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Published: December 7th 2009
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Day 217 - Shannon National Park (including a day trip to Walpole)
What a great find this campground was, we can hardly believe our luck. Nestled deep in the forest it feels like we have perfect seclusion from the rest of the world! We definitely needed the camp fire to keep us warm last night, it was a cold one and it’s safe to say that the doona will not be leaving our bed any time soon.
One great thing to happen before I fell asleep was that I finished my book! The Lace Reader has been a bit of a slog if I’m honest but not a bad read for my first book in years. Now I can get stuck in to ‘We of the Never Never’, an Australian book where much of the story is around Mataranka, a beautiful spot we’ve actually been to on our trip.
Breakfast around the campfire is just the best, seriously you can’t beat it, you could try but it just wouldn’t do! Mark made jaffles with cheese and beans which you could liken to a toasted sandwich but cooked in iron tong things over the fire. They were just divine
and then he set about brewing up a Billy Tea. Billy Tea is so called because you make the tea in a billy (the traditional Aus name for a cooking pot) but there are certain steps you need to follow to ensure you get the full bush experience! Open fire, billy, tea (one spoonful for each person plus one for the pot!), water and a Gum leaf. Luckily we had all the ingredients required and very soon Mark was ready to ensure the full flavour of the pot was distributed evenly by swinging the pot up over his head - awesome! Darryl loved his first Billy Tea and even I agreed it smelled very nice!
We were also very excited to be able to have a hot shower here, Shannon National Park must get their water from the Shannon Dam we think, we hope, it would be a disappointment to find that they are pumping it out of the ground just so we can have a shower. The burner that heats the water for the showers isn’t lit so we chop some more wood and get it going, the water is hot in no time at all and we
both enjoy a very pleasant and welcome 3 minute shower!
I’ve still got my tour guide hat on for our little group so we all bundle into the cars and set off towards Walpole. It’s a great drive, mainly through forest but the small towns around this area are very picturesque. As we drive we listen Leon Stumble’s book of Stupid Fairytales, it’s hilarious and if you haven’t got a copy but see us anytime soon we’ll share it with you as it’s well worth a listen..
Our interest in Walpole is actually the Valley of the Giants treetop walk which first opened in 1996 at a cost of $1.8 million. With most projects of that scale it means there is a cost to visit but it’s not bad value at $12 per adult and you can spend a lot of time here to get your money’s worth. The tree top walk was constructed to protect the tingle forest from the ever growing number of visitors to the area, by 2007 2.1 million visitors had passed through since the opening of the walk. If you’re wondering what makes these trees so special it’s because they grow to over
75 metres tall and life for around 400 years!
As we wander through the 600m walk we all take it in turns (Reeves and Howells) to read aloud the various information plagues, this causes a bit of a traffic jam behind us but once we’re on the 40 metre high platform we find ourselves some space and enjoy the view. From that height the trees are even more impressive and all but one of us is bounding along the spans causing them to sway quite a lot. There are six 60 metre lightweight bridge spans on seven pylons and Mark’s dislike of heights gives him a bit of a momentary longing to be back on steady ground which is not helped with Zoe hanging over the side looking down at the ground way, way, way below us!
Mark didn’t have long to wait and the tree top walk came to an end bringing us back down to earth. From here we wandered through the Ancient Empire walk where the trees are so old and so big that it’s possible to stand within the bases. That keeps us occupied for a short while and then it’s back to the
gift shop and onto the next destination, somewhere for a spot of lunch.
We made our way back to Walpole where lunch was in a small park across the road from the IGA! I’d been working on the blogs during the journey so sat in the car to try and upload a couple more - it’s been a frustrating time again this morning in terms of managing to sustain a decent connection. Grrrrrrrr
Once lunch was over we headed back towards Shannon National Park, where we’re camped, and took the Great Forest Trees Drive through the deep forest. We’re entertained throughout the 46 k’s by the scenery and also the great commentary available via the car radio. At certain points along the way a sign tells you to tune in to 100FM and details of the area and stories from yesteryear are shared. It’s a great idea and really good to listen to. Our aerial isn’t very strong so we lose connection a couple of times but the Reeves save the day by playing it over the UHF for us! We follow the route along former logging tracks, railway lines and strategically placed firebreaks until we make it
to back up on to the highway.
By the time we made it back to camp we were a bit behind schedule in terms of cooking dinner. A beef roast in the camp oven had been planned but it was going to be a few hours before it was ready so we filled in time playing Rummikub. With the outside camp fire glowing and the belly pot fire lit in the hut our pitch was a great place to be even on a cold night. It was late by the time dinner was ready but it was delicious, absolutely delicious. Honey roast carrots, roast beef, potatoes, broccoli & cheese bake and awesome gravy - yum! The boys even cooked up dessert in the shape of stewed apples cooked in the base of the fire with brown sugar, cinnamon, cream & honey! I think ours tummies are going to explode!
With the kids in bed we sat around the fire for a little while then headed for bed - which was freezing cold. These cold nights are a bit of a shock and with us heading further south over the next week or so there’s no sign of them
warming up any time soon!
From us, the Reeves, the enormous March flies and the occasional mosquito we bid you a grand good night.
Dar and Sar
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