Q: Where is the edge of the Earth?

A: About 3.5 hours south of Perth.

The edge of the Earth is where the South Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. The closest land south is Antartica and the closest land west is Madagascar. It is marked by the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.


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For mariners coming from Europe, Leeuwin was a bittersweet sight I'm sure. Sweet because it would have been 8000 km and maybe 4 months since the Cape of Good Hope. Bitter because the strong currents from Indonesia and a coast littered with rocks are a combination that has scattered the planking of some 35 ships on record (just one since the lighthouse was built).

My New England roots draw me to see the lighthouse.



Similarly, Margaret River (Margs) is a bittersweet sight for a driver coming from Perth on the way to Leeuwin. Sweet because it would have been 350km and 3.5 hours from departure through terrain of equal treachery: Mobs of kangaroos are running the streets and the road curves would make Pee Wee Herman's knuckles white (no I'm not referring to the adult movie theater embarrasment).





(I can't find the video on YouTube - it's that scene from Big Adventure when he is driving the convertible with Mickey, the convict, who is sleeping. A series of road signs depicting curves that get more and more rediculously severe come by and he eventually drives off a cliff, deploys the convertible top which parachutes them to safety.) Check out these traffic patterns!





The sight of Margs is also bitter because all the bars are already closed. I'm tired anyhow and park at Redgate Beach, the first beach I come across, and set up my lodgings in the back seat of my Nissan Tilda. The parking lot is empty, the sky is full of stars, and the whitecaps are highlited by the quite full moon which has just started the waning gibbous phase. Very peaceful night.

Literally standing on a lea looking out, I recall William Wordsworth:

The World is too much with us; Late and soon,
getting and spending, we lay waste our powers
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn
So might I, standing on this pleaseant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn


I awake surrounded by surfers. The slamming I thought was a car door is really a repeating massive wave crashing on this rock. Can't help but wonder how long that rock can possibly stand up to the constant punishment. A little later in the day I see a quote on a beach sign from William Blake similarly pondering:

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.


I think these William dudes are following me. I give a worried look around the area for a Tiger.

The tiger fear may be irrational but I've spoken before about Bill Bryson's theme of perceived peril though nothing ever actually happens to him (apart from the sunburn of course). Brysonian Perceived Peril. The other perception is there are kangaroos everywhere. Perceived Plethora. Well I finally got a picture of a kangaroo! I hope both perceptions don't become reality at the same time...

That's just the drive down and the moment I awoke but I'm tired so that's all for now. It's crazy how long this takes me to write - Steven King could have written 3 books in the time it took me to write this entry. I guess I'll turn this into a series - it was a great weekend.

-Ev