J""«'l B ARy; ART), Notes of a Visit io W. A: 3^ 



1919 J ■' ^-^ 



exposure close to the sea, while there are few other occurrences 

 in the State. 



Western Australia is a State of great distances between 

 important places. A visitor must thus have plenty of time 

 at his disposal if he wishes to see all types of country. 

 Kalgoorlie is about the same distance from Perth as Mildura 

 is from Melbourne, while Day Dawn and Laverton, two other 

 important mining localities, are 525 and 586 miles respectively, 

 the latter ])eing just the same distance as between Melbourne 

 and Sydney. Albany is 340 miles away, almost as far as 

 Mildura, while Katanning, the centre of the agricultural area, 

 is 225 miles, or about as far away as Orbost. For timber one 

 must go south to Karridale, 170 miles — nearly as far as Albury. 

 Geraldton, the home of the Wax-flower and Sturt's Desert Pea, 

 is 300 miles north of Perth, and bear in mind that each of the 

 places mentioned is in a different direction. 



As I wanted to see a little more than the immediate sur- 

 roundings of Perth, I decided to pay a visit to the Yallingup 

 Cave, situated about thirty miles from Busselton, a journey 

 altogether of some 170 miles. Busselton is the terminus of the 

 South- Western Une, which also serves Bunbury, several timber 

 Unes into the Darhng Range, the ColUe coal-field, and the 

 sandstone deposit near Donnybrook. The line traverses that 

 twenty-mile strip of sandy country between the Darling Range 

 and the sea, sometimes approaching the range fairly close. 

 I hoped to see some of the famous timber of the South- West, 

 but found that to do so I should have made a trip along one 

 of the branch lines mentioned. At Busselton tourists are met 

 by the Caves motor and conveyed to their destination. The 

 greater part of the road is close to the sea, and passes through 

 a natural avenue of the Weeping Agonis, Agonis flexuosa, 

 usually called " Peppermint " in the West. This district is 

 its stronghold, and it certainly is a distinctive feature. Many 

 of the trees were 25 feet in height, with stem diameters of 

 18 inches or more. Its drooping character gave a particularly 

 pleasant effect to the drive. As we ascended the ridge forming 

 Cape Naturaliste grass-trees and Zamias became more prominent. 

 The country along the Hue from Perth reminds one very much 

 of the Frankston country. Several good rivers — the Canning, 

 the Murray, the Brunswick, and the Colhe — were crossed. 

 Near the Bunbury junction Kangaroo Paws occurred in 

 hundreds, and were a splendid sight. The Cave House at 

 Yallingup is within sight and sound of the Indian Ocean. The 

 fifty miles of hmestone country between Capes NaturaHste and 

 Leeuwin are honeycombed with caves, the best being those at 

 the Margaret River, about thirty miles south of Yallingup. 

 I arranged to go on there, and started by motor on a lovely 



