Margaret River to Albany

We all thoroughly enjoyed Margaret river, but we must keep moving.

Today saw us travelling through a wonderful variety of this amazing country of ours, it continues to amaze us.

The black angus cattle on the hill

Travelling through the Karri forest

The green rolling hills of the region, the miles and miles of vineyards with the vines in different stages of ripeness (is that really a word),

The forest went on for kms and kms

then on to cattle country where the black angus cattle are striking against the dark green pastures, then south towards Augusta where the landscape becomes more coastal and we see tea trees and wattle lining the roads.

We saw vineyards all the way to Augusta

We made a short stop in Augusta and toured the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. 

The famous lighthouse

The lighthouse is located on the headland of Cape Leeuwin, the most south-westerly point on the mainland of the Australian Continent, and it is where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet. 

Very bleak countryside, especially on a cold day like today

We were a little disappointed that you couldn't actually see any evidence of where the oceans meet, we weren't expecting a line in the sea or anything, but a bit of disturbance in the water would have been enough to satisfy us, but not a sign of anything.

Another short stop, this time in Pemberton saw us on a tram trip with the Pemberton Tramway Company.

We climbed aboard our open sided tram, on a freezing cold day, at the Pemberton railway station for the trip which meanders through towering Karri, Marri and Jarrah forest,

Fantastic old Railway Station

Getting ready to board

over six trestle bridges spanning rivers and streams along one of Australia's most majestic rail lines. 

Waving to our fans

One of the original Jarrah bridges

As we admired the breathtaking views our tram driver gave an informative commentary on the forest, railway line and history of the region.



The end of the line

The train stopped at The Cascades for us to walk down to the water and experience the feel of the forest.  The Cascades was an awesome sight, with all the rain in recent days the falls were truly overflowing.

Do you think I could walk on water too?

We are not going any closer

We moved on towards Albany but the weather turned a bit bleak so we found a great little free camp in the forest.  The boys immediately set out to build us a great big fire, but the rain set in and we didn't light it. 

Laurie at his favourite pastime

It was a very cold night so we had Happy Hour in our van.

A chilly Happy Hour so we stayed inside

Another beautiful start to the morning, which was very welcome as we had a few 'forest' things planned for today

First - into Northcliffe for the Understory.

The Understory - Australia's leading art in nature experience.
The Understory sculpture walk is the first purpose built walk trail within Australia to permanently feature specially commissioned artworks from a range of different art forms.

The entrance to the 'Understory'

Sculpture, music and writing have been commissioned from nationally and internationally renowned creative personnel to reflect the social, cultural and environmental heritage of the Southern Forests region.

One of the many sculptures hidden in the forest

The 1.2km walk circuit showcases the awe-inspiring Karri, Jarrah and Marri forest of the Northcliffe Forest park.

Enjoying one of the pieces of art

Waiting to go in

Permanent and temporary sculptures are located at varying intervals along the trail, and you can follow the inspirational stories by the various artists themselves, when you chose one of the audio tours.

One of the many sculptures hidden in the forest - 'Australia House'

We chose the tour featuring interviews with the artists, writers and musicians which provided us with a personal connection with the stories behind each artwork.

One of the many sculptures hidden in the forest

One of the many sculptures hidden in the forest - these carved rocks were everywhere

This was a fantastic way to spend the early morning. The forest was crisp and fresh from the previous days rain, and the many birds were all out singing in the morning.

One of the many sculptures hidden in the forest - even high up in the trees

One of the many sculptures hidden in the forest - or on the trees

On to Walpole where we discovered a fantastic bakery/café for brunch to fuel up before our next forest adventure.

The Valley of the Giants
The amazing tree top walk allowed us to walk high up into the canopy of the Tingle trees.


The amazing walkway



Jude and Laurie

The tree top walk is a land management tool designed to minimise the impact of humans on the tingle trees. As such it was important that there was an emphasis on the protection of the environment during construction. For this reason the walk was built with a minimum of machinery.

Look how high it is

The construction consists of six 60 metre lightweight bridge spans on seven pylons, reaching a maximum height of 40 metres.  The spans were especially designed to sway slightly as you walk in order to create the sensation of being in the canopy of the forest.

I really did climb it

Jeff and Helen

From 40 metres up we walked the 600 metre long walkway looking at the world from a different aspect.

Jude and I - up so high

We then descended into the depths of the forest to the 'Ancient Empire' where we were able to get up close and personal to the 400 year old giants of the forest.

Jeff at the entrance to the Ancient Empire

Based on the theme of the lost era of Gondwana, a walk through a grove of these ancient giants is known as the Ancient Empire Walk.

This 650 metre boardwalk has been designed as an interpretative experience, to explore the science, fantasy, intrigue and grandeur of the old trees.

The path led us to one of the most popular of the knarled veterans, known as Grandma tingle, as well as to several more of these giants, some we were even able to walk through.

Some of the trees were 20 metres around

I am sure these trees are full of spirits, they are so majestic and regal.  I half expected them to start moving as in 'Lord of the Rings'

It was a dream of mine to walk amongst the 'Valley of the Giants' and today I got to live the dream.

What a fantastic day!!!!

Free camp tonight at Torbey's Inlet another great little spot by the water, and we had the whole place to ourselves - of course Laurie got straight into the collecting of firewood and we had another great fire, and because it wasn't too cold we sat by the fire well into the night.

He's at it again