Days 79-82 (20-23 Sep) Land of the Giants from Heel to Toe

Rays at Leeuwin Cape

Glance at the bottom left hand corner of Australia, where that foots kicks out in the “heel” position of the heel & toe polka. We have just waded our watery way from Augusta (the big toe) through to Albany at the southernmost point of WA (the heel) via Pemberton, Northcliffe and Walpole. Names invariably derived from European explorers and settlers. There are also many places down here with indigenous names such as Yallingup, Cowaramup, Quindalup, Nannup… Whazzup with that? Apparently “up” means “place of” in local indigenous dialect.

Let’s start with Augusta – right at the base the big toe. It was great weather for ducks. Such great weather that we observed a pair at the Augusta caravan park herding no less than 16 ducklings, who, fortunately for the parents, all seemed very obedient. I’m astounded a duck could even sit on so many eggs at once, let alone successfully hatch them. The damp weather was a good excuse to drive through north through the enormous Karri forests lush with wild wisteria and more arum lilies, and south down to Cape Leeuwin.

Ducklings at Augusta

Augusta pond

Driving through forests, South West Cape

Water laden roadsides, South West Cape

Wind swept tree, South West Cape

The indigenous name for Pemberton is Wandergarup - place of plenty of water. Most apt. It even rained inside when a previously undiscovered self-cleaning mechanism of the caravan suddenly burst into action. The kitchen tap nozzle achieved blast off due to air and water pressure in the hose, spraying a jet of water clear across the interior of our small van where I was directly in the flight path. It is not safe to remove your raincoat even inside down here.

Pemberton is a truly picturesque little village built completely of timber, named after Pemberton Walcott, who was part of an expedition party to the region in 1861. His preferred name for the town was Walcott, vetoed by the Post Office because he already had Port Walcott named after him. So Pemberton it was. Being a rather unblokey name, I can’t imagine “Pemberton” being used too often down here. What did his mates call him? Pem the Pom? Bert? But from this we learn that it is good to bestow upon your children a distinctive Christian name so that at least 2 towns can be named in their honour.

Cascades, Pemberton

Pemberton Village

Despite the late Pemberton Walcott being mostly forgotten, his town still boasts some remarkable features – the giant Karri trees. Living for 300-500 years and growing more than 75 metres high, they doubled as lookout towers for spotting bushfires back in the day. Long spikes embedded into the trunk spiral upwards to a viewing platform more than 50 metres up. Brave souls without heart conditions can still experience the climb. Most common souls are overcome with fear and vertigo after about 15 spikes. We visited the Gloucester tree. After watching a few climbers – successes and failures - we attempted a short distance upwards to get in the spirit of things, but decided we could do without that kind of rise in blood pressure. No one has actually died climbing the trees, but several people have had heart attacks after doing so. Many more need to be talked down after freezing in fear at the top like the proverbial kitten who climbed too high.

Walk Through Tree, Pemberton

Liz a little way up the Gloucester Tree, Pemberton

We passed through Northcliffe with a quick stop at the Visitor’s Centre for the Understory walk – a beautiful forest path with a series of art installations. A fire swept through a few years ago and left some ghosts in the trees; you may spot them in the pictures. We were unexpectedly detained here when we discovered four kangaroo joeys inside the tourist info centre. Their wildlife carer was looking for people to pat them as stranger orientation in preparation for the upcoming school holidays. We selflessly sacrificed half an hour to civic duty for the children by patting and cuddling joeys. Dave now wants a pet joey when we return home. We haven’t yet negotiated who will be doing the 4-hourly feeds overnight.

Dave & joey

2 month old joey (Liz)

Holding hands

Understory art walk, Northcliffe (Liz)

Understory art walk, Northcliffe (Liz)

Understory art walk, Northcliffe (Liz)

We finally tore ourselves away from those big brown joey eyes pleading for more pats and headed for Walpole, which was the original name of this township before it changed to Nornalup. Which is also the name of a place down the road – a cause of great confusion back in the ’30s. Walpole was always the preferred name, but that pesky Post Office wouldn’t permit it; some bureaucrat believing there was already a Walpole township in Tasmania. There was not. This was finally confirmed, and Walpole got its name back. Despite such an identity crisis in its childhood, the town is now firmly established as the home of the ancient giants – old growth red tingle and karri trees. The most famous tourist attraction is the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk – a walkway suspended more than 40 metres high through an old growth forest. Exhilarating, but also a little motion sickness inducing due to the rhythmic swaying of the metal walkway as people moved along it – some, with all the grace of an elephant.

Giant Red Tingle, Nornalup

Giant TreeTop Walk, Nornalup

Last but not least, we climbed Mt Frankland, which is actually a huge solid granite rock. Still raining and late in the day, with cloud shrouding the summit, we had the place to ourselves. We donned raincoats to do the walk and climb the final 300 stone steps which come with a warning – “Do not climb if faint of heart or foolhardy!” We were rewarded at the top with the sun breaking through the clouds, and a full rainbow appearing. Dave’s last word on the matter: ‘“There’s no point in climbing!” she said. “You won’t be able to see anything anyway!” she said.’

There will be no getting out of any future walks now, whatever the weather.

Mt Frankland

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

NEWS FLASH - WEATHER REPORT – 27 September 2016

We interrupt our usual broadcast to bring you a weather report.

We are currently in Esperance (Tuesday) and the wind is howling and rain falling. A low pressure system is building here, set to intensify as it moves east tonight and slams into the west coast of South Australia within the next few days.

We were treated to spectacular skies of the building storm front as we moved out of the Stirling Ranges in south-west WA today, heading east to Esperance. We were also treated to occasional squalls and a wicked tailwind that gave us good progress.

However, this monster Low pressure system is expected to bring with it the strongest winds that South Australia has had in 50 years – right where we are headed. Rain up to 100mm by this weekend is expected to cause flash flooding in parts of the State.

The land here is already completely sodden after a winter of heavy rains, with much water on the roadsides and in paddocks. Fields of crops are looking magnificent, but many farmers further east are likely to have their properties underwater within the week, and crops lost.

We plan to slow our progress and watch what happens with the storm front ahead of us, but please pray for many facing significant losses across South Australia in the next few days.

Link: ABC NEWS: SA braces for strongest winds to hit in 50 years

 

Storm front, 27 Sep 16, The Lily Dutch Windmill, Amelup WA

Storm front over the Stirling Ranges & canola fields, WA, 27 Sep 16

Days 76-78 (17-19 Sep) A Land Flowing with Wine & Chocolate

Margaret River! The promised land, flowing with milk (exotic ice-cream) and honey (truffle infused), but more importantly wine, chocolate and cheese. The cradle of world-class produce, we can see why everyone up north – and from all over Australia, really - salivates and swoons at the very mention of this region. The sparse wilderness which dominates the majority of Western Australia suddenly transforms into lush green fields, huge tree forests, vineyards and orchards.

Because we had been transported into some sort of paradise in Margaret River, we somehow ended up with a private ensuite on our caravan site there as well. Which was great when it rained at night.

Margaret River has 215 vineyards and 187 wineries. It has 5 chocolate factories, and countless other providores selling all manner of fine fare. How to choose just a few to visit? The Berry Farm was recommended; an excellent choice, as I got to sample up to 6 of their fruit wines and liqueurs. Let me know if you want to sample the blackberry liqueur which pairs well with dry champagne on our return; I’ve already booked Joce in for this. We also watched feeding time at the huge bird enclosure which doubles as an orchard; the chickens share their quarters with ducks, peacocks and even an emu, who very much looks as though he is still wondering whatever happened to his life.

You must understand that the wineries down here are lavish, capital L. We wanted the full experience, so picked Voyager Estate, which comes with extensive formal gardens. They do 3 and 6 course gustation lunches, but we opted for the cheese platter and bread plate, curling up near the indoor open fire with a wine flight of 3 (Liz), while the wind blew and rain fell outside. Happiness with a capital H.

Driving around Margaret River we were intrigued by what looked like historic ruins down by the river, and, in usual Dave style, went crashing through the bush looking for this elusive building. Even more intriguingly, once we found it, the buildings were indeed historic (a Victorian Georgian mansion), and destroyed by fire, but the very elaborate and extensive gardens were in immaculate condition. A private gardener spotted us and immediately ordered us to leave. We later learned we had stumbled upon a certain private estate lost in a fire some years ago – a controlled burn that was apparently not so controlled. Its future remains very uncertain.

Chocolate – we picked the Gabriel chocolate place, because we know a nice guy by that name back in Canberra. Their chocolate berry brownies - superlative. Gabriel would definitely have enjoyed them too.

Talking about desserts, we managed to get ourselves invited for supper to the home of Carmelo, owner of Edible Art in Margaret River, award-winning cake maker, who also just happens to have cooked dessert for the Queen. No, I’m not making this up (he’s also a descendant of a famous Sicilian Mob family, but that’s a whole other story). We met Carmelo and his lovely family at the Margaret River Baptist church and were even more delighted to discover – through Facebook – that we already had friends in common.

We visited the magnificent coastline, took hundreds more pictures of the noxious arum lilies, fields of flowers, vineyards and winding walking trails and – well – you have to come visit it yourself. We’ve provided some photos to whet your appetite. Don't get jealous, get travelling.

For those who have been concerned about Dave’s toes – they are improving significantly, and looking much better. He is on his 5th (!) lot of antibiotics, so we’ll see what happens. He has now seen 4 doctors in 3 months, more than he usually sees in 3 years. This trip will officially go down in the record as The One Where Dave Got Sick (not Liz). Although we still have 2 weeks to go…

Voyager Estate gardens (Dave)

Voyager Estate (Dave)

Voyager Estate (Liz)

You know what this is, I won't rub it in (Dave)

Abandoned home (Dave)

Lilies in a field (Dave)

Isaacs Rock at Sunset (Dave)

Jetty at Canal Rocks (Dave)

Pretty much every road in Margaret River looks like this (Dave)

Vineyard (Dave)

Birds of different feathers flock together and seem to get along (Liz)

Days 75-76 (16-17 Sep) The Letter B Brought to you by Bunbury & Busselton

Heading into the deep south! There were quick visits to bustling Bunbury and beautiful Busselton – try saying that three times quickly.

Everything in Bunbury seemed suspiciously new and just a tad nouveau riche. Any heritage buildings have been tarted up to cover their embarrassment at being old; dare I say mutton dressed as lamb. A case in the point is the Art Gallery, an old converted Sisters of Mercy convent, now painted a very questionable shade of strawberry pink with white trim. It looks like a giant coconut ice with rust red eyeliner. I know that's a mixed metaphor, but it deserves it. Our favourite gallery moment was watching a local posing his bullmastiff for a portrait on the front steps. Bunbury is well worth a stroll around the streets to view the variety of architecture jostling for attention and the funky street art. The Marlston hill lookout tower is not to be missed for unbeatable views over the McMansions and harbour. The Bunbury tower, dubbed “the milk carton” by locals, can’t be missed, you'll see what I mean.

Busselton was a little more elegant, reveling in its history and advertising museums and pioneering stories at every corner. We weren’t there long, but did fit in a sunset visit to the famous coastal picture spot Sugarloaf Rock, where we met pig farmers from Gippsland - Noel & Adrienne. Adrienne became Dave’s new best pal when she spotted his camera; she is also a Canon aficionado. They talked shop while Noel and I commiserated on being photographer widows.

The next morning we also managed to visit Busselton’s main attraction – the Jetty. It is apparently the longest wooden piered jetty in the southern hemisphere, second in the world to one somewhere in England, which is about 200 metres longer. Busselton’s jetty extends about 1.8 kms out to sea, and ceased operations as a government port in 1973, at which time funding on its maintenance also ceased - scrooges! This was very problematic when Cyclone Alby paid a visit in 1978 and took a rather large chunk away as a souvenir. With Busselton’s favourite son now lying derelict in the gutter, not even eligible for welfare, the locals banded together to form the Busselton Jetty Environment and Conservation Association, the BJECA (more catchy acronym needed, guys). They managed to raise over $3 million by the sweat of their brow, until the WA Government eventually took pity on them and coughed up an additional $24 million for the restoration project. It is now a tourism juggernaut, offering everything from the Underwater Observatory (take a staircase 8 metres underwater in a cylindrical reverse fishbowl experience), to “Fishing Clinics” to “Mermaid Tours” (I don’t know, don’t ask).

We took the little train out to the end, did the Underwater Observatory experience, and bumped into Noel and Adrienne again. We discovered baby seagulls in nests along the jetty edge (you’ll never guess what they look like), and then bumped into Paul & Lou again – the Canberra couple we last chatted to in Monkey Mia. They are also doing the Term 3 travel thing from Canberra around the West, and are due home the same time as us. We greeted each other like old friends and discovered that while we were braving the cold in Perth, they had popped over to Bali for a week! It is a WA thing to do, as flights from Perth to Bali are about $150. Why didn’t we think of this? Sadly, we don’t have our passports on us.

Anyway, we did enjoy our time at the Busselton Jetty, but if I hear the term “Interpretive Centre” one more time, so help me…

Health wise, we’ve been afflicted with a touch of Shakespearean tragedy. Dave’s one infected toe has become three, and he now hath a Macbethian plea:

Canst thou not minister to a toe diseased,

Pluck from the skin a rooted infection,

Raze out the wretched troubles of the itch

And with some sweet effective antibiotic

Cleanse the swollen foot of that perilous staph?

Meanwhile, a month after falling down Mt Bruce, I’m performing my own rendition of Lady Macbeth: 

Out, damned spike! out, I say! …

Yet who would have thought the old hand

to have had so much spinifex in it. 

Convent cum Art Gallery (Dave)

Because something in every WA city is named after Lord John Forrest (Liz)

Street corner, Bunbury (Liz)

Because every Bull-mastiff wants to be pretty in pink (Liz)

Funky Street Art, Bunbury (Liz)

Bunbury Theatre (Dave)

Marlston Hill Lookout (Dave)

McMansions view from Marlston Hill (Dave)

Not established 1908? (Dave)

Bunbury Tower AKA The Milk Carton (Dave)

Busselton Boat (Dave)

Sugarloaf Rock (Dave)

The Jetty by night (Dave)

Heading underwater at the Observatory (Dave)

Jetty train (Dave)

Apparently everything around us needs interpreting these days. (Dave)

Baby seagulls! (Liz)