30^th December 2016 Margaret River

Sheila and I headed down Cave Road towards Augusta to Jewel Cave about 40 km away but stopped off at Hamlin Bay. The last time we were in Hamlin Bay two years ago we were fortunate to see a sting rays within touching distance of the shore. This time we were not disappointed there must have been around 5 of about a metre in width swimming up and down the shore. Unfortunately they were always just below the surface when I had my camera at the ready.

Sting ray just below the surface

Sheila at Hamlin Bay

We left Hamlin Bay and headed a little further south down Cave Road to the Jewel Cave, a Christmas treat from Phil & Becks. I have seen a few caves in my time, not least since I used to do speleology but two things I haven’t seen before.  The first was a tree tap-root about 200mm in diameter coming down vertically through the ceiling of the cave, which itself was 15 metres below the ground. The tap-root was picking up the moisture from the air in the cave although at one time water flowed through the lower cave.

Tap root

The second new feature was what is called straw stalactites. These stalactites look to be only a centimetre in diameter and metres long.

Stalactite "straws"

In the evening we went down to the Prevelly Pub called “The Common” for a meal and a chance for Phil to have an informal committee meeting to prepare for the next Windsurfing Western Australia  (WWA) wave sailing competition in Margaret River.