February 10th & 11th, 2012- Pemberton Caravan Park

Friday morning saw us up and travelling again, albeit only a short 100km to Pemberton. The drive was beautiful through massive forests. Not the ideal road for caravans as quite hilly, narrow, and winding. We travelled through a large area that had suffered fire damage and Sandra was fascinated with the Grass Trees again. They are quite a bit different than the ones we have seen further West. We arrived just before lunch and decided to setup in the caravan park to recharge our batteries and water supplies. The caravan park was lovely with lots of green and shade trees. The sites were quite large although the road was narrow. Terry and I had end sites which were very roomy but a bit tricky to manoeuvre the caravan onto.

Once setup the five of us less Terry ventured off for some sightseeing. We drove out to the Bicentennial Tree which is a massive 75M tall Karri Tree. You can climb it as they have put metal spikes like a ladder around and around the tree. Stephen, Carol, and Sandra climbed up about ten spikes for photos. I went up the farthest to the first platform which is about 30M up. I decided not to climb further because my sandals were giving me trouble. Thank goodness as my upper legs have ached ever since. I wouldn't have been able to walk if I had done the whole tree. Di finally got in the spirit and climbed onto the first rung for her picture.  The trees are amazing and the photos really can't capture their size properly. In the bottom picture I am not even half way to the first of the three platforms; to hopefully give you some idea of the scale.

From the Bicentennial Tree we drove north to Manjimup, which would be the regional shopping centre. We stocked up at Woolies, Rans got their rear view mirror glued back on, and filled up with diesel before returning to Pemberton. We stopped at the Diamond Tree south of Manjimup on the return trip. Didn't seem quite as high as the Bicentennial but still a monster. There is one other climbing tree called the Gloucester Tree in Pemberton which is not quite as tall as the Bicentennial either. The countryside is beautiful with rolling farmlands, vineyards, and massive forests.

Saturday morning saw both Di and I celebrate our birthdays. I was feeling everyone of my 51 years from my partial climb of the Bicentennial Tree yesterday. I am feeling muscles that I didn't even know existed. Ouch! I'm going to blame it on the sandals as surely I can climb 30M without being in this much pain! Di said she could really feel the one step she did on the tree as well. The six of us piled in a couple of cars and went out tourist driving. We stopped at the Pemberton Tram where we tentatively planned a trip for the following morning. Lovely gardens!

From there we headed out to the Brook Dam and on the Karri Forest Explorer road. Lots of beautiful trees and farmland. We stopped and had a short walk at the Dam before continuing on. We stopped at a free campsite we had seen in the camps book to check out. Was very dark and would have been bad for mosquito's because of the dense forest we think. Glad we chose the caravan park.

We headed south by the Bicentennial Tree again before arriving at the small town of Northcliffe. We stopped at the tourist info centre and the lady there was very helpful. She was quite a talker and besides giving us all the information required for our day's exploring we also got info for the next 1000km of our journey. A little bit later we finally ventured south towards Windy Harbour in the Point D'Entrecasteaux National Park. A bit cloudy with a few drops of rain but clearing for a beautiful sunny and wind free day at this beautiful location. We had been warned by a number of people including the locals that Windy Harbour was aptly named. How lucky were we to enjoy an almost completely calm day. Our first stop was at Windy Harbour campground where we enjoyed a picnic lunch. Ventured down to the boat ramp after lunch where there was a bit of wind and a pile of weed along the coast. Lots of fisherman having a crack.

We next ventured up to the Lighthouse where we did a short walk to Nature's Window and a lookout over Windy Harbour. The cliffs were rugged and fascinating, while the water colours beautiful as we have come to expect.

Next stop is the Tookulup and Salmon Beach Lookouts. More incredible rugged cliffs and beautiful water. Lovely green vegetation provides a wonderful contrast.

Back into the car and back to Pemberton by late afternoon. We enjoyed a beautiful seafood dinner with lobster and scallops to celebrate Di and my birthdays. Beautiful dinner followed with chocolate cake and cream. Another hard day on the road as a grey nomad!

Talked to lots of family and friends today for my birthday. After we discussed the planned Tram trip with Donna & Phil we decided to move on to Walpole without the train trip in the morning.