Free Wheeling

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After finally reaching the bottom of the Diamond Tree, my two feet (and still shaking legs) now firmly back on the ground, I vowed never to climb one again. I don’t suppose it was the height that actually scared me as much that there was virtually nothing beneath you to break your fall if you just happened to misplace a foot or hand and slip off one of the steel rods that they ambitiously call a ladder! After doing it for myself, I’m still not entirely sure how the park/wildlife authorities get away with letting the public climb such a tree, still, it’s another thing to tick off my list! Originally used as a fire watch tower, the Diamond Tree is only one of several giant Karri Trees that you can climb in this area. The Gloucester Tree and the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree are the others and are both several metres taller than the Diamond Tree … yeah, you try them if you‘re game! The Karri tree, another Australian eucalypt, is apparently one of the tallest species of tree in the world (some growing up to 90 metres tall) and they grow only in this little corner of WA because they are apparently very thirsty trees! Even though their names are very similar, the Karri tree is not related to the Kauri trees of Australia/New Zealand.

Leaving the raspberry farm and the Diamond Tree behind, we moved along to a small town called Pemberton which is obviously a very popular holiday destination. Like much of the southwest corner, this area is bursting with wineries, farms and orchards making it beautiful countryside to drive through. While in Pemberton we took the opportunity to do the Karri Explorer Drive which takes you to a few of Pemberton’s highlights such as the Warren River and the cascades in Warren Gorge NP as well as a popular dam called Big Brook Dam. Our arrival at the dam was greeted with a mass of happy little bodies swimming and screeching with delight while they enjoyed their school holidays (very amusing to watch!). Fortunately the dam was big enough for all of us and we managed to find our own little spot to have some lunch. Actually, I’m pretty sure it was meant to be a bird hide and not a picnic spot but it had a lovely view and we were ready to claim ignorance if anyone came past and saw Woody there too!

It is just as well the majority of people in WA are very friendly because it appears that some of their wildlife do not take too kindly to visitors encroaching on their territory! While staying at a bush camp in Pemberton we had our second snake experience of WA, the first being more of a glimpse and probably not worth detailing. As for the second, it was about 6pm and while Woody and I were in the tent (avoiding the nibbling insects at this time of night!), Rich was sitting outside reading a book. Woody, who had been sleeping very peacefully for an hour or so, suddenly jumped up and barked. We had no idea why but about a second later a small snake, about 3 to 4 feet in length, slithered past the door inches away from Rich. It stopped, looked straight at Rich and then flattened it’s head out into what looked like a striking pose! Rich, suddenly a little nervous faced with a not so friendly snake, very sensibly decided not to move and waited for the snake to pass by which it did when it finally realised it wasn’t in any danger. Unfortunately, despite the little guy being a rather attractive creature, Rich wasn’t game to reach for the camera which was immediately in front of him on the table. Probably a very wise decision too! It was at this camp spot where we also had a few close encounters with some white tail and red back spiders who had decided on making our trailer their home too! I have no doubt that our camper has played a role in creature relocation around Oz, at least this was certainly the case with two geckos I found sitting happily in our kitchen box just the other day. I did find a nice spot for them in the bush but the poor little guys have a long walk home!

There are a few great walks in the southwest including the 1000km Bibbulmun track which runs from Kalamunda in the Perth Hills down to Albany on the south coast. I mention this one because it is almost impossible to miss if you are travelling around these parts and it has run through almost every camp spot we have stayed at. Because of this we have walked several sections of the track through some really nice forested areas including a place called Green’s Island (West of Manjimup). From Green’s Island the track runs along the Donnelly River and here you pass Glenoran Pools (a great little waterhole for that cool off dip after a long days walk), the Four Aces (4 Karri trees in a row estimated to be about 400 years old) and the rather impressive One Tree Bridge (a bridge that was built in 1904 using a single fallen Karri tree). Although One Tree Bridge is still there for you to marvel at, understandably there is now a bigger and more modern bridge spanning the Donnelly River … I don’t think even this impressive tree would cope well with road trains!!!

Since the wet / cyclone season is now in full swing up north, we have been waiting it out around this corner… free wheeling so to speak. We thought about getting ourselves another fruit picking job to help pass the time but after several days of casually looking (and not much around) we decided to just keep enjoying ourselves and explore a little more. We cruised around the lovely towns of Bridgetown, Nannup and Donnybrook (big apple and stone fruit areas) and then passed through Boyup Brook which claims to be WA’s country music capital but wasn’t very impressive at all! After stopping in Bunbury for a replacement auxiliary battery for the car, we then decided to head for the Margaret River region.

Our first stop was at Eagle Bay, a coastal township on Geographe Bay with some very pretty beaches. The impression we got of this area was that you need quite a lot of money to live here … lots of big fancy beachfront houses around. I suppose when the BIG4 holiday park offers a “special” of $65 per night for a powered site (elsewhere BIG4 usually $25- $30) you get the impression that this is a well to do area! Needless to say, this is not a place for paupers and so after a walk along the beautiful beach and drive around the town of Dunsborough we moved on swiftly!!!

Our next stop was the well known wine region of Margaret River which, as you can imagine, has vineyards everywhere. I am honestly amazed at how many wineries Australia has, you just wouldn’t believe it until you have seen it for yourself! Some of the wineries here not only offer wine but have craft fairs, live music concerts and outdoor cinemas in their grounds which I think is a rather nice touch and adds something different for the designated driver! Believe it or not we didn’t actually visit any of the wineries but instead opted for a cool cider in a nice beer garden on the very busy main street of Margaret River. We soon discovered that Margaret River is definitely not the place for those who wish to remain on healthy diets and after visiting The Fudge Factory, the Margaret River Chocolate Company and a sheep cheese factory (yes I did in fact say SHEEP cheese!) we were definitely in need of some exercise! Your butt certainly won’t thank you for a visit to Margaret River but you will have a great time!!!! I have never come across sheep cheese before and so was very keen to visit the Cambray Sheep Cheese factory for a tasting. It is certainly a gourmet cheese as you don’t get much milk from each individual sheep (600mls per milking/per sheep, milked twice daily). Rich and I worked out that, with their 150 sheep on the property, that means they can only make 3 large blocks of cheese each day! Is it worth the effort??? Well being a delicacy, it also has the price tag to go with it. Sheep cheese has a huge amount of fat in comparison to cow / goat cheese and to be honest, I wasn’t really a big fan. I did however leave with a jar of sheep fetta which was marinated in grape seed oil with lots of herbs … probably to disguise the taste of the sheep cheese!!! Rich took one look at the tastings and said …no thanks! Of course, everyone has there own tastes ….

So, did I mention exercise??? Well after all of that indulging we definitely felt the need for some and luckily this area offers a wide variety of it. We opted for the double kayak adventure in Hardy’s inlet at Augusta which for us is usually known as the “marriage destroyer”. Two previous attempts of this activity have ended in either major disagreements or injury! Why we chose to do it again then, I have no idea! Although on several occasions throughout the afternoon, I’m sure we could have pushed each other out of the kayak and paddled away quite happily without them … we actually did quite well this time … or at least no injuries were sustained!!! We spent a little bit of time exploring the Blackwood River and then paddled down to the mouth of the inlet where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet.

Having given up on the kayak after two hours …. not wanting to push our luck too far…we drove round to the other side of Cape Leeuwin and visited the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, which is where we came across the beautiful Hamelin Bay. In the late 1800’s, Hamelin Bay was used as a major timber port for the overseas export of Karri; this included the UK where apparently many London streets are still paved with Karri wood. The only visible hint (at least above water) that this ever took place is the remains of the wooden jetty. Being on a particularly exposed part of the coast, Hamelin Bay is often battered by harsh sea conditions and it was these treacherous conditions that eventually led it to be abandoned as a working port. A storm in July 1900 was apparently the last straw, when 4 boats broke from their moorings and sunk out in the bay. Several of the crew who were on the boats at the time lost their lives. Unfortunately though, it would appear that “one mans loss is another mans gain” since the 11 wrecks in the bay provide fantastic diving and snorkelling opportunities. There was certainly a lot of activity around them when we were there. (If you’re wondering why we didn’t go to snorkel/dive, we’re waiting for the best … and it’s much further north than this!).

Like most of the Southern coast this area is rich in limestone giving the water in the bay that beautiful light blue colour with fantastic visibility and making it easy to spot the frequent visitors to the bay. As well as the two legged variety who flock here during school holidays, there are also lots of stingrays that visit the bay at the same time. You are obviously advised not to walk or swim amongst them because their stinging barbs are potentially dangerous but from where we were standing there appears to be an unspoken rule that if the two-legged creatures stay on one side of the jetty then they will stay on the other. It is fabulous to get so close and see them so clearly and you don’t even have to get your feet wet!!! Amazing!

Another of the southwest great walks is the Cape to Cape walk which is a track from Cape Naturaliste in Geographe Bay at the top to Cape Leeuwin in the south. This must be quite a spectacular walk, at least that’s the impression I get from the small sections that we visited. We spent half a day walking in the Cape Freycinet area which is much more exposed than Hamelin Bay. Because of the nature of the water around here, it is not a popular swimming or surf beach, so this gorgeous, rugged area was deserted and again, we had an amazing place all to ourselves. This meant that there was no-one around to witness Richard playing out his dream as The Karate Kid …. but unfortunately for him I have evidence!!! Ha!!!!

After spending a few more days back on the Blackwood River we started to head north again and made it as far as the old coal mining town of Collie. We came across a place called Glen Mervyn Dam last week which we thought looked nice and we might stay here for a few days. Eight days later we are still here!!! The dam is very popular with boats, water skis, biscuits and swimmers. We have a great spot right on the waters edge and have been swimming every day which Woody has absolutely loved … as well as playing ball and frisbie, which he hasn’t quite got the hang off yet. Instead of jumping to catch it, he waits till it falls and then runs and skids on it! He calls himself part border collie … I don’t thinkso! The Bibbulmun track runs around the dam (surprise surprise) so we’ve been keeping ourselves entertained with that too. It is now Australia Day (Happy Birthday Wendy!) and we’re listening to Triple J’s hottest and planning our next moves …. always an exciting thing to do … who knows what comes next??!!!

Hope you all have a fabulous Australia Day … and remember … there are never too many veggie burgers on the BBQ!!!

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Comments

[Roy and Linda]

Hi, Richard, hayley and Woody Enjoyed the latest blog, thanks for the information re kauri/karri trees, that clears that up. The kauri played a big part in the early development of the New Zealand economy and now what little remains is highly protected. Loved the wild life photos as usual Hayley, stingrays certainly seem to have a thing for shallow water and jettys. Max and I had a similar encounter with a similar sized creature in a very similar location at the end of the Queen Charlotte Track. Although I suspect ours was an eagle ray. Caught the fibre optic plant spot on. Picture of Woody, such an angelic pose his best yet! Yours in the sit on canoe was good too. Even more impressed although not surprised by Woody's alertness even when in a sound sleep, awesome talent as well as handsome! He is a special dog. Any of the steam engines made in Britain I wondered? The large green one looked very British in style. Looking forward to your next blog as you resume your journey. Take care, lots of love Roy and Linda xxx