6/12/21 A different view Day 6

    Another good nights sleep , and  very quiet as well . All fed & packed , we headed back to the pool for some photos in better light than yesterday - too much brightness & shade - it was a bit better this morning , but still tough to get it right .

   The pool is owned by the community , not the council for a change , and they do a great job keeping this in great condition . The setting is nothing short of amazing !

   Time to head north again , next stop was the Diamond Tree near Manjimup . In amongst the forest there's a walk through , signposted with flowers & plants you'll find here - and just for a change , where the signs were , there were the plants etc they described .

    This tree was interesting , it had three trunks coming up , when we walked past it we found out why - it had been harvested / cut down years ago , but it wasn't going to die , it just grew more new trunks .

    Then there's the Diamond Tree , another observation post - it has had the top cut off and a 3 storey construction put on top .

   And this is it , 2 open platforms and the hut on top . Fancy being up in that in strong winds , with the hut swaying 3 metres either way ???

   We stopped at Manjimup and did a bit of shopping before heading off again . We plotted a route through the forests almost all the way to Collie . Grass trees & flowers were everywhere - it was a brilliant drive .

   Stopping at Collie for lunch was a challenge , we didn't want fast food , we wanted to sit down and enjoy a meal . Being monday , guess what , most places were closed , we checked around town without a lot of success . Next choice was one of the hotels - it was closed for lunch , we walked down past a pizza place - closed , passed a chinese - closed , then down to the next pub - success !! they were open and had a lunch menu . We ordered and got a drink & waited , other people were coming in as well . Meals arrived and they were good , we finished and started driving again . 

  Deciding where to go for tonight was the next problem , and we eventually decided to head back into the outskirts of the city so we would be close to the depot - we had to wash and tidy the ute and fuel it up prior to handback .  

  It was a good decision , but probably the location wasn't - the wind came up and blew near gale force all night - the roof top tent withstood it all without a problem .

  As you can imagine , we were awake early , so breakfast done , we cleaned and washed the ute , then drove back across the city and delivered it back . 

  So we covered 1650 kms in the week and I think about half of that was on dirt roads - what a week we've had , thoroughly enjoyable , much better than we expected , hope you enjoyed it as well . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1jevBYWbfqRLE4L80cRiUlrPYGdSu4gwV&usp=sharing

5/12/21 A different view Day 5

    Another good night with Terry & Robyn , followed by a good nights sleep , the wind dropped for us and it was a cool night , but we didn't get cold - bonus !! 

    Up with the birds again , so we had breakfast and headed back up to the lighthouse , time to get some aerial shots while the wind was behaving . This shot is looking back to Tookulup Lookout and Salmon Beach in the middle top of photo .

This is D'Encasteaux Point

 This is the lighthouse with Windy Harbour village behind .

Lighthouse again , showing the walking tracks and road 

This is Tookulup Lookout

 Salmon Beach

Sunset Lookout 

   With the drone packed away we headed back to chat with Terry , Robyn , Doug & Sue before we headed off , leaving them to their own devices again - we had surprised them yesterday , heck we surprised ourselves , we weren't expecting to see them here ! 

   Next stop was Cathedral Rock , it's actually a piece of the cliff that fractured & fell into the water a long time ago .

Back up in the air again looking down onto Cathedral Rock and village to the right .

A different view of the rock - the side less seen .

    After a walk on the beach and photos done , we headed out to Mount Chudulup , it's where the forest comes back to us . The road winds it's way through the heathlands and gradually starts to climb into the forest at the base of Mt Chudulup . There is a wide clearing beside the road and it's covered in flowers - here they are .

  There were thousands of tiny flowers there on both sides of the road . Photos done again , we drove up the road a short distance to the walking track . Mt Chudulup is a large granite rock that supports an amazing amount of differing vegetation , the walking track takes you through most of it . There's this amazing metallic yellow flower - shining up at us as we walked past .

    The track led us through dense undergrowth and those beautiful tall Karri trees .

   We found a Clematis as well 

    AS we got closer to the top the trees gave way to the expanse of granite , the vegetation changed again - it was like the trees stopped and the grass trees took over . This one is a fair age .

    Yellow flowering shrubbery accompanied the grass trees .

   This photo shows how the forest stops and the grass trees and lower shrubbery starts .

   It was very windy up the top , so we didn't spend a lot of time up there , the view to the coast (about 15klms away) was very hazy and didn't photograph well .

   This little bird decided to come and check us out as we walked back down the track - it came to about 2m away from me and stayed for a minute or two before disappearing into the bush .

   Our walk finished and we headed back out to Northcliffe , then toward Pemberton , checking out a campsite on the Warren River . It would have been awesome to have the kayak and be able to stay for a few days - that would justify paying $36 for 2 nights for a campsite . An overnighter wasn't worth it when we could go back to Pemberton & have a hot shower a great camp kitchen .

   It is a rather spectacular spot on the river though .

   Into Pemberton and we had to go back to the swimming pool for another look . There are mountain bike trails in amongst all those gum trees , and it's an extremely popular spot for mountain biking .

    Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1BvRRmlZp3CFZwUePV9iiPIE_BSpOxQtz&usp=sharing

 

4/12/21 A different view Day 4

 

   The weather forecast lived up to it's forecast and got down to 10 degrees , we were quite comfortable and warm though - which was good . Breakfast done we packed up and headed further south , to Franklin River Bridge - site of the old bridge , a surveyors mark on a tree and a flood marker . There were some flowers about as well .

  This kangaroo paw was a standout .

   Here's the surveyors mark on what's left of the tree after fires .

   Plenty of these seed pods around 

   The old bridge piers 

    And the nut behind the lens .

   This is the flood marker - 1982 must have been a wet year - that's it's mark near the top of the post !

   Bull Banksia are bursting into life everywhere here .

   Plenty of new growth on them as well .

   The drone even got in on it .

  We headed off toward Lake Muir and found ourselves driving through a lot of wetlands , roadside gutters had plenty of water in them as well heaven for mosquito's and I dare say plenty of snakes as well . AT Lake Muir there's a raised walkway out to a bird hide - made for a good photo opportunity .

   Apparently this lake was quite popular in duck season years ago - many a confrontation with protesters here !! The lake is 200 square kilometres in size , and the largest freshwater lake in WA . Here's an aerial shot of part of it .

   From Lake Muir , we turned to the south and found lot's of state forestry and national parks roads that we could take . This is an extremely pretty part of WA with the Karri & Marri forests - some of these tree's grow in excess of 80metres !! It was easier for me to take photos as we drove , than to stop each time for photos - we'd still be getting there otherwise !!

   we found our way to Snake Gully Lookout , deep in the forest . It consists of a raised walkway down into the forest , we stopped for a look .

   The ute is in the next photo - right at the bottom of photo !! Now there are some tall trees !

   Further into the forest is Big Tree Grove , it also has some great trees . Lyn is down the bottom of the photo to give some scale to it . We had some lunch here before moving on again .

   And here's one to mess with your head .

  It's a panoramic photo off the phone - I just had a bit of fun with it .

   The moss was growing very well on the ground and the top of the posts as well .

Further down the road we head toward the Boorara Tree - another of the huge trees that was used as a fire watch station years ago . On the way we found this corner block that had thousands of kangaroo paw plants & flowers on it - photos don't do it justice .

  This is the Boorara Tree , the lookout hut on top has been removed due to the tree being deemed unsuitable due to rot near the top . The climbing spikes are still in place though .

   Just near the carpark is a replica hut - twice the size of the original , and has a map table showing the area they had to observe . On the inside windows is a photo image superimposed on it to give you an idea of what the observer would be looking at over the treetops .

 At the start of the day , we were heading to Windy Harbour as the weather was going to be more suitable today according to the forecast - at the rate we're travelling we won't make it till Monday !

   Taking some tracks lead us to some no through roads , so we relented and headed into Northcliffe , but found another track that lead us around another way , and then we were on the the road out to Windy Harbour . We were driving happily through forests , then it opened up to coastal heathlands for the last 15 or so kilometres - it was like someone had opened the door and let all the trees out . We decided to go straight out to the lighthouse and lookouts , and believe me when I say the photo's lie - the wind wasn't gale force , but it wasn't far off !! did I mention windchill , yep had plenty of that as well !! But the views were pretty spectacular . This is looking back toward the lighthouse ( which is really just a pole with a light on it) not a true lighthouse as you'd normally think . This is Tookulup Lookout .

  Looking toward Salmon Beach

   There are some people down on Salmon Beach

  This is Cliff Window Lookout - looking through an old limestone cave to the ocean & rocks below.

   This is the view from Salmon Beach Lookout .

   Salmon Beach

    Cliffs at northwestern end of Salmon Beach

   Down on Salmon Beach looking back to Tookulup Lookout on the far right cliff .

  This is Point D'Encasteaux Lookout 

  Looking back to Tookulup Lookout

   We headed back to Windy Harbour for a look at the town & caravan park . Windy Harbour consists mainly of holiday and fishing houses - there's no power and not sure where the water comes from , so it's interesting just from that point of view . There's a small fishing fleet that works out of here and there's a sea rescue building near the beach boat ramp .

   Driving into the small caravan park for a look before deciding whether we'll stay here or not proved interesting and surprising . I was looking at possible camp spots when we drove past a couple of cars & vans , we immediately recognised the number plates of one car - it was our friends - Terry & Robyn from Byford - so the problem of where to stay was solved - here it was !

   We had a great night with them and their friends Doug & Sue , who we also knew . 

That's it for today , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=14zaEcgponOmp-0C2PtoEXM3AOUoT5rgi&usp=sharing