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Five kilometres southwest of Margaret River, on Boodjidup Road, one of the more interesting attractions vying for your attention is Eagles Heritage (daily 10am-5pm; $6), a fascinating collection of birds of prey. Aviaries house huge wedge-tail and white-breasted sea eagles, peregrine falcons and a few owls - a rare menagerie of impressive flying hunters. Rejoining Caves Road, having passed the turning for the Leeuwin Winery (daily 10am-4.30pm) with its art gallery and restaurant, you head south into the silvery-barked karri forest . It's a magnificent sight, well worth taking some time to appreciate now if you're not planning to visit Pemberton. Down the road are Mammoth and Lake caves. If you have visited the latter cave and have noticed the stream that trickles out of its subterranean lake, you can catch up with it at the spring on Cowup Bay beach, 4km from the cave entrance along a dirt road, and with a campsite on the way. Back on Caves Road, Boranup Drive takes an off-road detour through the Boranup Forest , a great place for biking and riding, while Boranup Gallery and Chalets (tel 08/9757 7585, fax 9757 7527; $115-150) sells local art and gorgeous furniture made from local timbers and offers accommodation in self-contained rammed-earth chalets in bushland settings. South of the forest, the Brockman Highway leads 90km east to Nannup, while continuing 3km south down Caves Road brings you to a turn-off to the old timber port of Hamelin Bay , which has a clutch of shipwrecks ideal for snorkellers and scuba divers. There's a beachside caravan park (tel 08/9758 5540; on-site vans $35-50) offering bikes for rent. Passing Jewel Cave , the Bussell Highway takes you 8km further to the small town of AUGUSTA , on the estuary of the Blackwood River - Western Australia's oldest settlement after Albany and Perth. Little remains from those days, although the museum (daily: June-Sept 10am-noon; Oct-May 9am-5pm; $2), on Blackwood Avenue, retains some old relics and is more absorbing than you might expect. Buses visit Augusta once a day, generally in the evening, heading back north early the next morning. For accommodation , there are two motels on Blackwood Avenue, with the Augusta Motel (tel 08/9758 1944, fax 9758 1227; $20-90) having great river views as well as budget rooms, but the excellent Sheoak Chalets (tel 08/9758 1958; $150 and upwards for four people min) comes with pet kangaroos. The pristine Baywatch Manor Resort YHA (tel 08/9758 1290, fax 9758 1291; under $50), also on Blackwood Avenue, offers quality backpackers' accommodation and rents bikes and canoes. The self-contained chalets at Augusta Homes for Holidays ($70-90) is run by the same friendly couple at Baywatch Manor. Doonbanks Caravan Park (tel 08/9758 1517; on-site vans $35-50) is up the road, and there are two more caravan parks south of town. You can eat at the Colonial Restaurant on the main road, or at the Augusta Moon Chinese restaurant on Allnutt Terrace. Cape Leeuwin , 9km south of town, is probably why you've come this far, and it's worth the journey, giving a bleak, windswept "land's end" feel to this continental corner, especially on a mean and moody day. A Dutch captain named the cape after his ship 370 years ago, and Matthew Flinders began the onerous task of mapping Australia's coast right here in 1851. From the top of the still working lighthouse (daily 9am-4.30pm; $4.40), built in 1895, you can contemplate your position - halfway between the equator and the coastline of Antarctica. Nearby, an old water wheel , originally constructed for the lighthouse builders and now petrified in salt, is a well-known landmark. Naturaliste Charters (tel 08/9755 2276) run whale-watching cruises from Augusta from June to August before moving north to Dunsborough until December. Hikers may want to consider the 140-kilometre Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturaliste coastal walk , though even the less adventurous can tackle its five sections individually. The CALM office in Busselton (tel 08/9752 1677) has detailed information on this, while the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse store has maps and friendly advice.
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