Giant Trees

After chatting a bit more to Don and Claire, and looking at Claire's photos of birds, we packed up again (we have definitely got too much stuff) while it threatened to rain, and headed off east towards Pemberton.

Pemberton and the surrounding towns grew out of the logging industry.  This part of Western Australia is full of huge tree forests.  70 metre tall Karri trees that they used to cut down by hand and drag to the railway lines with bullock teams, carry to the coast, and ship over seas.  there were photos in the little historical museum at the Pemberton Visitor Information centre, showing men in singlet, boots and trousers, climbing up these giant trees using just a rope around their middle and metal spikes in the side of the trees, then swinging an axe while standing on spikes at the top, so they could 'top' the tree (chop off the upper part with all the branches).  Once that fell, they had to quickly duck and hang on for dear life, as the trunk of the tree would sway from side to side for a few minutes.  Boy it looked scary.

They are enormous, these trees, and the thing with forests as we saw yesterday, is the risk of fire.  Either from human error, or lightning strike.  In order to stop any fires quickly they set up a system of lookouts who could quickly pinpoint the location of a fire and send people to the right spot to put it out.  The thing is, these lookouts had to be pretty tall to see over the tall trees, so they built them on top of the trees themselves.  60metres up.  For a while they went out of 'fashion' and planes took over the fire spotting role, but then people realized that planes could not be in the air all the time and in all weathers, so the trees were used again.

  There are still a few you can climb today.  the Gloucester tree, just outside of Pemberton, was named for the then Governor General of Australia, who was visiting at the time in the 1930s when it was being constructed.  It is 65m above the ground and is reached by very steep spikes in the side of the tree.  At least 200,000 people climb this tree each year.  They check the spikes regularly, but climbing things is really not my thing.  Grant, Katie, Joseph and Dominic did it though.  We had to hold Cooper down, or he would have been up it too.  Nadine and Oskar wanted to climb as well, but mummy wasn't up to it!

A lady used to have the job of fire spotter, and would climb up every day to keep a look out of fires.  She wrote it was a bit boring, but she enjoyed the peace and quiet. 

This was actually the second tree we'd climbed today.  The first was the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree.  This one was only constructed in 1988 as part of the Bicentennial of Australia celebrations, but is the taller of the two.  At 75m high, it was incredibly scary to watch Grant, Katie and Joseph go to the top.  They said it was scary to climb, too.  Dominic got to the first platform, 25 m, and decided it was a bit too scary.  The smaller three wanted to do this one too, but I wouldn't let them! 

In big winds you shouldn't climb, or in wet weather.  It was a bit wet today, which added to the thrill of the whole event.  But it did stop raining for each climb.

By the end I was exhausted.  The stress from watching the ones who climbed up, and the stress from the whining and crying of the ones that didn't.  But it was a lovely day. 

We stopped at Shannon National Park, which was a lovely place, full of trees and lots of orange leaves on the ground.  They had a wood fired shower that some of us used, and we were allowed to light a fire to cook our dinner.  The lighting part actually turned out to be quite difficult, we seemed to have fire retardant wood, and it was only the kindness of our neighbor who gave us some fire starters that meant we got any dinner!  Fire starters on the shopping list.

More rain tonight.  Very wet.

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Vicki

Margaret River

Pancakes for breakfast.  Grant's speciality.  On the free barbecue down by the Blackwood River.  Very nice.

We are the only ones camped here at Chapman's pool in the Forest Glen National Park and the ranger came at 8am to clean the toilets, just for us!  That's service for you.

Grant talked to him about the fires, and he said we were fine, but there are people very angry at them, and they've been told not to wear their work shirts and he tells people he's from the water board.

Just as we were heading off a storm passed over, with lots of rain.  The first real rain we've seen.  We dragged out the raincoats, but it soon eased off, although it stayed overcast and rained on and off all day.

We drove into Margaret River, a little tourist town that reminded me a bit of Montville or Maleny.  Little shops and lots of cars.  We found the laundromat and washed and dried some clothes.

Wandering through the main street we visited a Fudge Factory and sampled their Parisian Coffee fudge which was very nice.  they had several flavours for sale, including apple pie flavour, peanut butter flavour, strawberry or blueberry flavour, and lots more.   I asked Dominic if he remembered any other flavours....Meat Pie Flavour?   No, I don't think so.

The second hand book shop was a bit expensive, so we topped up at Coles and kept moving.

I spoke to a man in the laundromat who was very anti DEC and the burn off policy, and encouraged us to drive out to the coast to Prevally, where there were some big fires recently, to see just how bad the fires really were.  So we did.  It was like a surreal winter landscape, a lunar landscape gone wrong.  Black trees, grey sand covered in ash.  a few burnt houses.  But I was amazed at how close the fire got to a lot of houses that weren't burnt.  Someone worked very hard to save a lot of houses in the township.

We continued south to a maze that we thought might be fun to try.  It had a sign at the front, welcoming you to this family's 'exercise in passive Eco tourism' and passive was certainly the word.  We had fun running around in there, looking at each other through the 'walls', but I don't think it's about to win any tourism awards. 

As we were going to our car, a fancy silver van pulled in being towed by a silver landcruiser, and out jumped Don Drysdale.  The name sounded familiar, and later Grant and I worked out he had been the funeral director for my Nanna's funeral eight years ago in Tewantin.  I was even more certain when they came to Forest Glen National Park for the night and he pulled out his bagpipes and played for the kids.  Joseph said he'd rather play bagpipes than the saxophone.  Katie asked so many questions about how it's tuned and which key they are in that  he ended up pulling them apart (they were made in Scotland in 1890 or something) and showing us the drones and the reeds and how they are tuned, and very interestingly, the goretex like fabric they use for the bag now which contained the filter box full of kitty litter that someone in Victoria invented to stop all their spit going into the drones and the reed in the flute bit and drying them out and wrecking them in Australia's weird weather.

Bagpipes are incredibly loud.
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Vicki

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

We headed off a little further south for the day, to the town of Augusta, the most South Westerly town in Australia.  It is sheltered from cold winds by Cape Leeuwin, and the warm currents of water travel down the coast of WA from Indonesia, creating a small microcosm of weather.  The sea can be 24 degrees centigrade in winter, and they can grow bananas.  I didn't see any though.

A bit further south west and we were on Cape Leeuwin, where we climbed the tallest lighthouse on mainland Australia.  At 38m or so, Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is the third tallest in Australia including those on islands, and its light (and the lighthouse during the day) can be seen 47 km out to sea.  It is often the last part of Australia seen by ships on their way out to sea.  This lighthouse guards one of the busiest sea traffic routes on the Australian coast.  It was built in 1896 and still has all the original stairs, windows and the original lens, hand made, ground and polished of lead crystal more than 110 years ago.  There was no electricity used in the lighthouse until 1982, and the three lighthouse keepers would take turns, on four hour shifts, carrying kerosine to the tanks and pumping it into the light,  walking up and down the 179 stairs to make weather recordings, cranking the clockworks that rotated the light for ten minutes every two hours, (it still revolves on a bed of mercury), and maintaining the grounds.  The guide said the last lighthouse keeper, who is now 82 years old, comes down every now and then and climbs up the stairs no problem.  They had one day off every three weeks, and if they left the cape they had to be back by sundown, in case there was a problem.  

It is all automated now, but they still have spare stairs and spare windows stored in the lighthouse that were made in England over 110 years ago.

Before the lighthouse was built there were about 23 shipwrecks off this corner of the coast, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean, and after the light house was built, only one, in spurious circumstances.

We really enjoyed the lighthouse, and Grant had a nice chat to an older gentleman visiting with his wife from Berlin.  He was born in Saarland where we lived in Germany.

We stopped on our way back through Augusta on the banks of the Blackwood river, where it empties into Flinders Bay.  It was a lovely spot and we ate our lunch and watched the dolphins swim.  We tried swimming with the dolphins, but that ended when a storm blew up and I saw a bolt of lightning strike straight down behind the cape.

A little further north up the coast we looked in at Hamelin Bay, where the water was a clear blue.  Everyone got very wet running into the waves and out again. 

Back at our campsite, Grant and the kids swam in Chapman's Brook, and we enjoyed the quiet of a campsite all on our own.  As the sun set we noticed smoke overhead, and ash dropping onto our chairs.  I rang a nearby campground to find out if we were going to be burnt to a crisp, and to let someone know we were there, but they said everything was fine, a lightning strike had started a fire but it was all under control.

It was only a week or so ago that they had the big fires in the Margaret
River area, and a lot of people are blaming the Department of Environment and Conservation, because it was a controlled burn off that got out of control when the winds picked up.  There are people who want the department to pay, and those who can see that the Department did the best they could. I think they are in between a rock and a hard place.

We had a nice red moon tonight, in any case.
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Vicki

Busselton

I don't have any ambition to be an ironman.  Or iron woman.  It just looks way too hard.  I think I'm more the marshmallow woman variety.

We packed up from Wellington National Park this morning, gathering all our belongings that were lined up along the fence, swatting flies and picking up little bits of wool.  We stopped at the tap near the toilet block to fill the two 100L caravan tanks with water using jerry cans. That took a while! 

We headed into Busselton, on Geographe Bay, along lovely country roads, lined with paddocks of cows, sheep, ponies and goats and tall trees.  It was a bit overcast, with heavy black clouds, a change from the usual bright blue sky we've enjoyed.

This area of Western Australia is looking up - well, it has a large number of towns named ending with 'up'.... I've noticed Boyup, Nannup, Manjimup, Yoongarillup, Cowaramup, Mumballup, Dinninup, Chowerup, Punchmirup, Tutunup, Dombakup, Lake Quitjup and Mt. Chudalup.  That's just a few.  This was a bit weird until someone told me up means "water" in aboriginal, so these places are all built on rivers or streams.

Arriving in Busselton, we discovered today was the annual Ironman Race.  Roads were closed off and there were lots of people around.  There was a big screen set up in the middle of town and a loud speaker announcing events in words we couldn't really make out.  On our walk down to the waterfront we had to gauge the crossing of some roads to coincide with breaks in the runners.  People were cheering and dressed up in strange wigs.  We passed a tent with tables piled with blue plastic bags.  Each one was numbered, and as runners came along, if they wanted something from their plastic bag they would hold up their hand and volunteers would hunt out their bag in time for them to stop, grab their snack, and keep running.

 

We made it to the jetty, the longest wooden one in the southern hemisphere, and paid our entry to walk along it.  1.8km out.  There is a train track along it, but the train wasn't running while we were there.  The water was so clear we really wanted to swim, in fact, the swimming part of the ironman race was held this morning at 5.30am, and competitors had to swim out and around the jetty.

 

At the end of the jetty is a viewing aquarium.  They built a cylinder surrounded by aquariums under the water, and you can go down and look out at the fish and coral under the jetty.  They also have a seal in there, I think.  It was too expensive and too late for us to go in, but we saw all the cormorants sitting on poles, waiting for their turn at the seal's dinner.

Coming back along the jetty, I thought we would at least be able to cross the roads without worrying about the runners.  We'd been a few hours looking at the jetty.  Surely they would be finished.  but no.  the they we, still staggering along.  it was quite hot, and one or two looked like they weren't going to make it.  when I dragged out my ironman brochure, I discovered they had 42.2 km to run, and that was after riding a bike 180km, and swimming in the ocean for 3.6km.  It was after 5pm and they had been going since 5.45am.  Yep.  Marshmallow chick for me.

Believe it or not, that was the most exciting part of Busselton for Joseph.  And that even counted the IGA and the oldest stone church in WA. (we only saw that from the outside...)

It was quite late by the time we pulled into our campsite for the night, a hundred kilometers or so south of Busselton.  We parked in one of the last spots at Chapman's pool, and almost everyone else had gone inside for the night.

There's not much here, but there is a drop toilet and a river, so we're good.  We set up our Christmas lights, ate our dinner, and crashed. 

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Vicki

Gnomesville, sew sew

We made felt dolls today.  I know we should have been out sight seeing some more, or saved the activity for a rainy day (which I'm really sure are on their way) but we all enjoyed the creativity and it was nice to just stay put.

 

   

There was a bit of drama getting the shapes cut out, and working out the best way to stitch them together.  Joseph likes to leap into things, and after nearly chopping his doll's head off because he wouldn't listen, he spent some time watching everyone before getting into it again.  Nadine wants it first one way, then a different way, then the first way again, and by the time she has decided which way she will actually have it, she is a little behind the eight ball, but she gets there in the end.  Dominic is very definite about how he will have his, and just gets in and does it.  Katie gets frustrated if she can't get it right first time. Oskar wants his, but he wants someone else to do it, and Cooper was happy with anything, as long as it was orange.

The doll idea came from our visit to the Perth museum where there was a display of dolls made in a workshop by some aboriginal women.  The kids all watched the video and were keen to try their own, so yesterday in Bunbury we bought some felt at spotlight.  Now we just need stuffing and some clothes.

Joseph is very funny at making up stories with the toys they have been making.  They have funny voices, and do silly things, but the littler ones keep asking him for new episodes.  He just loves having an audience.

Oskar's tooth came out today, too.  This is probably one of the earliest in our family.  At first I thought he had bumped it, and told him to leave it alone, but then he showed e the new tooth coming through his gum behind it.  Then it was, quick, get it out!

 

 

After lunch we headed off, with very detailed instructions, to find Gnomesville. 

    

This is an area off a round about, about 10 km from our campground, where people have left literally thousands of garden gnomes, and poems and little gnome houses.  We took our own gnome along with our names on it, and put it there with the others.

The country side is very pretty, with little streams, rolling hills, tall jarrah trees.  On our way to Gnomesville we stopped at king jarrah, a 400 year old tree that was very tall.  Apparently it is small compared to some of the trees further south.

We also drove past the wall of the Wellington Dam.  It was very tall, with a big pipe at the bottom letting water out and was very spectacular.

Heading home from Gnomesville we went to visit the other campground in the park, the honeymoon pool campground, which has a very nice swimming hole.  It was so busy that there was no where to park, so we just drove through, passing the wedding that was being held there.

It was nice to come back to our campground which was quiet in comparison. 

 

Our camp hosts are doing a good job, sending away campers with pets, or who are trying to camp outside the correct areas.  They are worn out already, and it is only the first weekend.  It makes a difference being in a campground so close to a big city.  We think we prefer the isolated spots.

We are enjoying the campfire that we can have here.  We even used our jaffle iron (sandwich press) for the first time a few nights ago.  We made apple pies.  I buttered the wholemeal bread and sprinkled a bit of raw sugar on the butter.  This is the outside of the pie.  I lay that in the jaffle iron, then fill it with a scrape of butter, finely chopped apple mixed with cinnamon and a bit more raw sugar. Coming out of the jaffle they were steaming and crunchy on the outside.  A big hit.  We only have one double jaffle, however, so it's a bit slow.

Tonight we made pancakes on the fire and had them after our lamb curry for dessert.  Grant is an expert at pancakes.

We had a nice chat with Leonie and Colin after dinner around the fire.  they brought us the ingredients for s'mores.  Toasted marshmallow sandwiched between two chocolate oatmeal cookies.  It was very nice.

Leonie and Colin are into playing games and told us all about the ones they enjoy playing.

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Vicki

Christmas Shopping in Bunbury

I can't believe it's December.  Today we drove into Bunbury, a coastal town south of Perth, to do the Christmas shopping.  There were Santa Clauses everywhere.

We got up early, because of the van.  It has been riding almost touching the bump stops, which for those who are as technical as me, means it would not be good over bumps.  We have been trying to reduce the weight in the van, which is a bit difficult with 8 people.  Grant had planned to have some procedure done in Perth, known as rolling the axle, where the axle was moved to under the leaf springs, adding about an extra 15cm to the height under the van.  At the last minute he cancelled it, because he was advised that kind of adjustment to the van would require a machinery certificate issued in Queensland to validate the insurance.

However, on the way out of Perth yesterday he had the van weighed, and found out the van is loaded a few hundred kgs above it's recommended load weight. This bothers Grant, for good reason, and once we arrived at the camp ground last light, he rang a company that might be able to do the job.  They quoted him a hundred dollars under the Perth price, and were able to fit him in this morning.  Hence the early start down to Bunbury, where we delivered the van to True Track.  The man there walked around the van, looked under it, and said 'It's going to be very high'.  He discussed it with Grant, and Grant realized that the van would end up so high it might be unstable.  However, because this was a spring company, he was abe to offer to add an extra leaf into the leaf springs, which will raise the van just enough, but not too much. We were very excited that God brought us here to the right place to have this fixed.

I spent the day trying to work out Christmas presents for kids - do you get anything?  or nothing?  I bought some presents, then took them back!  I finally settled on a few things, and boy was I exhausted at the end...

Grant took everyone to a playground and a mangrove walk and left me in peace for a few hours.

Once we'd finished, and been to Spotlight,  Bunnings, and Harvey Norman for Joseph to spend his hard earned Birthday money, we were off to collect our newly raised van.  I opened the boot in their parking lot, and out fell the 30 eggs and bottle of olive oil I'd just bought at the shop.  I saved the olive oil with my foot, but it will be scrambled eggs for breakfast tomorrow!

Grant is very happy with the van, and a swim in the Wellington dam once we got home, finished off a very nice day.

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Vicki

Numb face to Wellington

Because the boys were having such a nice time playing with Jake, Jack and Sam, it was hard to decide whether to stay another day or keep moving.  In the end we decided we'd spent enough on caravan park fees and needed to get back to National Parks where it was cheaper.  Plus there was a lot of traffic noise at the park, and a huge wind.  So despite being a great place, we packed up in a great rush because the office closes at 10am and we needed to get our deposit back on the electronic key for the boom gate.  I also had another dentist appointment at 10am, and I am never eating another lolly!!!!  My face was numb for half the day and I was not a happy camper.

We stopped beside the Serpentine river for lunch, across the road from the old bridge school that was started in 1858.  They had a seventy year old head master at one stage, who then went on to teach and run the school for another 15 years!

We stopped for some groceries, then drove on south to the Wellington national park.   As we pulled in I saw the same man who was a camp host at Millstream Chichester National Park, where we'd camped weeks ago.  they had told us then they they were coming south to be camp hosts somewhere down here, but I'd never have remembered the campsite, and we'd actually changed our minds twice about where to camp tonight.  Jan and Doug had arrived last night.  Isn't it amazing.  They are very nice and always busy cleaning up toilets and leaves..which is a pretty big job in a forest.  They have been travelling for five years.

We had a good chat to a couple from Chermside,  Richard and Teresa, with their two kids, Georgia and Matthew.  They are into running, and Teresa had lots of ideas for places to stay when we travel across the Nullabor.

There were two older single ladies travelling in their individual campervans.  They said they were part of a network of about 600 'singles' travelling in vans around in Australia and were going to a 'meet' somewhere near here tomorrow.  One had a painted sign on the back of her van advertising 'fortune telling', and I thought it was pretty funny later when she couldn't remember the name of the movie they'd seen together recently and blamed it on her Alzheimer's medication.  Grant said to me later that remembering the past and telling the future are two completely different things!  Not into fortune telling in any case.  God knows His plans for me, that's enough.

There were lovely parrots, magpies, kangaroos and possums here.  We brought the bin inside for the night.

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Vicki