August 11, 2012, Denmark, Australia

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Today Michael and I were up at 400am, however never really got out of bed until 500am. Michael wanted to run and I wanted to walk. I left the apartment and walked for 15 minutes and it began to rain. Interestingly enough even at 500am there were still bars open in town. The drinking age is 18 years old. Michael back to the apartment at 630am soaked in rain water. I put his wet clothes and shoes in the dryer; he needed to wear for the day of touring.

Cindy’s Dad came to our apartment around 730am and then we went to breakfast the same place that Michael and I had coffee at last evening. Breakfast is awesome at Henry’s however very expensive. The Flat White coffee was the best part of the meal for me. After eating breakfast we were on the road to drive to the Valley of the Giants, Tree Top Walk. It is approximately a 3 hour journey to the southwest part of NW Australia.

We started down what we thought was the correct route, however we realized about one hour into our journey we were driving the wrong way. We ended up getting re-orientated but were off the track about one hour. As frustrated as we got there was actually some beautiful countryside. Part of it reminded me of the rolling hills in Scotland and the hill country of Texas. There sure were thousands of cattle everywhere and also multiple vineyards, really neat stuff. We finally made it to route 1 which is the road that took us to the Tree Top Walk. Cindy’s Dad and I switched driving with about 2 hours to go. This was the first time I had ever driven long distance on the left side of the road. It was tricky, stressful at times because the roads were very narrow at times.

Before arriving at the Tree Top Walk, we stopped at Diamond Tree Lookout. Here was a very large Kerri tree. The trees were 50 meters high. Here is a little information on this beautiful site, http://www.westaustralianvista.com/diamond-tree-lookout.html. There was one tree that had an area you could walk up to the observation area, however Michael just walked up a small section because it was raining and the conditions were too slippery. I attached a photo of this.

We finally arrive at the Tree Top Walk, in Denmark Australia, http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/content/view/355/1045/. What an absolutely beautiful site. I have vivid memories of this site when I visited in 2000. According to the website above, “the Tree Top Walk is an internationally recognised nature-based tourism attraction which is located in the heart of the Valley of the Giants, between Denmark and Walpole in the south-west of Western Australia.” The walk among the trees is 40 meters high over the forest. The walk was 600 meters and was not that slippery due to the rain had just gone through recently. We took a ton of photos; a few of them are attached. We spend about one hour here and just about as we finished, the rain started again. I am so glad we missed the rain; picture taking would have been awful and tricky. Just to sum up this experience, it is just in credible that such a site exists and is still preserved for generations to enjoy. The trees are so large and just overwhelming. I know this was a long drive to see this site, but it was worth every minute of the day. Oh I forgot, we purchased golf shirts just like Cindy and Jenny did when they visited.

We started our journey back to Bunbury, however we needed to stop for lunch. We stopped at a small café in Walpole. It was pretty funny when we entered the café there was a dog that greeted us and came over to lick my hands. Within a few minutes one of the workers at the restaurant kicked the dog out, guess he/she was not welcome. The lunch here was awesome; however we did not stay long. Cindy’s Dad ate quickly and then drove back to Bunbury. Michael and I ate our lunch in the car. We needed to be back in Bunbury to have dinner with the managers at Cindy’s Dad plant. We arrived back in Bunbury at 515pm.

This evening we ate at a great restaurant with three plant managers. The restaurant was name Nojo’s, in downtown Bunbury just minutes from our apartment. I had a salmon dish, Michael ate steak. Very trendy restaurant and very popular with the locals.

After returning from dinner we went back to our apartment and everyone was asleep by 1000pm or sooner.

Tomorrow Cindy’s Dad is going to work at the plant and Michael and I will playing on our own. Since the forecast was for sunny weather but cold, I think we are going to play 9 holes of golf on a course I played once it was full of kangaroos.

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