The magical South West - Denmark and Walpole reveal many wonderful things to see and do

With the Little Fisherman nursing his sore knee, we found ourselves suddenly far more restrained in our choice of activities - a salient reminder to us how important our health is.  Unfortunately touring wineries and other gourmet delights doesn't interest the little people, or else it could have been a real blessing in disguise.  Mum did take the opportunity to indulge a little, so we all were hauled to the Mount Romance Sandalwood Factory, and the Bushfoods Cafe near Denmark.  Just quietly we all enjoyed ourselves - especially the delicious cakes at the Bushfoods Cafe!

We made camp at Parry's Beach, between Albany and Walpole.  A delightful bush camp with good amenities and reasonable prices, we settled in and decided to base camp here for a few nights whilst taking the chance to explore the area.

Valley of the Giants 

Our first activity was to check out the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk.  This easy walk takes you 40 metres above the forest floor into the canopy of the giant Tingle Trees.  These trees are found no where else on earth, and are a prehistoric tree from Gondwanan times.  Their simple root structure is susceptible to damage from compaction, hence the development of this novel way to see the trees.  The whole 600 metre walk only takes up about 4 square metres of space on the forest floor and is an engineering and architectural marvel.  This walk recently celebrated its 3 millionth visitor since opening in 1998.

On the Tree Top Walk among the ancient Tingle and Karri Trees

The Tingle Tree is one of the most iconic in Western Australia as it grows to massive sizes.  Its shallow roots and structure mean that bush-fires often hollow out the internal heartwood of the tree, creating large openings that are big enough to fit a car in.  Many families used to holiday in this area and take photos of their car inside the trees - which unfortunately led to the early death of some of the trees.  Thankfully the practice has stopped, but you can still get a photo with a special car inside a special tree!

You can still get your photo behind the wheel of a car inside a giant Tingle tree... well sort of.

We enjoyed a free guided walk through the Valley of the Giants, and learnt a great deal about what makes these Tingle trees so special.  We also learnt about many of the other trees in the forest, and the native animals in this area, including the Quokka.  The Quokka and many other small native marsupials are enjoying a bit of a resurgence in this area since baiting of foxes and feral cats has been stepped up.

It was then time to visit another of the giant Tingle trees, a massive 400 odd year old specimen a short drive away.  This is one special tree, and despite is burnt out hollow, this tree is still very much alive.  In a way their hollow trunks made them too difficult and dangerous to harvest using axe and cross cut saw, which has saved the tree from logging pressures.  They were recognised early on as being a unique tree, and were protected from the 1930s, meaning they should be around for a lot longer yet.

The Giant Tingle Tree near Walpole

We drove to Mount Frankland and enjoyed a look over some of the protected wilderness areas in a short walk from the carpark.  The fantastic walk included a wonderful steel walkway meaning this lookout in wheelchair accessible.  In fact may of the National Parks in WA have excellent facilities - a reflection perhaps of the reinvestment of mining royalties into the state.

The fantastic level walkway and lookout over the wilderness at Mount Frankland

We camped for the best part of the week at Parry's Beach - just around the corner from Hillier's Beach, where green mountains come right down to the beach.  It looks like it belongs near Cape Tribulation, but the water is definitely rough Southern Ocean waters - and only the brave or foolhardy seem to go for a swim.

Hillier's Beach - the swell lets you know this isn't the tropics

Porongorup National Park

With the Little Fisherman's knee on the mend, we went for a 3km walk in the Porongorup National Park.  This granite mountain range is just north of Albany, and was badly affected by bushfire in 2007.  Whilst the Karri, Jarrah and Marri trees recover, the granite boulders remain a silent witness to the passing of time, and we made our way up Castle Hill to the appropriately named Granite Sky Walk.

One of the many Balancing Rocks in the Porongorup Range

The Granite Skywalk is not for the faint hearted.  It consists of a steel catwalk mounted on the sheer face of Castle Rock.  As we walked out onto the platform and the ground fell away underneath us, we felt the wind whistling up from below, a most insecure feeling indeed.

A fantastic vantage point - as long as you don't look down!

I have no idea how high up we really are, but the skywalk sure made it a different experience to climbing a normal mountain and enjoying the view.  It was simply spectacular - albeit slightly unnerving.  And the best part was, it was free, all included in the National Parks Pass we bought way back in Esperance.

Looks strong enough even to support my weight!

Even the walk to and from the summit was glorious with some magnificent trees.  I was particularly taken with the unusual colouring and swirls in this old Karri tree's bark.

The bark of an old Karri Tree

Stirling Ranges

Following our Sky Walk, we took a drive in the Stirling Ranges.  A little further north, the Stirling Ranges are made up from sedimentary rock.  This makes them very different from the nearby Porongorup Range, and more like the Flinders Ranges - just greener.  We took one of the recommended scenic drives through the range, and could well imagine the old faces in the cliffs looking down on us as we passed through.

The Aboriginals have many stories about these hills, and the giant faces that you can see in them

The family all thought I was crazy when I suddenly pulled up and reversed to get a photo of this sign.  For the past couple of years before we embarked on this gap year, I was a volunteer Joey Scout Leader.  The Joeys are aged between 6 and 8 years old, and is a precursor to the much more popular Cub Scout movement.  Leaders are named after Australian animals, and somehow I became known as Numbat.  Of course it didn't take long until I became "Numpty the Numbat".  Hmmm.

Numbat release area... Watch Out!

Spectacular - and very green under the eucalyptus forest.

Outside the National Park, we collected some firewood on the side of the road.  Being in April, campfires were at last allowed in our camping area, so we celebrated with our third campfire of the trip.  Hopefully we would be able to have many more.

Ahh - Bliss.  With everyone else getting dinner ready I was left in charge of the fire...

We planned a laundry morning in Denmark and thought we could do some schooling at the local library.  Schooling remains a bit of a challenge, but we are getting into a routine.  Somehow we picked the only morning the library doesn't open until lunch time for our laundry day.  At least over the road we found the Denmark Bakery and the boys enjoyed a hot chocolate, whilst Mum (thinking we were at the library) slaved away at the Laundromat.  I felt quite grown up, sitting their sipping my Flat White, whilst the boys were busy with their school work.  Perhaps we have been doing it wrong!

The best way to do school work!

Sun at last

Denmark has many wonderful places to explore - and as the sun had at last come out, we checked out the quirky Elephant Cove.  Named for the granite boulders that resemble a herd of elephants, we had a great time exploring the cove, before heading over the headland and having a swim at Greens Pool.

This area has big swells, and king waves are frequent - but in Greens Pool, the boulders provide a natural breakwater and in the calm waters of this pool, we snorkelled for ages.  The Little Helper was particularly amusing yelling 'FISH' whenever he saw one proving without doubt that indeed he can talk underwater with his mouth full!

Elephants - Yes, I can see them, a whole herd of them

With sun and warmer weather, we managed to collect some more firewood and light our fourth fire of the trip.  A cause for some celebration as at last we have had more camp fires than number of times we have been bogged!  A relief for all concerned, and we hope to keep the score tilted towards the camp-fire from here on in.

We tried lighting it with a flint and steel, Bear Grylls style, before resorting to firelighters and a match...

Parry Beach - proved an excellent campsite.  Whilst the camp itself doesn't have too much to see, the beach has a dangerous and choppy surf, it proved to be an excellent place to lay up for several days and explore the local region.  We took the opportunity to recharge our batteries whilst the camper's slowly discharged.  Yes, it was time to move on and explore some new experiences, some exciting, some terrifying, some delicious and some rejuvenating.   Next stop Pemberton and the famous Margret River.

Getting bogged on Parry Beach... thankfully we left the car behind this time.