Day 158 - Giant Trees

Sunshine and a mild temperature met our open door this morning.  This was the signal for this to be an "administrative" day and it was, until after lunch.

In the afternoon we visited the famous "Valley of the Giants - Tree Top Walk".  It involves a 500m walk through the treetops.  A steel walkway supported by poles and wires winds its way through the tops of karri and red tingle eucalyptus trees, up to 40m above the ground.  The trees themselves reach heights of up to 70m.   The structure swayed somewhat from time to time, providing a rock and roll sensation.

110914 The start of the treetop walk

110914  40m above ground level

110914 The big karri tree is higher than the walkway

110914 Red Tingle trees with their huge girths

110914 They don't come much bigger than this, estimated at 400 years old

There was also an "Ancient Empires Walk" which meandered through a grove of veteran trees at ground level.  The trees were mostly red tingle trees.  These differ from the karri trees by way of a larger girth, rough red bark and extremely large buttresses.

110914 Fire, insect and fungus infestations often remove
the soft wood near the base

110914 Some nodules caused by insect and fungus infestations

We saw some other trees such as the karri oak and a wildflower called the Tassel Flower.  The karri oak was much, much smaller than its big brother.

110914 The Tassel plant

We photographed the Gnome in the forest to verify the fact that when you are caught between a karri and a red tingle tree, it makes you realise how small you are.

110914 Small? Who says so.

110914 OK. I give in.  They are bigger than I am.
Yes, that's me sitting in the middle of the seat

One other thing of note.  The pelicans are very large around here.

110914 Pelicans at the waterside in the caravan park

Day 157 - Margaret River to Walpole

The weather improved today for our trip down to Walpole via Karridale, Pemberton, Northcliffe and Shannon, a distance of about 275km. The trip was through WA's Southwest Region, famous for its National Parks, home of the Karri eucalyptus forests.  We photographed a few of these giants along the roadside.

By way of explanation and with thanks to Wikipedia:

"Karri forest is tall open forest of Eucalyptus diversicolor (karri), one of the tallest hardwoods in the world.[1]

Karri forest occurs only in the south-west corner of the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia, in the Warren biogeographic region.[2] The Warren region is also known as the Karri Forest Region, but this is a misnomer, as only about half of the region is vegetated with karri forest.

Historically, karri forest supported timber and firewood industries from the 1880s, when access to the forest was improved by a network of railway lines. Small settlements such as Karridale, Deanmill and Pemberton were established around timber mills, and have since become townships despite the closing of some of the mills.

Some of the remaining areas of karri forest are now protected in reserves such as Brockman National Park, Warren National Park, Beedelup National Park and Gloucester National Park."

Timber is still sourced from this area but there are also commercial timber plantations.

100914 Karri eucalypts, one of the tallest eucalypts in the world

100914 Karri eucalypts

100914 Karri eucalypts

100914 Karri eucalypts

100914 Karri eucalypts

The forests were interspersed with emerald green fields carrying sheep, beef and dairy herds. The winter rains in the area have produced lush grass, the animals look fat and contented and the many farm dams are filled to overflowing.

The number of vineyards diminished as we came further south but there were a few.

One of the beneficiaries of the rain has been the waterfalls and today we slipped off the highway to look at one of them, the Beedelup Falls, 20km west of Pemberton.

100914 Beedelup Falls from the top

100914 Beedelup Falls from the bottom

100914 Bridge below the Beedelup Falls. Its high swing amplitude,
made its crossing quite exciting

Walpole is a small township about 120km west of Albany, the biggest community in the South West. We are on the coast now so we may see some more of the Southern Ocean, hopefully in a less agitated frame of mind.

The wildflowers are not as prolific as they have been further north but we saw one near the falls which was unmissable because of its electric blue colour.

100914 Wildflower near Beedelup Falls

Day 156 - Completing the attractions near Margaret River

We were delighted to wake this morning with peace and quiet - no wind.  The sky was overcast but the sun broke through occasionally during the day.  There was a little rain but only later in the afternoon.

The day started with a visit to some waterfalls on the Margaret River, a few kilometres from the park. Normally there is little water going over the falls but today there was plenty due to the heavy rain of late.

090914 Waterfall on Margaret River

At least one cave was on our itinerary and we chose Calgardup Cave.  There are five or six others.  There was quite a steep walk down into the cave which was, in all, about 300m long.  The cave is unlit so torches were the order of the day.  It was also self guided. Most fascinating were the reflections in the lake in the bottom of the cave, whenever our torches were played on the stalactites.

090914 White stalactites in Calgardup Cave

090914 Yellow/brown stalactites in Calgardup Cave

090914 "Flowstone" calcium carbonate deposits in Calgardup Cave

090914 "Mites" and "Tites" in Calgardup Cave

Next we headed over to the coast to continue our love affair with beaches, rocks, winds, waves and foaming water.  Here the wind was still "pumping" and the sea remained messy. We took in such places as Redgate Beach, Gas Bay, the towns of Prevelly and Gracetown, the Margaret River mouth, Cowaramup Bay, South Point, Huzzawuiee and Moses Rock.

090914 Redgate Beach

090914 Gas Bay

090914 Rocks off point north of Gas Bay

090914 Surfer girl statue at Surfer's Point

090914 Gnarabup Beach with Prevelly in the background

090914 Margaret River Mouth from a distance

090914 Sculpture of a woman near the Margaret River Mouth

090914 Looking inland from the Margaret River Mouth

090914 Looking seaward from the Margaret River Mouth

090914 Gracetown boat ramp

090914 Cowaramup Bay with Gracetown in the background,
taken from Huzzawuiee

We chose to pass by Laurance Wines to get a picture of their "Chick on a stick", a feature of the entrance to their cellar door.

090914 Laurance Wines Cellar Door feature - locals call it "Chick on a Stick"

Last port of call was the town of Cowaramup, famous for the friesian cows which line the main street.  We counted about 20 in all.  Not to be outdone by Laurance Wines, Cowaramup has its own "Rump on a stump", or was it "Roast on a post".

090914 Friesian cows in the main street of Cowaramup

090914 More Friesian cows in the main street of Cowaramup

090914 Cowaramup's "Roast on a post" or was it "Rump on a stump"

Today was another full day in the Margaret River region but tomorrow we hit the road again.

Day 155 - Wine tasting at Margaret River

We have held ourselves in check up until today inasmuch as the Margaret River Vineyards are concerned. Our children had organised a tour of selected vineyards as a gift for us and today was the day.  The tour of two, yes, just the two of us, set out at 9.45am to visit and taste at six wineries.

These were Stella Bella, Leeuwin Estates, Voyager Estate, Watershed Wines, McHenry Hohnen Vintners and Vasse Felix.  We sampled no fewer than six wines at each tasting.  We think the tour operator picked the better wineries.  Every one of the wines we tasted was excellent.  We forced ourselves to make some difficult buying decisions and had to resort to sending some of the purchases home as freight.

080914 Leeuwin Estates Art Series originals

080914 And they even locked the gates at Leeuwin Estates

080914 Photographs of celebrities who have appeared at
Leeuwin Estates' annual concert

080914 Vineyards at Watershed Wines - in the rain

080914 Vineyards at Watershed Wines - after the rain

080914 The restaurant at Watershed Wiines

080914 Some of Janet Holmes a' Court's private art collection
at her family's Vasse Felix Vineyards

080914 Another of Janet Holmes a' Court's private art collection

080914 The old cellar door at Vasse Felix Vineyards

080914 The stream flowing through Vasse Felix Vineyards

Lunch time had us dining at Voyager Estate which was just the ants pants.  The setting was beautiful and the open fire in the restaurant only added to the ambiance.

080914 Entrance to Voyager Estates 

080914 Welcome sign at Voyager Estates

080914 The entrance to Voyager Estate, vines in the background

080914 Gardens at the entrance to Voyager Estates Cellar Door

080914 Voyager Estates Cellar Door

080914 The restaurant at Voyager Estates

080914 A homely fire at Voyager Estates restaurant

080914 The rear of the Voyager Estates Cellar Door

McHenry Hohnen also produces its own smallgoods which accompanied the tasting. Some of their smallgoods are in our refrigerator now.

We finished off the day with a visit to a cheese factory, having missed out on a visit to a chocolate factory because storms had cut power lines to the factory.

Talking about cutting power lines, today was quite an experience for another reason.  We were bedevilled all day by gale force winds, lashing rain and low temperatures. Watching rain belting horizontally across the vineyards was worrying to say the least.  We were happy to find our home away from home was unaffected during our absence.  It was great to return safely to the warmth and comfort of the caravan.

Tomorrow is an unknown quantity but, in all likelihood, will be cold, wet and windy.