Valley of the Giants

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December 31st 2006

Published: January 4th 2007

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AdamKent

Sunset at Walpole Jetty

After a spot of fishing from the Jetty I caught another great sunset as the boats came in.

Fed up with Pemberton, I headed down to Walpole for a bit of rest and relaxation over the new year. Walpole is 420km south of Perth and 120km west of Albany, roughly a two hour coach journey southeast from Pemberton. With a population of only 450, the township of Walpole is completely encircled by the 18,000 hectare Walpole-Nornalup National Park. Within the boundaries of this National Park are forests of Tingle and Karri trees, miles of coastline, beaches, rivers and estuaries plus a massive abundance of flora and fauna. Walpole is situated on the shallow Walpole Inlet. This has a depth of no more than one metre and is fed by the Walpole River. Good for chilling out with a bit of fishing. After my success in Pemberton and slap-up trout suppers, I decided to invest in a proper fishing rod and try my hand at a bit more in Walpole!

12km east of Walpole and 3km east of Nornalup in the Walpole-Nornalup National Park is the 'Valley of the Giants'. This area includes a 600m long treetop walkway providing a birds-eye view of the forest and reaching a peak height of 40m. It sways about a bit in the

Inside a 'Red Tingle'

Walking through the hollowed out butt of a massive tree. Tingle love fire and only a thin layer of the tree just below the surface is actually alive.

wind and by the motion of people walking across and the views really were quite stunning. There is also a meandering boardwalk taking visitors through a grove of veteran Tingle trees called the Ancient Empire walk. The walk displays some of the unique shapes of these giant trees.

The main feature here are the 'Red Tingle' trees, some of which you can walk right though the hollowed out butts of the trees. The Red Tingle can be identified by its rough, fibrous bark of grey-red colour and can have a base circumference of up to 20m, the largest buttressing eucalypt. This tree has a restricted range extending over approximately 6,000 hectares between the Deep River and the Bow River. Large buttressed bases are often a feature of Red Tingle. As they have relatively small root systems and grow in shallower soils, the trees develop these buttresses to support themselves. Other types of Tingle trees are the 'Yellow Tingle' (Eucalypt Guilfoylei) and 'Rate's Tingle' (Eucalypt Brevistylis). Once more widespread, the distribution of Tingle has declined with changing climate conditions over millions of years. Today the only occurence is in the Walpole-Nornalup National Park and the surrounding high rainfall area where

'Red Tingle'

(Eucalyptus Jacksonii) The word "tingle" comes from an Aboriginal term and red for the colour of its timber. Known to live up to 400 years, it is one of the biggest trees in WA. It can measure up to 16m around the base and grow over 60m tall.

it rains the equivalent of 185 days each year.

Anyway, that is almost certainly more than enough information about trees that I am sure anyone could be arsed to read, or I could be arsed to type!

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