October 31, 2010

Western Australia Roadtrip: Part 4

Read the previous posts here : The Roadtrip , Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3
 
Walpole - Denmark

One funny (but at that time it was kinda scary!) thing happened to us while we were on our way to Walpole. You see, the road along Pemberton and Walpole was very quiet. Like in an hour driving, the cars passing us on the opposite direction didn't even reached 10! It was really a lonely drive for us. We practically had the road all to ourselves. Or so we thought.

We were chitchatting and singing to some random songs over the radio when out of a sudden, a wild boar jumped out of the forest and chased our campervan. Yeah you read it right. A WILD BOAR ran after our campervan. And boy, it was really fast. We sped up and that bloody animal couldn't keep up chasing us anymore, he stopped and only watched our campervan lost from his sight, frustrated.

While we thanked God for we didn't swerve the campervan on shocking reaction, we couldn't stop cursing the wild boar. Vavi kau babi hutan! There's signage everywhere for people to drive safely because occasionally, wild kangaroos will cross the road. So, we expected kangaroos greeting us, not a wild boar!


Luckily, that was the only unpleasant encounter along the journey. 

Anyway, our road trip continued with a mission to tackle other giant trees in the region.


We succeeded. Only this time, it wasn't as scary as the Gloucester Tree in Pemberton as there's neither climbing up and down on a peg, nor holding it tight and shivering as the other climbers passed you by, involved.


Instead, it was a cool walk on a steel walkway structure, suspended up to the level of the tree tops.



40 metres up.


These are tingle trees, some of the most enormous trees in the world. What makes it more interesting is the fact that these trees can only be seen here in Walpole.



Oh yeah!


It's a great experience looking at those trees from the top, but you'll be more amazed seeing the trees from ground level.



The admission to this Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk  is AUD10 for adults and it opens from 9am to 4.15pm.

Done conquering all the giant trees in the region, we headed to the town of Denmark. Oh hey, now I can say I've been to Denmark, just not the European one.

Went to the visitor centre, and the staffs told us to visit some of the beaches along the coast near Denmark. According to them, William Bay National Park in the area surrounding Denmark is home to some stunning scenery, and so we took the time to turn off to the tourist route to Green Pool and the Elephant Rocks.


Barbara initially planned to stay at Pemberton, but as there's only giant trees and the forest, she decided to follow us to Walpole. But it's the same in Walpole. The town is surrounded by forests all around. So she decided to join us, sitting on the mattress at the back of the campervan, all the way to Denmark. By the way, she's 51! Can you believe it? She surely doesn't look like one kan?


The Green Pool was fantastic. The water was clear and green. It's sheltered from the sea by huge rocks that are scattered throughout it, making it a waveless beach and very peaceful and calm.
 

One of the coves next to it is called Elephant Rocks, so called because of large rocks that look vaguely like elephants walking into the ocean.


 

I went for a bit of a walk around here, admiring the effect. It was certainly good to have nice weather at that point in the trip.


Nadia wanted to shoot straight to Albany to spend the night but Barbara wanted to stay in Denmark, enjoying the beautiful Wilson Inlet. So, we went to Denmark Rivermouth Caravan Park to drop her off. It was almost dusk by then and Albany was 45 minutes drive away. For safety reason, we avoided driving at night throughout the roadtrip. And Barbara too, being motherly protective, asked us to only continue the journey the next morning. I was touched as she said that she was thankful to us and enjoyed our company, and she just hoped we could stay longer with her.


Denmark River

So we gave in. And to pay off our generosity for letting her hitchhike with us, she paid for the night. The park's fee was AUD27 per spot. Not much, but it's the friendship we built that matters. 
 

3 comments:

Fatt said...

omg,i cant believe she's 51!i thought she's somewhere late 30's :)

i think pglmn dikejar boar ni paling scary, myself pun tak sangka ada wild boar kat ctu until i baca cerita u. but the road mmg quiet, rs mcm dlm thriller movie pun ada :P

but it was priceless moment right :)

Lady of Leisure said...

betul la really nampak macam elephant kan.. wow..

rara said...

fatt: i pon mula2 teka umur dia late 30s.
experience roadtrip ni memang priceless! kalau ada rezeki pegi perth lagi i nak naik north pulak la to exmouth.

lady: macam montot elephant.. hehehe