064 – Western Australia (Bunbury, Busselton, Yalingup, Margaret River, Pemberton, Bridgetown) – On the Hunt

After gorging ourselves with abandon for the last two weeks, we had started to take our abundant food supply for granted. That is, until I awoke one morning to a rustling in the cupboard…

By the time I’d cornered this little creature, he’d already cleaned out our entire stockpile. 

With the entire Perth grocery consortium exhausted by our relentless over-grazing, we realized if we were to survive, we’d have to gather the pack,

And leave our cozy billabong in search of sustenance.

"ROAD TRIP!"

Britt (and her synchronized sidekick), 

  

Got wind of a herd of ancient organisms living in Clifton Lake, so we headed south hoping they would make for good eats.

As it turns out, “thrombolites” are primordial photosynthesizing microbial communities. Six hundred million years ago, their ancestors were the first organisms to produce the oxygen needed for life on land to exist.

They look (and probably taste) like rocks... but, they make for cool photos.

With our stomachs grumbling we foraged on.

Still hankering for some seafood, we headed to the Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury. Their schtick was "education and awareness",

Little did they know we were just looking for our next meal.

"Taz, that pencil urchin looks tasty!”

Not bad, but he had bigger fish to fry.

When the dolphin bell rang, guess who was first in line looking for a more substantial snack.

Unfortunately, “Levy” outsmarted us and was soon back with her pod in the open ocean.  Leaving poor Taz in a desperate state.

So we high-tailed it to the 2 km-long Busselton Jetty

And hopped on the tram, 

In hot pursuit.

“Choo-CHOOOOO!”

Alas, we were too late to catch the pod.

After a brief period of quiet reflection,

We headed back to our camp to regroup,

Ciel and Tasman worked on a couple camouflage strategies,

They were both itching to get back out on the hunt.

However, day one’s failures made us realize that we were ill-equipped and underprepared.  So, first thing the next morning we headed for a top secret training facility in Yallingup to sharpen our skills.

The physical and emotional strain pushed us to the edge,

“You can do it, Mummy!”

Honing us into lethal predators.

Not surprisingly, the training paid off, almost immediately.

While most of the pack basked in the triumph of the kill,

Ciel continued to experiment with new methods of ensnaring our prey.

With our confidence high, we proceeded on a gluttonous rampage through the Margaret River region.

(Xanadu Winery)

Not bad, considering the only things at our disposal were guile and a few primitive weapons.

It was late in the day when we spotted this court of wild ‘roos, ripe for the picking.

However, far from home and exhausted from the day’s hunt, we opted to seek suitable shelter for the long night ahead instead.

We began day three with some light calisthenics…  a 61 m climb up the Gloucester Tree.

A former fire-lookout, we figured it’d make an ideal hunting blind.

We were sure to read all warnings very closely,

Before promptly ignoring them.

I was the spotter,

"There's a koala on the move at 12 o'clock!"

While Britt and the cubs were on ground level, waiting to pounce.

In spite of the light rain, above the canopy, you could see for miles.

Making it easy to locate the next watering hole,

 A double-header (The Cidery/ Blackwood Valley Brewing Company),

To fortify us for our final push back to our home territory.  Where after three days and 800 km we could finally revel in the fruits of our labours.