Today we are going back to Pemberton, firstly to Gloucester National Park to climb the Gloucester Tree.
There are three trees in the district which were previously used as fire towers that you can climb. Gloucester, Diamond & Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree.
Climbing Trees, still young at heart :)
Actually really really big trees….. 60 metres to the top
Okay here are the safety items, you climb up 60 metres around a tree trunk with steel rods which have been inserted into the tree.
There is wire threaded down the outside of the steel rods to keep them in place, and for that added precaution, we have some sheep wire on the outside just in case.
I couldn’t get the base of the tree in – it’s so tall. There was hardly any movement at the top with the wind blowing.
It was a easy climb, just take your time and have a even pace. Just make sure that you have contact at three points at all times. We met a few young blokes at the top who must have thought that they were in a time trial. They arrived very out of breath.
Basically anyone of reasonable fitness can do this. The blocker for most is their self doubt, it’s just one step at a time.
Near the top there are a series of platforms and ladders. Yes, you do pass people either going up or coming down, none of that is a problem. There is room to pass – one stays still and the other passes.
The next part of our drive, was to Big Brook Dam and the Arboretum.
There are good facilities. There is a white sandy swimming beach and it is very popular with the locals. We parked in the car park and had lunch beside the car, not before clearing away a few small branches. Should have woken up, as while we were preparing lunch another one came down. We moved our chairs under the canopy of a much smaller tree. We have seen a few large branches on the roads while travelling and would not be keen to camp in some of the forest camps surrounded by these trees. After all, they are gums (widow makers). Very happy to be camped under the small peppermint trees. They also advise you not to walk in the forest on windy days.
Most of the forests around here are regrowth from 1928-1930 from the initial harvesting.
At this time, they planted other varieties in the arboretum. Some species from Qld/NSW, some from Spain and also America.
I really liked the Sequoya (USA) (directly above) the best. The branches sit really nicely on the tree.
Our day was beginning to shorten, so we headed off to the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree – yes, we are going to do a second climb today – must be crazy – will let you know how we pull up from that one……. It is also taller than the Gloucester Tree.
You can see the tree in the middle of the photo and way up top there are a series of platforms and finally the look out tower.
This one is 68 metres – same safety procedures in place.
The same bloke is following me up this tree as well. At the first platform, a few more to go before we finally reach the top.
Those two dots approaching the timber deck are actually people.
Unlike the tree top walk, there are no trees higher than us at this point, and – no fires, thought we may as well check since we were up there.
This climb seemed easier than the Gloucester Tree, maybe we were just conditioned to the climbing rhythm, we both enjoyed it and only for time and distance, I think we would have had a go at the Diamond Tree as well.
If you are going to be sore, may as well get it all over in one day :)
We still have to go down to Windy Harbour and D'Entrecasteaux Point / lighthouse. There were no surprises there, it was windy.
Beach view East and then West – West is showing Cathedral Rock.
Windy Harbour is a settlement mainly consisting of a caravan park and fishing shacks. Some of the shacks have been renovated, others are the same as they have always been.
They have a HUGE volunteer marine rescue building, with a very large car park. Obviously this is a very popular boating spot.
Next port of call was the lighthouse. They were advised in 1913 that they needed a lighthouse on the point, but it was not installed until 1960. Needless to say it’s not like they used to build them and is basically a metal stand with a light on it.
There is a nice walk out to the cliff tops just below the lighthouse.
We had no idea how high these cliffs were until we saw this view. Yes, that’s a very very long way down.
There is another little peep hole in this photo above. With greenery far below.
We stayed well back from the cliff edge, as you didn’t know what was over-hang or how far in it was, and it appeared to be fragile.
Glen making his way back across the limestone.
This is impressive scenery.
It is an out of the way place and I think a lot of people would bypass it, but we were surprised just how beautiful it was and it was certainly worth the drive down.
We just drove past another monolith rock that we were going to visit, no more climbing for us today. We had run out of time – it was already 4.20pm and we had about 1 hr 10mins drive back to camp.
We finally came across a snake on a track. Walking back from the point, a brown snake was on the pathway. Another couple had stopped and he was throwing pebbles at it. Glen asked them to stop, so he could take a photo and then I just stomped on the ground to cause vibration (I bet it thought a herd of elephants was approaching) That caused a swift reaction, it moved fairly quickly into the shrubs. The other couple were wearing thongs – no protection there. It was only about 1 metre in length, so was keen to get away from us. If it had been any bigger we would have been making a wide diversion around it and left it alone.
We still have power, but we are moving over to Albany tomorrow as we have done most things we wanted in the area.
When we pulled up at Windy Harbour, JD got out of the car and immediately fell over sideways due to the wind! Lots of shanty towns in WA, nice to visit but not so nice to live there I don't think!
ReplyDelete