Albany to Perth.

After our short stay in Albany it was time to hit the road again continuing the journey west, first stop of the day was to be in Denmark about an hour from Albany. The town looks very nice with the river running through it and was still quite busy with the holiday crowds, after having some lunch we continued on.

From here on you are in tree territory and they have some fun tourist attractions to try out, the first is just before Walpole at the Valley Of The Giants tree top walk. This is a National Parks site so no dogs, others seem to ignore that, and there is an entry fee but certainly worth the money. You walk along elevated walkways up in the tree top canopy and at its highest point you are 40m above the ground. Back on the forest floor you walk amongst the giant Tingle trees and in some places walk through and stand within these massive trees, we really enjoyed it and gave you an idea of how high they grow within the safe confines of the walkways.

Back on the road we stopped briefly in Walpole to find out the caravan parks were full still this being the last week of school holidays, we asked about forest camping and were advised Shannon National Park 80km north would suit our needs so off we went.

Arriving at Shannon we found the place to be fairly quiet with a large group of cyclists in for the night and just a few other campers, driving around the campsite we found a large concrete pad from some of the previous machinery to be perfect of the caravan and there was also a picnic table and fire pit, which woud be our first since Tasmania. We decided we would stay here for four nights over the ANZAC weekend thus avoiding the crowds but also being able to explore the region from this base camp.

About Shannon, it used to be a logging town created in the mid 1940’s and was made up of over 90 homes with its own school, golf course and tennis courts. The town basically disappeared in 1967 after the logging closed and the houses were all transplanted to other local towns in the area. The area was gazetted a National Park in 1988 and now only the old golf clubhouse remains, used now as a lodge for groups to hire. You can take a walk from the campground to Shannon Dam which was the source of water for the township.

Our first daytrip took us out to Windy Harbour via Northcliffe, the settlement at Windy Harbour is quite interesting with only the caravan park shop with any form of supplies, you can take a drive to the headland overlooking the houses and north to Salmon Beach. Returning to camp we took a detour through the forest and took in the site of the Boorara Tree, this is one of the old fire tower look out trees which someone would have to climb in during the fire season to keep those on the ground notified of fire activity in the area, this tree you could not climb like others but a hut on the ground gave you an idea of how much space the lookout had up in the canopy of the tree.

The next day out would prove to be on of the more adventurous for one member of the family, destination for the day was to be Pemberton and the surrounding forest which included the fire tower lookout trees. We first stopped at the Gloucester Tree, this is on of the more popular trees you can climb in the area and the lookout platform is approx 60m above the ground. They have metal spikes hammered into the tree going up in a corkscrew fashion with some wires at the end of each rung creating a semi safety net incase you go too far out on the rung. Kellie was the brave one here and took off up the tree before we finally could see her at the top, after having a breather and a picture taken at the top it was the slow climb back down also having to make room for climbers going up to get past, well done Kel.

We had lunch in Pemberton and then had a wander around town, a surprise was to be found in the visitor centre where they had five Kangaroo Joey orphans which we could get close too and pat. The rest of the day was taken driving the Karri Forest Loop Road which meanders through these huge trees and offers a number of points of interest and historical information from those that first came to settle the area. The final stop of the day was another climbing tree, the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree is the tallest you can climb at around 75m with a platform 25m up where you can take a rest, a few people were taking the challenge but not me (Liam), I prefer ground level.

Leaving Shannon behind we made our way to Manjimup to grab a few supplies and continued on to a rest stop at one tree bridge, the photo might explain why it was named so.

The weather had also turned for the worse and we were now driving through some heavy rain, destination was to be somewhere around Augusta on the coast but with the weather being not so good beachside camping would be no fun. Checking the map the area around Margaret River had some good options and we made a few calls before settling on Big Valley Campsite, so back on the road we arrived at our destination for the next week.

Big Valley Campsite www.bigvalleymargaretriver.com.au is a farm based caravan and camping option, they mainly run sheep on the property but also have some goats, rabbits, chickens and quail to keep the kids amused. Mischief the orphaned lamb was especially entertaining when walking towards you in a flock of sheep, might have had something to do with the hand feeding it received that made it so human friendly. The owners Shirley, Kevin and Megan were great and gave some excellent advice about places to visit around the region, well worth checking the place out if in the area.

That week we spent our mornings getting the kids back into schooling whilst making use of the excellent library in Margaret River to focus the kids minds. Our afternoons were spent taking in some of the local attractions such as the Berry Farm with beautiful scones, Cheeky Monkey Brewery for some beer and cider samples and the highlight for us the Giants Cave. This cave is what they call an adventure cave, before entry you are given a hardhat and torch, once inside there are no lights and in some sections you have to crawl through tight holes in the rock and climb ladders to complete the 500m cave with two sections reaching 88m below the surface.

Travelling a little further out from the area we visited Augusta and the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse which is on the edge of Flinders Bay, also the name of the ship I was on when I met Kellie, we finished that day having fish and chips in Augusta before turning to the van.

We had planned one day to use to head north to Busselton about 55km away, on the way you pass through Cowaramup which is a small town covered in cow statues, including a large gold version high above the ground in an interesting pose. We thing this must have been a bit of fun as nearby there was a winery with a similar statue of a human figure in the same pose.

Busselton had a surprise which I had not known about in that the jetty in town is very long, 1.8km long in fact, arriving just as the little train left meant we had no option but to walk it, an hour later we were back on land having lunch.

After having a browse around the town and refuelling we took the road west towards the town of Dunsborough which is obviously very popular with the Perth holiday crowd as it had some great holiday properties. Next stop was Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, here they have a small museum and you can walk around the grounds, for a small fee you can walk up to the lighthouse and enjoy the view over the surrounding ocean.

Margaret River has so much to see and do it was unfortunate that whilst we were there the weather was not favourable and so the beaches and walks did not hold the appeal they might have on a sunny day, never the less we enjoyed our stay here but it was time to move on.

We passed through Bunbury heading north and continued on to Mandurah where we stopped for a couple of nights to visit Kellie’s cousin and family, we also got to check out the local markets and the kids even hooked up with some mates they had first found in Esperance.

And now we sit in Perth, getting some jobs done on the car and the kids getting up to date with school work has been the priority, next week we will stay with a friend and hope to see more of the city and surrounds before continuing on into warmer weather.

Esperance to Albany.

Nullarbor crossing complete we looked for somewhere to stay that evening, heading south from Norseman you come to a small community run caravan park at a place called Salmon Gums. Arriving to find the place only occupied by one other caravan we parked up and got to know the neighbours, an older couple from NSW also doing the big lap although in slightly more refined transport to us in a Range Rover Sport.

Esperance was to be our destination the next day, just in time for the start of school holidays in WA so finding a campsite in the local National Parks was going to be difficult so we opted for a caravan park in town. The Seafront Holiday Park turned out to be a good pick, they gave us a site right next to the playground and looking over the ocean, having paid for 3 nights they held the spot for the 4th night in case we changed our minds which became the case. We spent most our time in town restocking supplies, lazing around and seeing the Lego Movie which was a highlight for the kids, now everything was awesome.

Esperance is a nice little town with a busy port precinct and the harbour front is undergoing major construction to improve the area even more, the mining companies around Norseman are funding much of the works.  Not too far out of town you can visit Cape Le Grand National Park and on the way visit Stone Henge, that’s right someone has built a full size replica using granite of the original in the UK, seems it was commissioned for another town but due to money issues ended up staying near the quarry the stone was sourced at Esperance.

Back on the road to Cape Le Grand  National Park, this area is known for its white sandy beaches which occasionally host Kangaroos laying in the sand, sadly we did not see any on our visit but the views made up for that and the drive back to Esperance along the beach made for an interesting finish to the trip.

Leaving Esperance behind and trying to avoid the holiday crowds we made our way west towards Ravensthorpe, spending a night in a rest stop off the highway the next day we made it to Wave Rock. Quite a sight seeing the wall of rock up close, 15m high and 110m in length it really is a sight to see, we also took a walk over the top and to another rock outcrop they refer to as the Hippos Yawn.

We now needed somewhere to stop for the night, again going off wikicamps we found the town of Kulin to be suitable for our needs, with the added bonus of a new swimming pool the kids could enjoy. The caravan park in Kulin is very new with only 11 sites and a youth hostel style lodgings. The town population is only around around 350 but is well known for both its annual horse race meeting and the quirky Tin Horse Highway. The Tin Horse Highway is an on going competition between some of the locals as too who can make the best depiction of a horse using mainly old oil drums, some have been quite inventive.

The centre of Kulin is also undergoing something of a revamp with new parkland area and an updated overnight rest stop for travellers, we would have stayed longer but the caravan park was fully booked for the upcoming long weekend so we had to move on.

We left Kulin taking the highway east past the Tin Horses, stopping for a look at another rock formation called Jilakin Rock, climbing to the top gave a good view over the race course and the surrounding wheat fields for which the area gains much of its employment. From here it was south to the town of Lake Grace, another town built on the back of the surrounding wheat farming but also the site of one of the first inland hospitals which we were lucky enough to have a quick look around, having any medical procedure done back in those days looked to have been a painful experience.

 

We did not want to go too much further south as the holiday crowds and associated peak park prices would still be around and so on a whim we made our way to Dumbleyung, mainly as the name sounded funny but there was a surprise. A quick stop at a Yabbie farm turned out to be quite an informative experience and after a quick tour we bought a few live ones to cook up that night, quite tasty they are too.

Just out from Dumbleyung there is a lake which has some unique history, back in 1964 Donald Campbell was trying to set a new world water speed record, due to issues with the original location the attempt was moved to Lake Dumbleyung. Now earlier in the year Donald had broken the world land speed record and he was keen to hold the two records in the same year, it took until 31st Dec for the conditions to be just right but the record was broken and 276.3mph was the new mark and both records were held.

Our place of refuge for the following few days was the town of Wagin, a fairly quiet place on a holiday weekend but we read books and took a few walks and drives around the town. Famous for its giant ram the town does not have much more than a couple of pubs and a supermarket. We got a tip there was a model air show at the airport so went over for a look, it was a Perth based club flying their various model planes and the police even turned up to speed trap the fast jets, one got to 327km/h which was impressive.

 

Easter Monday we made our move south, the holiday crowds would be thinning out, of course being us we did not go the direct route. First town was Katanning, then heading east we passed through Gnowangerup before stopping for lunch at Louis Lookout overlooking the Stirling Ranges National Park. Then it was south again driving through the ranges, if we had more fuel we would have stopped for the night but instead we kept moving and reached Albany. Now we had to find a place to stay, unfortunately holiday rates still applied so we checked in at the Big4 Middleton Beach for two nights at $62pn but this would be enough for our needs of collecting mail and a quick tour of the town.

 

Albany is a port city of around 34,000 people, they export grains & logs although in the early days whaling was a big part of the towns success. Close to the town is the Torndirrup National Park which has the natural attractions of The Gap and the Natural Bridge, as well as the Blowholes which are at the end of a nice walk although they only blow under certain swell conditions and the day we visited was not the best but you could hear the air gushing out of the rocks which was good.

In town you can see the replica of the brig Amity, this vessel sailed from Sydney in 1826 carrying a party under the command of Major Edmund Lockyer who had orders to form a settlement at King George Sound. It is a very good site for the kids to see as you can walk throughout the vessel and experience some of the hardships experienced by those early sailors.

And so after a couple of pleasant days and restocked with the new terms schoolwork we left Albany heading west.