Caves Road

​A few hours south from Perth, in the “lower left corner” of Australia, is the Margaret River region. Known for its coastline, wineries, caves, and old growth forests, it had a surprising number of attractions in a relatively compact area – at least by Australian standards. However, it’s not very accessible by public transportation, so the price of entry was renting a car.

I don’t mind long road trips in the US, but I had been rattled by driving in New Zealand. The difficulty in NZ was a combination of a large vehicle, roads that were narrow and curvy, being on the opposite side of the road, and not being well rested. After initially losing my confidence, I gradually gained it back, eventually driving solo from Christchurch to Picton. Later, I also drove in Tasmania. So I had a little experience behind the wheel in Australia.
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Approaching the Margaret River trip, a lot of things were now in my favor. My brain had largely acclimated to the idea of left-side traffic. I rented a small vehicle. My mysterious back pain in late 2023 had faded away, improving my quality of sleep. The roads in WA were generally wider and straighter. Still, I hadn’t driven a car in the intervening 4 months, and I was driving by myself, so there was some uncertainty going into the trip.

The moment of truth. I picked up my Kia Sorrento from a rental company called No Birds, located a short walk from the Fremantle Prison. The days and hours leading up were full of careful preparation. I had studied the maps (including street views) and had all the stops planned out. I was caffeinated and had an emergency Red Bull. I installed a phone cradle so I could see the GPS without taking my eyes off the road.

And all this preparation paid off! The first 1-hour leg went smoothly. The second leg was similarly uneventful. I stopped just shy of Busselton at a sleepy little country café. The city was currently hosting a triathlon weekend, and there were several road closures in effect. I checked traffic, and saw that things had mercifully cleared up for the day. 15 minutes and a few roundabouts later, I was parked in Busselton.
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I had a healthy buffer before my time slot at the Busselton Jetty, so I explored the town. There were some incredible parks, with enormous play structures in the form of ships and sea monsters. The triathlon was done for the day, but the event precinct was still busy with food trucks and bike repairs. A Christian lady tried to ambush me with a religious pitch while I put on my sunscreen.

​The jetty is a whopping 1.8km long, and my tour included a ride on the mini train that runs its length. The electric locomotive had both train wheels and car tires. When it completed each one-way journey, it went off the rails (literally), and reattached to the opposite side. The cars were small, and 6 of us were shoulder-to shoulder in a little compartment. It got colder and windier as we headed farther out to sea. The pedestrians we passed looked exhausted.

​At the end of the jetty was an Underwater Observatory, a 3-story hollow tube that was bolted to the ocean floor. It was constructed near Fremantle, tugged along in the ocean, and then sunk to the bottom. It’s only 1 of 6 natural aquariums in the world. In this case, it provided views of the coral reef that had formed on the jetty supports. The corals were brought down by the Leeuwin Current, a flow along the coast of Western Australia that brings warm water from the tropics to a surprisingly southern latitude.

​There had been recent storms (i.e. the rainbows on Rottnest) that had churned up the water, so the visibility wasn’t perfect, but it kicked up food for the corals and fish, so they were active. There were some pretty striped fish, but the soft corals were the real stars. The jetty was covered with structures that looked like red tentacles. On each tentacle, there were dozens of white, flower-like coral polyps. The tentacles jostled with the ocean current, a mesmerizing kinetic sculpture. In videos, it looks slightly uncanny but in real life it was wondrous.

​A guide provided a 15-minute talk when we entered the observatory, and then we had 30 minutes to gaze and photograph to our hearts’ content. Though the windows spanned multiple levels, there were relatively few on each level. Fun fact, the outside surface of the observatory is also covered in corals, apart from the windows which they clean.

The train took us back to the edge of town, and I hopped in the car again. It was a short drive to the place I was staying for the night, with an address on "Caves Road."
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I had originally reached out a Servas host in Busselton. She was unavailable, but kindly referred me to her friends Sue and Geoff. The couple were former Servas hosts, called out of retirement by this referral, and agreed to host me. It was an unconventional premise, but it ended up working out brilliantly.

The two of them had lived in the area for 40 years, and seen it change around them. They mentioned the introduction of the wine industry, damage from a major cyclone in the 1980s, the migration of kangaroo mobs as more farmland was cleared, rising housing prices as the local airport became more accessible, and the death of trees from this year’s extreme dryness. They told stories of their travels in remote areas of Australia, like getting trapped in the mud near Lake Eyre or needing a replacement car part flown to an isolated village in the NT when their car broke down. The conversation was complemented by a filling dinner of rogan josh and local red wine, which really hit the spot after snacking my way through the day.
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Geoff had played mandolin growing up, and nowadays plays ukelele. He brought out a special mandolin he purchased in Italy and played a few tunes for me. Apparently, he had just hosted a ukelele jam session in their house the night before! I guess that WA is ukelele country.

​The next morning, we had breakfast and walked the dog, an English Springer Spaniel named Finn. The backyard was full of delights, both small and large, from a frog climbing their hat rack to several Tuart trees, a rare species that only grows in the area. Their house was connected to the beach. In the distance, Geoff pointed out the beach where a hundred pilot whales had been stranded the week before, making national news. I also got a full tour of the garage and vegetable garden.

As the name implies, Caves Road connects a string of limestone caves. They span the region between Cape Naturaliste to the north and Cape Leeuwin to the south. Around the capes are some beautiful and rugged beaches, popular surfing destinations (including the home of the Margaret River Pro), and a popular multiday hike called the Cape to Cape Track. Over the course of 2 days, I worked my way from north to south, alternating between beaches and caves, with an overnight stop in the town of Margaret River. I’ll start by describing the beaches and town, and finish with the caves!
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After leaving Sue and Geoff’s, I made two quick stops at Meelup Beach and Eagle Bay. They had lovely white sand and a few boulders to scramble over. A few photos were sufficient before moving on.

​The third stop was the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse, on the edge of Geographe Bay. These two places are named for the ships of French explorer Jacques Hamelin. The land was covered in multicolor shrubs, all orange and yellow and green. I embarked on an hourlong hike that went down from the lighthouse to the beach. An area called “Other Side of the Moon” had pockmarked stones and hollowed out plateaus that indeed looked from a different planet. I stopped and had a snack on top of a sand dune, watching the wild and tubular waves.

​As I headed south along the rugged coast, I stopped at two jagged rock formations. One was Sugarloaf Rock, a pointy behemoth just off the shore. The other was the Canal Rocks, which had a footbridge over a cauldron of violently churning water. I spotted some vibrant purple crabs while exploring the tide pools. Afterwards, I climbed to the top of the rock formation and had a container of leftovers from Sue and Geoff while watching the crashing waves send plumes of foam rocketing into the air.

​The last beach I visited was called Hamelin Bay. I had heard there were stingrays that frequented the shallows, but I didn’t realize how enormous they would be! I first spotted one from atop a sand dune. It was camouflaged against the seaweed and obscured by surface reflection, but unmistakably a ray.

​The best viewing was by the boat launch ramp. Nearby were some old jetty timbers, a mystical archway like the floating torii gates in Japan. The rays lingered here longer, flapping their wings above the surface and riding the tides towards the ankles of the curious onlookers. Families with young kids joined forces with camera-wielding tourists to form a small but dedicated “ray watch” to track their movements. As a ray lover myself, it was such a cool opportunity to see them up close in the wild! Thanks to the clear water, I could see them in detail. Including the sharp stinger, so I kept a healthy distance.

​As I was leaving the beach, a local fisherwoman pointed out something in the water. It turned out to be a shark, with its fin and tail breaching the surface as it pursued some fish scraps the person had cast away. A good reminder of why I don’t tend to swim at Australian beaches! 

The drive into Margaret River was incredibly beautiful. It was golden hour, and the orange light was filtering through the vineyards and peaceful mobs of grazing kangaroos. The road became lined with majestic Karri trees – more on those in the next post. There was even a fragment of rainbow in the distance.
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My brief stint in the town of Margaret River was very enjoyable. Lodging options were limited, so I stayed in a funky antique hotel, which ended up being delightfully strange. There was a small foyer with an arc-shaped couch and retro travel posters. The room itself had thick red curtains, decorative wooden paneling on the walls, and two separate patios. One patio was above an Italian restaurant. For several hours the room was filled with upbeat Italian pop music, which I didn't mind.

​Since the area is known for its food and alcohol offerings, I treated myself to a meal out at the Margaret River Beer Company. It was already dark, and I spotted a tawny frogmouth owl in the forested section of the walk there. At the brewery, I had a choice between a flight of 3 beers or 8 beers. Go big or go home! The small glasses are called ponies, so on the receipt, my enormous crate was tagged as the “Pony Pallet." While I worked my way through the selection, I listened to a live guitarist and snacked on chips. Of the lineup, my favorite beers were all on the dark side – a “red IPA,” a brown ale, and a stout.

The next morning, I did a short walk along the town’s namesake river, which was lush and reflective. I also stopped in a bottle shop to pick up some wine for later. Since I didn’t have a designated driver, I sadly had to omit the wine tastings from my itinerary. Still, I was able to end the day with this store-bought sauvignon blanc from the nearby Leeuwin Estate.

​My interest in caves was piqued a few months earlier by the Skocjan Caves in Slovenia. While in WA, I visited three different caves on Caves Road. Though none as large as Skocjan, they were all picturesque and had their own character.
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The first was Ngilgi Cave (pronounced “nil-ghee”). Right off the bat, it had a stunning chamber called the Auditorium. Its wide ceiling was coated in thousands of petite stalactites. Due to its good acoustics, it occasionally hosts live music performances.

​The pathway descended into another set of chambers, with some low boulders that were hazardous for the taller guests. The two highlights of the inner Ngilgi Cave were the shawls and the jewel box. Shawls are thin, sharkfin-shaped stalactities that form on angled rocks. Some had beautiful layers of red and white. The red color comes from tannins (think red wine) that filter into the cave from the topsoil.

​The jewel box was a tiny little chamber the size of a dollhouse. It’s easy to walk past, but when peeping through its natural windows, there are some literal hidden gems on the tips of the stalactites.

​It wasn’t too crowded in the late afternoon, and at one point I paused to sit on a bench between the two main chambers. This deep underground, the silence was deafening.

The second was Lake Cave, the most “active” cave with frequent water droplets, carrying limestone to new places. The guide pointed out limestone deposits on the manmade walkway, where baby stalagmite nubs were already forming. The entrance to Lake Cave was a doline, a sinkhole formed after the limestone ceiling collapsed. Tall eucalyptus trees rose up and out of this dramatic doline.

​The water inside the Lake Cave created a stunning reflection that amplified the beauty of the stalactites and stalagmites. Changing water levels created a magnificent “table” formation, which was the centerpiece. A thick pillar of rock suspended a wide sheet of rock above the water’s surface. The hovering table was inches above the lake, but its underside could be glimpsed by its reflection.

​Another unique formation was a hollow pool, carved in a stalagmite, and filled with rounded spheres of limestone called "pearls." The edges of the pool had ridges like brain coral.

At the deepest part of the cave, the guide turned off the lights for a moment to appreciate its utter darkness. He also activated some colorful effect lights, illuminating formations like a dragon.
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The third and final cave I visited was the Jewel Cave. It was the most popular of the three, with a large and diverse tour group including a few small children. The tour started in the impressive main chamber and followed a fun route through several smaller chambers. Though the stalactites were less picturesque, there were a few unique features like “pendulites,” which resembled a pendulum. There were also squiggly stalactites that looked like tree roots but were purely rock.

​Many of these caves contained fossils of ancient megafauna, the ancestors of kangaroos and wombats. These animals had fallen into the cave depths, where their bones were protected from scavengers and the elements. The Jewel Cave even had thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) bones from when its range extended beyond Tasmania.

The road trip was off to a thrilling start. The dazzling caves, scenic coastline, and friendly stingrays had already justified the effort of renting and driving a car. Staying with Sue and Geoff was a surprise bonus that uplifted my spirits along the way. Up next... the fabulous forests.