Embedded Files
Our friend's delightful old worker's cottage in Pemberton with personalised caravan site. It's our base for the next week's exploration of the district.
Out of shot on the left are the three resident kangaroos that eat her fruit trees!
Day 29 - Pemberton (Windy Harbour Trip)
Today 130kms / Total 6086kms
Windy Harbour and the nearby surfing beach at Salmon Beach are two of the few places on the coast that are accessible to non-4WD vehicles. They are both situated in the D'Entrecasteaux Nat Pk along 130kms of mainly uninhabited coastline .
Windy Harbour
Salmon Beach
Windy Harbour seems to be the place for avid fisher-folk. Here's an expert fisherman...
... as well as Bill and Fred in their Tinny.
There are some beautiful rock formations in the area.
This is Cathedral Rock.
At Pt D'Entrecasteaux, there is a lookout called Windows Lookout.
You just can't get away from Bill Gates these days, can you?
Day 30 - Pemberton (Manjimup shops)
Today 75kms / Total 6161kms
Shopping in Manjimup today, followed by a small drive through the forest on the way back. No pics, as Woolworths' aisles don't excite my creative juices very much. :-(
Day 31 - Pemberton (Karri Forest Explorer Drive)
Today 96kms / Total 6257kms
Today's drive is strictly for tree- and nature-lovers! It takes in 3 National Parks plus a forest on a self-guided drive with a difference. Each major attraction on the route has its own low-powered FM station, so you can listen on your car radio to a 5 minute history of the location as you approach, and then get out and explore on foot.
The first stop was the Gloucester Tree fire lookout, named after the Duke of Gloucester, then Australia's Governor-General, who visited Pemberton when the lookout was being built in 1946. Fire lookout watchtowers were built in a number of tall Karri trees around the area. This one is open to daring, non-vertigo-suffering members of the public who wish to experience the view from 60m above the forest floor.
Here is Sue with a very confident air and her foot on the 2nd rung.
If you think she went any higher, then we have a very big bridge in Sydney that we can sell you... :-)
There was some colourful bird life in the forest.
Here's a Western Rosella holding a nut with its foot.
The next stop was the Big Brook Forest and Dam - a popular spot for picnics, walks and canoeing on the dam.
Considering that this part of WA is in serious drought, the dam was higher than we anticipated. The sand is trucked in to give a better and less muddy access to the water.
Looking across the dam, we spotted 4 of WA's best-known symbols, the black swan, with the magnificent Karri as a backdrop.
Back into the trees again, and this time we made for Beedelup Nat Pk and the Beedelup Falls.
Speaking of trees, I would bring the reader's attention to item 1 on the "For Your Safety' list above. You can click on the photo to enlarge it, but if you don't want to, then take my word that it says "Avoid walking under trees on windy days". Even the most unobservant will note that you can't actually walk anywhere in most forests without being under a tree. As it had been blowing a gale for most of the days we'd been here, we just pushed on regardless. :-)
As mentioned above, this area is very dry at the moment, so no water over the Beedelup Falls.
Then final stop on the drive was at the Warren Nat Pk.
The Warren River flows through the park and there are numerous camping and picnic sites along it.
All these beautiful trees make good balm for the soul. :-)
Day 32 - Pemberton (Wine Tasting)
Today 25kms / Total 6282kms
As we were starting to get into wine country, we thought we had better check out a vineyard or two before we moved on. We decided on the Hidden River Winery, and booked in for lunch after sampling some very nice whites and reds. Lunch was also superb and we thought the prices quite reasonable.
On the way home we detoured via The Cascades (part of the Forest Drive) as it had been getting a bit late yesterday.
As mentioned, the drought has caused The Cascades to dry out to just pools in some places. We were very impressed with the level of tourist access, walkways, etc. in the area. This one has just been upgraded.
Day 33 - Pemberton (Saw Mill)
Today 0kms / Total 6282 kms
The timber (lumber for our North American readers) industry has been a big player in opening up this area. However, as the stands of old-growth forest are now thankfully off-limits for logging, and the slow-growing nature of the prize species in the area (Karri takes 80~100 years), the number of mills in the area has decreased. Available licences for logging are strictly controlled by the state government. There is now only one mill operating in the area from a previous total of about five. The mill in Pemberton was established in 1912. The current mill dates to the early 1950s and was expanded in the '80s.
We went on a tour of the mill and consequently with today's Health and Safety regulations, we were all looking like Bob the Builder.
Can we mill it? Yes, we can!
While the machinery has been updated from the old steam powered saws and conveyors to electric, computer-controlled machines, it is still an operation that produces LOTS of sawdust! All in all, a very interesting tour, and well explained by our guide, who turned out to actually be the chef at the local cafe! :-)
From this...
to this, in only a few hours!
The mill is about the only industry (other than tourism) in Pemberton, so its closure would hit the town. A lot of the housing was originally built by the mill for its staff and is very distinctive.
Day 34 - Pemberton -> Gracetown
Today 170kms / Total 6452kms
Just a travel day today. About the only thing of note was that we had no internet / mobile signal at the caravan park, hence the delay in updating our stay in the very beautiful Margaret River region.
One redeeming feature was the very secluded nature of the sites in the caravan park.
Hidden away in the bush!
The only downside we've come across with being in among the trees is the difficulty in setting up the satellite dish for the TV. You need a clear line of sight to a particular satellite that is in geosynchronous orbit about 35000kms (22000miles) above New Guinea. This is the satellite that carries the free-to-air channels that we can get via a decoder box in the van. As we're about as far away from the satellite as you can get and still be in Australia, the angle is only about 30° above the horizon and therefore looks straight through the trees!
We found that if we drove down to the coast (only about 2kms away) and sat on a headland, we could get a mobile signal and could then check our emails.
It's terrible the hardships we have to put up with when checking our mail... :-)
(Gracetown overlooking Cowaramup Bay)
Day 35 - Gracetown (Southern Margaret River area)
Today 175kms / Total 6627kms
We had allocated 3 days to the Margaret River Region - not enough to do it justice, but at least enough to give us a taste of the area. Today was set aside to explore the southern part of the region. Of course, one of the major attractions here was the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. This lighthouse is set on a point on the most south-westerly point of Australia in an area with numerous reefs and rocks.
This area is where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet.
In
To answer the question on the plaque, "Can you spot the meeting point?", it's where everyone has put their fingers on the map and worn away the detail. :-)
The lighthouse was proposed in 1881, but wasn't completed until 1896. One reason for the delay was due to the eastern colonies (not yet states, and a couple of thousand miles away) rejecting the need to pay for the light, a clear example that Australia leads the world in NIMBY-ism. Another reason was the lack of good foundations and the necessity to dig down 22ft to find bedrock. The cape was named by Matthew Flinders in 1801. He named it after the Dutch vessel the 'Leeuwin' which rounded the cape in 1622.
Obligatory photo marking our reaching the SW corner of Australia.
Just around the point from the lighthouse is The Water Wheel. This is (was) a fascinating invention that used a water wheel to pump spring water for the lighthouse staff. One thing the original builders failed to appreciate was the amount of minerals in the spring water. Consequently over time the wheel was totally enclosed by calcification, leaving a rather wet but fascinating sculpture.
Interestingly, the flume hasn't calcified.
We then slowly wandered up the coast and popped down many dirt tracks into little bays. Most of these bays are only frequented by surfers as this part of the coast is a surfers' heaven. One of the bays is Hamelin Bay. In the late 19th century, this was an international port for the export of Karri timber.
Over time, the jetty has succumbed to the Southern Ocean storms until what you see here is all that's left.
Sue is always on the lookout for birds and we found a Port Lincoln parrot walking around in the carpark at Hamelin Bay.
The locals in WA call these birds '28' parrots. We've yet to find out why.
Coming back on one of the dirt tracks, we came across a most unusual grass tree with three trunks.
Sue talks to our new hirsute alien overlords...
On the drive back to the van, we wound our way back through some more glorious forests of Karri.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse