Australia here we come!

23/8/12

The tall Karri trees beside our caravan sites started dropping large droplets of water onto the rooves of our caravans early in the morning. The crashing sounds of the droplets was loud enough to wake us all up in a fright. Then it started raining as we were packing up.

We drove through rain, hilly country and wind to Northcliffe. We stopped at what we thought was the Visitor Information Centre but it turned out to be a private craft shop that just happened to have an Information symbol on the side of the front awning. The lady in the shop was very friendly and knowledgable about the area and gave us some good advice. She should be working at the real Information Centre.

We left Norhtcliffe and drove onto Walpole. We stopped at the Visitor Information Centre which had a caravan friendly car park. There are two caravan parks in town and we picked the Rest Point Caravan Park. There had been a lot of rain and it took some time to select two sites that were not under water.

After setting up we went for a drive around town and found a small jetty on the inlet. Then we saw a sign to Sandy Beach and decided to investigate. We found a lovely little beach fronting onto the inlet that would be a great place for families with young children. On the road to the caravan park we saw a sign for a saw pit. After a 300 metre walk we found what was once a pit dug in the ground between 1860 and 1865 where men would cut large logs with a cross cut saw. The topdog was top and underdog was down in the pit with saw dust falling on his head.

24/8/12

At last it had stopped raining and we woke to a beautiful sunny day after the fog lifted. The fog must have interfered with the electrics of the air conditioner and it refused to turn on. No heater for Karen this morning!

After breakfast we went for a drive to the Valley of the Giants and the Tree Top Walk. The Valley of the Giants is the home of the large Red Tingle trees and the smaller in girth Orange Tingle trees. The Tingle trees grow almost as high as a Karri tree but are much larger at the base. We paid for the admission and started the walk on the Tree Top suspension walk. We were amongst the canopy of the Tingles about 40 metres in the air. Karen and I don't like heights and when the suspension walkway started to sway we went Code 2 to the end and back to ground level. Mary-Anne later informed us that the view was great from the top and you could see where a hot bush fire had killed the tops of the trees in 1937. Mary-Anne is such a show off she did the walk again! When she returned the second time we joined a guided walking tour around the park and saw many very large Tingle trees.

After leaving the Valley of the Giants we stopped at Nornalup and had lunch in a park. Then we drove to the Giant Tingle tree. This is the grand daddy of them all. The base has been burnt out by bush fires over about 400 years and you can walk inside the tree that is still alive. There is enough room to accomodate a football team inside. There were also many other smaller, but not by much, Tingle trees as well as large Karri trees.

Then we took the long way to Circular Pool. Mary-Anne was navigating for the last time ever! The waterfall was flowing well due to the recent rain and the circular pools were clearly visible. The water was a dark colour from all the tannin in it from rotting vegetation and a cappuccino coloured foam was on top of the running water. A very unusual sight!

Then we drove to Mt Frankland which is a huge granite rock sticking out of the ground. We didn't walk to the summit but did a short walk to the old fire watchman's hut. Then it was time to head back home.