The Valley of the Giants

Inside Hollowbut, the Red Tingle
which survived two huge fires

The torrential rain during the night in Walpole caused some grief in the caravan, but the Oztent continues to stand up to anything! We are becoming a little bit sick of the rain though. The mud through everything and all the wet gear is driving me mental!

After bucketing down until mid-morning, the rain finally looked like clearing, so we saddled up for another big day of trees - but no climbing trees within our radius, thank god! The Walpole - Denmark area is famous for its very rare Tingle trees - they are only found in a 6000 hectare area and within 10kms of the sea. They are truly ancient trees - they were growing here when Antarctica was still attached! - and are the forerunners of all the modern eucalpyts. Susceptible to fire, many of their buttressed roots have been burnt out and provide great shelters from the rain, we were pleased to discover! One very famous tree had a space large enough for a bus in its roots, and many locals have a photo of their car in it. Sadly, it fell over in 1990, due to its shallow root system being damaged from all those cars and buses!

The view from here was astounding - you could see huge
waves crashing onto the offshore islands

An amazing vista caught our eye as we drove further into the forest, so we stopped to admire the view from the only clear space in the forest of tall timber. There were huge waves crashing onto the islands, making us all cheer as they surged up, clearly visible.

A short drive further took us in to Circular Pool. The coffee coloured Frankland River tumbles over rocks and generates a froth worthy of a cappucino before eddying and creating circular currents. Bizarre and beautiful.

The kids wanted to throw on some paper to make a
marbled artwork!

Our favourite tree in the forest -
Grandma Tingle

The Valley of the Giants and the famous Tree Top Walk was last on our agenda. Dave was not looking forward to it, but surprised us all by purchasing 6 tickets. We managed to catch the last guided tour of the day on the boardwalk, where we learnt lots about the Red Tingle, Eucalyptus Jacksonii, a name we won't forget easily. It was then time to tackle the 40m high Tree Top Walk. Jackson had to be forcibly dragged away from the engineering information panels! It was designed to move 3 ways, Dave was most pleased to hear! The walk high above the trees was incredible, but Dave was not happy up there and zoomed along to the end with both hands firmly on each handrail, while we enjoyed swaying in the canopy. We all went around a second time, while Dave left to have a restorative coffee!

The highest point on the Tree Top Walk

After a quick squizz at Coalmine Beach, we got back to camp just in time for more heavy rain. Great.

It was a wet and mucky packup the next morning, but the day improved as we drove along, sadly leaving the giant eucalypts behind us. We stopped for a while at Green Pool and the nearby Elephant Rocks, where the unexpected sunshine lured us into the water.

Enjoying Green Pool in William Bay National Park

We prised everyone away from the clear water and fabulous jumping rocks to continue the drive to Albany, arriving mid afternoon. We drove around a little to get our bearings after setting up camp, got a few essential supplies and entertained ourselves after dinner with a quiz about the trip. Jackson observed "I think Ella is asking questions to find out the answers!", although she quickly remembered the answer to "What are our cats' names?"

Stay tuned ...