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Published: February 21st 2008
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Wattle Flower
Claire reackons these would make good pom poms for mice! Well after Cape Le Grand we were a little worried that moving on would be a disappointment. Being unable to take Tilly into Stokes inlet due to the rough road we decided to head for Waychinicup National Park, about 550km further west.
Having been introduced to National Park camping I think we are in danger of becoming addicted, the sites are all lovely, some have loos and showers but even the ones that don’t are in such idyllic settings it doesn’t matter! AND they are cheep, about $12 a night for the 2 of us, less than a fiver! We’d had a text from Pete and Nirbeeja earlier in the day saying they had found an amazing spot that we’d love but didn’t actually say where it was. So we set of with the map of campsites thinking as there were only 5 or 6 sites it wouldn’t take long to track them down…….hmmmmmm…..last one on the list and 2 hours later we found them!
So Waychinicup didn’t disappoint us, the camp was lovely, little secluded areas in the bush for each tent or van. We were lucky enough to bag a spot by the water, (well to be
honest it was the day parking area but there was no one around to object and it was so nice!) We spent the first evening sitting around chatting and drinking wine hoping we might get a glimpse of some animals. Seems it was our lucky night as a cheeky little possum came out of the bush to have a good look at us, he obviously decided he’d like to join in the party and came sniffing round us looking for food and even letting us stroke him. There were a couple of other possums around (none were quite as sociable) We had read on the park board that there were a few resident Quokka’s, a type of southern brown bandicoot in the park, I think they are fairly rare and very shy so we were so excited when one walked out from the bush, through the camp site and into the bush the other side!
The next morning we decided to go snorkeling in the inlet, the water was fairly clear but a bit freaky in places when we had to swim over thick reeds which were tall enough that they brushed your belly and thick enough that you
couldn’t see what was hiding in them! After another night sitting waiting for our possum, who, incidentally, stood us up, we were headed west again.
After a morning spent in Albany, a little seaside town where we stocked up on veggies in the farmers market, spent an hour reading out of date magazines in a laundromat (I think they are donated by the local doctors surgery!) and a breath taking visit to the towns main attraction of “Dog Rock” we headed for the coast to have a look at some amazing rocky coast line, including a natural bridge, the ‘gap’ and some blow holes. Unfortunately the wind and sea weren’t high enough to be blowing water up, neither of us have seen blow holes in action, but we sat close by them and the sound was amazing. We carried on west to West Cape Howe National Park and the Shelly Beach camp site.
The name Shelly Beach seems to be very common in WA, although there is a Shelly Beach in the north of the state which is made up entirely of tiny white shells, all of the “Shelly Beaches” we have come across so far are no
G'day Possum
Can see that they're related to koalas more “Shelly” than you average beach! Lack of shells accepted, the beach was lovely, not really a swimming beach although I think the surfers would have been overjoyed! We did venture into the water a few times but never much deeper than our knees. Even then the waves would knock you over or go over your head and the rip under the water was a bit scary.
Well onwards and westwards. Via Denmark for supplies we headed out to William Bay National park and Parry Beach Camp. The campsite is actually just outside the park and is a community run project, good because it was even cheaper ($7) but bad because on first impressions was more like a packed in caravan park. Our first impressions didn’t last long; once we found ourselves an out of the way spot we actually really liked it! William Bay is a beautiful place, the coast is a series of little coves and inlets. The first day we drove into Green Pool, there are big rocks about 50 meters out to sea so that the sea gets trapped in a natural pool which is protected from the waves. The water was crystal clear (and
Leave the wine alone!
Waychinicup National park freezing cold!) and we snorkeled round the rocks to find lots of fish! :o) The next bay along is Elephant Cove, another area of crystal clear water but this time with a group of 20 meter high rocks which seriously looked like a herd of elephants!
Next stop was in Walpole Nornalup National Park. This area is known as the Southern Forests and is made up mostly of Tingle and Karri trees, both of which are probably the tallest type of trees we have ever seen. We have just spent 4 nights camping in the forest. We visited the ‘tree top walk’ a walkway that has been built to allow you to walk amongst the tree tops 40 meters above the ground. Yesterday morning we left Pete and Nirbeeja in the forest to move on to Manjimup and a caravan park so that we could fill up with water, charge the batteries etc. As much as we have come to dislike caravan parks, we got fairly lucky last night, the park was really small, there were only about 5 other people there and each site has its own private bathroom which was heaven! (We smell much better!!)
A
few more photos to follow...computer playing up!
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