Looking down, 2 hours into our flight from Sydney to Perth, I said, "ooh look! We've reached the coast!" It turned out to be South Australia and the Great Bight to be precise - that great big chunk out of the bottom of the country, which is presumably how it got its hame. We still had 2 hours, and more land, to go.

We had a week of M's family, visiting them first in Busseltown, about 2 hours south of Perth, then down for more at Margaret River, and then up to the city. I was on best behaviour and hopefully, gained his mother's approval. We did however, have a few hours to ourselves at Margaret River, where his brother lives, and spent the morning at Gnarabar Beach.

Now I'm a bit of a beach connoisseur. Far too much time in my life has been spent lounging, walking or sitting on beaches. So I feel confident saying that this was one of the best. Perfect silver and green colours, sea refreshing and clear and the perfect breakfast at the White Elephant cafe of poached eggs on pan fried polenta. Yum!

Not too many postings of late due to the constant flow of visitors and the school holidays. Things are calming down now and with morning tides, we are getting up early and going to one of our favourite bays for a swim. Usually there is nobody else there but the wildlife - yesterday we were treated by a walk-by, by two black and white Australian magpies - far more beautiful and less foreboding than their British counterparts, with the most haunting call.

We turned the corner to see a long black goanna sashaying across the sand of about a meter long. Tracks showed that there were a pair lurking, along with some wallabies.

Whenever I go into town, I curse the 40 minute drive back but when we meet animals like this, along with being able to live in such an amazing location, I really think its worth it.