Valley of the Giants

Thursday 11^th August

After leaving Pemberton, we travelled east to Walpole and called into the visitor centre to ask about the Tingle Tree Top walk and buy our tickets. We continued down the highway for 16klms after a drive through Walpole. The Tingle forest is 6 klms off the highway. I hadn’t heard of Tingle trees before, Karri trees are unique to Western Australia, they are well known.

                                                            The forest floor.

                                                       John on the tree walk.

The tree top walk was awesome. We were 40 metres off the ground amongst the tree tops, on a steel structure. It was very scenic looking down onto the floor of the forest. It was a perfect day for the walk, sunny and no wind.

The walk through tree.

Fun photo.

John walked to the Empire of the Giants, huge trees with trunks you can walk through.

We continued to Denmark for the night, the caravan park was on the rivermouth just out of town, we had a relaxing night there before heading to Albany.

Margaret River and Pemberton region

Cape Naturaliste walk.

Monday 8^th August.

John and I made our way to Margaret River, detouring off to see Cape Naturaliste and Yallingup, via the coastal road. The paddocks have lots of wild white arum lilies everywhere, a lovely sight. They have guided tours at Cape Naturaliste lighthouse, however we decided to go on the coastal walk, hoping to see whales; but had no luck. It was scenic along the track, looking out to sea it was wild and windy.

Coastal walk

This was on the board at the lookout.

White lillies were everywhere.

Mossy rock

We got to Margaret River by lunchtime, the country side was so green, a rich grazing area. We passed lots of wineries, booked into the caravan park and went out to a chocolate factory and the Howling Wolves winery. Made purchases at both of course!

This cafe was in Witchcliffe.

Margaret River.

Tuesday 9^th August

Augusta was our next town to discover, it is the gateway to Cape Leeuwin and the most south westerly place on the Australian mainland. It's here that the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. Augusta lies on the Bloodwood River, a pretty town we passed through it on our drive to Cape Leeuwin. We stopped at an old historic water wheel, right at the ocean. The area is beautiful and wild, John went into the lighthouse grounds and walked around the lightkeepers cottages. We saw a noisy flock of black cockatoos on the way down to the lighthouse. The Cape Leeuwin lighthouse is a large imposing structure.

Cape Leeuwin lighthouse

Syd at the most south westerly point in Australia

 

The beach at Cape Leewin with the historic water wheel in the background.

We made our way to Pemberton along the Bussell Highway, through lovely green country side.

Pemberton is a timber town with a large mill. It has pretty old timber cottages built in the 1920’s. We are booked into the caravan park for two nights, we want to go on the railway tram tomorrow. The tram goes on a scenic trip through the forest, over several trestle bridges and plenty of photo opportunities.

Pemberton Hotel

Ring necked parrot.

Wednesday 10^th August

Our first stop today was the large Gloucester Tree, there’s even a steel ladder built around and up through the tree with a large platform at the top. Enough to keep the most fit climber happy. John and I took photos. John climbed a small section.

The Gloucester Tree

The little tram meanders through the Karri forest slowly and through some pretty scenery. They stop at the Cascade Falls for a photo opportunity, the whole trip took nearly two hours return. The sun came out which added a nice touch.

Pemberton Tramway.

Cascade Falls

On the tram

Part of the track.

Wooden cottages in Pemberton

Later we drove to the Beedelup Falls and took a walk to the lookout. John went a bit further to the sway bridge. The country side is brilliant green grazing land with sheep and cattle. Emus graze along side the cattle.  I spotted one tiny black lamb walking with its mother, he was the only black lamb that I could see in the flock.

Another night in Pemberton, then tomorrow east towards Albany, with a stop at the Tree Top walk.

Return to Fremantle and Busselton Jetty.

Fremantle markets.

Saturday morning was cool and sunny; we packed up and headed south to Fremantle. We noticed the markets and the goal yesterday, so thought it would be good to have a closer look at both.  John had a quick look at the markets then went to the goal. He didn’t do the tour but took a few photos and got a couple of souvenirs. I wandered around the markets, buying some fruit and vegetables and a take away coffee.

The heritage buildings are so nice, we spent another hour driving around and taking more photos.

Fremantle goal.

                                

Heritage area.

We arrived in Busselton  early afternoon, John called into the visitor centre; we booked onto the caravan park and had a quiet afternoon.

Train ride

John after the walk out on the Jetty.

Busselton Jetty

Sunday 7^th August.

John has wanted to walk the Busselton Jetty since the beginning of the trip.  Busselton Jetty spans 1.8 klms across Geographe Bay.  It’s the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. The shallow waters of the bay restricted ship movement, the long jetty was required to transport the wool and cut timber to the ships. At the end is an Underwater observatory, it was a pity it wasn’t open for us to experience it. I rode the little train out and back, John did the walk both ways.

We enjoyed a coffee at the local café overlooking the bay, looked at the art and crafts, which are housed in the old courthouse and jail. We enjoyed looking through the various rooms and the jail cells.

We had a quiet afternoon back at the park, tomorrow we are off to Margaret River.

Fremantle

An old hotel in Fremantle.

Friday 5^th August.

Great day today with Frank and Lena, they drove us to Fremantle via the beaches, plenty of sun and good company. Frank is the brother of my brother in law, Stewart, who with his wife, Shirley, live in Queensland. I hadn’t seen Lena and Frank for about 13 years, so we had plenty to talk about.

Lena, Frank and I

The drive to Fremantle only takes about forty minutes; it’s a lovely old port town with lots of 19^th century heritage buildings. Some are being restored, there is a lot of work going on along the waterfront. The port is a busy one, large tankers already at the dock and others waiting out to sea to enter.

The Fishing Fleet

John and Frank

The marina is huge with boats stacked up like cars in an elevated car park. We had a lunch of fish and chips at a café along side the fishing fleet, stately old sturdy boats.

lovely heritage buildings

Frank drove through the town showing us the markets and the Fremantle goal, before heading back to Perth. Of course, we had to take a few more photos along the way.

The highway  beside the Swan River

Perth

The lights of the WACA, Perth's cricket ground.

John and I leave Perth tomorrow and head further south. We might just have a closer look at Fremantle as we go through.

one of Fremantle's old homes.

Indian Ocean Drive to Perth

Pinnacles desert

Monday1^st August.

Leaving Jurien Bay after breakfast, we continued south to Cervantes, a short drive of 24 klms, decided to see the Pinnacles Desert and make Lancelin our final stop before Perth. The weather was still very windy. Each night for a week, the wind and rain has been  unpleasant, although some of the days were sunny. Lancelin was the same, the park was exposed to the elements and the wind blew most of the night.

John at the Pinnacles

 

 The Pinnacles are limestone formations contained in the Nambung NP near Cervantes. John and I walked up to a viewing area and then John took a walk through them for about half an hour. Lancelin was then only an hour and a half further on.

^Tuesday 2^nd August.

For as far as the eyes could see; we were amazed at the hundreds of native grass trees growing along the highway. We had only seen a group of two or three before on the east coast; here they went for many klms.

The caravan park in the north of Perth weren’t taking any new bookings so I booked us into Ascot, a few klms east of the city, but far enough inland to escape the windy weather. We plugged in the GPS to get us through the city, an easy drive, in parts along the Swan River. It was a bit strange seeing lots of traffic after the remote areas we had been to.

We booked into the park for four nights, with an option to stay longer. One lot of Perth friends were going to Broome and had left already, the others we will be in touch with and hopefully see them.

John and I went for a short walk to see the river after we got settled, then settled into a quiet afternoon in the motor home.

Hay Street mall.

Wednesday 3rd August

The bus route into the city is about 20 mins, a better option for us, we walked up to the bus stop from the park, spending most of the day in the city. We realized later, we could have got a free bus around the city centre, but we walked through the Hay Street mall and several other streets and were back in the park after lunch.

London Court

Thursday 4^th August

Michael and Rosie, friends of ours, drove us to Kings Park, a beautiful oasis, the jewel in the crown for this city. The day was perfect, sunny and warm, a perfect photo shoot. Later we met up with their daughter and grand daughter for coffee and cake. It was so nice to spend time with good friends. On the way home we spent an hour at Burswood Casino.

Perth skyline from Kings Park.

Michael, Rosie and I at Kings Park.

Michael, Rosie and John

Swan River

Kings Park