WESTERN AUSTRALIA

After Bali I headed to Western Australia, also many years since I had been there.

My sensational host Richard who is opening a Surfing Museum in Yallingup gave me the incredible guided tour of the coast from north of Perth to Augusta.

The pristine beauty and isolation of the south coast of WA, even in the shivering cold (especially after Bali) and howling wind is awe inspiring and I have sketched some scenes for a series of paintings from the area.

As part of R & D, and as the wind was too strong to get the boards off the car, we headed to the wineries and boutique breweries of Margaret River. Life is tough but someone has to do it.

Back in Perth we headed over to Garden Island for a lunch on his cruiser. Didn't go ashore as the island is full of tiger snakes. The wind that howled while I was in the west finally caught up again in giant dust storms in Sydney. Delayed and cancelled flights made for a long trip back, but as they say "There is no place like home."