Postscript
Some thoughts on Australia
First and foremost we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Leah and Bruce. Not only did we receive a very warm welcome from them both, but Leah was the reason we went to Western Australia in the first place and architect of our itinerary. We followed Leah's suggested route and are most grateful for her 'insiders' knowledge of the places to stay and visit.
In no particular order here are a few thoughts and observations from our holiday.
People
Everywhere we went the people we met were welcoming, friendly and helpful: hotel receptionists, bar staff, shop assistants, museum staff, bus drivers ("You should have stayed in the UK, mate, you could've been prime minister!") - everyone.
Tourist Offices
I would recommend any visitor to Australia (or at least south west Australia) to use the Tourist Offices, even if you don't need to! We called into a couple, more or less by accident, and on both occasions came away with guidance and advice we didn't know we needed.
Climate
Before our holiday I had assumed we would we basking in sunshine with just about bearable temperatures. I hadn't realised the weather would be so variable. It was cooler, cloudier and wetter than I imagined, but none the worse for that. We didn't get really wet on more than a couple of occasions and the cooler, intermittent sunshine and clouds made going for long walks much more pleasurable. I would never have been able to climb Bluff Knoll if it had been warmer and sunnier than it was.
The farmland was lush and, of course, the Karri forests aren't called rainfall forests for nothing.
Agriculture
I hadn't given the agriculture of south west Australia any thought whatsoever before our holiday. I was surprised by the scale and variety.
There is a huge wheatbelt running from just north of Albany in the south to Geraldton in the north (about 250km north of Perth) and about 250km from east to west at its widest point just south of Perth. We drove through huge fields of wheat from Albany to Katanning and from Kattaning to Wagin. Although it was early November the crop looked ready to harvest. We learnt from Bruce that the harvest would run from early November until Christmas - far earlier than the UK equivalent.
The wheatbelt is inland, the areas closer to the coast being wetter. In the coastal belt between Margaret River and Albany we saw a lot of beef farming, characterised by 'home-made' reservoirs for providing water in the hot, dry summer, as well as vineyards.
Leah took us on a brief tour of the area around Harvey where diary farming has given way to orange and avocado growing.
Roads
Compared with the overcrowded, potholed, roads of the UK, the roads in Western Australia are a revelation. They are extremely well maintained (admittedly frost damage isn't a problem) and at times it seemed they were constructed especially for us. On one stretch of road between Katanning and Myalup I think we went 45km without seeing another vehicle. There were others so straight I joked with Jo that I thought the Romans must have been to Australia!
Architecture
Away from Perth the typical house is a bungalow. To my eyes, accustomed to stone or brick-built two storey houses this takes some getting used to. (In a similar way I also found the Georgian architecture of Bristol a little jarring after the suburbia of Potters Bar.) However, a bungalow is the obvious solution to building a house where land is not a scarce commodity.
Most towns we passed through seemed to have plenty of public parks, or spaces, almost always with playgrounds for children.
Which brings me, last but not least, to:
Public Toilets
Along with parks and other public spaces we were surprised, and grateful, for the abundance of public lavatories - even where one would least expect one such as Voyagers Park about 6km from the nearest road! The UK could learn a lesson from Australia in this regard.