Weeks 21-22 Pemberton-Albany-Cape Le Grand

Hello all, here we are again with another chapter of our
journey around Oz which is almost ended. We are now 
back in Victoria in the Grampians National Park in the north-
western part of Victoria, where we are camping for five days
with some of our family following on next week by the Geelong
Caravan Club Rally in Stawell. We are looking forward to catching
up with these friends whom we also haven't seen in almost six
months. But for now we'll continue on from where we left off in
the last blog. Just a warning though - this is a long blog with
many photos as this area of Australia has so much stunning
scenery which then made it more difficult to choose which
photos to leave out. From Cape Leeuwin in the south-west 
corner of WA we headed east for...

Pemberton

The is the welcome sign to Pemberton - Karri Country.

Pemberton WA is a pretty timber town, located in the south

west of Western Australia and has breathtaking forest scenery.
The tall Karri trees are Pemberton's biggest attraction and are 

truly magnificent. The superb strength of karri made it an
obvious choice for sleepers on the Trans-Australian Railway
Line. In 1913 timber mills were established in Pemberton to
supply and cut half a million sleepers for the line. Many of
the sleepers were also used in the first stage of development
of the London Underground and a great many other railway
lines in the UK. Below are photos of two of the original
timber millers' cottages in the town.

All aboard at the Pemberton Railway Station on the tramway

ride through Karri, Marri & Jarrah forest, over trestle bridges

spanning rivers and streams along one of Australia's most

majestic rail lines.

Here only one carriage of the tram on the afternoon trip
rumbles past the timber mill in Pemberton.

At the Pemberton Caravan Park the colourful birds

known as '28's love to come and sit on your hands or

your head looking for a feed. No it wasn't dandruff on
top! That bird was hoping for birdseed up there. But
alas that was only on Gerry's hands.

 The Gloucester Tree pictured above was one of a series of

fire lookouts constructed in the top of Karri trees during

the 1930s and 1940s. These lookouts were an ingenious

way of spotting fires in such tall forests. Today you can still

climb some of these lookouts and this one in the Gloucester

National Park is only 3kms from the town centre of Pemberton. 

If you look closely you can see Gerry on the lower rungs

of the tree with niece Lauren a little higher up.  

They've made it to the top safely and are both giving us 

down below, my brother Jerome, Vicki, Matthew and I

a big wave! It was great catching up with family there.

Here's a close up view of the rungs on the

tree trunk....not the easiest way to get to the top!

And it's 61 metres up to the platform!

In the national park there are also some colourful

wildflowers and this creeper was just one of them.

This suspension bridge in the Beedelup National Park near

Pemberton was exciting to cross as it had a good sway to it.

 Gerry tried his hardest to make it sway even more, so if

I hadn't hung on tightly I would have lost my balance.

Walpole

From Pemberton we headed further east.

The Valley of The Giants is a popular destinations for visitors

to Walpole in the Shire of Denmark. This famous area derives

its name from the large red tingle trees which are found there

and a new dimension has been added to this experience with the

addition of the world famous Tree Top Walk (pictured above).

Here I am almost at the top span of the walkway.

The highest point in the 600-metre loop is about 40 metres.

This is one section of the 420 metre long steel truss walkway.

In the Valley of the Giants beside the Tree Top Walk, stand

these tall veteran tingle trees known as the Ancient Empire. 

This is one of those you can actually walk through which is

just what Gerry's doing. Some of these trees in this ancient

empire are as tall as 75 metres like the one above while

others are up to 16 metres in circumference at the base

as in the photo below.....

Both these trees above, have had a fire through them long ago.

Parry Beach

Enroute to Albany, we decided to take a short break in

a seaside campground at Parry Beach in the William Bay

National Park near Denmark. Gerry wasted no time setting

up his Satellite Dish to check on the TV signal, to enable us

to watch the AFL Grandfinal live broadcast the following day.

Thankfully all went well so we were able to enjoy the game.

The fact that our team won the Grandfinal for a third time in

five years was another bonus!! BRILLIANT WORK CATS!!!

That's our van tucked in the corner and protected

from the fresh strong wind.

While there, we still had time to take a walk along this rugged

but stunning coastline as well as a bushwalk along another 

section of the Bibbulman track from the campground, where we

found three different types of orchids for Gerry to photograph.

Parry Beach is a council run campground where there are

flush toilets and a solar powered shower (hot if you're lucky)

and all for a small fee of $7 per night (seniors rates).

We'd heard about this camp from other campers we'd met

along the way as well as the staff at the Tree Top Walk.

Scenic Route to Albany via Denmark

These two photos above and below show the beauty of the

scenic route to Denmark on the way to Albany. Sometimes in

life we are just too busy to  take the scenic route but this time

we were able to take the time and we're certainly glad we did!

A gravel road less travelled....??

Albany

Albany, on a stretch of coast which looks out to Antartica several

thousand kilometres to the south, was first settled in 1827, two

years before Perth. The stocks above are a reminder of the harsh

convict past and below is a rear view to the town.

Albany has some stunning coastal scenery on the Southern Ocean.

The Natural Bridge is a large piece of granite which has been

eroded by huge seas to form a fantastic arch.

The Gap next to the Natural Bridge, is a sheer chasm which

can be viewed from the safety of an enclosed platform.

Albany's Whale World, Australia's last Whaling Station, is

an award winning heritage attraction. Located between the

Torndirrup National Park and the pristine waters of King George

Sound, Whale World is on the site of the once operational

Cheyne's Beach Whaling Company's whaling station.

The Cheyne's IV was one of the original whale chasers

which visitors can now board and explore. While on board

there is an audio playing which gives you the experience

 of actually being out whaling. Gerry's trying to keep

the boat on course!!

This entrance to the skeleton exhibit, is an actual bottom

jawbone of a whale. Going on the guided tour of this last

whaling station with audio effects of the whaling processes

can be a very emotional journey for visitors. 

So now to help you feel warm and fuzzy, here's a photo of a 

cute and cuddly koala in the nocturnal animals park next door. 

It felt soft to touch but we were careful not to wake it.

The 1832 Patrick Taylor Cottage in Albany, now a Museum,

is the oldest building in Western Australia. The oldest part

of Albany (shown in these photos), faces the Princess

Royal Harbour.

This Women's Rest Centre built in 1908 as a shelter for

drivers of horsedrawn cabs, is still used today as a

shelter for cab drivers.

Albany's Historic Court House.

To the south of the town and Princess Royal Harbour lies a 

long narrow peninsula, much of which is taken up by the world

famous Torndirrup National Park. Here's Gerry's just heading

off for a hike in this park. On the right is King George Sound

and left is the Princess Royal Harbour.

This stretch of beach where Gerry is walking is part of

the hike trail on the shores of the Princess Royal Harbour.

He's almost made it to the top.....

....and here I am at the top of Possession Point! 

Right is Princess Royal Harbour  and left is King George Sound.

Behind me is the area of Whale World and in my view from

Possession point is the city of Albany.

We cycled on a bike trail and came across this sign telling

horses to use side track! So HORSES in WA can READ???

Yes these are our bikes but no we weren't looking for horses!

Just more orchids.

Cycling from Middleton Beach on King George Sound back

to Albany, this track is much closer to the coast than the road....

and a specially built boardwalk along the trail makes

 for very pleasant riding and great views.

From Albany we headed to.......

Esperance

The aboriginal people have been in this area for over

20,000 years and the 1st European contact was Dutch

Captain Pieter Nyuts in the ship the Gulden Zeepaard in

1627. He did not land in the Esperance area but noticed a

plant species that was flowering quite abundantly, which

is named after him, the Nuytsia Floribunda, or commonly

known as the Christmas Tree. Captain Nyuts mapped

1500kms of the south coast and named it Nuytsland.

The stunning coastline at Esperance viewed from the Rotary

Lookout on Wireless Hill and from the walking trail.....above

and below.....

In these photos you can see some of the 110 islands of the

L'Recherche Archipelago. Esperance was named after the

ship L'Esperance (meaning Christian Hope), the first ship

to enter the bay during a gale in 1792 while on a mapping

expedition, while the L'Recherche (meaning research) was

the second ship to enter the bay.

Gerry's crossing the bridge where there are large gaps

and dips in the rocks along the walk trail.

These are beautiful wildflowers on the Rotary walk trail.

This is the 1885 Methodist Church in the Historic Village

at Esperance and below are the 1898 Old Courthouse,

the 1896 Chemist and the 1900 Doctors Surgery.

Cape Le Grand National Park

At Cape Le Grand National Park we chose to camp

at Lucky Bay pictured above. Lucky Bay was named by

Matthew Flinders after he took safe anchorage here

in 1802 during his circumnavigation of Australia.

Lucky Bay looking east with its beautiful white sandy beach

and below the view looking west...

The clear pristine waters of Lucky Bay looking south through

 the bay inlet protected by the ranges at either side.

This walking track from Lucky Bay to Thistle Cove

 follows the coastline.

The islands above viewed from the walking track are part

of the 110 islands of the L'Recherche Archipelago.

This gecko certainly blends in well with the environment

along the walk trail. Great camouflage!

Our camp site at Lucky Bay was well protected from the

wind with the beach just below us and we had some

visitors as you can see below....

....firstly behind the van and then....in front...

...looking for some food! "Hey mum what about me?"

Before leaving Lucky Bay we decided to take a walk

up to Frenchman's Peak pictured above.

The first part of the walk was easy but then came the

hike to the summit! It steep incline was like Uluru.

Here at the cave we were able to take a break from the strong

winds blowing across the rock face and we weren't far from the top.

Finally at the summit and what a view despite the clouds.

And so we leave this blog chapter here at the lookout on

Frenchman's Peak with the islands of the L'Recherche

Archipelago just visible in the distance.

Next Blog.....THE NULLARBOR!