Shannon to Walpole Week 37

        Shannon National Park to Walpole

                           Week 37

Another week, another forest, another big tree. How the other half live.

We decide to “change the pace” a bit and spend three nights in the Shannon National Park. It was once a timber town with 90 houses in the community, shops, a sport’s oval , school and a golf course. Now there is little to suggest any habitation in this open forest with a myriad of birds, kangaroos and a sign post or picture of what once was.

At $9 per person per night, it is not cheap camping, but the toilet block is tiled and has personal units and there is a donkey hot water system that is great. We thought of Jenny here. not only would she like the forest stay, but the hot water solution would be perfect. It didn’t take much to stoke the boiler. In fact one night another camper stoked the boiler too much. When I had my shower, there was so much rattling and banging on the roof, I thought it was going to explode. Luckily all the shower events after that were less risky as everyone was much more conscious of not overdoing the heat.

Speaking of heat, We cannot believe it is a week away from the first day of summer and we are still wearing coats and jumpers. We did have a mini heat wave last week, so I put my jumper away but it was resurrected very quickly indeed when the temperatures predictably plummeted.

Brian’s favourite part of the stay was using the personal fireplaces where all his boy scout training came to the fore. He had a ball, and sitting by the fire celebrating while dinner roasted in the coals was hard to take.

Predictably we have done lots of forest drives and walks. The senses are bombarded with colour, shape and form. The variety of texture in the bark is amazing. The karri and bloodwood have their own definitive style, but when you add tingles into the mix, then it gets amazing.

From Shannon we took a look at Lane Pool  Falls. The walk was very overgrown and leaf litter increased our fears of charging snakes. Our fears were calmed as the track fed into the thicker overgrown forest by the benign melody of the birds. “It’s safe. It’s nice in here.” My imagination can imagine the malevolence of the forest in the gloom of the approaching night. As the tendrils of vines hanging low brush you tentatively you sense the forest wants you to linger. Imaginations should be banned, but we did need it for the falls - as expected, virtually a dry trickle. We did reward ourselves with a very nice late lunch at Northcliffe as a treat.

We find the tingles the ‘feature tree’ around Albany. Their root system is basically hollow, so the base can be eaten by fungus, rotted out, burnt and hollowed and still the tree grows and survives. Amazing really. There was a tree tourists would drive through, right from when buggies were the go through to motorized transport, but they discovered this will eventually kill the tree so they are a bit more protective now.

There is a golf course at Walpole where we had a bit of a break from trees. A $10 course so right in our price range. Very hilly so it is good exercise to walk around, let alone swing at balls. The weather beat us though and we only managed nine holes. We intended to return for more in our naiveté, but the weather lasted longer than our resolve to return.

After a walk in the Valley of giants, resisting the Tree top walk (been one a few before so saved the $20), we had a gourmet lunch at Nornalup and spent three times that, FOR LUNCH- not like us at all, but it was so delicious it was worth it.

Replete but guilty, we went to view Conspicuous Cliff. The sea here is wild, the waves rolling and breaking every which way. No whales to report but I think they are well on the way to Antarctic waters for the summer.

Our final day in Walpole before moving on to Denmark( who says we don’t go overseas?) we explore Mount Frankland National Park. It is only about half the height of the Pyramid, so as you climb the steps and the rocky paths to the granite outcrop that is the summit, it is great to remember we have done far more at home, and ignore the shaking legs (probably as much from fear as from exertion as all of you who know me and my issue with heights can smile about). Here from the summit you get an impression of how much forest there is and how little land has been cleared for grazing or farming.

Though winter is the wet season here, the drought here has ensured waterfalls and the like are mere trickles. We still go the extra distance and head for  Fernhook Falls, another delightful national park camping area, not for caravans though as we experienced in Shannon. We were delighted with snippets of nature, a bit like movie tone news shorts that you oldies out there will remember. A snake crosses our path, there a shingleback, here a flash of blue fairy wrens and now a kangaroo sits idly on the dirt track oblivious to our approach. A father emu scurries in a panic across the road in front of us followed by a dozen chicks. He did double back to check they had all safely crossed before shepherding them to the depths of the forest.

An interesting visit was to Sawbrick, an artistic walk in the forest. Here you enter through the door to a deeper understanding.

Next you come to a wall that impressed Brian- stainless steel polished like a mirror. Some twit had thrown stones, but the resulting bulges were like little kaleidoscopes changing the image with every little movement of your perspective. Very engaging. 

The ghost feather was Brian’s favourite.

I didn’t mind the ring that seemed to connect the earth to the sky through the forest window.

Thus our further week of forest exploration has encouraged us to trek further eastward. Everyone has started to talk about Christmas, but who knows where we will be next week, let alone next month - probably Perth.

Happy planning to you all. Don’t forget to keep in touch, Love to hear from you all. Thanks to Wal and Gail and Jenny for those wedding photos. Didn’t Fiona look the beautiful bride!!!

The delighted Nomads

Pemberton Week 36

                        Week 36

                           Pemberton

Well, it is heatwave time in WA, but here in Pemberton it is moderated by the surrounding forests. You can take off 5 degrees in the shade, and the heat is dry so sweat is actually effective. Hence 37 translates to 32 and is fine. Nights are still between 10 and 15, but it doesn’t feel that bad.

We started off the week with a heartstarting “stroll” in the walk on the hillslope behind the park, one of the few places that have never been logged. This was a great start to the week.

Brian’s choice today so we head off to do the Karri Explorer drive. Our first stop was the Gloucester tree. You can climb 60 metres to the forrest observation tower if you are a thrill seeker. Brian was, but I prefer to watch. Actually when you sit and listen the bird song is like an orchestra tuning up, a timphany of whistles and chirps and twitters. If you are still and watch, you are sure to spot a myriad of life.

We headed on to the Big Brook Dam and the Arboretum. After we had been, Liz and Brian said they had stayed there, great spot. There was a fallen tree over the road, so we had to back track through the Arboretum - no chainsaw in the car. There is a walk around the lake, about 4kms but easy peasie. Its a bit like walking around Barrine with the advantage of sealed path but drier, so Barrine wins this one. They have had the driest winter on record though so we do have to forgive nature on this occasion.

Onward ho and we stop at the Warren River Cedar (ho hum) and the Big Karri. Yes these trees are big. By this time the day is nearly done so we leave the rest of the loop for another occasion and head back through farming communities, Grapes, avocados and plantation timber are biggies.

The golf course beckons on Tuesday to give us a break from tree hugging. Have to admit it did get hot as the day progressed, but it was our first round of 18 holes for a long time and we had the course to ourselves and a very talkative volunteer mowing the rough. They only have 30 members, 15 regular players and no women, so the tee offs for women were sad or non-existent. Even the sand greens were playable so we had a great day.

Wednesday finds us with an early start heading for the D’Entrecasteaux National Park and the largest moving sanddune in the southern hemisphere. The Yeagarup Dunes are about 10kms inland so not a wave insight, just forest starting to be overcome by sand. Brian has been proving once again that boys become men, but you can’ take the boy away.

We had a lucky find for this time of year and came across a slender sun orchid. It is definitely past the season so we were chuffed. We were also happy the owners of fifty or so bright orange hats arrived after we had explored the dunes with only one couple of European tourists. How was that for timing?

Passing Petticoat Lane, we bowed to curiosity and ventured down to see where it led - deeper and deeper into the bush, much more rugged than the “main” park roads. We had an up close and personal look at a fallen tree and spied a few likely camp spots the caravan could never aspire to visiting.

Next we followed Heartbreak Trail in the Warren National Park, tame in comparison to Petticoat Lane. Here Brian got to scale an even taller tree, the Bicentennial Tree, taller by 25 metres but easier on the legs according to the expert, but perhaps he is regaining fitness.

That leaves us just enough time to return for the Pemberton Tramway ride to the Warren River and the Cascades. Bit ho hummy, but brought back many fond memories of other tram rides and the people we shared them with. There was a cute little baby who screamed everytime the whistle blowed , quite often. By the end of the journey he had run out of steam himself. His jaw would drop, his lip would quiver and eyes widened, he just couldn’t manage another squeak. 

We did learn that the kookaburras are here in WA because 40 of them were released from the Perth Zoo. They have been very successful in settling as they are everywhere in these forests. Don’t know the timelines here, but judging from the population distribution, it wasn’t recent.

We have heard Windy Harbour is a great place to see, so off we venture once more. First port of call, pun intended, is Mount Chudalup where we get in a walk. It reminds us of Bald Rock near Tenterfield, but a much smaller version, just as well because the heat wave is continuing.

Windy Harbour is like a coastal version of Diana’s Lake in NZ where there are “Batches” or holiday houses. Sorry WA but we couldn’t imagine wanting to be here for too long. The flies were incredible so stopping by the ocean to boil the kettle was not an option. They would literally carry you away. Mt Chudalup was not so infested so we managed a lunch there before having a look at Northcliffe. There is a little museum here that is interesting and a gallery that has lots of intarsia (sorry about the spelling Wal), but its not a thriving metropolis and we are once again we have chosen Pemberton as our base.

Still hot on Friday, we decide to have another game of golf, 9 holes in the morning followed by some exploration and then finishing the round in the evening. That was fine until the late afternoon thunderstorm rolled in. Still we survived, obviously.

During the interim we head for Beedelup Falls a and the walk through tree. It is still hot and dry, and the tree is filled with buzzing insects.We have trudged uphill through “mad-dogs-and-englishmen” time to view this step through tree          so you can imagine how much we have appreciated the experience.

After some differences of agreement in map reading, we follow a forest drive that leads us through Gilbert where there has been an organized protest that Andrew will appreciate after his early days in the Franklin River in Tasmania. The protesters have long gone, but the forests still stand and there is a testament to the history of this.

Our final day at Pemberton finds us exploring Manjimup. Here we find the third climbing tree of the district, the Diamond Tree, but Brian was not tempted to climb this third tower into the upper storey of the forest. The impending thunderstorm may have been a deterrent. 

There are trees that began as a giant then turned into two disparate entities. The town is much bigger than where we are staying so grocery shopping is easier and cheaper. There is a farmers market, but nothing like the Christmas markets at Yungaburra or the Rusty’s Markets in Cairns. We must be spoiled.

There is a nice caravan park here, Fonty’s Pool that we have earmarked for our return journey to Perth in a month or so. It is very nice, but I imagine it will be exceedingly popular by the time we return. We have a bit of a sample at the Truffle Co and get some truffle infused oil, dukkah and a bottle of reisling to celebrate Fiona and Andrew’s wedding today. Hearty congratulations to you both. As I sit there writing this after a bottle of wine shared with Brian, discussing our plans for or 22nd anniversary, I am amazed there aren’t more red lines in the text. Forgive us, for we have celebrated and toasted the bride and groom in absentia.

So tomorrow we will head to the Shannon National Park on our way to our next forest explorations at Walpole.

Have a good week .

Love from the Nomads

PS Eric. What do I have to do to get a map of the journey????

Augusta Week 35

                        Week 35

                          Augusta

Spot the difference

Our final day in Gracetown and our friend the kookaburra popped in for a friendly visit. After a bit of feather ruffling, we all agreed that outside the van was a more comfortable meeting place for all concerned. He really was a bit “out there”.

A long journey, about 60 km and we were at our next destination, greeted by blue skies and a magical spot. We are at Turners Caravan Park, where 1600 competitors entered the Anaconda Adventure Race on Sunday. Hence we have arrived on Monday when things had settled down a lot. Pelicans sit by the shore only a few metres from us. It is delightful.

After sighting, walking around and generally discussing lighthouses on our travels, we at last choose to enter the lighthouse and view the world from above - only 176 steps, easy peasy. Robyn and Lawrence, David and Gail, you will remember our trepidation about the Big Buddha and all the training we did for that. It was a bit of an exercise non-event after all that training. Hence we arrived at the top still breathing reasonably normally.

Here you view the Indian Ocean meeting the southern ocean, so once again, we reach a landmark place in Australia if pinpointing the extremities.

The quaintest part of today was my darling Brian. TV reception here is not the best and it looked as if I would miss my new favourite program on SBS “letters and Numbers” as SBS was not on the list for normal reception. Thinking of me always, Brian started to set up the dish, getting out his trusty compass as always to face the dish in the right direction. He tried from the van and had no luck. “B.... trees” and moved away with the tripod, staked down for when the bad weather moves in, as it always does in this area of the world. At this point our new neighbour strolls over, trying to hide his grin. “Are you on a new satellite mate?” and points to his dish pointing in a diametrically opposed direction. “But that’s north,” muses the dish technician.”only if you’re going past Antarctica’” comes the laconic reply. So we have duelling compasses. Brian’s trusty mate has switched polarity . Oh my twitching lips, be still and don’t get caught grinning. So cutting this long story short, I thank my dearly beloved for solving life’s problem so his “ex-gazinta” can get her letters and numbers fix for the day. (Hint - Seven gazinta 42). This is the type of stuff you can find out on this great program. My Uncle Pat would have loved “Gazinta” as he called my brother Tom “Apple” for a similar reason. Talking Greek, I know.

Our payment for a glorious arrival has descended. We now must enjoy the rain. But after 5 days of wind and rain we have had enough. I have the wog and have been using up boxes of tissues and panadol. Brian says the caravan is too small when I’m in this state.

We did have a drive through the regrowth forest where Karri are the major trees, saved because the market tastes changed to Jarrah, thus these forests have had a chance to stand tall once again. A tip is not to follow Caves Road, but to drive along the dirt drive through the national park which gives a far better appreciation of the forest.

Brian finally got a glimpse of sunshine to snap the waterwheel, once supplying water to the lighthouse keepers. As you can see it has been a long time since this wheel has turned.

This is for Wal and Merv and any other budding golfers out there. There was a sign near the entrance to town “Augusta Welcomes Master Golfers”, large, in timber spanning about eight metres. When it dried up on Saturday and we thought we would get in a round, there were golfers in the street limbering up , practising their swings. They really did have an Augusta masters. So we settled for second best (didn’t make the cut), and headed for the local par 3 nine hole course. The advantage was here the greens were not sand and only $5. We found out why on the first green - it was carpet, sort of and very, very fast and unforgiving. So much for the good scores. Never mind, good exercise.

It finally did dry up and the pelicans put on a show, but all too soon we were off to our next destination, Pemberton.

We could not believe the amount of forested national partk we drove through to get here. What is sad is that most of it is regrowth forest, but I guess the people who carved a lifestyle here were just like our grandparents, forging a living out of nothing. These forests have been saved by the market turning to Jarrah as the preferred timber, so the Karri got to regrow and the powers that be have now recognized the magnificence should be preserved for future generations. Well done.

Our best wished to Fiona and Andrew for their nuptials this coming weekend. Our wishes for an interesting path to travel in the years ahead to keep you both content and interested . Enjoy the honeymoon and the rest of the journey through life together. Congratulations on a fine choice.

Little late this week, but we hope we are forgiven. Take care all and have a good one.

Cheers from the tree-hugging nomads.