Geraldton - Toodyay - Avon Valley - Swan Valley

We only stayed at Geraldton for one night but would have liked to stay a lot longer. One of the highlights was the museum which featured a shipwrecks display. After Geraldton we stopped at the Pinnacles desert and enjoyed the eerie atmosphere between the ancient rock formations.

We are now on the final stretch south towards the big smoke (Perth), which is only around 2 hours away but decide we are not quite ready for the bright lights and glitz of the big city just yet, so we decide to spend a night in the Avon Valley National Park just North of the city.

Somehow, which is unusual for us (not) we took a wrong turn, got completely lost in some spectacular country and wound up in historic Toodyay. Dropped into the pub for information (as you do). Everyone knew about the National Park, but no one was quite sure exactly how to get us into it! One drinker drew us up a mud map showing the way to a free camp by the river so off we went, with the weather closing in, night falling and one headlight out.

Stayed a few days in Swan Valley enjoying the local produce.In addition to all of the fine wineries that the area is know for there is also a number of breweries. We enjoyed a great meal and some fantastic beers at Mash Brewery http://www.mashbrewing.com.au/ and also enjoyed some of the more "extreme" brews at Feral Brewing http://www.feralbrewing.com.au/ a favourite was the "Hop Hog" US Style IPA and the "Fanta Pants".

The girls loved the chocolate factory, trying handfuls of dark, milk and white chocolate samples. Their favourite was white chocolate, and we ended up going back on several days for a chocolate boost!