Big Tree Country 25/11 to 2/12

The South Coast Highway swings away from the coast as it heads east from Augusta. The going gets more undulating to hilly the nearer you get to Pemberton and you soon begin to notice how large the trees are becoming. Pemberton owes much of its existence to forestry and logging and has the largest sawmill in the country where they process sawlogs from the large Karri tree forests surrounding the town. We set up camp in the picturesque caravan park before doing some exploring. Firstly we had a trip on a quaint little tram out into the forest, learning quite a lot from the informative commentary. Next it was a drive out to the N.P. and a challenge for me was to climb the Gloucester Tree. This giant Karri tree has a fire lookout 60 metres above the ground that you access by climbing the steel pegs driven into trunk. It was a challenge both physically and mentally because I am not that fond of heights. Sue declined the challenge and waited patiently on the bench at the base while I enjoyed the view from the top. We rounded off our exploration of Pemberton with a drive through the magnificent forests and a visit to Beedelup Falls.

On the way to our next destination of Walpole we passed through the small town of Northcliffe where there is an unusual sculpture walk through the forest behind the visitor centre. This audio-guided walk takes up to an hour as you gaze at the contemporary works of art while listening to the artist’s impressions from the supplied Mp3 player. That night we camped at the well-appointed campground in Shannon N.P. Upon reaching Walpole we stayed a little out of town at the Peaceful Bay caravan park. The most well known attraction in the area is the Valley of the Giants and tree top walk where we ascended into the canopy along the elevated walkway to get an entirely different perspective of the forest. The other main attractions are the Giant Tingle trees just out of town. A walk through this grove of trees is an eye opener because you actually walk right through the hollowed out trunks of these still living trees. In fact you could easily drive a car through a couple of them. The whole area around Walpole is very attractive with the densely wooded hillsides coming almost right down to the dark cool waters of the Walpole and Nornalup inlets.

We took a break from our southwest journey at Parry Beach just outside the small town of Denmark. The local council runs a camping area almost on the beach with flush toilets and solar showers all for the princely sum of just $7.00 per site per night. We liked it so much we stayed for 3 nights, which allowed us to explore the delightful scenery of the Denmark area. If you ever visit this area make sure you do not miss Green’s Pool and Elephant Cove – just fantastic, and Lights beach is well worth a look too! Denmark is an attractive and friendly town and would cater to all the needs of any traveller. We can especially recommend the multi award-winning bakery for some very good pies and pastries. Oh, and don’t forget to stop in at the visitor centre to check out the worlds largest barometer.

Heading into the South West 20/11 to 25/11

Saying goodbye to Chas & Shirley at Mandurah we headed of in a southerly direction. We stoped for lunch at Australind before continuing on to Bunbury. From Bunbury we travelled inland through the hills to Collie and Donnybrook enjoying a couple of different overnight free camps along the way, and returning to the coastal region at Ludlow, staying in a free camp in the Tuart Forest before travelling into Busselton. The very friendly Kookaburra caravan park is a great place to stay in Busselton because it is within a 2-minute walk to the centre of town and about the same to the famous jetty. We enjoyed strolling around town and really enjoyed one of the best ice creams we have ever had, home made Italian style, just great. The sign out the front said “Best ice-cream in the world” and we would say that it is pretty accurate. One of the main attractions at Busselton is the jetty, which, at nearly 2 Km long is the longest timber jetty in the southern hemisphere, if not the world. Unfortunately at the time of our visit the jetty for the most part, was closed and undergoing substantial repairs after a disastrous fire. It is planned to reopen in early 2010 but judging by the amount of work to be done we suspect it will more likely be the middle of the year at least. Of course this meant that the renowned underwater observatory at the end of the jetty was also not accessible, much to our disappointment, oh well, never mind, it just means we will have to come back again.

Leaving Busselton we travelled through Dunsborough and then out to Cape Naturaliste where we did the walks around the headland and were rewarded with fantastic views and, surprisingly, the spectacle of passing humpback whales. Further down south brings you to the Leeuwin-Naturaliste N.P. that protects a long stretch of coastline to the east of Margaret River and all the way to Cape Leeuwin. We stayed several nights in the N.P. campground at Contos Field, from where we explored the Margaret River region. There are almost 100 wineries in the area and I reckon we drove past most of them; this almost certainly is the lifeblood of the district. However the highlights for us were a visit to the Bush Shack Brewery at Yallingup, lunch at the organic Wild Thyme café in Margaret River and a total pig-out at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory.

Southward again brought us through Augusta on the way to Cape Leeuwin which is where, theoretically at least, the waters of the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. We had a look around the lighthouse precinct and inspected the calcified remains of the old waterwheel that was used to pump water up to the lighthouse during it’s construction and then later to supply the keepers and their families with fresh water. After a good look around it was time to start heading east and now, after being fairly close to or on the shores of the Indian Ocean for the last several months, we took our last glimpse of the clear sparkling waters. For the next few months at least it will be the great Southern Ocean that will be in our sights.

Perth 9/10 to 18/11

We timed our arrival into Perth to meet up with Wendy & Rick (Sue’s sister & brother-in-law), who were in the final week of their 3 week holiday to W.A., so we could spend some time together before they returned to Ulladulla. It was really great to catch up with them and it made both of us realise how much you miss your family and friends. We managed to do quite a bit together including a visit to Fremantle with a tour of the historic gaol and visit to the village markets as well as the chocolate factory – oh yum! Another great day was had when we all went on a dolphin, sea lion and penguin cruise. It was a nice sunny day but the wind was strong and icy cold, we all needed to have warm jackets on.

A day after Wendy & Rick left for home we also left Perth for a trip out to Wave Rock and surrounding wheat belt towns. However before we left we called in to PDA caravan repairs for quote on some minor warranty work to be done to a couple of the windows of our van. They were so busy the earliest appointment we could get for the work was the 18th so this gave us plenty of time to look around the area we were travelling to. The small wheat belt towns are all very attractive and well kept and seem to have a high level of facilities for their small populations. It seems rather obvious that cropping is the major supporting industry for this vast area and the farms all must be very large in area, some of the paddocks are so large that you can’t even begin to see the other side of them.

On our return to Perth we settled in to the Coogee Beach Holiday Park for 3 weeks awaiting our appointment at PDA. Coogee is about 6 Km south of Fremantle and is right on the beach and was a great location for us to explore the surrounding districts. We did lots of day trips up and down the coastal region near Perth as well as visits to Kings Park and the Perth Mint. On Melbourne Cup day we visited Chas & Shirley (Rick’s sister) at Mandurah and we had a lovely time at a local pub for lunch and a few drinks. Watching the races on TV and enjoying the atmosphere with everyone urging on their chosen steed made a great day out. (None in our party managed to pick a winner ~ bugger) Chas & Shirley invited us to return and stay for a while, which we did after we left Perth having had the work completed on our van. We stayed a couple of days with them enjoying their gracious hospitality before heading off on our journey through the southwest of the state. Thanks Chas & Shirl, you are great hosts.