South West Forests of WA.

With the caravan all fixed we head south out of Perth. It is a late start with the 4.00pm pick up, so we don't have anywhere specific in mind as our first stop, but we won't get far with a late start and decide on the little town of Pinjarra, just off the freeway east of Mandurah. Thank God we were only stopping overnight!! A really old caravan park full of permanents, not too many of who are house proud! We stay hooked up, for a fast getaway next morning!

Fonty's Pool Caravan Park.

More of the lovely pool.

Early on the road, we are headed for Manjimup, in the region dubbed the South West Forests. We are soon among the giant Karri and Marri trees. We pass through lots of "ups", Bailingup, again, where we stop for lunch, avoiding the shop that buys from China, and pick up some more of their terrific jams from the lady who remembers us and our suntans, then on through the lovely little town of Bridgetown  before Yornup, Palgarup and finally Manjimup. Lots of orchards along the way, and we finally pull into Fonty's Pool Caravan park, about 8 kms out of town. It is lovely countryside of rolling hills. We have read about this little oasis among the orchards, and as we drive in, we understand all the hype. It is just gorgeous. It has only been a caravan park for a few years, prior to that it was a farm.

Dreaded March Flies.

Potato crops get a watering.

The property was the brainchild of an Italian immigrant by the name of Archimedes Fontanini. How's that for a handle??? If I was an Italian, I'd want to be an Arcimedes Fontanini. You wouldn't have a choice but to do great things with a name like that!! Well, Fonty built up the farm, and created the big pool so his family would have a place to relax and picnic. Arcimedes, being a man of principle (I just can't help myself!), opened the place up to the locals, and it became the place to go. At the age of 93, old Arcimedes called it a day, and sold the property. It became quite rundown, but eventually new owners saw the potential and made it a caravan park, the perfect base to explore the south west forests. The only little complaint we had was the bloody March flies! Those buggers really bite, and they are huge. More than ten on you, and you are at risk of being taken prisoner! Apparently it has been a particularly bad year. In the shade of the trees, there are thousands of them. They sound like bees. Every night around Happy Hour, you would hear the constant Thwack (one for you Blue!), of thong on flesh as another fly was dispatched!

Carolyn walking among the orchards.

Big logging industry in the area.

Manjimup is the biggest town in the region, the other major town being Pemberton, which is just over 30kms away. For us, Pemberton was the nicer place to be, with better tourist facilities, and much better cafes for our daily intake. Most of the major tourist attractions are also near Pemberton. Manjimup tends to be more of a commercial town, as the centre of a large and thriving vegetable and orchard industry, as well as big timber mill. The Pink Lady apple was born in Manjimup, and the area is also the black truffle capital of Australia, with two of the farms on the road out to Fonty's Pool. It is an acquired taste and very expensive!! Cherries are also grown.There is a great Farmer's market every second weekend, which we managed to miss, but there are also lots of stalls to buy the local produce. They grow a lot of avocado in the district, and believe me we have been getting our fill. With Coles and Woolies asking $4.00 each, we've being paying $1.00 each or bags of 5 for $3.99.

Carolyn on the Gloucester Tree.

Coffee at the Woodworkers Gallery.

Back when Carolyn did the big lap in the 1970's, one of her great memories was climbing the famous Gloucester Tree at Pemberton. Believe it or not, in this world where OH&S is out of control, you can still climb the Gloucester Tree. In fact you can climb The Diamond Tree and the Bicentennial Tree as well. At between 50 and 60 metres, they are all quite a climb! The old ladder system of yesteryear has given way to a spiral step system made from concrete reinforcement rod hammered in to the tree trunk. This seems to be at odds with the tree huggers, but that's the way it is! This time round, Carolyn didn't climb, and given my penchant for heights, I was no chance. Besides, most people were too busy thwacking flies to get a grip on the next rung of the ladder! These big trees are Karri Trees, which are a species of eucalypt. The easiest way to tell a Karri from a Marri is to look at the bark. The Marri has the rough stringy bark.

Pemberton Tramway trams.

Pull your head in!

There are two other great ways to get to see the forests around Pemberton. One is to drive along the well marked Karri Forest Explorer Drive. The other is to take a leisurely trip on the Pemberton Tramway. Before embarking, it is essential to have coffee and cake to sustain oneself along the way. We found a little gem of a cafe at the Woodworkers Gallery at the back of town, and right on the main street, Cafe Brasil was very nice as well, as was the Millhouse Cafe.
The Pemberton Tramway runs everyday. It used to run from Pemberton, all the way to

At The Cascades.

One of the timber bridges.

 Northcliffe, but a damage bridge pylon at the Warren River, now means that is the end of the line. It is a lot of fun, on a replica of one of Fremantle's old trams. We took the trip with 13 Poms, all residents of Western Australia, now officially the largest County in all of England! The ride through the forest is lovely, with some great trees and some excellent commentary from a guy who has a quirky sense of humour that totally offends Collingwood supporters and Tasmanians! We stopped at The Cascades, which were just a trickle, and crossed and re crossed several creeks and rivers on timber trestle bridges. Altogether, the trip takes about 1.5 hours, and is well worth the $24.00 per person, as you get a good insight into the timber heritage of the region, the reason the railway was built in the first place.

The Karri Forest Explorer Drive. 

Amazing what you can do with Hay!

The Karri Forest Explorer Drive is around 60kms in length, and varies from bitumen to dirt track and everything in between. It is spectacular and varied as you wind your way past Big Brook Dam which is the local water supply, then through some lovely vineyards and farms, mostly avocado and cattle, and back through those imposing forests. The Karri tree is the 3rd tallest tree in the world, behind the American Redwood, and the Mountain Ash from Tasmania. They reach heights of 70 metres and the trunks are so thick. When you see forests of them, it just makes you seem so small. The one way section through Gloucester National Park is steep and really spectacular. At one corner we really scared the crap out of a black snake that thought twice about crossing the road. It threw itself up in the air and sideways at the same time! Gave us a real fright as well!!

Windy Harbour and its shacks.

Launching the fishing boats.

Another wonderful drive was down to Windy Harbour. Now you don't get a name like that for no reason, but as luck would have it, we went on a perfect day with clear blue skies and hardly a breeze. It is a funny little fishing village full of old shacks. If you didn't fish you'd die from boredom as there is nothing there. The shacks are all over the place between the sand dunes. There doesn't appear to be any boundaries. Just find enough room and build a shack!! There is an impressive Sea Rescue

Natural Bridge at D'Entrecasteaux NP.

Salmon Beach at D'Entrecasteaux NP.

shed at the boat ramp, where the boats are launched using

tractors. The real beauty here is not among the smelly fisher folk, but the D'Entrecasteaux National Park. The drive around the coastline is breathtaking, as you stop and walk out to lookouts where the limestone cliffs tower over pristine beaches of the Southern Ocean with shining sand and the bluest water. It is some of Mother Nature's finest work, and we are alone to gaze upon it. We eventually bump into a couple of German Tourists who tell us in pretty good English, how different the landscape is to their home. Whichever way you look it is one wow after another. The name of the National Park is again a reminder of just how much exploration of the Australian coastline was undertaken by the French. we have now come across the D'Entracasteaux name in Tasmania, The Kimberley Coast and now here. Sacre bleu mon amis! We could all be speaking French!! 

Bloody big Karri Tree.

There is so much to see and do in this region. There are lots of festivals revolving around food. There is the Truffle Kerfuffle in June, The Cherry harmony Festival in December, and if you are a cyclist, there is the Pemberton Classic for road cyclists and the Karri Cup Challenge for mountain bikers, both held the Labour Day weekend in March each year. Each event attracts top riders in their hundreds. The other great delicacy of this region is marron. It is a freshwater crayfish. We are yet to try, as they only sell them live. Carolyn can't kill anything, even in the name of gastronomy, so we are continuing to search for a supplier that sells dead ones! One way or another, we will get a feed of marron. We are moving on tomorrow. Not sure where to, as the next weekend is WA Labour Day and it wasn't marked in our diary!! So far, everywhere we've phoned is booked out for big caravan sites. But we'll find somewhere. We always do. Well, better be off and talk to the locals.They know all the obscure spots to stay, and hopefully somewhere they sell dead marron.