From the delightful Margaret River, Nannup and Pemberton took us into the rural area of the south central west. To super-green rolling hill side farmlands; to magnificent forests with trees over 500 years old; and to a great range of wineries and craft foods – did you know that Pemberton, the cold climate region of WA, grows more wine grapes than the Margaret River? It is a beautiful area with so much so see and do.  

We stayed at Nannup on 30 September and Pemberton on 01, 02, 03 October.

Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia

Getting There

Margaret River > Nannup (72km) > Perberton (77) ~ 149kms

History

Following the European settlement of WA, in Albany and the Swan River in the 1820’s, settlers progressively moved east and south. 

One of the earliest settlers, Thomas Turner, followed the Blackwood River towards present day Nannup in 1834. Several expeditions followed in the 1840s, with consistent reports of good agricultural prospects.

Following an expedition to the area, in 1862 settlers began to arrives setting up stations and related businesses including a flour mill. Farming and timber harvesting founded the progressive European development of the area. A horse breeding venture was also a success. 

Selections of town land had been taken up by 1860, and Nannup was officially gazetted in 1890. The predominant industries of timber and agriculture exist to the present day, with recent diversification into tourism.

In 1913, the government-owned State Saw Mills began construction of twin sawmills at Big Brook, to supply railway sleepers for the Trans-Australian Railway. Karri sleepers were also used in the first stage of development of the  London underground railway, and also at many other tracks in the UK. 

Big Brook became a thriving private mill town, with a hall, store, staff accommodation, mill workers’ cottages, and single men’s huts, and two boarding houses. A more distinctive settlement was soon sought – and so land lots were surveyed in 1925 and the Pemberton townsite was gazetted in October 1925. 

During the 1920s the area was a focus of the Group Settlement Scheme. This was an assisted migration scheme which operated in WA from the early 1920s. Its principal purpose was to provide a labour force to open up the large tracts of potential agricultural land and reduce dependence on food imports from interstate. Following the Second World War, the War Service Land Settlement Scheme had similar aspirations.  Both had only moderate success. 

During the 1980s, Pemberton began to grow as a tourist town and tourism, particularly domestic, continues to play a key role. Log sawmilling was still the most active industry in 2005, occupying 12.8% of the workforce, despite the state government drastically reducing old growth logging in 2003. Rather than shut down, the mill switched to plantation Tasmanian blue gum and pine in addition to karri. 

Viticulture is now widely established  and there are more wine grapes grown in the Pemberton area than in Margaret River. Being one of the coldest places in WA, the area has advantages for producing quality cool region wines. 

Day 1 – 30 Sept – Drive to Nannup

It was a partly cloudy and cool morning, as we packed up for the short hop to Nannup. Our first place of call was the service station so that I could top up the tyre pressures on Mobi. Cold tyre pressures should be 50psi.

It is a pleasant drive to Nannup through agricultural lands and some forests, and we are there just before 10. The lady said there was no problems getting in, but she would have to allocate an alternative site to us as the other people had not yet left. Maybe we should have waited. The site we got was of reasonable size, with a slab, but also with tree on the other side of the road, which made reversing in a tad difficult. We got to within centimetres of the tree and were also very close to another tree at the back of the site.  But we were in. 

One of the reasons we stopped overnight at Nannup was to to the triangular  drive Nannup – Ballingup – Bridgetown – Nannup – supposed to be very pretty.  So after setup we headed for Ballingup. 

It was a very pretty drive through rich farmland, with the pasture a richest of greens. This looks wonderful country. 

We went part of the way to Ballingup next to the Blackwood River, a good sized river, but quite a drab brown colour. The popularity of this road was soon shown as four Ford Mustangs overtook us. Well it was a Sunday, time to take out the sports car for a run.  Soon after a motza of motorbikes sped past us. 

There were also quite a few wineries – it is indeed fine looking country.

We stopped at Wrights Bridge, which was next to a good looking homestead which was for sale. 2 homes, one an original made of hand bricks, and 3 Ha of land for $800,000. In fact it was sad to see there were many properties for sale.  I guess living on the land, even in a cold and wet climate is hard. 

Just before Ballingup we stopped at the Old Cheese Factory. As we entered the owner told us that that there were another 5 rooms out the side. I had thought that this might be interesting, but really just a load of old junk – not a slice of cheese to be seen.

There were some interesting buildings in Bridgetown. A lovely old pub – the Free Masons Hotel. But we did not stop and have look around – everything was closed. Snapped a couple of other interesting buildings as well.

The drive back to Nannup was through some really lovely country and again, for some of the drive we were next to the Blackwood River, which does a big loop.  At one point is a walkway down to the river bank. This would be glorious for a swim on a hot summers day. Not in this weather though.

We stopped at Karri Gully and did the loop track. It was just a walk through the woods, with some giant trees, and some lovely flowers. Loads of the lovely deep purple creeper with the little bright blue “eyes”. The contrast of these with the prolific yellow flowers is great.  It appears that this brilliant little plant is native Wisteria.  Stunning colours.  The yellow and brown one in the photo below, I know as Bacon and Egg plant….wouldn’t have a clue what it actually is though.

Another interesting farm homestead.

Back at Nannup we walked around the town and it really is a nice country town with character.  Loved the All Saints Anglican Church built in 1914 – lovely gardens, looks a treat!

The Nannup Hotel was constructed in 1910 but then with only a single storey. The upper floor was added in 1924. A wooden hotel, built in 1899, The Blackwood Inn, originally occupied this site.

The Nannup Road Board Building on Warren Street. This is now used by the Nannup Historical Society Inc. 

There were also a few other buildings that caught our eye, but as the town has 21 buildings and sites of cultural significance along Nannup’s main street, we clearly did not do it justice. Shame on us.  Fish and chips for dinner… brilliant, no cooking tonight.

Day 2 – 01 Oct – To and at Pemberton

It is a short drive to Pemberton from Nannup, a really pleasant drive. Much like our drive around the previous day, the landscape is generally a glorious green with patches of forest. 

At one point we saw a number of emus pecking away in an open field., but as we were towing we could not stop.

We stopped at Beedelup Falls, a feature of the Greater Beedelup National Park, and were very relieved to find that the car park was RV friendly as claimed.  We got into a caravan spot. 

As we walked to the falls in the distance we see what looks like a resort on the side of a lake. The track took us to a lookout at the top of the Falls  – a series of rocky cascades down a rock face. There is plenty of water going over the top.

We found some lovely flowers in the area, notably a rare pink spider orchid.

 

We walked down the track/steps beside the Falls, down to the suspension bridge across the river.  There we had good views back to the Falls. 

We arrived at Pemberton before 10, and were soon setup. The site is long and wide and well grassed – one of  the better ones we have had. But the ablutions are not so good. Only 2 toilets and 2 showers in the mens (no urinal), and although clean, it had an old and dingy feel to it. There was not any soap provided to wash your hands.   This was easy parking… I got the van in myself while Des was in the loo… What an achievement.  He was a bit shocked.

We drove up to Manjimup just to have a look around. We stopped at the Diamond Tree Lookout, which was amazing. In 1939, foresters selected this karri tree south of Manjimup to be used as a fire lookout tree. This tree, which became known as the Diamond Tree, was pegged in 1940 and a cabin built at the top.

From this cabin the tower person scanned the surrounding landscape looking for signs of smoke. Early detection of bushfires made them much easier to control. It is now only occasionally used as a backup to the Parks and Wildlife Service’s fire surveillance system. The Diamond Tree is open as a tourist attraction – people can climb the 49 metres to the lookout cabin. Parts of the climb are near vertical. There was no way either of us was going to climb it. 

 

We also went to see the King Jarrah, which is  bloody big tree at 47m high and a diameter at breast height of 2.69m (love the accuracy). It is estimated to be over 500 years old. The story goes that 2 sleeper hawkers (they cut down timber to make railway sleepers), were going to cut down a “monster tree” the next day.  Hearing this, the district surveyor hurried out to it and “…blazed it with an arrow …which signified it was the property of the crown and could not be cut down.”  

We went to the Truffle & Wine Cellar. I had expected it to be more than a places selling wine and truffle products. I knew it wasn’t truffle season, but I thought there might be a display (or, unrealistically, some tasting plates).  However, we bought a couple of jars of truffle aoili and tapenade.  

We were not tempted to do the wine tasting, until I saw a special reserve cold climate shiraz. Apparently this area is the cold climate capital of the west. The one was excellent, I was surprised how good and even bought a couple of bottles at $45. This Shiraz is really nice – even me, who only drinks bubbles, could enjoy a glass of this stuff…

There were some beautiful flowering trees  next to the cellar building – lovely trumpet-like flower.  I went back inside and asked the manager what they were –  “Paulownia”.  He didn’t like them as truffles don’t grow under them, but the avenue they’ve planted is just magnificent. The flowers look like a massive foxglove.

There were also long rows of plantation style trees which we thought were oaks.

From there, after a great day, we went back to Pemberton. 

Day 3 – 02 Oct – Windy Bay

It was a very cold night  – we had showers overnight again. With threats of rain, we made an 8.30 start for Windy Bay – luckily the weather held. The drive was through some lovely country – farmland, forestry and flowers. 

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It is only 28km to Northcliffe, but we are disappointed to see very little in this village. We pushed on to Windy Bay – only another 27kms. About halfway there, we stopped at Mount Chudalup and did the short walk around the base areas, but did not walk to the summit. We are getting lazy. 

Closer to the coast, funnily enough, the landscape turned to coastal scrub.

We went into Windy Bay village, and walked to the beaches. These are a mix of lovely sand and rocky outcrops. The water is also  a lovely light green. But there are many bluebottles on the beach, much bigger than the ones we see in Sydney. 

We drove around to Cathedral Rock, a massive rock outcrop on the western end of the beach. We can see out to a nearby island, with wild seas out there.

Up at the D’Entrecasteaux Point , the modern lighthouse and associated equipment looks a mess compared to the traditional lighthouses such as at the lovely Cape Leeuwin. 

But the views around all sides of the Point are brilliant. 

We saw a sign to another lookout below the main Point 200m away. We tossed up whether to go down or not, but thank heavens we did. We saw a spectacular “natural window”  looking down on seas breaking on the cliffs below, through a ragged window frame. This is brilliant. What an amazing find. You could easily miss this – I think it should be publicised more.

We walked the loop walk around the Point, enjoying the wonderful views on all sides, especially to the Islands. 

At one point, we were looking west to Salmon Beach when we saw a ragged cliff promontory which was fragmented with slits and holes. 

Nearby, we saw a very large kangaroo casually grazing. 

We drove around to Tookulup, another brilliant lookout. 

From there we drove to Salmon Beach and walked over the sand dunes to the water. It is a lovely beach although the seas are wild. Kerry walked to the east towards a massive headland, but turned around when the blue-bottles got too many.  I walked to the west to see some rocky outcrops. It is really a dramatic landscape.

We drove back to Pemberton, but turned off to see the Cascades. The maps were a bit confusing, and we actually drove a fair way up a dirt road before realising our mistake. But it was a lovely drive through a good mix of forests and farmlands – well worth the diversion. 

The Cascades, on Lefroy Brook, are a short walk from the car park and there are a good few people there. It is not a waterfall but more a tumbling of the river over protruding rocks. 

We walked up the river and came to the cascades side on. It was good to be able to walk out on the rocks to get close to the water. 

We waled around the trail, which took us up on a good climb through the forests, and then back down to the Cascades. 

On the way out I saw another track that crossed the Brook, so I went over to see what was there. It took me to the other side fo the Cascades from where Kerry and I were before, so it was good to see that perspective.

I took a short track away for the Brook, and suddenly found myself on a railway line. It was at a siding and parked there were 4 or 5 under-carriages. They had been there a long time as evidences by the wattle growing through them.

On the way back to town, we stopped to look at a farm with some unusual cattle – the shaggy variety like those we have seen in Scotland. This little fellow was not friendly at all – whenever I rubbed his nose, he turned his head to butt me with his horns.  Nasty.

Day 4 – 03 Oct – Karri Forest Explorer Drive

Rain overnight, and we awoke to a cloudy and cold day. Lots of beanies around. 

You can start the Karri Forest Explorer Drive in Pemberton, in fact anywhere along it, although 2 sections are one way. More beautiful landscapes to start the Drive. We soon got to Big Brook Dam, one of the key attractions on the Drive. Built in 1986 to supplement the Pemberton town and Trout Hatchery water supply, the Dam provides a “…fantastic opportunity for recreational activities”, says the sign. Well not in this weather it won’t, unless it is fishing. A man fishing on the dam wall was having no luck at all.  A sealed 4km walk trail follows the shores of the dam.

In the information shelter there were copies of letters sent from a woman who settled on new land with her husband, to her mother in England. They tell  of the difficult life she led and are well worth a read.  Finally, there is a letter from her son responding to a postcard she had sent to him while visiting her mother in England in 1962.  This makes such interesting reading – real “day in the life of” stuff.  What an incredibly hard life they must have had back in the day out here.

The Drive next took us to the Big Brook Arboretum. Here, many plots of exotic trees were planted in the 1930s to see how they would grow and respond to the local soil and climate, and to determine their potential plantation value. There is also a campsite there. Visitors are encouraged to walk amongst the plots. 

There is no marked path, so we walked through the trees and found a few small plantations, one of sequoia established in 1929  which we had seen in Canada/North America. They looked well established whereas others looked less vibrant. They have strange bark.

But soon we are quite lost with no obvious pathway  or track ahead or to retreat. We blundered around for a while and finally came onto a road. Fortunately we turned right, not left, and after a couple of km, found the car park. We gave up in disgust – there should have been a marked track for us to follow, and a few information boards would also have helped. This Arboretum looks like it’s been abandoned…. very neglected with lots of signs missing, others split and on the ground.  It would be really interesting to follow a proper track and know what the stands of trees all were, their ages etc.

We got onto the Tramway Trail, and got to the Warren River Cedar. Here you can walk out on to a boardwalk surrounding this rare stand of the trees, which are in such good condition. We were surprised that they were so small, but as Kerry always says, good things come in small packages.

Not far from that we came to the Big Karri. – a massive tree estimated at 300 years old. Nice flowers nearby.  Like little bluebells.

We drove to the Cannybearup Road, through some great trees and farmlands. After turning into Thornhill Rd  to the one way section, we drove through more  wonderful forests. 

We came out onto the Vasse Hwy, heading back to Pemberton. We soon came to the large open field where, on the way to Pemberton towing Mobi, we had seen a number of emu happily pecking away.  This time we stopped for some photos. There were some kangaroos lying down in the background.

We turned on the Old Vasse Rd and stopped at a farm gate where avocados and waratahs were for sale The avo’s were rock hard, but the sign said, leave to ripen and they’ll be fine.  Not bad for $1.

We turned off this road onto the Heartbreak Trail, and were quickly winding our way through some magnificent trees on a skinny and windy dirt track. This is a one way section of track and the forests are brilliant. 

Maiden Bush is a lovely and large swimming hole – the Warren River meanders through this flat areas. It is a good spot for kayaking. There are some massive trees there – as there are everywhere in this country.

Further along we got to Warren lookout, which put things into perspective. 

Soon after that we came to Blackbutt, another large waterhole with stepped access.  Here the information panels tell the story of drylands salinity, caused by land clearing. 

The Heartbreak Trail was a lovely drive, and we imagine how busy it will get in warmer weather. We are soon back at the Van park. 

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To see our overall photos, click here

To see photos around Nannup, click here

To see photos around Pemberton, click here

To see photos around Windy Harbour and D’Entrecasteaux Point, click here 

To see video for this post, click here

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