The Karri Forest Explorer

The weather improved a little today, still some rain but the wind eased considerably. We had intended to visit the local timber mill this morning, but we found that they don't work on Fridays. Story of our life at the moment!

Anyway, instead we took a tram ride through the forest, and had a local history lesson from the driver, as well as a description of the trees. But first we passed the timber Mill, reputedly the largest hardwood mill in the southern hemisphere, which processes timber felled from many miles around. Most of the logs are Eucalypts, the many different varieties providing timber for many different uses, from building  to decoration, and is exported to countries around the world.




We travelled over six bridges, timber trestles, all built many years ago to serve the original timber industry which relied on the railway to transport the timber to the mill. Nowadays it is all brought in by truck, so some of the track is now used for tourism.
Up to a couple of years ago the trip was much longer, but a drought caused problems with one of the bridges and the tram is now unable to cross it.

This afternoon we travelled the circular route of the Karri Forest Explorer. It is 88kms (56 miles) long and is mainly on gravel roads.
The Karri is a very tall and straight eucalypt tree, which I described yesterday, and which is perfect for logging. Consequently much of the forest was cropped in the early part of the last century, but it has regrown since.

Our tour took us alongside rivers and streams, as well as small lakes, through places of great beauty, up hill and down dale. In three places our path was blocked by fallen trees, as a result of the storms in  the past couple of days. We managed to manoeuvre round them fortunately.

Some of the track was very steep, which we had to negotiate in four wheel drive and low gear. The track of course was rather wet, water running down in places, but we travelled slowly to take in the beauty of our surroundings. There are a few bush camps on the trail, which we had a look at, unfortunately we can't take advantage of them while Anne's hand is in the condition it is.

It might have been a washout.....

It started badly- and from a weather point of view it didn't really improve all day. Bl**** cold this morning, 8c (46f) and only reached 15 this afternoon. I'm wearing long trousers and a fleece, the first time since leaving the UK in July!
And the rain- well, intermittent it may be, but when it comes it comes in spades. Anne had to have her dressing changed this afternoon and as I sat in the hospital waiting for her it was so solid we couldn't see the car park outside. Then there is the hail..... nuff said!
But apart from that between the showers we have had a good day. We've moved down to Pemberton, in the Karri forest,which is a region of extremely tall straight trees.
There has been logging here since the 1800s, and there is still a large sawmill in the town. One tree felled in 1901 was 87 mtrs, (270 ft), and they regularly reach 70 mtrs. They can live up to 300 years. Much of the forest we see today in this area was completely cleared in the 20s and 30s, and has grown again since then.
Because of the danger of fire in dry seasons it was necessary to keep a close watch on this forest. Tree towers were first built in the 1930s and consist of a platform at the top of the tallest trees, with pegs to enable the fire warden to climb. These platforms are over 200 ft high, and involve quite a climb, as well as a full day or night on watch.
These days most fire watching is done from planes, but occasionally when planes cannot fly a warden will still use some of these. Tourists are allowed to climb if they dare, but today is not the day with rain and high winds.

In the early days these huge logs were moved by horse and bullock, with the leading edge lifted by a pair of wheels to stop them digging in. Then they were winched onto a rail car, and taken to Pemberton to be milled. They are still milled there, but now they are transported by road

Between the downpours we enjoyed our day, driving the forest trails. There are good sized rivers here, which run year round, as well as lakes and reservoirs in the forest. Well worth a visit, we will stay here tomorrow I think to see a bit more.
Hopefully this bl**** weather will improve!!!

Rain and gales.

The weather men here are usually right! And they certainly were this time.
Last night we had serious rain and wind all night, and today there is a gale blowing, with intermittent heavy rain in the whole area. We went down the beach to see the waves and it was impossible to get down there, the sand was blowing so much it was painful. Every time I scratch my head it is like scratching sandpaper- I have more sand on my head than hair!.





We made our way down to Augusta and Cape Leuwin, the extreme south west corner of the continent, on the one side of the cape is the Indian Ocean, which was boiling, and the other was almost flat calm, the Southern Ocean. There is a tall lighthouse at the cape, built as a result of the many shipwrecks that occurred here in the 19th century as European sailing ships attempted to round the cape on their way to Adelaide and Melbourne.

These are dangerous waters, and the WA government was originally reluctant to construct lighthouses for ships going to other states, however they were persuaded to do so when the Kalgoorlie gold fields began producing in the early part of the 1900s and they need access to the south coast.
From there we had decided to move inland to visit some of the small towns which lie along the Blackwood river. One such is Nannup, some 120 kms inland, which has a lovely garden open to the public.We were lucky that we had a window between the showers to walk around it, although it is nearing the end of the flowering season there were some nice displays, particularly of roses.

As we left Nannup on the way to our destination for the day in Bridgetown we came across a large branch across the road, brought down a few moments earlier by the high winds and heavy rain we were travelling through. It was necessary for us to go off road to get round it, it was too big for me to move on my own, and looking up there was another just waiting to fall. Unfortunately Anne failed to get a picture, so you'll have to take my word for that!
Tonight we are staying in a luxury apartment (sic) overlooking a lovely garden and the river. We are surrounded by many colourful birds tempted here by the feeding trays placed by the owner- a nice touch.

The only downside is that it is pouring down again, and a gale is blowing, sometimes a loud bang on the roof. Hopefully it will stay on until the morning, when the weathermen tell us it should have abated somewhat.

A fall on the pier

Busselton- a pretty little town nestling in the south of Geograph Bay, a favourite haunt of Blue and sperm whales who rest here before carrying on to summer in the Antarctic.
They have a great museum in the town centre, in an old butter factory, built in 1918. Not only do they show how the pioneers lived in the early days, but they have whole rooms devoted to such things as sewing machines and typewriters, and an old telephone exchange. In fact there was so much material it was impossible to take it all in.
The town  boasts the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, but I think we heard that before in Carnarvon!

We walked the length of the jetty, about two kms, but unfortunately near the end Anne tripped and fell, seriously cutting the base of her thumb. She had first aid at the undersea aquarium at the end, before being taken back to the car on the little train that runs the length. Then it was a visit to the local docs, where the nurse redressed it, bandaging the whole hand. So we have had to revert to cabins for the moment as it is difficult to erect the camp on my own, and one handed it is difficult for Anne to do very much.







She felt a little better today, although still very restricted in what she can do, so we moved on to Dunsborough, just along the coast, and visited the lighthouse at Cape Geographe. Stone built in 1903 by forty labourers, the light assembly itself was made in the UK. Nowadays it is automatic, controlled from Brisbane, and has many redundant systems to ensure that it operates even during a partial breakdown.

South of the Cape there are some wonderful beaches, at one of which we had our lunch.
The whole area is a playground, particularly at the moment as school leavers are massing here to celebrate. There is a pop festival taking place just a few miles away, and everywhere we go there are hundreds of young people, many scantily clad, wandering about, or camping in the sites. It is in all the news bulletins. Unfortunately we are due to have a major storm here tomorrow, which will really put a damper on them, as they are due to have a beach party then.

Close to Margaret River is Ellenbrooke House, built by the Alfred Bussell  in 1850 and named after his wife Ellen. Standing on a sweet fresh creek which runs by, the house was the hub of a beef and dairy cattle farm and pastoral lease that ran some 20 miles along the coast and two miles inland. Kept in excellent repair, it gives some idea how these pioneers lived in the early days.

Tonight we are at Margaret River, an attractive little town just a few miles inland, and the centre of the largest wine region in West Australia. As we have travelled here we have seen dozens of small vineyards, all with Cellar Doors and small cafes and restaurants. Had we been drinking we could have got very drunk for free!

Onwards and downwards.

By the time we had done our shopping after saying Au revoir to David and Mildred it was after 11, and the traffic on the freeway south was disastrous! A traffic jam just south of Perth took us well over an hour to get through, moving less that ten kilometres in that time.
Perth's a very modern capital, like many of it's counterparts throughout the world it has many high rise buildings and modern freeways, but it has not solved the problem of traffic even though it's rail connections to the suburbs are really great, many of them running between the dual carriageways.

As we fretted in the jams we had a text from Lee and Karen, by coincidence they were just a few miles behind us and we arranged to meet for lunch further down. They were staying a few miles south of Freemantle, and after our frustrating day we were easily persuaded to join them. They were taking the children to Adventure World the following day, and we ended up joining them there also.
To the left here is a picture of Alex and I as we boarded the Octopus, a machine which turns one upside down and over and over. Lee was reluctant to go on, chicken I think. So as surrogate grandfather I had to oblige

This next picture is of us at the end of the ride, me thoroughly uncomfortable and on the verge of vomiting. Hmmm... one up for Lee I think. However later I shamed him into going on the big drop with Karen. Call it quits!

We had a great day, Anne enjoyed the water tubes and the swimming with the children and Karen. 

Just a few miles away in Perth they had hailstones and a downpour, but it missed us, so we had sunshine most of the time.

Later we travelled down to Wellington National Park, and bush camped for the night in a lovely spot just beside a lake. After a great meal we spent the evening around the camp fire, this will be the final time we will travel together as they are going back north a bit for a few days, and we must get on now. But we are hoping to meet them in Melbourne where they live after we return from New Zealand.

Natural phenomena

Reluctantly leaving Kalbarri and the Jackson Five once more, we made our way south towards Perth. On the way we came across the Pink Lake, unfortunately not as it's best as the sun was not shining that day. However there was a pink tinge there, and the clouds were reflecting it well.
It appears that it is caused by an algae that thrives in the salty environment, called beta-carotene. It blooms best in bright sunlight, when the water becomes a deep pink, just our luck that we went past on the wrong day!.

After an overnight stop we carried on south, and shortly we came to the pinnacles. These are an amazing natural phenomena, rocks sticking up out of the sand, hundreds of them. There are a number of theories why they were formed, I prefer my own, that is that a volcano left the area with mixed rocks, and the softer sandstone broke down, leaving the limestone rocks standing. Anyway, right or wrong, they are really interesting.

Almost all of the terrain round here is white sand, some of it pure white. Along the way we came across a number of dunes, and we read that the wind is moving them north at around twelve metres a year. This one will cover the road in about ten years time, as it is constantly shifting nothing can grow in it to stabilise it.

Finally we made to David and Mildred's house in Ocean Reef, to be made very welcome as always. We had a great few days with them, planning our New Zealand trip in January, only marred by the fact that Betty required  major work when she went in for service.
New timing belt and seals, plugs and leads, brakes as well as a full service took two and a half days, leaving us very little time to give here a thorough clean before we take off again. And I had to have smelling salts when I got the bill!
We had bought a new mattress for the roof tent, take out the plugs and it self inflates, and should deflate when we close the roof tent. Unfortunately it didn't quite work that way, and we had not bargained for it not being easy to roll up. So that idea went for a Burton, we will just have to suffer the mattress we have.

While there David and I visited Scarborough Rotary club, David is a member of Mindarie club, which meets fortnightly and his club was not meeting this week. It was good to meet some of the guys I had met last year, and to bring them up to date on our travels to date.

Can I Canoe you down the river.....

Or even in it!.
A new adventure - a ten km canoe down the Murchison river. Bl**** hard work!
We were picked up from the centre of Kalbarri by a four wheel drive bus with a trailer attached, containing six canoes, Canadian style. A fifteen Km drive took us to our insertion point on the Murchison, which at this time of year is pretty stagnant. There were just five of us, in two canoes, three in the other and Anne and I in our own.
It ain't easy! we all started off going round in circles, but I reckon it was because they gave us the wrong paddles - kayak style double paddles instead of the Canadian single style.

Anyway for whatever reason we finally got going down the river more or less in a straight line, (rather less than more!) and paddled down river to breakfast, prepared for us by our driver. Bacon, eggs beans tomatoes, and toast. Not bad, and a welcome break from going round in circles.
I had decided I had had enough of the kayak paddle, and opted for a Canadian one, which was much better. After getting Anne to paddle one side I paddled the other, but as my stroke was twice as heavy as Anne's she had to make two bites to my one. At one point we encountered very shallow water, and had to get out and push. I told Anne to stay in, but she would get out, and help. Having found deeper water we then had an argument as to who should get in first. I lost, and got in and held the canoe with my paddle while Anne got in. But it isn't advisable to step on the side of the boat on getting in, which she did, and as a result the boat capsized, catapulting me into the water.


Hmmmm... divorce was certainly in the offing.
There is no picture of as the camera does not take blue air very well!
Anyway, we got going again after upending the canoe to dry it out, but after a couple of ks we encountered a severe head wind, which meant that if we go even slightly left or right of the wind we were instantly turned round and started going the other way. That was hard work, just moving forward. But with severely blistered hands we eventually made it to the end. Was it fun? Decidedly NO!

We've been here a couple of days, again with Lee, Karen and the kids, Kalbarri is a great little town, mainly just one street again, on the edge of Kalbarri national park. There are a couple of gorges in there which we visited, quite good, but there is little water in the river at this time of year. It is no doubt sensational when there is. A nice viewpoint was "Natures Window", a large rock overlooking the Loop, a bend in the river.

The coastline round here is very nice too, cliffs and beaches. Very windy most of the time, it seema ll this coast is like that at this time of year. We took a drive along to take a few photos, we could spend a lot of time here if we had it!






But mostly it was lazing round the pool, this site, Tudor Park, has a great pool, and plenty for the kids to do too. But we must move on- we are due in Perth on Monday.

The sail of the century

The peninsula hosts a few unusual animals and birds, some of which are being deliberately managed to increase their numbers. Among these is the Bilby, a small marsupial around the size of a small cat, with very large ears.
They, along with the Mallee fowl, the spinifex hopping mouse and the banded hare wallaby were very endangered and are among the native species which have been bred and released in this controlled environment, protected by a predator proof fence to keep out feral cats and dogs. Because of the protection many other species once on the brink of extinction in this area are now thriving, and will eventually be able to be removed from the endangered list.

We took a trip to see the sea life from Monkey Mia, and we were not disappointed. Our frist encounter was with a stingray, you may remember that one of these killed Steve Irwin, the naturalist and croc hunter, so they are a dangerous species.We were so lucky because the water was completely calm, the first occasion this had happened in recent weeks, and we could see clearly to the sand and seagrass below.






Shortly afterwards we were joined by a small pod of dolphins, who played for ages around the pontoons of the boat, giving us wonderful photo opportunities. It was quite thrilling to see them enjoying themselves, they are very intelligent animals.

Turtles abound in these waters, and we were fortunate enough to see quite a few, one in particular is this Loggerhead turtle, about 4ft long, which swam alongside us for quite a way. They can move quite fast when they wish to, I suppose they have to escape the jaws of sharks from time to time!
A few sharks swam past us as we travelled, among them Tiger sharks, an extremely dangerous species both to man and sea life, this area is not called Shark Bay for nothing!


And then we saw the animal that we had really come to see- the Dugong. As I said yesterday, there are around 10,000 around here, but in an area about 4000 square kms. About one eighth of the world's population live in this bay. They are also rather shy, and spend their lives grazing on seagrass, some quite deep in the water. So we were lucky to see one, however our skipper prides himself on being able to find at least one on each cruise!.

The dugong is one of two surviving species of sea cow, an air breathing mammal,and is somewhat related to the elephant rather than the whales. They can grow up to 9ft in length, and can live for over 70 years. It is entwined in the mermaid myth, it is said that they lured sailors into dangerous waters.

Because the bay was so calm we were allowed to swim off the boat at one point,indeed it was so hot that a number of people went in fully clothed, including Anne. I of course had the foresight to travel in my bathers,so I was among the first in. I was also among the first out when someone shouted "SHARK"!!!

Dolphins and Dugongs.

Monkey Mia- no monkeys but plenty of sea life, dolphins, sharks, rays, dugongs, (about 10,000 of them here- more than anywhere in the world) as well as turtles, and of course fish.

Each morning at 8am they feed the dolphins by hand on the shore, so we set to do the 46k from Denham very early.

Six dolphins came in for feeding, including a three day old pup, and they played in the shallows for a while before coming in to feed. A few children were invited to go in to the water to feed the adult animals, they are completely wild and the pup in particular should not be disturbed so it had to be well controlled.

Later we took a sunset cruise on a catamaran on the bay, it was rather windy so no sailing was done, but it was pleasant nevertheless, plenty of fresh salty air.








We had decided to make our way into the national park for a few days bush camping, as we travelled we came across a notice which advised us to reduce our tyre pressure, which we duly did. We soon found out why! Soft sand for miles, at times threatening to bog us down, but eventually we made it to the campsite. Unfortunately it was fully inhabited- by flies! Millions of them, and in addition it was so windy we changed our minds and decided to move on back to Monkey Mia.

But in between we took in some to the sights, Cape Peron is the most westerly point of mainland Australia, and from there we could look down into the water below and see rays gliding along, as well as great gatherings of cormorants on the shore.








Despite the fact we had to abort our camping trip it was an interesting day out, 150k on soft loose sand makes for interesting driving to say the least. The car tends to go where the sand wants it to go, which is not necessarily where you are steering!
Having made it back to Monkey Mia we found it was also very windy here, too much for the roof tent and little shelter for the ground tent either, so we had to settle for an expensive hotel room. Never mind- there is a lovely view from the balcony!