Up early today , thought an early start would be in order to do our walk . Diving north through some back roads and then onto Chester Pass Rd on our way to Porongurup National Park . Our parks pass has come in handy again - would have been another $12 day ticket otherwise .
Arriving at the park early was the go , we got to park close to the start of the walk - there were a lot of parking spots further down the hill . Filling the backpack with water , apples & jackets , we headed off . The temperature was good for a walk in the bush , not to hot or cold .
Off we go , up the hill - it was 2.2 klms to the top , and I reckon it was 2 klms of uphill , the heart rate was up early and stayed that way for the first 1.5 klms , it was a good climb . Fortunately , they put signs up to let you know how far you’ve gone and what’s left to go - can be a bit demoralising !!!
The forest was thick , lot’s of undergrowth , old logs fallen and being covered in moss , quite nice !!
There was a section with a lot of flowering bushes , tiny white flowers , gave you something to look at , apart from where you were putting your foot next !!
After wandering along for a while , we reached a section of granite boulders , you could call them rocks , but that would be an injustice !! Around a couple of more corners and we found Balancing Rock - it was the size of a small truck .
From there it was a short scramble up to the lower lookout and the access to the Granite Skywalk , this is where I continued and Lyn stopped !! The 2 sections that stopped her were a bit difficult with 2 arms , let alone with only one functioning arm . The first one had some handles drilled into the rock , that you pull yourself up on , then go through a gap in the rock . The next was a rock hop and another section to pull yourself over and swing across to the rock at the base of the ladder - easy from here , up the ladder and the jobs done .The National Parks have built a walkway that goes around this granite boulder and sits off the side of the boulder - quite a feat of engineering to get it up here and in place !!
Back down to Lyn with the bad news that she wouldn’t be able to get up there today , we went to the other lookout - it’s only 20m lower than the Skywalk , and off to the eastern side. You can look up and see the Skywalk . Views were to the coast & Albany , it was a bit hazy , with people taking advantage of the good weather and doing some burn offs . There is a lot of plantation timber - mainly blue gums , and one area had us puzzled - it looked like an army barracks with lots of domed shelters and smaller shelters in rows - who knows ??
The wind was blowing fairly well up here , so it was very good to have the jackets with us , the apples were good as well . Starting back down we were getting a lot of people coming up , a few going down faster than us as well !! The walk down was much easier than the trek up , we found some tiny white flowers and a little wren decided to check us out as well .
Back to the ute , we found the carpark was full of vehicles - there are some benefits of getting here early !! Very proud of my one arm bandit wife today , completing the walk as well as she did - it was challenging enough for people with 2 good arms , let alone one broken wing !!
We drove around to another start point for some other walks and had some lunch there . We parked in amongst Karri Gums , towering above the undergrowth .
We walked up to another feature after lunch - Tree in a rock - a Karri Gum has grown in the crack of a huge granite rock , and has been for the last 40 odd years . Where trees fall here, is where they stay , with young sapplings and scrub growing around them .
Heading off again , we took a scenic drive along the side of the National Park to a spot called Devils Slide .
After the scenic drive we headed south on another track and then east on another - we found ourselves going beside what we had thought was an army barracks or something - it didn’t become clear untill I saw some pigs - ding , the penny dropped , this was a piggery - the largest one we’ve ever seen . There were hundreds of smaller shelters , 30 or 40 domed structures ( that we could see ) and some mighty big pigs wandering her & there .
On the other side of the road was the Porongurup Range , looking a bit ominous as the cloud was rolling in and looking threatening .
Heading back into Albany , we decided to get a couple of things from the supermarket - Wrong , not on a Sunday - they don’t open on a Sunday !!!
Ah well , check the emails , weather & Facebook , then head for home . We did find a service station / bottleshop / dvd shop and some groceries - we were saved , they had some banana’s - breakfast is safe .
Back for some salsa and a beer . What a good day !! Here’s a map link :-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1UOexDAf4hUb4nkCazkqP7beRQLU&usp=sharing
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