During the night, it did rain, and Diana lay awake for a couple of hours waiting for the giant deluge she imagined would dump upon her because she was in a tent. However, because we’d known the rain was coming, Trav had checked and double-checked the tent for weather-sealing (as well as he could in the darkness during set-up), and so there were no hassles.

One of the most useless signs we had encountered throughout the trip was found at our first destination of the day - the Tingle Tree Walk. We followed the directional signs into the forest, and along a dirt road for 5km until we came to the carpark and information boards. On the information board was a poster describing which road we needed to take to get to where we were. Fat lot of use that was us, seeing as we had to be there to know how to get there…

Because the Tingle trees grow so large, and the soil is so firm, they tend to grow horizontal roots, ended up with buttressed root systems for support. The living tissue is located just under the bark, so if there is damage to the tree that exposes through to the heartwood, it is possible to burn the entire tree hollow, yet it may remain living. The Tingle tree walk shows off a number of these hollowed out trees, and they are all still alive. One tree was so large that people were able to park their car in it, in years gone by, as a photo opportunity. Since the CALM people moved in and protected the area, it is impossible to do that now, but you still get to walk through a completely hollowed out tree, with a girth of 24 metres, and somehow still alive. The red Tingle trees are unique to the area, so it was interesting to see what they look like.

After the Tingle tree walk, we drove to a nearby attraction named with all the imagination only an Australian could muster - Circular Pool. Gee, you’ll never guess why it is called that… We decided to view it from a distance because as we arrived, a 6-foot black snake slithered across our path into a clump of grass two feet from the main track. Di and Trav concluded it was indeed a pool, and most certainly circular, and beat a hasty retreat. As they got back to the car, only then did Trav tell Di about the second snake he had noticed three feet from the path as they walked back up - if it had been brought up before she’d walked past it, we’d be there still…*grin*

Arrived at the one thing our Holiday Pass did not cover us for - the Tree Top Walk. A large metal suspension walkway has been built through the canopy of the trees, reaching 40m off the ground at the highest point. As people walked along it, the walkway bounced around all over the place, due to the minimal number of supporting legs they’d used, in order not to impact on the environment. I think the amount of swinging would have been reduced with a couple more poles, and frankly, I’d rather they impacted on the view than my hips impacting on the walkway every step I took. After about fifteen minutes on the walkway, we felt like we’d been drinking alcohol all morning, so for $5, we had the same sensation as about $50 worth of grog. Not a bad deal…

At the base of the Tree Top Walk is the Ancient Empire - a number of large trees, which fire had swept through many years ago, leaving the bases all hollowed out, and just perfect to put a boardwalk through. Took a few photos there, but the light was not very good, and not a lot turned out well.

With the right Quicktime plug-in, you can go and see a 360 degree panorama of the Treetop Walk and the Ancient Empire.

We drove from one side of Denmark to the other - not quite as impressive as it sounds, given it was the small country town, not the small country. Arriving in Albany, we realised we were not that interested in what it had to offer - not a lot in the way of natural beauty, being essentially a large town positioned far enough from Perth that it would be a “big holiday” to go to Albany. There is a whaling centre there, which operated until 1978, but with whaling centres all around Australia, we decided to head inland and get a head-start on the trip to see Wave Rock the following day. Wave Rock was not originally in our itinerary, because it was a four hour detour to see a rock, but we were not coming back to Western Australia for a while, so decided to push the pace a little. Also, it was looking like it might rain again in Albany, and so there was no interest in swimming.

Just out of Albany, Trav spotted a white emu in a paddock, and stopped to take a photo. Unfortunately, it was too far away, and even with the zoom lens, still appeared to be just dusty, and nothing special. Therefore, it is one of those mysterious “no photographic proof” items that are usually more in the realm of UFO’s or Loch Ness Monsters.

Our newly-planned inland destination was a small town called Katanning, but when we arrived, the caravan park was a treeless paddock out the back of a service station, so we decided to pass on it. There was apparently another caravan park in the town, but the phone rang out when we called, so the drive continued through to another small town called Woodanilling. The caravan park in this town was apparently only 1km down the main road, but we couldn’t see it anywhere, despite their being nothing else in the town to hide it.

Headed northward once more to Wagin, wondering how we were going to fare in this town, given the standards of the last two towns. As we arrived, large banners proclaimed that we were there for Woolorama, but we were too late, arriving only ten minutes before it closed. Woolorama is apparently the second biggest agricultural show in the state, and it would have been interesting to go along. The surrounding area is broadacre farming, and some of the tractors in the machinery yards we passed had tyres larger than our whole car from end to end. Getting to climb into the cabin of one of those monsters would have been a lot of fun.

Wagin is not only famous for Woolorama, but also for it’s giant ram. There is no way to mistake the fact that this nine-times-living-size structure is definitely MALE, and is probably terrible for parents of young kids to explain away…

The caravan park in Wagin was one of the nicest we’d encountered, with shade, grass, BBQ and firewood, clean bathrooms and laundry. We think it might have been extra clean given that Woolorama was on, and it was filled to capacity, but still, we were impressed. The one downside was the location, it being in the backblocks of the town, where the less-affluent members of society lived. For a large part of the night, we were privy to loud debates about who go could and jump in the lake, and what sort of person their husband/wife was. Still, it calmed down about 11pm, so that was okay. Stupid Person Of The Day was awarded to the anonymous person that kicked the side panel of a car, audible to us from over a block away.

Onward to Wave Rock, and home tomorrow…

Categories: Travel, WA 1999