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