20 October – 21 October 2013 – Walpole

Upon leaving the very cold Pemberton this morning, we headed towards Walpole, which wasn’t far to drive at all.  There were many vineyards, a lot of green countryside and just lush bushland along our journey.  We pulled into the Walpole information centre before deciding on a caravan park – we were trying to find the least windy spot.  The caravan park was located on the western side of the Walpole Inlet and even though it was quite open we were out of the wind a little.  The first thing we did after setting up was drive south along a remote track which followed the Nornalup Inlet.  It was obvious that not many people took this track as the bushes crept right over the track as did many big tree branches.  Josh pushed on anyway but became unstuck when there was a large tree fallen across the track – time to do a 12 point turn and return, checking the light scratches down the side of the car back in the open.  We ventured north of Walpole into the Walpole-Nornalup National Park towards the Hilltop Giant Tingle Tree stopping at a lookout over the Southern Ocean along the way.  We reached the tingle and karri tree forest where the giant tingle tree stands.  This large red tingle tree has been fire-hollowed at the base of it over time.  We look like tiny standing beside it.  Further out of town is the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk, our next stop.  It is a bit pricey for a short wander through some trees but I guess the engineering involved in this suspended walk would have cost quite them quite a bit to build.  We did it twice (to Zoe’s disgust) just to ensure we got our money’s worth.  At one point you reach approximately 40 metres above ground level with a stunning view across the top of the forest.  The tingle trees are amazing the way the bases are hollow, the roots don’t go very deep into the ground and at around 70 metres tall I’m surprised they don’t just topple over.  Josh wasn’t comfortable walking so high above the ground especially with the bridges bouncing and swaying as we walked (or the kids ran) along them.  We did a short walk through the Ancient Empire Boardwalk before heading back through to the Wilderness Discovery Centre where the kids had a bit of fun pretending to drive an old Holden.  We drove a bit further east, down a track leading to the coast of the Southern Ocean to a place called Conspicuous Cliff.  Josh took the beach walk whilst the girls and I headed up to the lookout, you might notice Josh looking like a dot in one of the coastal photos.  It was a stunning view and there were a lot of coastal wildflowers in the area but a bit of sunshine would not have gone astray.

The following day was filled with school work – need I say anything more than it was frustrating!

19 October 2013 – Pemberton

So, the weather overnight was terrible and we woke up to cold weather and rain – this meant that none of us were out of bed before 9.30am – that also meant a quick pack up of the caravan to get out on the road to the next town.  It was awful, I mistakenly put on shorts which meant being cold all day.  We arrived at Pemberton just after lunch time and stopped in town at the information centre – we wanted to see the big karri trees that you could climb but we weren’t sure if the national parks were open with all this rain and whether it would be safe to climb up.  It was lovely and warm in the information centre which made it hard to walk back out but we ran back to the car and van, made lunch and thought about our options.  We decided to stay and check the place out.  After checking into a caravan park and setting up, we were surrounded by pretty parrots and lots of friendly ducks.  We got some seeded crackers out to share with the wildlife.  We headed off to Warren National Park to find the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, one of the three fire lookout trees open to the public the area.  It is around 75 metres tall and there is a platform about half way up as well as at the top, the way to reach it is by climbing the 130 metal spikes hammered into the trunk – and there is nothing to save you if you slip between the pegs.  It was rainy, cold and wet and we attempted to climb a small way up, but the rungs were so cold that our hands were freezing and losing grip.  We heard some voices from above and there was an English couple up in the tree tops about to start their climb down.  We watched them climb all the way down holding our breaths in anticipation and thankfully they made it safely.  Amazingly, nobody has ever been killed in the process of climbing this tree.  We drove on, after a lot of argument from the kids as they wanted to climb all the way to the top.  Back in the car and out of the cold, we continued our drive along the Heartbreak Trail and out the other end of Warren National Park.  We then drove just to the east of Pemberton into Gloucester National Park to investigate the Gloucester Tree, another climbing tree.  The kids again nagged us to let them climb it but we told them it was just too unsafe, needless to say that we were too scared ourselves to climb up in the cold wet conditions.  Not far from here are the Cascades so we went to look.  It wasn’t as pretty as Cairns’ Crystal Cascades but that might have something to do with the difference in the weather.  We headed back to the van for a warm shower and a warm meal – thanks to Sami for cooking spaghetti for us all tonight.  The heater is getting a good workout – perhaps we should have packed some more warm clothes…

16 October – 18 October 2013 – Prevelly, Margaret River, Cape Leeuwin, Augusta & the caves

So we’ve packed, done the groceries and headed further south and not far from the actual south coast.  The land surrounding us is so green and not only are there many vineyards around us but also a lot of sheep farms.  We arrived in the township of Margaret River and attempted to get into a caravan park here but they both seem to be booked out – it probably as something to do with the Agricultural Show being on this weekend?  We checked our maps and noticed another one ten minutes away on the west coast and in the town of Prevelly; and they had plenty of vacancies!  After we had lunch, we took the footy to the mini oval in the caravan park and played a two-a-side game of aussie rules… Zoe and Josh vs Sami and me.  Zoe was swift, fast and accurate but Sami defended well and tackled brilliantly, leaving Zoe covered in many bruises by the end of the game.  It was a close game but I think Zoe and Josh just pipped us at the post.  Zoe needed a shower to get the grass stains and itch off her but then we piled into the car ready for adventure.  We headed slightly south to a nearby beach called Gnarabup and I don’t think it’s the best place for your relaxing swim as the sign cited “strong rips, large waves, slippery rocks, sand bars and sharks”!!  We kept to the shore and checked the beach out from the nearby lookout instead.  Driving along further we found where the Margaret River flows in/out from the ocean, parked the car and decided to walk along the beach edge to see how far we could get.  Our walk didn’t last long – we approached a couple of families that were fishing and couldn’t get much further past them so returned the way we came.  That was all our adventure for this afternoon; we instead returned to the van for another game of aussie rules – this time a neighbouring family with a young 5 year old, Chloe, came to join us for a bit of a kick and then back to the van for some drawing fun with Sami.  We ended up sending her home so that we could get the kids stuck into a bit of school work before dinner and then kicked back and watched Back to the Future – memories of watching this one long, long ago.

We got out of the van relatively early today as we had lots to see.  We continued down the coastline, first stop at Redgate Beach where the swell was pretty big crashing against some big boulders out at sea.  We continued right through Augusta and as far south we could go taking us to the most south western tip of the continent, Cape Leeuwin, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean.  We paid our money to do the tour of the Leeuwin Lighthouse, the tallest and longest running in Western Australia.  Part of the tour was a walk around the grounds with a headset on.  It was so cold and windy, I struggled to see how the light-keepers and their families lived here back in the early 1900s.  It took nearly an hour to finish our recorded tour, but just in time for our tour of the actual lighthouse.  A lovely tour guide told us about the history of this lighthouse and lots of information about how it worked and the way it was manually run for about 100 years.  It is still a working lighthouse but now everything is automatic, no more carting kerosene up all those steps.  We took the 170+ steps to the top floor of the lighthouse and out onto the extremely windy deck.  We had a bit of luck out there on the edge as there were a couple of whales frolicking nearby in the ocean, flapping their tales and diving through the water - they were stunning.  On leaving we drove past the Matthew Flinders cairn and Flinders Bay before heading towards Jewel Cave as recommended by the Crystal Cave, Yanchep tour guide.  In his opinion, this was the best one in the south west.  We were tossing up whether to do it as it was just another cave and another cost but Josh went in to investigate and when he returned to join us for lunch, he told us that he’d paid the money and not just to do this cave but also two others.  We went on into our first, Jewel Cave and the first thing that hit us was the actual size and room in here.  It was a long way down (around 42 metres at the deepest point) with lots of stairs and there were plenty of stalagmites, stalactites, columns, shawls, pendulites and thousands of straws (including the third largest stalactite straw in the world).  Originally, the only way into this cave was through a hole in the roof and apparently it was through this hole that a tasmanian tiger (now extinct) became trapped and perished.  It was well worth the money as this was again very different to any of the other caves we’d seen and it had lots of dazzling crystal white formations.  From here we realised that we had time to fit another cave in so we drove through the gorgeous landscape and onto Lake Cave.  This cave was similar but still had its differences.  For example, this cave is entered via a giant doline (where the cave has “caved” in) and so the start of this cave actually starts outside with huge weathered stalactites hanging above you.  Upon entering deep into this cave, the “suspended table” appears; which is two massive stalactites with a table like feature stuck to the bottom of it, weighing around 5 tonne and simply defying gravity by holding in place.  The kids enjoyed the lit up dragon that blows flames onto the suspended table and most of all the climb back to the top, all 62 metres and hundreds of stairs – of course they were first out.  On our way back we took the karri forest road, stopping for a quick couple of photos even though  ours never turn out as good as the professionals.  Back at the caravan park, Josh and Sami went to kick the footy a while and Zoe and I organised dinner.  We had some new neighbours in the park tonight, I’m sure placed right next to us in pay back for many vanning nights that we’ve had with friends… we didn’t mind the noise or the loud music (it was good stuff) but their singing was atrocious and so was their language.  We put up with it until around 11pm and thankfully it started to rain so they packed up and headed for cover.

Today we started by heading to our third cave, called Mammoth Cave.  This was a self-guided tour with audio and headphones and the entrance to this cave was like walking through the side of a cave mountain.  This cave was absolutely huge – hence the name and there have been lots of megafauna found in this cave, the bones are displayed to prove it.  There is even a jawbone from a large animal from over 44,000 years ago – it’s amazing!  By the time we exited this cave we were on the opposite side of Caves Road and had to cross back and walk through the karri forest to return our headsets.  We next went for a walk down the main street of Margaret River stopping only really to taste a bit of fudge and go into the information centre and then thought we’d go to a winery.  However, upon stopping at the Xanadu winery and having a look inside, I decided it would be no fun to drink alone so we got out of there and made tracks back to the coast, north of where we were staying.  It was a place called Ellenbrook Homestead but what we were more interested in was finding the Meekadarribee Falls.  We started down the path in which the signs directed us and along the way passed a few other people on their return walk – they advised us that they couldn’t find any running falls but we continued anyway.  We too wandered along the path following the river until we reached a bridge that had been ruined by a falling tree.  There was no running waterfall but instead a grotto with a diary (more like a story book) telling us the tale of Meekadarribee.  I felt like we’d gone back a few years and I was reading a story to the girls, at least they were interested while I read.  We took the path back to the car and returned to the van for another quick game of aussie rules.  The kids also got stuck into a bit of artwork that they had to do for school – Sami was getting very frustrated as she was trying to make a fictional animal with functioning wings, eventually Josh succeeded in helping her to get it work close enough to how she wanted.  We had another movie night tonight – Back to the Future II but once again Josh didn’t make the end of it.