Road Trip to Walpole, Western Australia

We had two objectives heading west to the Walpole Wilderness. One was to see and experience the Treetop Walk. The other, just as important to us, was to visit with friends Maree, Tom and Floyd, a family we'd met when we visited Deal Island in February 2013. They were volunteer caretakers on the island. In a just a few days visiting with them at Deal, we formed a friendship and stayed in touch. They live in Walpole and when we told them we had arrived in Albany, they invited us out for a visit. Maree sent suggestions of several possible stops along the way in addition to the Tree Top Walk and we were excited. Road Trip!!!  

We traveled the South Coast Highway and took the scenic route between Albany and Denmark. We stopped at South Coast Wood Works, but they were closed. We'd catch it on the way back, but we appreciated the sculpture of the infamous Ned Kelly, an Irish Australian bushranger. Bushrangers were escaped convicts who had the survival skills to exist in the wild Australian bush. Roughly akin to highwaymen or outlaws, they were sometimes romanticized into Robin Hood types and are the subject of legend and lore in Australia in the same way as characters such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are in the USA.

We stopped in Denmark for morning coffee and a sweet roll. It's a lovely little town with a riverside park and neat little shops and cafes within a block of the main street. We stretched our legs and enjoyed the morning sun then checked out the well-stocked Visitor Info Center for anything we might have missed in Albany.

There are several national parks and reserves in the area and we took little side roads on occasion to explore the coastal areas. William Bay National Park offered Greens Pool, a beautiful, well-protected beach, which despite the cool weather, had lots of visitors.

We also stopped at the Toffee Factory. No toffee making was in progress, but we did get to try the samples. We got a kick out of the little display they had in one paddock of a cyclist who obviously had a run in with a haystack.

We stopped at Peaceful Bay to check it out. It's considered a dicey anchorage and after reconnoitering, we agreed, it was not a place that we'd enjoy anchoring with Nine of Cups, especially with two local fishing boats already moored there.

As we headed closer to Walpole, the forests became thicker and we entered the Valley of Giants and stopped to visit the Tree Top Walk. Rather than return to the highway, we opted to take back roads and approach Walpole from the north. The countryside here is rolling hills and pasture land and farms. Cattle and sheep grazed and except for the eucalypt trees and the occasional kangaroo or emu, it could just as easily have been New Hampshire or Wisconsin, we were driving through.

Maree, Tom and Floyd were waiting for us and gave us a warm welcome. It was drizzling, but who cared? We drank wine, ate, laughed and enjoyed the reunion. They took us to the tiny local yacht club and we had a look at Walpole Inlet. We talked about boats and fishing and Floyd's school and our travels and Tom's work in Romania and Maree's work at the Treetop Walk. There was nary a break in the conversation.

The next morning Maree set me up on their back porch with a cup of tea and my camera. I could see the inlet from the porch and the backyard was teeming with birds. Floyd had his camera and the two of us enjoyed spotting birds and trying to photograph them. In particular, I was looking for a brilliantly blue male superb fairy wren which frequently appeared in the yard. Not today though. I did, however, see a Western rosella

and an Australian ringneck parrot, both very colorful and new ticks on our Australian bird list.

They offered to drive us up to Mount Frankland for a walk in the forest and panoramic views of the surrounding area. A new walkway had just been constructed in the manner of the Treetop Walk and allowed great views with little effort.

Climbing the trail to the top of Mount Frankland required a bit more exertion. The paved path switch-backed and ascended steeply, leading to 300 (David counted 303) stone steps, including two vertical ladders and finally to the bald, granite top of the mount.

Despite the haze, at 422m / 1372', we had quite a view.

On the way back, we stopped at the Thurlby Herb Farm tearooms. There's no way we would have ever found this lovely little place at the end of a dirt road had we not been with our hosts. A little cafe offered coffee and tea and light snacks. An adjoining gift shop offering herbs, handmade soaps and distinctive imported gifts made for interesting exploring. We sat at a table overlooking beautiful flower and herb gardens. While Maree and I explored, David and Tom played a rousing game of Tantrix. The morning was fun and leisurely, but it was time to be heading back to Albany and Nine of Cups.

Maree packed a lunch for us. Tom gave us fresh-caught frozen fish to take home for our dinner. Floyd gave us hugs and we were heading back east along the highway. We stopped at the riverside park in Denmark to enjoy our lunch. Several of the locals dropped by and tugged at our jeans for handouts.

We did manage a quick stop at the South Coast Wood Works Gallery and we're so glad we did. The quality and craftsmanship of some of the pieces was extraordinary … exquisitely intricate and elaborate. This wasn't just wood-turning … it was true artistry.

We sighed in relief as we pulled into the car park back in Emu Point and loaded our stuff into the dinghy. Tired, but happy, we headed home to Cups.

There is probably no kinder or friendlier gesture than to invite someone into your home. Recently, we have had that honor extended to us by Don and Judith and now again by Maree, Tom and Floyd and we feel truly blessed.

Tree Top Walk in the Valley of Giants

“Well, all I can say is that the Tree Top Walk deserves to be world-famous.”

Bill Bryson

When I read Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country, I was convinced that I wanted us to visit the Tree Top Walk when we arrived in Albany. Sometimes, we're disappointed in tourist attractions, but Bill Bryson usually calls 'em like he sees 'em and we figured if he liked it, we probably would, too. With the use of Don and Judith's car and their permission to head west, we set out on a mini-road trip.

We drove from Albany along the scenic South Coast Highway, through Denmark and into the Walpole Wilderness area. Just the road itself leading to the car park was lined with giant trees, reminiscent of heading into giant Sequoia and redwood forests in the western USA. We arrived just before Noon, bought our tickets and headed up the ramp to the walkway.

The Treetop Walk, as the name suggests, is an elevated walkway that gradually climbs to 40m/130' into the canopy of a giant tingle tree forest. Yes, tingle trees … how can you pass that up? The red tingle (Eucalyptus jacksonii) is a eucalypt, like so many Australian trees, and is endemic to southwest Western Australia … in the whole world, it grows only here. It grows tall (up to 75m/~250'), with a stout base (up to 24m/75') and can live for 400 years. “Tingle” is thought to be the Aborigine Noongar word for the tree. Tingle trees have a shallow root system that can be easily damaged. The elevated walkway system provides a way for people to experience and appreciate the trees without harming them.

It wasn't very crowded as we meandered slowly along the 600m/.4mi , cantilevered, metal walkway … up, up, up into the treetop canopy. The walkway swayed and vibrated in a somewhat unsettling manner at first, though its construction certainly looked substantial enough. Photos do not do justice to the majestic feel of being so high above the ground and experiencing the gentle breeze that whispered through the tingle leaves an arm's length away. All too soon, we were descending.

A walking path links the Tree Top Walk to the Ancient Empire boardwalk which allowed us to get closer to the “400-year-old giants of the forest”. This time we craned our necks up, rather than looking down.

Forest fires, insects and certain fungus act to hollow out the wide bases of the trees, and thus, many tingles have huge caverns inside. We were able to stand inside some of them, touch the bark and marvel at this unique species from the inside out.

Many of the trees have burls, big bulges caused by the tree's growth reaction to insect or bacterial attack. The burls tend to give personality and face-like features to the trees … a big nose here, “Betty Davis eyes” there, a crooked chin.

Others have been given names, like Grandma Tingle.

We finished the walk and looked for a place to have the picnic lunch we had packed. A short distance down a path, surrounded by sword grass, in the shade of a mighty red tingle tree, we found a picnic table. The smell of eucalyptus was in the air. Everything smelled clean and fresh. We recounted our stroll on the treetop walk as we munched our apples and drank our tea. We realized that we could do it again. It was allowed. You just walked in and started all over again. As is many times the case, when you do something a second time, you get a different perspective. You see new things. This time we walked even more slowly, stopped more often and “smelled the tingles”. What an absolutely wonderful way to spend a day.

In and Around Albany, WA Pt. 2

Following a very scenic tourist route, we drove to the top of Mount Clarence for a look at the Princess Royal Fort and the ANZAC monument. The Fort was opened in 1893 as the first federal defense of Australia. It's an open air museum today.

The monument and memorial park at the top of Mount Clarence was closed for upgrades and repairs in preparation for ANZAC Day celebrations. We opted to sneak a peek anyway and though we were eventually, but most politely, shooed away, we did get to the top for terrific view of the bays below. More about ANZAC Day later.

On the opposite side of Albany, across the Princess Royal Harbour is Torndirrup National Park, a coastal area with outstanding views and lots to see. We headed first to the Albany Wind Farm.

Owned and operated by Verve Energy, these 18 turbines are the largest in the southern hemisphere. Relying on the strong southerly winds, these guys can generate up to 80% of the city's electricity usage.

At top speed. the blades appear to be moving very slowly - one revolution every three seconds - however the end of the blades are traveling at 175mph/ 290kmh. We were surprised by the walkways and trails in and around the area and how close we were able to get to turbines themselves.

The Cheyne's Beach Whaling Company, a whaling station, operated successfully for 26 years. A century of whaling came to an end in Australia when all whaling operations ceased in 1978. The facility has now been converted into a museum of whaling, Whale World, and features one of the 'Cheynes' whale chasers that were used for whaling in Albany. The station was the last operating whaling station in the Southern Hemisphere.

The natural features of this peninsula are breathtakingly beautiful and fall within the boundaries of the Torndirrup National Park. It's an area with white, expansive sand beaches interspersed with rugged granite rocks and outcrops. The Natural Bridge is a granite formation caused by the gradual wearing away of the rock by the Great Southern Ocean. Walkways and paths lead visitors from the car park to outstanding views.

The Gap, right next door to the Natural Bridge, is an impressive, rugged channel carved by the waves of the Southern Ocean crashing against the granite coastline forming a spectacular sheer drop of nearly 25m/80'. While we were there, there wasn't much of an ocean swell, but we're told during storms, the waves crashing into the Gap can spray the cars in the parking lot ~60m/200' away.

Standing sentry over Cable Beach, the Cave Point Light was very impressive, but not open to visitors.

We stopped by the impressive Princess Royal Yacht Club on the edge of the harbour, but it was closed early in the week.

After an afternoon of sightseeing and hiking, we visited Don and Judith at their home for dinner. The view of Albany and the Princess Royal Harbor from their deck was outstanding as the sun began to set.

We've been moderately good about mixing work with pleasure. Well, not really … okay, we've been quite bad about it. I'm fessing up. I've been a terrible influence on David and we've been enjoying ourselves way too much. This needs to stop … but not quite yet.