Pemberton - Pemberton Tramway & Karri Forest Explorer Drive

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This morning, we had a later start as we had decided that we would do the 10.30am Pemberton Tramway ride out to The Cascades. Bernie has been wanting his hair cut for the last few days, so our leisurely start today provided the perfect opportunity. He put his boxers on and went outside to sit on one of the outdoor chairs on our small verandah at the back of our room. Tracey proceeded to execute the No. 1 clipper cut on his head and the No. 2 clipper cut on his beard. All of this under the beady eye of the motel’s resident kookaburra. Luckily the kookaburra didn’t laugh at the old bloke having his hair clippered out on the verandah!!

After breakfast we headed down to the Pemberton Tramway. We hadn’t booked ahead online but we were able to secure four tickets for the ride out to The Cascades on a walk-up basis. The 75-minute return trip was $28.00/head with no senior’s discount. In February 2023, the previous operator, The Pemberton Tramway Company, closed the tourist tramway down. Fortunately, Ben and Sarah Gibellini were keen to buy a railway and continue the service for tourist and locals. Originally from Pemberton and Manjimup the locals were keen to return to the area after years in the city to raise their children. Services resumed on the 1st of July 2023.

With two diesel hydraulic trams coupled together we chugged out of the station at 10.30am. The tramway crosses the main road (Vasse Highway/Brockman Street) almost straight out of the station. Ben had to stop at the switching box to activate the level crossing and again on the other side to raise the boom gates for the waiting traffic. The next crossing on a minor road was signalled with a blast of the horn only.

Clearing the town, it was full steam ahead … at about walking pace! We passed the old sawmill which was once the largest in the southern hemisphere. The sawmill burnt about 12 months ago, and the town council has recently decided that its demolition will commence after Easter. Ben indicated that the locals are happy about this.

On our way out to The Cascades we passed through 100-year-old karri forest and crossed Bobs Bridge and Lefroy Bridge which felt very precarious! We were very high up on very narrow bridges. Ten kilometres out of town we were given 25 minutes to explore the area around The Cascades. We thought The Cascades were going to be completely dry, so we were pleasantly surprised that there was a trickle of water. The other main point of interest is the hugging trees. Two trees (karri and marri? maybe jarrah?) growing so close to each other they appear to be embracing. Aww.

We piled back onto the tram and raced back into town arriving back at the station at 11.45am. A very enjoyable interlude amongst the trees and a good chance for the principal drivers to sit back and take it all in rather than having to concentrate on the road.

Our next stop was at the Crossings Bakery. With signs up saying that they are the home of Award Winning Pies our expectations were high. We were not disappointed with the pies and sausage rolls we selected for our lunch.

After lunch we did the Karri Forest Explorer drive to the north of Pemberton. Our first stop was at the Big Brook Dam which was very picturesque. After the dam we were onto our first dirt road driving for today. The Big Brook Arboretum was very disappointing apart from a kookaburra sighting. Although Ben told us this morning that kookaburras are not indigenous to Western Australia. He told us that some settlers from the eastern states missed the call of kookaburras in the bush, so they released the specimens in the Perth Zoo. Those few specimens obviously did quite well as there are lots of kookaburras around Pemberton.

We continued past a section of Warren River Cedar (Taxandria juniperina) in a blackberry-choked gully. Again, rather disappointing. The Big Karri was indeed big but standing alone rather than being part of a grove like we saw yesterday. Back onto the bitumen at Channybearup Road for a spell before some more dirt road driving from Thornhill Road.

We stopped in at Giblett in the Greater Beedelup National Park which was one of the sites where there were sit-in forestry protests in the late 1990s. After seeing a section of pure marri forest we re-joined the bitumen at the Vasse Highway. Just two kilometers off the highway we called in at the Beedelup Falls in the Beedelup National Park. Because the falls are an attraction that have had a considerable investment in infrastructure this is another park area with an entry fee. We have now reached break-even point on our monthly National Parks Pass. The falls, like The Cascades, had little water in them but we did see another kookaburra having itself a little drink in one of the pools of water that remains after a long, hot summer.

We took a short break from the trees when we decided to call in at the Southern Forests Chocolate Company. The afternoon was progressing, and we wanted to make sure we visited before closing time at 4.00pm! The front of house is tiny, so we were lucky that a couple was leaving just as we arrived. Coffee for Steve, white hot chocolate for Cathy and 55% dark hot chocolate for Tracey. Bernie selected a sparkling apple juice from the fridge. We all purchased some chocolates to take home … if they last that long??!

Back onto the tree trail, this time south of the Vasse Highway on Heartbreak Trail. We could not believe how different this area in the Warren National Park is compared with the forest we had seen earlier today. This National Park preserves an area of forest around the Warren River, and it is much hillier terrain.

After our one-way circuit around Heartbreak Trail, we doubled back slightly on the Old Vasse Road to visit the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree. Finally, we found out what this was all about. The Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree started out as a fire spotting lookout. Between 1937 and 1952 eight trees were selected as lookouts. Pegs were hammered into their trunks to form a ladder and cabins were built on the top for the fire spotters.

Today, two lookout trees remain open for visitors to climb. Well, sort of. The trees were open until November 2023 when they were surveyed, and the platforms were found to be unsafe. The peg stairs remain safe to climb apparently, but the structures atop the trees need to be repaired. At this stage the works are expected to be completed by the end of 2024??

When (if?) the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree reopens it will once again be the highest treetop lookout in the world. Climbers who reach the platform at the top are 65-metres above the forest floor and can enjoy 360-degree views of the karri forest and (apparently) glimpses of the Yeagarup Dunes and the coast beyond.

And who on earth is/was Dave Evans?? Well, he attended high school in Pemberton and returned to the area to work as a teacher and Deputy Headmaster. He also represented the Legislative Assembly seat of Warren for 21 years and was the Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Forests from 1972-1975 and the Minister assisting the Minister for Forests from 1983-1986. The tree was officially opened and named on the 2nd of December 1988 and recognized his commitment and passion for the southern forests.

Our next stop was at the second lookout tree, the Gloucester Tree. This tree (also closed to climbing atm) stands 53-metres tall and is located in the Gloucester National Park. It was named after WWII after the Governor-General of Australia at the time, His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester. The Duke visited the tree and watched the pegging out of the ladder and lopping of branches to construct the lookout. Another entry fee at this ‘attraction’ so we are now $10.00 ahead on our National Parks Pass. Even though the tree climb is closed to climbing there are three interpretative walks that start from here to get your money’s worth.

After our 86-kilometre loop taking in four national parks our feeling was that the southern part of the drive was superior to the northern part and of course when there has been rain the waterfalls would be outstanding. We felt that visitors pressed for time would lose nothing if they skipped the northern part of the drive … especially if they had driven the Great Forest trees Drive over near Shannon Campground.

After another full day of trees, trees and more trees we returned to our home away from home at the Karri Forest Motel. With our Move and Exercise goals eluding us still we walked down the hill and then back up again to ensure we managed our 30-minutes of exercise today!

The motel is the home of the Shirakaba Japanese Restaurant. Keen for a change from pub food we booked last night to eat in the restaurant tonight. Bernie and Tracey pigged down a bowl of edamame beans to start with and then it was Kara-age for four. Ha, ha, that basically Japanese chicken Schnitty!!

We played a couple of games of Blobs tonight. Cathy was on fire winning both games convincingly.



Steps: 10,016 (6.48kms)

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