Back to Bunbury via Katanning, Mt Barker and Manjimup then on to Busselton and Yallingup.

Monday 7^th October

We left Wagin and headed off to Katanning just so we could play in the big kids’ playground!!!!

It has all the usual play equipment (and a few different ones); it is just up-sized.

We had great fun playing and the sun even came out for a while!

 

Then we headed further south through some beautiful green countryside to Mt Barker for lunch.

 

 

We had home-made (by me) Pumpkin Soup for lunch at one of those convenient little roadside rest areas before heading off to Manjimup Central Caravan Park ($28.00).

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 8^th October

The area around Manjimup is really gorgeous. There are rolling hills and valleys, fruit orchards, wineries and truffle farms and lots of sheep and cattle. There was even an Alpaca Farm. The area is extremely lush (probably due to the rain which is threatening yet again as we head out this morning).

Our first stop was the Diamond Tree, a massive Karri tree with a tower structure perched on top.

 

 

 

. It has spikes spiralling around the trunk so you can climb to the top. Since I am now so thoroughly aware of my own mortality, I was reticent to climb all the way to the top.

 

 

Ron and I did however find a climbing tree much more to our liking a short walk away.

 

The forest was really gorgeous and there were lots of lovely flowers.

 

 

 

 

From here, we headed off back through town and out to King Jarrah stopping at a roadside stall to buy some Avocados for lunch.

 

 

It is a pretty impressive tree!

We walked along the walking trail and then had lunch in the picnic area.

 

After lunch we headed out of town to One Tree Bridge. The signage left much to be desired and of course, by now it was quite drizzly so we donned our ponchos (now there’s a fashion statement!) and headed off on foot in search of the bridge, only to discover, quite by chance, Glenoran Pool.

 

 

 

We turned back to the car park where we had left Indie and headed in an entirely different direction and crossed under the road bridge and finally discovered the One Tree Bridge.

 

One Tree Bridge (the name is a bit of a give-away) was built from one tree!!!!

 

 

Then we headed off on a two kilometre round trip to The Four Aces.

We trudged along the track and it started to rain a bit more so rather than shelter under a tree, we sheltered in one!!!!

 

The story goes that long ago thousands of Karri seeds sprouted in a burnt out log. They struggled for water, sunlight and food from the soil. Four of those seedlings are living today. They are the Four Aces!

 

We were a little underwhelmed but at least we can say we have seen them.

And the walk in the forest was really enjoyable (in spite of the weather).

We decided to walk back to Indie along the roadway. When we arrived back, Ron asked if I had the keys; which I didn’t. Guess where they were.

 

Yep! Ron had left them in the door.

Just as well it is a low crime rate area!!!!

 

From there, we drove through more green pasture land, through Nannup, a pretty little town and on almost to Bunbury. We are staying in Discovery Holiday Park ($34.20) tonight and heading off to get our solar controller in Bunbury tomorrow.

Wednesday 9th October

It is a lovely, sunny day but the wind is still cold. We have headed into Bunbury to ‘Battery All Types’ to get our new Solar Controller fitted. They were the loveliest, helpful and efficient folk. They had it all done and dusted and working in no time flat. It was $200.00 well (and quickly) spent. But it is all good now and it means we can get back to free camping (eventually). There is nothing here on the coast.

We did a quick drive-by of the beach front to see how different it looked in sunshine and then proceeded down the Bussell Highway.

We passed through Ludlow Tuart Forest. Tuarts are a type of eucalypt and grow only in south west WA. The Ludlow Tuart Forest Tuarts are the tallest: upright, single stemmed and up to 40 metres tall. There were also heaps of white lilies growing around there as well.

 

 

Then it was off to Busselton and its famous jetty.

 

The Jetty is 1.8 kilometres long and is the longest timber-piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. It has a train and an underwater observatory.

We opted to walk rather than take the train.  There were a few interesting little structures on the jetty and it has a lovely flat, even walkway.

 

 

 

We are experiencing the Melbourne weather that we always joke about; but instead of 4 seasons in one day, we are having 4 seasons on one jetty!

 

First it was fine and hot, then very cold. When we got to the section without the railing, the wind almost blew us over the edge and of course, halfway along it poured rain for about 10 minutes. But, dauntless we pressed on and did finally make it to the end! (The sunshine was very obliging for the photos!)                                                             

 

After grocery shopping and posting off another care package to Paul, we headed off through Dunsborough to Cape Naturaliste.

 

 

We did a two kilometre loop walk around the lighthouse. On the way, there was a kangaroo grazing on the pathway and in my usual inimitable style, I missed the photo entirely. He was unusually dark, almost black.

 

Then it was on to Yallingup, a pretty little surfside town. We went to Yallingup Beach Holiday Park ($34.20) which had lovely views overlooking the beach.

 

The sunset view from the Bar-b-que area came highly recommended so we set off, camera in hand to wait patiently.

 

While we were there, we met Cheryl, a lovely lady from Carnarvon who was holidaying with her two daughters.

 

She told us about a great spot further down the coast so we will see if we get there or not.