Scarborough Beach Road Mount Hawthorn....Jane and I had a coffee at the New Norcia Bakery. We swapped holiday photos on our ipads...most of mine were taken with the fantastic camera that Jane had lent me...I had great fun using it ...thanks Jane!

 

Sala Thai restaurant on Stirling Highway Claremont.....I had dinner with the girls...Natalie, Sharan and Renate....it had been a long time between drinks so we had a lot to talk about! Back to Sharan's for coffee...well, red wine really. I had a very enjoyable evening.

 

This morning we woke early and drove through the Stirling Range and made our way home in time to celebrate Natasha's birthday.

 

Happy Birthday Tash....you are and always have been such a joy....

 

and now we are very pleased that you have Todd in your life. 

Mandy and Graeme cooked us all a delicious meal for the occasion...

 

After arriving in Bremer Bay yesterday afternoon and walking all around the inlet and town beaches...this morning we drove around the peninsular, stopping and looking at the beaches there.  This is where we had our final swim of the trip ..Little Boat Harbour beach...very pretty.

  

After leaving Bremer Bay we drove across to the Stirling Range National park and decided we had enough time to climb Bluff Knoll ....it is was a great idea...the wildflowers were sensational

 

This morning we set our alarm for 4.30 so we could see the sun rise over the water...I was excited..we grabbed a windcheater and ran down to the beach. It was just amazing... the colours over the ocean and the sand dunes were spectacular....and I loved seeing all the little animal footprints over the sand that they had left during the night.

 

Our final swim at the beach at Pt Ann...we were very sad to leave and vowed to return in the not too distant future.

 

On the way out of Fitzgerald River National Park, we climbed West Mt Barren. At the top we had a great view of the park all the way to the coast. The little mountain in the photo is Mt Bland. The wildflowers in the park have been amazing but at the base of this mountain there were so many...and so many different species...(It is one of the most botanically significant national parks in Australia).

 

Pt Ann Fitzgerald River National Park...this was to be our favourite stop of the trip....look at how close we were to the beach and imagine the wonderful views we had. It was so isolated...the stars that night were like nothing we had ever seen.

 

The beach was breathtaking with the views of the mountains behind... and the sand was so white and fine, like icing sugar....there was this mirror effect.  

 

On our way to Hopetoun we stopped at Stokes National Park , a small National Park with very limited access for 2WDs....this is a view of the paperbarks along the Stokes inlet shore.

 

View of Culham Inlet and Four Mile Beach near Hopetoun.

 

Change in the weather....this is West Beach in Hopetoun. It made Pete and I realize how lucky we have been with such beautiful weather earlier. We spent the afternoon walking along the beaches in the strong winds then picked up a nice bottle of red from the Hopetoun pub and spent the evening reading our books and occasionally  going outside to watch the lightning.