Albany to Walpole via Harewood Forest and William Bay National Park

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This morning it was time to bid farewell to the delightful Lottie’s Cottage in Albany. We really enjoyed our stay here in a beautiful house in an idyllic garden setting. As an added bonus we had access to a compost bin so didn’t have to feel guilty about how we were going to dispose of fruit and vegetable waste. For someone accustomed to worm farming this was a welcome feature of our stay! It was also very handy to be able to launder some clothing while we were in Albany for four nights.

We drove the scenic route to Denmark on the Lower Denmark Road through Elleker, Torbay and Youngs Siding rather than taking the South Coast Highway. The road was fantastic and signposted at 110/kph so better than some of the sections of actual highway that we have driven on!

At Youngs Siding we re-joined the South Coast Highway to continue our journey into Denmark. We stopped at the Visitor Centre to check for local knowledge that might change our plans for the day. The staff suggested that we should take William Bay Road into Waterfall Beach, Madfish Bay, Elephant Rocks and Greens Pool. Tick, those sights were already on our list.

Also suggested was the Scotsdale Road Tourist Drive and the Harewood Forest Walk Trail. That was different from our plan to drive the Beach Road/Lights Road loop that would take us to the Monkey Rock walk that we had thought we would do. There were several ‘gourmet’ stops that were also suggested but we didn’t feel the need to be stopping at wineries or farms producing honey or cheese. Closer to Walpole, a drive into Peaceful Bay was recommended.

After a quick confab we decided that we would head towards the Harewood Forest rather than Monkey Rock – after visiting one of two bakeries in town to pick up morning tea of course. Bernie was looking at the turned wooden pens and discovered that some of the pens were actually sewing tools featuring a quick unpick and an awl. Luckily with Cathy and me both keen sewers there were three to choose from and we were able to purchase a functional and unique souvenir each!

It was busy in downtown Denmark on a Saturday morning, and we struggled to find a park to go into either of the bakeries. We eventually managed to park both vehicles near the bakery furthest down Strickland Street. With cakes purchased we jumped back into the vehicles and set off on the Scotsdale Road Tourist Drive.

The SatNav hadn’t been set so Tracey was counting Bernie down to the Harewood Forest the old-fashioned way. After we go past Lindesay Road on the right and then Walter and Barry Roads on the left, we will be there. There, there, where the cars are parked! And the driver sailed on by because … he was expecting it to be a bigger car park??! Then we had to find somewhere we could execute a U-turn. This was eventually accomplished, and we returned to the trail head for the Harewood Forest Walk Trail. There is only space for three cars, four cars at a pinch, in the official car park. We were not the first to park on the side of the road with the walk looking to be a popular Saturday morning activity.

The sign at the trail head informed us that the forest was logged of all large timber in the late 1800s. Now recovering, Harewood Forest is a great example of regrowth karri forest. We walked the Class 3, 2.8-kilometre loop trail with interpretative signage that told us about the history of logging in Denmark’s Harewood Forest. On our return to the start of the trail we retrieved our cakes from the vehicles and enjoyed morning tea at a picnic bench amongst the trees.

We continued west on Scotsdale Road before turning south on McLeod Road which took us back to the South Coast Highway. After only a couple of Ks on the highway we turned onto William Bay Road to drive into the William Bay National Park. The first stop inside the park was packed with cars, 4x4s, camper vans and caravans. It is probably about the busiest spot we have visited to date. It is Saturday so not just tourists out and about, locals are probably trying to enjoy some of their amazing local attractions too.

We decided to head out to the end of the road first and begin our explorations at Waterfall Beach and then work our way back. We walked along the beach to the small waterfall that the beach was named for. The water runs year round from a spring deep with William Bay NP. We were able to watch four paragliders flying from Wilson Head to the east. Just around the corner we found Madfish Bay which was spectacular. From the bay itself we drove up to the Madfish Bay Lookout which was disappointing. We felt that the bay had looked much more picturesque down at sea level.

By this stage we were back at Elephant Cove, Elephant Rocks and Greens Pool in the busiest part of the park. Even at this stop at the park’s key attractions there were no signs up saying that we needed to pay a fee. The paths and other infrastructure at this stop were impressive making it even more surprising that we appeared to be in a national park with no park entry fee. Who’s paying for the upgrades to make Elephant Rocks and Greens Pool so accessible?

We looked at the Elephant Rocks from the viewpoint that looks at the herd front on and then we walked around to Elephant Cove not expecting the rocks to look as elephantine from side on … but they did. We could definitely see how these rocks got their name! If it had been a few degrees warmer, we would have considered swimming at either of these beaches as they were very sheltered and pristine. Even on a cooler day like today there were people in the water.

There were a couple of people with drones at this stop. We were also surprised to see a drone being flown on Thursday at The Gap and Natural Bridge. Bernie thought that his research had indicated that drones are prohibited in ALL national parks in Australia. Perhaps he needs to check if this is true in case he is missing opportunities to put his new toy in the air??

We found a picnic table in the Greens Pool area of the car park and enjoyed our lunches by the sea. Not sure if we would easily find somewhere to buy lunch on the go today, we made sandwiches before we left ‘home’ this morning. If we had known what an array of food the bakery in Denmark would have, we could have safely purchased lunch on the go. Best to be prepared though.

We drove back out to the South Coast Highway to continue heading west. At Peaceful Bay Road we turned south to make our way into the highly recommended Peaceful Bay in the Walpole-Nornelup National Park. Ahem, we were very disappointed and did not consider it worth the side trip that we had made at all.

While we were driving around trying to find something, anything pretty to look at Tracey said to Bernie that maybe we won’t have to drive all the way back to the highway we might be able to drive out via Ficifolia Road. He said it’s a dirt road and I said but not marked as 4WD only. Anyhoo, we decided to find the Peaceful Bay shop, thinking about ice-creams but decided that it was probably too soon after lunch and too early for ice-creams and we would continue to Walpole.

The SatNav was programmed for the Walpole Hotel Motel and Syri deemed the Ficifolia Road as the way to go. So now the dirt road was OK, ha, ha. We even saw some Eucalyptus Ficifolia trees with their last few flowers on them which would seem to indicate they are native to the area and the road’s name is literal. There was another plant with a vivid red flower that we were unable to identify. A quick Google search at time of writing says it’s the Sand Bottlebrush or for a plant nerd like Tracey, Beaufortia squarrosa a species of flowering plant in the Myrtle family.

After navigating our way along Ficifolia Road and Station Road, we found ourselves back on the South Coast Highway and about to enter Nornalup before crossing the Frankland River. We will be heading back this way in the morning as we are going to have to do a short double back to head into the Valley of the Giants for the Tree Top Walk experience.

Another 10Ks had us arriving in Walpole. We cruised past the Tree Top Walk Motel which looked very nice. We continued through town and almost out the other end before being told that we had reached our destination, the Walpole Hotel Motel which looked … pretty crusty!! And a large group of bikers had just checked in. Oh well it’s only for two nights and out opinions were being very much influenced by the outstanding accommodation we have been in for the last four nights!!

We headed to our rooms which are very basic and have signs up acknowledging that they are old and in need of updating and that refurbishments are planned and please understand that these things take time. However, what I will say to their credit is that their sheets and towels are clean and less threadbare than many we have encountered so far. Now if they just saw fit to provide some bedside tables …

Even though we were in no need of any extra steps today, Bernie and I walked down to the Town Jetty where we read the information boards about the Walpole-Nornalup NP and the estuarine system that Walpole is situated upon. The Walpole and Nornalup Inlets are interconnected and permanently open to the sea. At the same time three rivers – Deep River, Walpole River and Frankland River – drain into the inlets. The Deep River is designated a wild river which we think means that its catchment area remains natural and pristine.

Harumph, when we met up with Cathy and Steve for dinner, they too had walked to the Jetty BUT they had walked to the Swarbrick Jetty where they had seen kookaburras and kangaroos galore. All we saw was one lone pelican! Tomorrow afternoon/evening we will have to take ourselves down to Swarbrick Jetty.

Another plus for the Walpole Hotel Motel is that we didn’t have far to walk for some dinner. They offered an extensive menu, and we were all happy with our chosen meals: two cajun squid, one half serve of ribs and a chicken tikka masala. But the garlic bread was delivered late again. We order garlic bread to tide us over until our main meals arrive and it keeps being delivered at the same time or even AFTER our main meals!!



Steps: 14,355 (9.49kms)

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Photos

Stegasaurus Rocks
Officially it is Tower Hill