Valley of the Giants

So we made our way to Bridgetown, why Bridgetown? Well we had a personal invitation to pop by and visit from a beautiful family we met in Darwin. We have found throughout this year that a lot of the times we are taken through a “path”, a direction and we just follow, in a way is like having having faith in that the people we meet direct us where we need to go. The drive there was actually quite beautiful, up and down through meadows, lots of big trees and a nice breeze.  The caravan park was just by the river and as soon as we got there, our kids and their kids went straight to the river to play, Terri and Jayme welcomed us and we felt, once again at home away from home.

On our day out we went to a town..? Well the town died and investors bought the houses and made them into holiday rentals so there is this little town in the middle of nowhere with cute little houses that are for rent, but the highlight of this town was a huge zip line and the emus, lots of them, it appeared at one stage that the only residents of the town were the emus and as we stopped the car to admire them (emus that is) a curious one came right to the window and had a quick look inside.  Funny enough what seemed like an exciting opportunity to see an emu up close and personal became a close encounter with a deadly sixty!  Needless to say, the smiles quickly changed to screams to close the window.

The zip line was lots of fun even I had a go and I don’t like any thing that resembles any kind of ride and I liked it…it was slow.

Back in Bridgetown we went to the library and I have to say it was very impressive, very new and modern, across Australia we have come through some remarkable libraries offering a lot of resources to the people who want them.  Karratha was another library that was incredible, not bad for a mining town.  After spending some time doing home schooling we went to the local pool which happened to be right next to the library, how convenient.  Going to the pool was now more than ever important not only because it was hot but also because Noah wanted to practice what he had learnt in squad back in Melbourne, overall a very good productive day if you ask me, to finish the day we had some dinner and chatted with Terri,  it was a real pleasure to get to know her better but also just to relax and laugh, the kids slept like a log that night.

We left the following day and ventured to the south towards Walpole, on the way down we noticed a lot of the towns names ended in “up” such us Nannup, Manjimup, Nornalup and what it means is “water” in indigenous language, I thought that was very interesting as these towns are surrounded by a river system, as we have travelled around Australia I have always found that the indigenous language accurately describe the towns.

But before we got to Walpole we stopped by the Diamond tree, a giant karri tree south of Manjimup on the South Western Highway.  A wooden viewing platform built in 1939 is located 49 metres up and is the oldest wooden platform fire look out still in use today. This tree, I must add, is the shortest of three lookout trees in the Southern Forrest and was used as a fire lookout every summer from 1941 to 1973.

Anyway off we went, had a look and did not think much of it, it had rails/pegs to help you climb, lucky for us this time we decided to follow instructions and got rid off our crocs and changed to runners, to be honest it did not seem hard at all, I mean, we have climbed so many things before. I went first, Carlos went last and we got climbing, I realised that it was not as easy as I first thought, we got higher and higher so I made the decision not to look down…in my head I was trying to recall whether there was an age limit to this climb as it had become a very dangerous, thrill seeking climb.  I noticed that I was holding the metal pegs so hard that if I would have had a bit more strength I would have pulverised them just by how I was holding on to them. 

A quarter of a way up Raffy started doubting the climb so I started to re-assured him, in fact, I was doing it more for myself! We got half way and there is a resting platform and before you can go further there is a sign that warns you to go back if you are not confident because the rest of the climb is vertical (a hell of a lot steeper) up to the top of the platform.  Let me just say that if I wasn’t the first one up I would have freely peed my pants but we had made it this far, we had to keep going.  A nice man coming down had a very serious chat to us, I guess it was directed more to the kids, well he said that as long as you have three point of contact you would be alright, this made me feel, a little better.  So I started climbing and it was like climbing a ladder but with the rungs further apart and of course you cannot help but think whether you are small enough to fall between the rungs.  Just as I thought I was doing well the wind kicked in, because you are higher you can feel it more so everything was moving…oh lord, keep looking ahead, don’t look down, three points of contact and of course, don’t pee.  We made it to the top and we were besides ourselves, to my surprise Carlos was feeling the same, we looked at each other and this has definitely been one of the hardest things we have ever done.  I checked my Garmin watch which clearly indicated that my heart rate was over the roof (literally) and that I was under high stress (no kidding).

Well, coming down was not as hard, as soon as we hit the ground I just about kissed it, I looked up at the mighty karri Diamond tree and said “never again”.

We got to Walpole and stayed at a beautiful park that had a jetty where you could just admire nature and so we did, we saw dolphins and huge pelicans to boot.  It was also a great place for walks, Carlos and I really enjoyed our walks there.

The visitor centre was great, they actually looked after your dogs for a small contribution so you can go to the national parks, in this case, to see the Giant Tingle Tree and the Valley of the Giants.  Walpole provides unique habitat that facilitates growth of this giants, lots of water and apparently these trees do not grow anywhere else, so we feel privileged to have seen them.

We moved on, next stop Albany, we were on a roll.  Albany was quite interesting, not exactly a warm welcome as the visitor centre had no parking for us and just in front there was a domestic argument for entertainment. Unfortunately, there was not much good “vibe” for us and the town centre was just like any other so we got going and decided to visit what makes Albany special.  Our first stop, the replica of the 148 ton Brig Amity, an early nineteenth century ship.  Not to expensive to see, you get audio description of the ship and for me, actually all of us, it was the first time we got to see exactly what an ancient ship looked like, incredible, we went underneath, checkout the sleeping quarters, the captains’ quarters we actually really enjoyed this.

Then we went to the gap and natural bridge, this was also amazing, you have viewing platform right above this natural phenomenon, a small gap trashed by mighty waves, nature’s power at its best.

The natural bridge was also impressive, not as scary but still beautiful and powerful.  Stories about a man that fell and was rescued was interesting, overall a great visit.

The best for last, we went to the Anzac National Centre, this is really a must.  We have visited a number of ANZAC and war museums, for a long time nothing compared to the War Memorial in Canberra, Darwin has a really good one, but this one is also up there. The unique views from huge glass windows (depicting the view that the soldiers had when they left the shore) and very interactive, you get your own soldier which is a card that you scan at different stations throughout the museum and it tells you about that particular soldier, from enlistment to the time of their death.  We probably learnt the most in this museum because we were so keen to find out what happened to the soldier, the story.

We loved it, high tech, interactive, engaging and extremely well located with beautiful surroundings.

We felt accomplished, came and saw what we needed to see in Albany and we were ready to go, but not without saying goodbye to a lovely family we met in Darwin and then in Kununurra and now in Albany, life is funny like that sometimes.

Esperance has now become one of our favourites place in Australia, our country is truly beautiful and I keep saying that because it's true.  West of Esperance, Lucky bay beach, (in Cape Le Grand National Park) has to be one of the most alluring, majestic beaches we have ever visited.  White squeaky sandy beaches, turquoise-coloured waters, island views, kangaroos and even a coffee truck made Lucky bay beach our favorite.

We actually heard from the information centre that a tourism writer graded this beach as one of the best in the world and I agree, even the ones surrounding it, like Hellfire Bay which is also stunning.

We promised to come back again and this time stay at the National park, it's definitely a must.

Before going to the beach we climbed Frenchman’s peak, this was challenging, but seriously, we have climbed a 49 m tall tree what else can be more challenging.

Well it was windy, we are talking 80 km hour winds climbing through steep rock but as a reward, a natural window of wonders, we were on top of world, nearly got blown over but it was worth it.

Cape Le Grande National park is indeed grand and I cannot wait to go back again.... "Mon Cherie, till we meet meet again !"