Life in a Humpback

Day 108: Denmark (Day 2)

Again we opted for a quiet morning around camp - basketballs, frisbees and boomerangs all were thrown. After an early lunch we drove west to Walpole to checkout the tingle forests at the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk.

The tree top walk took us 40m up into the forest canopy. The walk is a lot like the Tahune Airwalk in Tassie just with different types of trees to walk through - karri, karri she-oaks and red tingle trees. After the tree tops we wandered along the Ancient Empire Walk. I actually thought the walk through the under story more interesting than through the canopy. On the lower walk we got to walk through some of the tree trunks, look out for fairy doors in the trees, learn about how quokkas tunnel through the grasses, and of course see the wildflowers in bloom.

On the way back to Denmark we stopped to walk up to Monkey Rock. From the top we had amazing views down the coast. As it had been rather windy there was lots of sea spray in the air along this section of coast.

We got back to camp in time for another game of basketball before dinner.

Day 107: Denmark (Day 1)

We started off our day with a relaxing morning around camp - exploring the river, watching the ducks and kookaburras, playing basketball, and throwing the frisbee. After lunch we drove out to the coast to have a look, and swim, at Elephant Rocks and Greens Pool.

We wandered over to Elephant Rocks first. Going for a scramble over the rock outcrops before walking through a small gap in the rocks to get to the beach. The kids both had a swim here before we headed to the next bay over. At Greens Pool it was rather busy but is was easy to see why. It was a nice protected beach, which made it great for families with kids. After our swim we made our way back up the hill to the carpark checking out the coastal wildflowers along the way.

Day 106: Prevelly to Denmark

Today we left the west coast for the last time and headed to our first stop on the southern coast of Western Australia. Along the way we stopped in Pemberton to have a look at the Gloucester Tree. Unfortunately the Gloucester tree climb was closed due to renovations of the top platform. Instead we went on a short walk around the forest before piling back into the car.

We made it to our campsite at Riverbend Chalets and Caravan Park just after 5:00pm. We were met by Jo one of the lovely owners who walked us down to our site near the river.

Day 105: Margaret River (Day 4)

Today we got up early and headed north towards Ngilgi Cave (near Yallingup) for an Aboriginal cultural tour provided by Koomal Dreaming. We learned about the local Aboriginal history of the area before we took the stairs down into the cave. Because it was school holidays the tour started at 8.30, which meant we had a bit of time in the cave to ourselves before it got busy. When we got to one of the bigger "rooms" in the cave Josh played the didgeridoo for us. It sounded amazing bouncing off the walls of the cave. Afterwards he left us to explore the cave on our own before we continued to the meeting place above ground to learn more about different Aboriginal tools and listen to a few more didgeridoo songs before finishing the tour.

After saying good bye to Josh, we drove further north through Dunsborough to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse and Heritage site. We had lunch while being watched carefully by the local magpies, then wandered up the hill to the lighthouse. From the lookout we could see a few humpback whales playing in the water off the coast in the distance. We then had a look in the museum and learned about what is was like to be a lighthouse keeper.

Next we made our way to the coast near Yallingup. Here we walked down to Canal Rocks to watch the waves roll in and look in a few of the rock pools. We then back-tracked at bit to a carpark used the access "The Aquarium" (a water channel surrounded by rocks that protect it from the large ocean). From here we grabbed our snorkelling gear was walked down to the beach. Although the water was much colder than up at Ningaloo we had much better visibility. We saw a sea slug, an eel, lots of fish, and cool seaweed everywhere. By the time we were out of the water and heading back to the car it was getting late in the day.

Our last stop of the day was at Injidup Natural Spa. As it was almost sunset we did not go for a swim. Instead just watched the water rolling over the rocks into the pool, while Theo found lots and lots of crabs. It was a nice spot to watch the sunset.

Day 102: Margaret River (Day 1)

This morning the kids and I started our day at the Margaret River Farmers Market. Where we picked up some fruit and veg and the kids talked me into getting them some pancakes.

We then collected John from camp and made our way to The Hairy Marron Bike Shop to rent mountain bikes. We had a great four hours in the Wooditjup and Pines trail networks. Similar to Dwellingup we could ride from the bike shop to the trailhead, but the trails were closer to town and there were more options for linking shorter trails together.

The kid's favourites trails were Pugsley and Pineocchio. I really enjoyed the downhill trails Line Manager, Pineocchio, and Pumpty Dumpty and the climb on Beanstalk. John's top picks were Bluega and Pumpty Dumpty.

We all had a great afternoon riding but with all the ups and downs we were all pretty tired.

Day 101: Dwellingup to Prevelly

Today we drove further south towards the Margaret River area. Along the way we stopped in Busselton. While there we checked out the new shipwreck playground, the historical buildings on Queen Street, and stocked up on groceries. We did not walk out to the end of the jetty because we did it last time we were in Busselton (back in 2018).

We pulled into the Prevelly Caravan park late in the afternoon. It was the start of a long weekend in WA so the park was very full!

Day 99: Dwellingup (Day 1)

Today we drove south from Dwellingup to the Treetops Adventure in Lane Poole Reserve. We spent the morning climbing ladders, zipping through the trees, and tackling obstacles high up in the Jarrah tree forest.

On the way back to Dwellingup we drove through the reserve. It was a beautiful forest with lots of camp grounds and a river running through it. If we had more time it would have been great to explore this area a bit more.

We had a late lunch before catching up on blog posts, clarinet practice, and chess lessons.

Day 98: Perth to Dwellingup

Today we packed up and said goodbye to the shelducks, the coots and their chicks, and the moorhens that live in the caravan park lake. At least two of the chicks hatched during our stay. It has been nice to listen to the birds and frog calls from the lake at night.

Our first stop for the day was in Mandurah to see the wooden giants that are scattered across the city. We only made it to two - Yaburgurt Winjan Cirkelstone and Santi Ikto. We tried to get to a third (Seba's Song) but it was hard to find a nearby park for the caravan. The two we saw were very impressive - John now wants one for our block of land back in Tassie!

Our final stop for the day was Dwellingup. We arrived at the Dwellingup Chalets and Caravan Park before lunch and then had a wander through the township. The town is a bit like Derby back home as it has set itself up as an adventure destination. It has a few mountain biking areas, but also has bush walking tracks, and areas for kayaking, canoeing, and rafting. The town in one of the few places that the Munda Biddi bike trail and the Bibbulmun walking tracks cross over - both of which stretch from Perth to Albany and are around 1000km each.

Day 93: Cervantes to Perth

Today we packed up once again to head into Perth. On the way we stopped at Lancelin to go sand boarding on the white sand dunes. We picked up our rental boards and walked out and up the dunes. After a bit of work on technique we all manged to get a few runs down the dunes. The kids and John even managed a few runs standing up. Once we were all thoroughly covered in sand and our hour was up we headed into town for lunch before continuing to Perth.

In Perth we are stayed at Karrinyup Waters Resort located in the northern suburbs. The resort was the fanciest park we have stayed in yet. There is three pools, several playground, and jumping pillows - including one right across from our campsite. The kids had a swim in the pool, then a play in the playground with the pack of other kids until it was time to go out for dinner in the evening.

Day 92: Cervantes (Day 2)

Today we started the morning visiting another part of Nambung National Park, this time at Lake Thetis. This is another place where stromatolites can be viewed. We went on a walk around the lake including out onto the partially flooded boardwalk to try to see the stromatolites under the water. Unfortunately the wind was creating enough ripples on the surface that we could not see them in the flooded lake. As we continued around the lake we found lots of snails in the grasses and scrubs - some with round shells other with long spiral ones.

Next we drove back north to Jurien Bay to have a look around. We went to an art gallery where the art was viewed under black light to highlight the sun penetrating the water scenes depicted in each art piece. After lunch we went for a walk along the foreshore until the rain and wind drove us back to the car.

Back at our caravan park for the afternoon we played pool and table tennis in the games room before dinner.