After we said goodbye and thank you to Barry and Tina we pointed the bike south toward Albany but there were many things to see before we got there. Riding out on an old mining route to the coast we then followed a glorious road through the forests, it was here we saw the evidence of the recent Margaret River fires. Fires are part of the life cycle here and have been for thousands of years, some plants will not regenerate until burnt by fire. In modern times there has been a need to control bush fires to prevent loss of life and property, part of this process is called controlled burning. Areas are burnt at cooler times of the year in a controlled way to prevent fuel build up e.g long dry grass, leaf litter etc which make bush fires more likely. This fire was started as a controlled burn back in September but by November had got out of control sadly with tragic consequences. The photos below show what the native bush looked like before and the aftermath. There was an eerie silence, no birds or crickets but the Black boys were already rejuvenating and sprouting.
We stopped at Beedelup falls, there was little water flowing but it was a pleasant walk. One of the paths was signposted to the walk through tree, this we had to see. It was a fairly strenuous walk but eventually we found ourselves at the foot of a giant Karri tree. Stepping up half a metre we could climb into what was most probably a knot in the trees growth now finished off by chainsaw. To stand inside this massive giant with many tonnes of tree above was surreal.The first and second photos are top and bottom of this giant.
Next stop was the Gloucester tree standing at over 60 metres tall it was used as a fire lookout tree which amazingly given the current health and safety paranoia we were still allowed to climb. Given it was 153 rungs to the top I had been fairly convinced that I wouldn’t even get half way but seeing two small children scramble up I was determined to try. I was strangely unfazed at the top and even managed to take photos on the way down. Boofle made it all the way to the top but insisted on a photo to prove it. Kev was suffering a little from land legs after being on the boat but I must have been swaying in sync with the tree as I felt invigorated.
Our route onward was via the great forest drive a 14km detour on what can only be described as ball bearing gravel, it is made up of almost perfectly round stones making stopping in a straight line interesting let alone cornering.
We camped amongst the big trees that night, a magnificent backdrop marred only by the mozzies which had a sharp painful bite even through long trousers.
We were in a lookout stop when two overland bikes rode past, they stopped and turned around and when they pulled alongside us the first rider killed the bike and said “hello again”. We had no idea who it was until they pulled off their full face helmets and goggles to reveal Morgan and Duncan the guys we met in Freo. They were out on their Christmas holidays for small trip away. We had a good catch up chat and then decided to ride together for the day. Peeling off the tarmac onto Hilltop road (a gravel track) we went up to a red tingle forest which are the largest girthed eucalypt in the world. One measured 24metres in girth and some are over 400yrs old.
We shared lunch together in the car park before agreeing to ride together until Denmark. We messed up slightly and missed a turn as we left the park and by the time we realised and doubled back we couldn’t catch the lads, I did wonder what the hooting was about now we knew. It didn’t matter too much as we were parting ways shortly and we had already swapped phone numbers. Heading back through the forest we found our way to greens pool, this was a coastal bay sheltered by a row of huge rocks just off shore which made a perfect swimming and recreation beach with turquoise water. It was the busiest we have ever seen a beach, mainly because it was still the Christmas holidays. We had a snorkel around the rocks and sunbathed for a while to dry out before heading back to the bike to ride the remaining distance to Albany. We had a contact to stay with here, Ken got in touch almost a year ago when he saw a post about us on Aigor (Australian internet Guzzi owners register) We emailed him a few weeks ago to see if he remembered who we were and to see if it was convenient to stay which happily he did and it was.
Next up : Albany
#1 by Kev & Karen on February 5, 2012 - 2:04 am
The trip across the Nullabor plain is not short by anyones standards it’s 2175km from Esperance to Adelaide. Panzer sounded like one hell of a girl !
#2 by Lyn and Arthur on January 30, 2012 - 8:22 pm
Hi again, I couldn’t resist sharing this. In our VMCC (Vintage M/C Club) magazine they have been printing articles by a chap from OZ called Ron Attwood-originally from the UK as is his side kick Peedle- the articles are entiled Peedle- long story- but very short version he peed on a motor cycle to put out the fire he caused by devious means! These articles are hilarious, well I think so, but the coincidence of the latest one is they & a few others (this was in the 1950′or 60′s I think) were installing a shiploading installion in Western OZ flying to Perth & then on to the site at Esperance, Peeedle thought he would save a few bob & ride his BSA C11 (like the one Dad had) on the short trip accross the Nullabor Plain, it expired & he arrived 4 days after the others with said bike strapped with bits of old rope to the front bumper of a beat up old VW, he had been rescued by “a truly gigantic member of the opposite sex”, like a guardian angle & deliverd to their door, who went by the name of Pansy Manglesdorf!” She announced that she was usually called Panzer & could quite happily take them all on at all-in wrestling, she stayed a while & various antics as well as work transpired, culminating one night in the VW complete with Peedle & Panzer ended up in the pool of the newly built Motel! This apparently was the Grand Motel which was built in the shape of a boomerang, presumably in Esperance, does it still exist? This is a brief version of the article which really well written, but what a coincidence that you have just been in that area. Apologies to anyone that may know any of these people & reads this.
Mum.
#3 by Lyn and Arthur on January 30, 2012 - 4:29 pm
Not sure about some of the strange names they give places out there, but liking the postcard of Stongehenge Australian style, which arrived this am. Saw the ultimate in English madness this moring(Mon 30th Jan) its very cold & sleeting with snow flakes coming down & the postie appears out of his van with hat, cosy florence jacket AND his Shorts on!!!!!!
#4 by Arthur Spain on January 25, 2012 - 3:43 pm
Fab pictures of the Gloucester Tree climb, the climb reminded me of the ratline climb to the upper yards of a square rigger ship which I went on for a weekend a number of years back. The view was fantastic especially when swaying in the wind.
I’m surprised that a safety line was not insisted on, it’s a long way down if you lost your footing, nice to see that Oz allows you to be responsible for your own actions. Some great pics as in your calender.
Dad.