Pemberton and Walpole

Monday the 25th October after a clean up we finally got out of the Park a little after 10am, telling everyone we were heading towards Walpole and that was our intention, however along the way Jude who constantly reads brochures became interested in Pemberton and so our plans changed. The drive was very pleasant through forests of trees and lots of wildflowers. Along the way we came across a Cheese Farm specialising in Sheep's Cheese, Judy's new relationship with sheep being on a high, she insisted on visiting and after a tasting bought up big. Personally I do not like this type of cheese much and I find it hard to imagine milking sheep like cows, pity they were not milking while we were there.

A little further down the track we came across a "Fine Woodwork Place" and after nearly burning out the clutch trying to turn the van around and rounding up the owner we witnessed some of the best woodwork I have ever seen. The prices were high but so was the quality and some of the pieces involved years of work and would be best displayed in one of the National Gallery's in Canberra. Fast turning into an expensive day.

Finally into Pemberton and a really nice little Caravan Park, really quiet, with parrots coming down to join in, any thing being eaten and families of ducks wandering around (gotta love spring time). After setting up the van we went for a quick drive around and found that everywhere we went they were closed. Coincidence or just a sleepy little town, the jury is still out however because most tourist places open over the weekend they take Mondays off. Anyway it was great to have a quiet night.

After a slow start we arrived at the Pemberton Train Station for a ride on a tram, destination being a cascading waterfall in the middle of a Karri Forest. The tour had a guide who talked of the history and explained the flower and fauna of the area. The little rattler took us over wooden trestle bridges which were quite scary, we stopped a couple of times and went on brief walks to appreciate the beauty of the forest. The ride was good without being spectacular and it did help us to understand the history of the town. We also visited the famous "Gloucester Tree" a giant Karri Tree with 153 steel spikes driven in to make a circular staircase to the top, Judy was very keen to climb to the top and even had worn her joggers for the occasion, but, alas she did not quite make the top. But she had a go, I comfortably enjoyed being at ground level.

There is a self guided tour drive around the area particularly targeting the massive Karri Trees. We undertook as much of this tour that we had time for and along the way visited a winery and cider brewery, the cider was OK but pricey so we purchased 6 bottles only. The drive was very good with a good balance of beautiful forest and farmland with avocados being harvested at the time. I would recommend a visit to this area, it is a pleasant relaxing place to visit.

Next morning we packed and headed towards Walpole a coastal town famous for its giant Tingle Trees and treetop walkway. Once again we were lucky with the caravan park, although a few K's out of town we had a good site and the amenities were good. We set up quickly and went for a drive to a forest art area which interestingly has been set up out in the bush and is still intact (not vandalised) amazing. It is an interesting concept, I find the meaning of some art to be quite oblique to my thinking, but I do like the shapes and colors and love the mental stimulation trying to fathom the meaning of some pieces. We quickly drove to the Valley of the Giants as we were running out of time and managed to get into the tree top walk. Here I am again, paying good money to be terrorised by walking around a swaying walkway miles above the ground, I managed to get around but went into a cold sweat every time I looked down. The walk is a 600 metre loop, the 60 metre steel trusses support the walk 40 metres above the floor of the forest. The Tingle Trees are really impressive, massive bases supporting these giants of the forest. They are so big they are really hard to photograph, they grow to a height of 70 metres and a girth of 20 metres. With daylight running out we returned to the van, a cold windy night had us having a little lie in in the morning.

We had been told by friends that the Wow Eco Tour was worth a try and so we fronted up the next morning. A cold windy day with showers of rain had us doubting the value of a boat ride but when the Guide showed up wearing shorts no shoes we were intrigued to know more about the man, Gary is a real character, a local man who's family has been doing these tours for 100 years. He is passionate about conservation and history and once the covered in boat was launched and heading out over the bay he entertained us with his stories about his family and the Walpole area. He had us laughing most of the time but underlying his stories were a lesson on sustaining and conserving our flora and fauna. Gary is a very interesting character and his personal entertainment value was worth the cost of the tour.

We followed the tour with a drive to the Conspicuous Cliffs, a wonderful lookout and great whale watching spot, the wind howling, we only stayed briefly. I reckon it would be good on a better day. A visit to a bead shop on a farm and then to the circular pool filled the remainder of our day.

Back to the Coalmine Beach Holiday Park for the night, I must mention the wildflowers in this area are excellent and prolific, it becomes a challenge to spot a new one, Judy is very good at it.

Tomorrow we are off to Albany, but once again that is another story.