A Firetail is a bird that is indigenous to the Margaret River area of Western Australia and it is also the name of a small winery close by and recommended by our friend Richard. We started our day with a stop there and had quite a chat with owners Rob and Jess. Oh we also tasted some wine, bought some wine, and discovered that they keep a flock of guinea fowl as a way of controlling insect pests that would otherwise damage the grapes.

The Margaret River area has a number of limestone caves that are open to tourists and so after our wine experience we headed for Lake Cave. In the cave parking lot I happened to notice that there was oil on the rim of the right rear wheel, and concluded that a wheel bearing oil seal was leaking.

So while Nina took our planned tour of the caves I spent the time on the phone with Wa Experts arranging for a local workshop to fix the vehicle this afternoon. So after lunch a short drive took us to Margaret River Motors where an hour and a half and a nice chat with the manager Heather, the vehicle was fixed and we were on our way. Very simple compared to some of our past vehicle trials.

The last item on our days interrupted itinerary was a drive along Boranup Drive. This is a narrow unpaved vehicle track that winds for about 15 miles through the most amazing Karri Forest.

In the last two days we have been introduced to four species of trees that are only found in the south west of Western Australia; Karri, Jarrah, Tuart and Marri which are species of Eucalypts.

Lastly, but by no means least, thank you to our friends Richard and Jenny for a fabulous home cooked, and home grown meal last night and for all the farm-fresh veggies we are carrying away with us.