Western Australia

After our time at Kingfisher, we flew to Melbourne for a visit with my brother Terry, who lives there. My Dad was in town and Terrry's girlfriend Claire was throwing a surprise 50th Birthday party for Terry, that I did not want to miss. It turned out to be a really great time. And we even got in a few days of kiting at Pt. Cook and Torquay, two amazing sites that I spent a lot of time at several years ago. Matt and I then flew to Perth, and rented a car to explore points North and South of Perth. We had heard so much about how great the kiting was on the west coast of Australia, we just had to go see for ourselves. The place did not disappoint. World class wind and waves along the entire coastline. We spent time at Lancelin, Dongara, Port Denison, Geraldyn, Margaret River, and Augusta. I was surprised by how unique each site was and how great the locals are to welcome new kiters into their area. We managed to be at South Beach in Port Denison for a weekend kite festival. After some time exploring the beaches and classic outback terrain North of Perth, we headed South to Margaret River. I'd been hearing about Margaret River for over 20 years from a close friend, so I was excited to see the place and kite there. The wind was perfect and right at the mouth of the river at Prevelly beach, the waves can be huge. The terrain isn't typical outback and desert as it was up North. Margaret River (and Augusta) is wine country and some areas are heavily forested. It was a nice surprise and indeed when I go back to Australia, WA will be high on the list.