Marg River is South indeed, about 7/8 way between Perth and the corner. Albany is along the southern coast about 150 miles East of the corner. This area is well worth a few days exploration, and fairly compact, unlike most of WA and much of Oz. I will chase up some URLs for maps etc over the next few days. You can order maps from the RAC of WA and they will post to you for around us$15, one in particular covers just this South-West corner and would suit your journey well.

Viticulture is wine-producing - by far the main reason for the Cape region's popularity. Ref the unobtrusive accom - I like old-fashioned small places, such as family hotels, etc. We are happy to put up with less-than-perfection in exchange for being part of the population. Can't stand the Hiltons etc. Probably a result of peasant origins, I guess. I will have to dig into my credit card files for the motel in Pemberton - it was right on the edge of the (small) town, with forest outside the windows. Very nice restaurant, just as well as the town doesn't have much. Pemberton's main attraction is the forests around, with at least one tree set up as a fire-watch station - platform up top, with a spike-ladder spiralling around the trunk. These are majestic trees, not quite up to the Cal redwoods, but still pretty mighty.

Hope you are not planning on driving BETWEEN Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Nth Qld !!!!

Paul in Sydney