Advertisement
Published: October 16th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Saturday 12th
Out early and on the road. Our first stop is Hamlin Bay to see the stingrays, but like us they are away on holiday. A real rugged coastline with big breakers.
On to Augusta where we stop for coffee overlooking the river and to our surprise we see dolphins playing in front of us ! We watch them for 20 mins or so before they disappear.
We drive out of Augusta and see a strange little shop selling Christmas decorations etc and we stop and have a look around. They have three kangeroos in the garden.
Our final stop is Pemberton where we quickly sort out accommodation and then hop on the Pemberton Tram for a ride into the forest. It's a lovely trip but the guide is very nerdy and goes on and on about the Snotty Gumbble tree ! what he doesn't know about that tree is not worth knowing. Luckily ?? for us the commentary is partly drowned out by the family with 6 kids sitting behind us ! When we stop to look at a waterfall, we change carriages. On the way back we see emus in the distance.
We
drive up through the "town" centre and there's nowhere to eat for the evening, so it's dinner out at our motel.
Sunday 13th
First thing we walk to the nearby national park and have a look at the Gloucester tree. An enormous Karrie tree which is 60 m high and used to be used for fire spotting. We get the chance to climb it but only get a few feet off the ground before losing our nerve.
The rest of the morning is spent driving to Warpole where we find a hostel to stay. We then go and see the harbour inlet and have a short walk before going on a forest trail and seeing huge Karrie and marrie trees and tingle trees. We also see the "famous" snotty gumbble ! We're getting good at recognising them after yesterday's tram ride.
Finally we drive to the outer harbour inlet and watch some fisherman gutting their catch and see pelicans waiting for the scraps.
It's been a long day of driving and walking in the trees.
Monday 14th
Clear bright blue sky at last and our first visit is to a giant Tingle tree
which I can stand inside. We go on a trail walk and see many more.
We then drive off and our next visit is to be to Conspicuous Bay. We take the turning onto an unsealed road and 20 mins later after keep turning right, we meet the highway again ! We've missed it, so it's not as conspicuous as it's supposed to be. We give up looking.
We visit instead Peaceful Bay a beautiful bay of white sand and rocks off shore to keep the water calm. There's supposed to be basking seals but of course there aren't ! Another strike out.
We reach Denmark, our nights stop and book into a nice but old hotel.
The receptionist gives us some info on nice places to go and our first is a park nearby alongside the river where we have lunch. We then walk along the path and see Cormerents, Heron, parrots and Kookaburra.
We then take the "short drive" as the receptionist calls it to visit Green Pool and Elephant Rocks. They are actually a 18 mile round trip ! Everywhere in Australia is miles apart. They were worth the effort as the
Pool is really lovely and the Rocks, made of granite huge.
The evening sees us call in at the local pub for a take away of pasta and chicken.
Tuesday 15th
At breakfast we talk to a couple who have been walking the Bibbulmun Trail from Perth to Albany and have been walking for 8 weeks so far. Due to the poor weather they tell us that they sheltered in a toilet for 8 hours one day------- now that would be a story !
We drive straight to Albany and find accommodation for two days before stopping off at the local Telstra mobile phone shop where I buy a dongle for my net book. Internet access has been difficult and expensive since leaving Perth. Luckily the chap in the shop does all the clever stuff getting it to work.
We then go straight to the beach and have lunch in a gale.
After we take a long walk along the coastal path to Wooding Point and get a great view over the coast line and Middleton Beach.
After dumping our bags at our apartment we drive out to Princess Royal Fortress. It's a
Heritage site and the timber fort was built in 1893. There were many original buildings to look around and the site was also used in recent times and has some modern gun emplacements.
Finally we drive the short distance to the Anzac Memorial on Mount Clarence. Part is closed as they are doing work for the 100 year anniversary but we walk around the side of the park and meet another couple. They warn us about the Tiger snake that actually attacks people if it sees them. Armed with a sturdy stick we continue to the top of the park where there are fantastic views of the town and Stirling Ranges in the distance. The best view we have had since arriving in Australia.
Back to our apartment for dinner and a well earned drink.
Wednesday 16th
First thing we drive out to Frenchman Bay to visit the whaling station discovery centre. Everyone we have met have told us to see this place. The whaling station was the last one in Australia to stop whaling in 1974. The place has been restored and many of the whale oil storage tanks have been turned into video viewing
rooms. We see how the whales were harpooned and then cut up. It was horrendous. This station alone killed 1000 whales a year !
We also see whale skeletons and the blue whale is the largest at over 22 m. They can grow to 44 m and are huge ! The place is impressive.
We then drive back along the coast and visit The Blow Holes, an area of granite where the sea has undermined the rock and waves breaking below spray through the cracks, but not very much today !
Onto The Natural Bridge and The Gap. More examples of the sea wearing away the granite and creating natural features. They are both very impressive and hopefully our photos will bear this out.
On the way back to the car a snake crosses our path. Luckily it's only a foot long and as thin as a pencil. It's not one of the poisonous ones !
Finally we stop at a replica of the Brig Amity, the timber sail ship that in 1826 brought crew and prisoners from Sydney to form the first settlement in Albany. It's a tiny ship with little headroom, even for
me !
Nearby are a number of the first buildings constructed by the settlers made of timber and corrugated tin. Even today many of the building have corrugated tin roofs.
We've had a busy last day in Western Australia as tomorrow we have about a 5 hour drive back to Perth before flying off to Cairns for the next leg of our Australian tour.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.148s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 9; qc: 61; dbt: 0.0399s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
elaine
non-member comment
Perth
Good to read your travel blog. Certainly keeps me well informed and amused. Good luck. Miss you