Back to western australia...
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2008
1
100
117
Trip End
??? ??, 2009
Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Sunday, March 29, 2009
walpole-nornalup region contd...
so to recap, we're standing at the base of the first of the three climbing trees, the diamond tree, and i've just decided that i'm going to do my best to climb this first one and i'm taking my first steps onto the rungs, attached precariously and spiralling the side of this first tree. and just incase i didn't mention this before, to explain, the rungs are thin tubes of metal simply hammered into the side of the tree, while the gaps between each rung stretch a few feet in places meaning you have to cling on tightly and concentrate not to slip through the gap to the ground far below while stepping from rung to rung. anyway, after climbing maybe 20 rungs, i finally got to the half-way point but, and i'm afraid to say this, i just had to stop! after looking down over the balcony and down at sean, who i have to say wasn't that small, meaning i really hadn't gone that far up the tree, i looked at a sign warning of the vertical climb to follow and that was me out! my legs started turning to jelly as i thought of the climb ahead and how i could fall to my death and so down i came, slowly, slowly. at the bottom of the tree, it was here that i realised what a muppet i'd been and that i really should have carried on up, especially as i'd wanted so desperately to see the view from the tops of the trees and so i decided i would definitely conquer the next tree, the 60m gloucester tree! and i did! on arrival at the tree, i stood at the bottom with the rest of the families and travelling couples and looked up and thought better of it, but, after a couple of minutes, i thought, we've come all this way out to see some trees and possibly climb some so why am i just standing here, looking up with all the rest when i could really do something considered brave and get to see some great views, so out came the 'sod it' remark and to the first rung i walked! several rungs up and already feeling the pressure, i shouted down about how i wanted something nice waiting for me on my return from the top. one lady shouted that perhaps champagne was more in order. anyway, the climb all the way up - as there was no half-way point - was absolutely horrendous as i kept looking down; heard several comments about people looking up my skirt - i admit wearing one was not the wisest of moves made that morning - and, at the very top, had to negotiate my way passed a dad and his rather blase son! but no matter as i reached the top and finally got to take in the most amazing views across the canopy and far off into the distance at the sand dunes on the coast and out to sea! sean says during his time at the base of the tree, he saw many a person walk to the base of the tree for a look up, but a lot more simply shook their heads and turned and walked away, just too afraid to even attempt the first few rungs! by the way, sean himself isn't one for heights so that's why he was at the bottom during each of the three climbs. anway, knowing all this, i have to say that i feel even more privileged that i finally managed to get to the top and got to see what, it seems, so few actually get to see! climbing down, i was stopped, maybe a quarter of the way from the top, by a girl on her way up, who wanted to find out what the view was like. well, at first, i thought she was absolutely mad to stop us that far up from the ground, but, after a minute or so, i forgot about the height and we had a rather pleasant conversation about the view, how amazing it was that we were that far up, and how weird it was that mostly girls were attempting the climb while their boyfriends or husbands all seemed to be electing for feet firmly on the ground?! anyway, upon my arrival back at the base, i could not have been happier! i was absolutely knackered, my legs felt like jelly, and my hands were red and clammy, but it was absolutely the best feeling ever of actually achieving something! and there was more to come! for, after getting to the bottom of the lookout at the top of the next 75m tall dave evans bi-centennial tree, and climbing several ladders within the lookout to the top, the view was absolutely jaw dropping! i'm telling you, that tree was just so god-damn tall and being that much later in the day, there were even fewer tourists around wanting to attempt the climb up and so i was up there, at the top, looking out over the tops of the trees and out into the distance for maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, all alone, and that was amazing! i have to admit that i had to count myself down, rung by rung, because i was absolutely that scared coming down that tree, stepping down each rung, negotiating those attached to the branches of the tree, and especially taking on the very vertical ones, which one slip would have definitely meant falling to one's death - i'm probably not overexaggerating this time either! - but i made it down in one piece and again, i was happy and actually rather chuffed, especially when i saw some japanese tourists looking up in amazement! but anyway, there was certainly a lot more to the region apart from climbing trees, which i'll go onto tell you about now... while in the region, we visited the most gorgeous dam filled with the most still waters ever and surrounded by towering karri trees; the beedelup falls, which were actually rather disappointing given that there hadn't been that much wet weather to source a cascading falls as was promised by the tourist literature; a giant king jarrah tree, if i haven't mentioned this specimen at all, which was just the thickest, tallest beast ever; and the karri forest explorer drive, which took us deep into the forests of the region. during our stay in the southern forests region, we camped for a couple of days at the colemine beach caravan park, between the walpole and nornalup inlets, where the karri trees met the shore and where pelicans slept precariously on wooden poles emerging from the water. the weather, at this stage, was pretty dire, grey and miserable, and pretty cold, especially in the mornings, but that didn't really spoil the walk around the inlet or our camp fire. now, i don't want to disappoint anyone, but there was absolutely no singing of 'kum by ya'! however, there was the melting of marshmallows on sticks and the roasting of vegetables, wrapped in tin-foil and placed in the embers of the fire! oh yes, i knew i'd learnt something from all those years as a girl guide! anyway, the camp fire was absolutely a high point of the trip, and it's just a shame that, since then, we haven't been able to have another due to the threat of bush fires caused by the dry weather. while in the region, we also visited the most obscure natural gallery called 'swarbrick', complete with fibre glass gold rings and feathers hanging from the tree branches and the longest mirrored wall inscribed with messages about the need to conserve the local area and natural world, in general. we took a walk to 'the giant tingle' tree, which was basically the hugest of trees that you could walk through as the base had been cut through by some kind of disease, which we discovered eats away at the inside of the tree, but which causes the outer layer of the tree to reinforce and strengthen to keep the tree from toppling over. that was pretty cool. and finally, before reaching the end of our time in the region, we visited another highlight for me, but most definitely not sean's finest hour, the valley of the giants treetop walk, which was a metal suspension bridge, 40m at it's highest point, charting a course through the trees. and again, amazing for me, and an attraction that enabled sean to get a taste of what i'd experienced at the top of those climbing trees, except that even at just 40m, he wasn't the happiest and it turned out to be quite the challenge to get him to stop at any one of the lookouts between bridges to take in the view. he raced to get to the end and, unfortunately, it did nothing to end his fear of heights. after the walk, we journeyed onto denmark, a quaint river town, surrounded by wineries, olive growers, local food producers and the most amazing stretch of coastline. during our very short stay in this area, we visited bartholomew's meadery, where we sampled a lot of sweet tasting honey wine; and the denmark farmhouse, where we tasted the wine, cheese, chutneys and fudge they make, before ordering a cheese platter, of which i took the best food photo, absolutely made for the pages of a marks & spencer's or waitrose food magazine! i was pretty happy with my effort! and we also stumbled across, what we would later be told was, an extremely deadly snake! after dinner, we made our way to the coast to take shots of green's pool and elephant rocks. the first was a series of giant granite outcrops emerging from out of the sea, while elephant rocks was a mass of huge rock formations that made up what looked like a family of elephants. we'd heard that william's bay was perfect for swimming and snorkelling, however, as there was a chill in the air and the water was ice cold, despite the brave few who were actually splashing about in it, we decided not to go looking for our swimmers! and finally, we ended our time in denmark with a stupid argument about what caravan park to stay in, kangaroo steak for tea, and hours of watching kangaroos hopping about outside our campervan, munching the grass, and leaving their entrails just inches from where we kicked off our shoes at night!
