Aussie road trip part 2: Tingles and ANZACs

And so we left the South Western tip of Australia behind and travelled east. We were not long into the drive before we had a classic Australian experience. Realising we only had 120Km of petrol left, and the nearest town on our route a risky 110Km away, we changed course slightly in order to reach civilisation a little earlier and avoid running out of fuel. The coast of this part of Australia is stunning, not least at William Bay where we stopped off for a walk around Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks (granite boulders which look like a herd of elephants!) The weather was a little chilly and blustery, cooler than we had expected for November and we were glad of our trusty waterproofs and down jackets. In more clement weather, this would be a wonderful spot for a dip, in the protected bay.

The Tingle Forest

We chose to stay for a few nights in an Airbnb cottage on a farm close to Denmark. The setting was beautiful, with views over the karri trees in the Harewood valley, and home to friendly fairy wrens who happily fluttered about in the shrubs in the garden. It was also perfectly located for an early morning trip to visit the Valley of the Giants Treetop walk in the ancient tingle forests. The red tingle tree is a species of eucalyptus which typically grows to 45m tall and is found almost exclusively in the Walpole Nornalup National Park. The Treetop walk is a cleverly designed walkway in the canopy of the trees which allows for an interesting perspective on the trees and also sways with the wind to give the feeling of being up in the canopy. Dessa was happily munching an apple as we arrived which the ticket lady suggested she might like to throw the core off the walkway for the local quokkas, which was done with much enthusiasm. Although we didn’t see any of the little furry marsupials we were happy to think of them enjoying their fruity snack. Back on more solid ground, we walked around the huge buttressed roots of the trees in the Ancient Empire walk admiring the scale of the forest.

Dinosaurs and Reptiles

After the treetop walk, we called in at the intriguing Denmark Dinosaur World, which was excellent, with an array of animatronic dinosaurs and a large collection of (real) native birds and reptiles. Luckily for us, we arrived in time for the reptile handling session and were rewarded with an introduction to blue tongued skinks, snakes and a few cheeky parrots. Outside, we were delighted by Syd the cockatoo who shouted ‘HelloDarlin’ whenever we passed by and enjoyed feeding the friendly kangaroos.

Castle Rock and the Granite Skywalk

This walk in the beautiful Porongurup National Park was a big hit with the kids. The trail is a little under 5km return (within the low-whinge category on the Newton trail classification) and a beautiful hike uphill through the forested hills. At the top, we admired the gravity defying balancing rock (and obviously tried to push it over) before reaching the main attraction, the granite skywalk. After clambering over and under huge granite boulders, a 6m high ladder ascends to a viewing platform offering breath-taking views out to the Stirling Ranges and the ocean.

Albany and Surrounds

Perched high above King George Sound, the National Anzac Centre is a fitting tribute to the more than 40,000 Australian and New Zealander troops who set sail from here to fight in the first world war, all of the volunteers, and many of whom never returned. The brilliance of the museum is in the way it concentrates on the human aspects, and impacts of the war. As you enter you are given a card with information about a real individual whose war journey you follow as you move through the museum through their war records, letters and photographs, with an audio guide to bring the displays to life. We also watched a fascinating short film, ‘bayonets and butterflies’ about how Australian troops rescued a priceless collection of butterflies from a French chateau. To add to the poignancy of the museum, we happened to visit on Remembrance Sunday. Outside the centre, there is an interesting walking trail around Princess Royal Fortress with gun batteries, coastal gun defences and the barracks to explore.

Only just out of town, the Torndirrup National Park has some impressive rock formations carved out of the granite and gneiss which feature in local aboriginal dreamtime creation stories. At the Gap, a see-through platform extends out over the southern ocean where you can stand and watch the might of the waves splash 40 metres below your feet. This is close to a formation called the Natural Bridge, which is, a natural bridge made of rock. We also followed the 1.6Km trail to reach the Blowholes, where, if the waves are big enough, water is funnelled into underground caverns and forced up through fissures to the surface. There were some impressive rumbling noises, but no spurts of water when we visited. We might have spent a little longer exploring the beaches the park is famous for if the weather had been a little less cold and drizzly, but instead we were able to head back to our digs the Six Degrees hotel, which, luckily for Jim had a welcoming bar with cold beer and a number of large screens on which to watch the England vs Pakistan Cricket T20 World Cup final.

Manjimup and Donnybrook

Australia’s Highway One is a ring road where one can travel right around mainland Australia, some 14500Km in total. The section of it we covered across Western Australia from Albany to Bunbury is littered with pretty little towns with attractions to detain the passing traveller. We broke our journey in Manjimup, firstly stopping for breakfast at the Blue Tiger Café, and then heading to the Heritage Park. A town proud of its history in the logging industry, the park has steam, electricity and timber museums, a historic hamlet and, of course an extensive playpark. The big draw here is a slide so high it doubles as a lookout point over the surrounding countryside to spot for forest fires. Fun Manjimup fact: the globally popular pink lady apple was first developed here, over 50 years ago. A little further along the route, we couldn’t not take a quick stop in Donnybrook after discovering its Apple Playpark is the largest free entry park in Australia.