Blogs from Walpole, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 3

Friday 6th - 8th March 2009 Our first stop was Walpole where we had arranged to meet our friends, Kerry and Steve who had travelled across from Denmark for a couple of nights to try out their new camper trailer. We arrived just after 4pm and had time to set up before Kerry and Steve returned from a walk. The following day we enjoyed a walk to Sandy beach, canoeing on the Nornalup Inlet and a tour of the surrounding area that included the township of Walpole and the highlight was a walk up to the vantage point at Conspicuous Cliffs. Steve shouted us to afternoon tea at a coffee house in Walpole where we indulged in some high calorie treats! In the evening Steve treated us to some of the gigantic T-bones from a beast ... read more

First stop today was a cidery. Del and Rhod sampled some of the scrumpy on offer but driver Drew could only taste the alcohol free stuff. Mind, as a hater of cider I didn't mind too much and I do have to admit that I was easily persuaded into trying some of the unoaked chardonnay which was awesome - we left with a bottle. Next was a woodcraft place that makes everything, including the building itself, out of reclaimed native australian wood which can't be grown sustainably so this is pretty much the only way you'll get something made out of karri, marri or jarrah - the three main types of tree in the south-west. Am I sounding a bit geeky yet? Then it was on to the Gloucester Tree, the tallest fire lookout tree in ... read more

Brochure Text: • Frenchman Bay • The Gap/Natural Bridge and Blow Holes • Valley of The Giants • Tree Top Walk Up early towards Frenchman Bay to explore amazing coastal rock formations known as ‘The Gap’, ‘Natural Bridge’ & the spectacular (in rough seas) blow holes. Travelling via the delightful scenery of the south coast to the picturesque town of Denmark located on the edge of the massive Karri & Tingle Tree Forests. Next stop is at the clear waters of Greens Pool for a refreshing swim. From here we continue to the Valley of the Giants, which includes the elevated Tree Top Walk allowing unrestricted views of the dense Tingle Tree Canopy - a unique eco-tourism experience. We journey onto Pemberton where you can take the challenge and climb one of the famous Fire Tree ... read more

Set off on our journey west to Walpole. First stop was Mount Melville to get one last view of Albany before we left. Great views from the observation tower of the turquoise waters off Albany's coastline. On the way to Denmark (a town - not the country!) stopped for lunch at the outstanding beach of Greens Pool. (Unfortunately being school hols & an outstanding beach, everybody else was there too!) However if you walk round to Elephant Rocks you will find another fantastic cove with clear turquoise water, white soft sand and a much quieter beach - yippee! We sat on a rock & contemplated swimming & although the water wasn't too cold we thought we'd better head on to see more beautiful things! One of our favourite places though. As we headed away from Albany ... read more

Well it's been a blissful week in WA. The sun has pretty much shone on us for most of the week - except for a shower or two on the track on Thursday. I'll get the walk info out of the way & move on to more interesting subjects. Spectacular is the easiest way to describe the scenery here in the south west. If my camera takes one more photo of a tortured, rugged coast line it'll probably freeze up! It's all very much like the Great Ocean Road without the road. We're walking through fairly rugged country, over cliff tops and in the back bush of the "Great" Southern Ocean (we think they need to put "Great" in there - they do it for all other Australian things). We're usually the only two people walking ... read more