, and we had to pass this garage that was for us!! There were a million flies though, all attracted to the lights. So scary, plenty of them.

The host so kindly got us to stay in the bird and helped us kill them all!!! Waited for a little while before we finally went into the house. There's a gate before the door, so these darn flies are well kept outside!

We're in!
See the jams on our beds? Door gifts!
Check out the view outside (above our pillows), pitch dark! It was crazy.

The washroom!
Their Airbnb pictures are so professionally taken! Go look here!
True to pictures!

A view of the counter in the room next morning.
This wooden counter was made by the male host! So nicely done.After settling down our luggages, we got reccommendations from our hosts and headed out for some food! It was damn dark, Haniza is really very good and careful that night. I can't remember where we went though. Lol. But it's a small town, so it's just the same area. Oh! We also dropped by to grocery shop too.