From the forests to the ocean, there is so much to see and do in and around Walpole. The forests are awesome, especially the massive and tantalising tingle trees. The Nornalup Inlet hosts a unique environment, which we learnt about in an unforgettable way on the WOW cruise. We will always remember the dynamic and knowledgable Gary Muir. We had a great few days at Walpole.
We stayed at Walpole on 04, 05, 06 October.
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
Getting There
Perberton > Walpole ~ 120kms
History
The First Nations people of the area are the Murrum of the Minang peoples of the larger Noongar group, who have inhabited the region for over 30,000 years. Noongar people have long referred to the Walpole and Districts area as Nor-Nor-Nup, the place of the “norne”, or black snake.
Sealers and whalers were the first Europeans to arrive on Walpole’s coast by sea in the early 1800s.
Walpole lies very close to the northern point of the 100-hectare Walpole Inlet, from which it takes its name. The inlet in turn is named for the Walpole River, discovered in 1831 by Captain Thomas Bannister, and named by Governor Stirling for Captain Walpole, with whom he had served in 1808.
The first European settlers to arrive in the area were Pierre Bellanger and his family in 1909. They travelled aboard the Grace Darling from Albany to take up 4,000 acres (16 km2) of land.
Land in the Walpole area was reserved for a national park in 1910, and the area subsequently became a popular holiday destination. Major development began to occur in the 1930s as part of the land settlement scheme. The railway reached Nornalup in 1929, and the Walpole town site was gazetted in 1933.
To read more on the history of Walpole, click here
Day 1 – 04 Oct – Drive to Walpole and to Mount Frankland
It is a short drive to Walpole – we drove north east from Pemberton to the South Western Highway, which took us all the way south east to Walpole through some lovely forests and wild flowers. Nearly all of the drive is through National Parks. The Karri trees are so majestic.
The van park is about 2km east of the town on Coalseam Beach. We stopped just before we arrived at the van park taking in the views over Nornalup Inlet.
We checked in quickly and drove to our designated site. However, this was off a narrow roadway, with trees on the opposite side, and a large tree on the corner of the site. We tried reversing in but there was no way it could work – the trees simply did not allow enough turn room. Kerry rang up to the office, and we got into another site. This one had a flat area and at the back a lower patch surrounded by trees with a fire pit. The park facilities are all good – clean and well finished.
We went to the tourist information office and got some good advice on what to do around Walpole. While we were there a couple of people came in to give feedback on the tour they had been on that morning – the WOW Ecocruise – and gave it rave reviews. Best tour ever, one man said. So we booked the tour for the next day. The cost was $45pp. We also bought tickets to the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk, at $15.50pp with seniors discount.
We drove north on Walpole Rd to the Mount Frankland National Park. It was a good bitumen road, through some lovely countryside. But it was raining a fine misty rain.
We stopped at the Swarbrick Art Trail, a short loop. This is very unusual – a number of art works set into the forest. First up was a welcoming door. Then, a very large mirror, with purple supports. We watched ourselves approaching – the best selfie.
Kerry had her butterfly umbrella out for the first time. She bought this at Kurunda, near Cairns, in late April, and this was the first times used – not a bad run of dry weather.
Some of the rest of the artwork included a gold circle and a white feather. Back at the mirror we saw that there were 4 white pages embossed onto it setting out history of settlement in the areas, and white leaves with little messages.
We continued up the Walpole Rd, which became a dirt road at the Hunter Rd junction. We followed the signs to Mount Frankland, only about 5 km along Beardmore Rd. However, the rain and mist persisted and we could not really see anything from the lookout. It was also too wet to walk the very steep track to the top – which would have been futile anyway, given the mist. The lookout itself was very good though, as well as wildflowers.
We drove back along Beardmore Rd, all dirt, for about 15km to get to Fernhook Falls. We crossed a bridge at the top of the falls before turning in to the carpark. We walked down the track to the lookout over the falls but it was difficult to actually see the falls through the saplings. Further along we went out onto a rock shelf below the falls but still had restricted views.
We were surprised at the amount of tannin in the water, creating frothy patches in the river. We continued down to the rock pool, There were some lovely flowers in the area, some we had not seen before.
Back at the van park, I got the fire going, although it was a battle. The paper was a bit damp and refused to catch on. As well the fire pit was deep so there was little oxygen to get it going. But we got there eventually. The couple in the van behind us came over to join us. Nice couple from SA.
Day 2 – 05 Oct – the WOW ecocruise
It was a pretty cool and showery morning. We went to look at Coalseam Beach and jetty before going into town for our cruise.
We got to Walpole Jetty and saw a collection of shoe brushes/cleaners lined up at the gangway to the cruise boat. But the guide was not there yet. Nevertheless we and some others used the brushes and were prepared to go. Then the guide arrived and told us about the brushes. As we were going to be at a location where there was no dieback killing the vulnerable plants, we had to redo the brush and have his assistant – a Belgian postgrad student whose name we cannot remember – closely monitor that the water spray section was done effectively. Dieback is a huge problem over here and is destroying many native plants.
Then we were off with a full boat – maybe 30 or so people. It was not long before we were in stitches – Gary Muir our guide is an absolute hoot. He has a way of providing information that is unique – interacting with the passengers, diving to one side to drag out a photo, dashing back to the steer the boat, then out to stern to grab something else – he was Mr Motion Man personified. He was so funny. His antics had everyone in stitches just about the whole time.
His knowledge and his passion for the local environment are truly amazing. He told us the history of the Nornalup Inlet and how a Frenchman had saved if from total development, including a coal mine and a major city. He also talked fervently about the ecosystem and all the things that made this area unique.
Sailing across the Inlet, we could appreciate its beauty and pristine condition.
And then, Gary said, and normally there would be a roll of drums at this point he added, we were going to experience a DAM. Passengers looked at each other with puzzled expressions. This was, Gary told us, a David Attenborough Moment.
The low pressure system that was dominating the weather in the south west – and bringing all the rain that made our lives difficult – had actually created a unique effect within the Inlet. The Inlet is normally rich in tannin, so a dark brown colour, but in the right circumstances the clear estuary water can push into the Inlet and create a line where on one side is the tannin rich water and on the other, the clear estuary water. And on the clearwater side of the line there would be a “fever” of stingrays (fever is the collective noun for more than 3 stingrays). And sure enough we were soon right on the line and watching stingrays scurrying along the clear side looking for food at the interface. Incredible.
We motored on across the Inlet.
We went out to the mouth of the Inlet as Gary wanted to see what was happening given the low pressure system. It is really shallow out at this end of the Inlet. At one point, Gary got 8 people to sit out on the front deck so that the water in the tanks would run forward and allow the boat to get over a sand bar.
We stopped at a jetty near the end of the inlet.
There we had a choice. Those who wanted to could hike for about ten minutes over a hill to a gorgeous beach on the ocean side – windswept, rugged and beautiful. Or people could stay in the areas around the jetty and look for some wildflowers.
I walked over to the ocean side.
While there we helped Gary’s assistant do a search of a 100m section of the beach to find any plastics, as part of an experiment on the movement of plastics in the ocean. They do that each day. Our collections filled about 10mm of a jamjar.
Kerry did not do the beach section but spent her time looking for flowers. I walked super slowly looking for flowers and found some beauties. The photo below is a Donkey Orchid – the first I’d seen.
Following the hike, morning tea was served, with cake, before the return ride to Walpole. I was given the job of slicing up 3 cakes that Gary’s mum had made for the trip.
Gary identified numerous plants and birds, including a Shearwater pair he knew had been together for over 20 years and another pair which had been together 16 years.
He located a rare native snail and told us about the horrible invasive Italian snails. There is only a small infestation of this in the Inlet and this is being eradicated. He used anything at hand – in our case stuffed animals – to explain how plate tectonics brought about the Walpole environment. Amongst so many other other things. It was no tour guide script; this was based on years of education and work experience, and his passion to share his knowledge.
Even as we were ending the tour at the jetty, he was using a pair of snorkels and anything else at hand to describe the reproductive system of a rare mammal.
It was an extraordinary cruise and not to be missed! Cruises depart at 10 and we got back at around 1.00. We splurged on a meat pie for lunch – the pepper one in the bakery is really good. Then we drove around the town including The Knoll, where our van park is located.
Day 3 – 06 Oct – the Valley of the Giants and other delights
Next morning was again full of showers. It was only a month ago that we were swimming and snorkelling, and now we don’t leave home without a brolly, a beanie and a protective coat.
That day we went to the Valley of the Giants, but first we went to the Circular Pool and other more local delights. Hilltop Rd is just near where we come onto the Hwy from our van park. This is a one way section of dirt road through another nice looking forest. Very soon we were at Hilltop Lookout, with good views to the coast – and no mist that day.
Next up is the Giant Tingle Tree – these trees are simply amazing. The Red Tingle (Eucalyptus jacksonii) is one of the tallest trees found in WA. The tree typically grows to a height of up to 75 metres and has rough, stringy and furrowed grey-brown or red-brown bark. It can have a circumference up to 24m round at the base and can live for more than 400 years. Tingles are the largest girthed eucalypt known in the world. Go the Tingle!
The Giant Tingle Tree is the site of a huge fire-hollowed red tingle tree, which is still living. There is an 800m circular walk which leads down to the Giant Tingle Tree and the board walk that protects its roots. There are other similar trees there as well. This is all about BIG TREES.
From there we drove around to Circular Pool – but on the way we see a car coming towards us on a one way road. We both stop, and they told us that there was a tree fallen across the road blocking any passage. “Buggar,” we thought, but decided to have a look anyway. And indeed there was a tree across the road.
As we stand looking at the tree and considering options, which were few, another 4WD pulled up behind us. It was a Kiwi couple and luckily they had an axe in their vehicle which we knew would be far more effective than our fold up toilet spade. So he got out his axe, as you do, and chopped away impressively as I tried to lever the trunk at its weakest point. Before too long we had broken off the main trunk and rolled that to the roadside. It was an effort though and took the 4 of us to shift both parts of the tree off the road. I guess we could have tied it to the cruiser and pulled it back if we’d had to.
At Circular Pool, the trail first took us to the upper falls where the tannin water is a dark brown, tumbling over the rock and generating lots of foam. This continues down the rock platforms until it reaches the pools. These have large sections of their surface covered with foam. This really is different. The foam is quite deep and is caused by rotting plants apparently.
The one way road system, all dirt until we got to Allan Rd, takes us back into Walpole. There we turned East for the Valley of the Giants. It is a nice drive.
The rain started as we arrived. I had brought my brolly with me and Kerry got one from the ticket office. We first did the tree top walk – a 600-metre walk with a low gradient, suitable for all ages. This is one of the most popular tourist attractions along the south-west coast.
The treetop walk is a lightweight, architecturally-designed bridge that winds gently upwards to the forest’s upper canopy. There are a number of column support points but between these, the support structure is trussed and suspended, rather than being propped up with columns. So it gets a bit bouncy in the middle, which could get to some people – like me. It gets up to 40 metres high so we were up there in the canopy of these massive tingle trees. We could see the tops of the trees way above us.
We then did a walk through a grove of more than 400-year-old giants, known as the Ancient Empire. The 600-metre boardwalk took us around many tingle trees with the core burnt out. Some of them have a circumference over 15m.
One of the most popular of the gnarled trees, is known as Grandma Tingle, or the Gatekeeper. You can make out an elderly face on the tree.
We love these strange and ancient trees. We had a quick look in the Resource Centre before leaving.
The drive to Peaceful Bay was lovely – initially quite wet but the showers eased. Again lovely landscapes. We came across some stunning flowers on either side of the road, about 100m long. They were similar to gladiolus but more delicate.
They were gorgeous but we did not see them anywhere else. Maybe the landholder scattered some seeds, but beautiful effect. We did see a few more patches of them later on though.
As it was late we went straight to the fish and chip shop, which also sold fresh fish. This place had been recommended by the lady in the tourist office. There were a few people, one group in particular took an age to order their meals. We shared a cod and chips – outrageous at $25. But very nice.
We went to the beach to eat lunch, driving onto the beach, as there already some cars out there. It was a lovely but rocky bay, well protected by fringing rock shelves. Very pretty. After lunch, sheltered from the wind and showers, we walked to explore.
Pretty soon, we headed for Walpole. In town we bought some supplies and put about 25 litres of diesel into The Cruiser – the price was 1.689/L and I knew it would be far cheaper in Albany. We just had to have more in the tank to get there.
To select from out sets of photos, click here
To see photos from in and around Walpole, click here
To see photos from the WOW ecocruise, click here
To see photos of the big trees we experienced, click here
To see our video for this post, click here