Another Perth Visit

Back to Perth this weekend. We had coffee the first visit at this cafe, and just had to return for breakfast. We were not disappointed! I had a stack of blueberry pancakes (sans maple syrup however), and Michael had Eggs Benedict. Quite lovely.

Spent the rest of the day at the beach primarily - without the cameras. Sorry, but Mike needs some time off from behind the lens!

Albany, Bridge & Gap, Whales and the Gloucester Tree

We continued our long weekend on Sunday with a visit to Albany and surrounds. Mike found some interesting shots around the town while Kyle & I checked out the tourist info centre to plan our days itinerary.

First we hiked up to a lookout point from within the town. En route there were again memorial trees dedicated to those who fought in wars. Next stop was to drop by the oldest farm in Western Australia. Albany was the first settlement area in WA, so there is lots of history in the area. Had lots we wanted to see so didn't go in, but did browse around the lovely gardens.

The local guide recommended 'The Squid Shop' for lunch which we did. Bit of a wait for our order as it's a very popular place, but worth it. The shop was near the pier with the typical pelican regulars. This fellow landed on the light post straight over Mikes head.

Our next stop was back down to the coast for more rock formations. The bridge is a natural bridge formed by the erosion of the granite rocks. That lttle speck on the rock is Kyle (click to enlarge and you may be able to actually see him). The rock face to the right was quite spectacular also - very subtle colours which you cannot see in the shadows here. The bridge will eventually erode away to form a 'gap' similar to the one photo'd here.

These rock formations really do emphasize the power of the ocean. Standing listening to the waves pound on the rocks it is hard not to be humbled next to the forces at work. Beautiful and scary all at once.

It was then getting late in the day, but we decided to squeeze in one last visit - to the Whale World centre. This is not a museum to whales, but rather of Whaling. Very informative and they really did hide nothing - all the gore of the industry was on display. This whaling station was in production until 1978 when it went folded due to financial reasons - the ships needed replacing and the cost of whale oil was plummeting due to new synthetics - so they shut down. It was only recently made into a museum.

Dad will appreciate the engine at left - pulled from one of the ships. They even fired it up for us. Not so familiar to Dad would be the harpoon on the front of the ship seen here. The nose of the torpedo has an explosive inside and is meant to explode shortly after connecting with the whale. Quick painless death if they shoot it in the head successfully. They would go out at 4:30 am - 3 ships and an aircraft for spotting. Spend the day shooting whales, tagging, inflating (so they don't sink), releasing. Then at the end of the day, they'd pick up the ones killed and drag them back to an off shore rock (mini island). Next day the processing would take place. One by one the land crew pulled in the whales and took them apart for 'rendering'. Almost the entire whale went into the cookers - only the bladder was tossed back to the ocean. Lots of blood and gore - photos on display showed it all.

There were several skeletons on display along with the tools of the trade. The skeletons were interesting since they were mounted low - you really felt the size on the animals. We had seen large whale skeletons before, but they are usually mounted overhead and so you lose the scale a bit. We were quite rushed as they were closing, but very interesting and informative - worth the visit.

Monday morning found us back on the road for some final touring before heading home. We were looking for a beach from one of the flyers, but ended up at a deserted point - but there was one bloke out there fishing away from the shore - quite peaceful.

We stopped by a favourite surf beach - but it was too early and the surf wasn't up yet. Lots of boards and lifeguards around actually, but all anticipating a day we could not wait for.

Our final stop for the day was at the Gloucester Tree. We parked outside the park and hiked in along a short stretch of the Bibblumun trail (runs from Perth to Albany).

Nice forest - but there are lots of signs warning not to wander into the woods due to the snake risk! We stuck to the path. Kyle did venture off a couple of feet to climb onto this fallen and cut tree so that you had a sense of scale however.

And this is the Gloucester Tree - it is a fire spotting tree - 63 metre climb to the top (which we all did - and my butt can still attest to that 2 days later!). It is one very long ladder climb to the top. The view was great from the top - but it was the feeling of being on the very top a single tree that was unique.

Back at the bottom, someone was feeding the ring neck parrots - any where there are humans with food the wild life becomes much less sensitive to our presence. As Mike was taking his shots, one of them landed on his shoulder - too close to photo unfortunately! (Can you spot all 5 of the birds?)

We did make one more stop at the beach in Bunbury since the weather is really warming up again, and it's a long drive.

RIght now as I type this, it's 37C here and headed for over 40 again today. Records are being broken with the heat. Guess summers not over just yet!

Denmark, Valley of the Giants, Elephant Rocks & Greens Pool

We started our day at our old stone cottage in Denmark. It was on the side of a riverbank. Further up stream were some mangrove swamps - sans crocodiles this far south.


Before heading out for the day, we caught this spider having breakfast. It decided to leave the first beetle - on the left - for later (just spun it up a bit to make sure it didn't escape). But the second beetle - the one being dragged into the spiders den - was a quick snack right off.

While our destiny was elsewhere, we naturally had to stop at the local tasting outlet - this time the toffee shop. Much to Kyles and my approval, Mike went off to photo whilst we sampled the treats. The farm was quite picturesque with the typical farm animals. And again, the ever present crows and scenic trees.

We first headed to the Valley of the Giants - the
remnants of the Karri and Tingle Tree forests. There is a forest top walk which ramps up to the top of the trees allowing a wonderful view of the forest.

The vibration on the bridge is extreme - it was difficult for Mike to get any decent shots since there was always someone walking. The sway on the bridge was several feet without even trying to make it do so!

There is also a forest bottom walk where you get a very sore neck from looking up.

The forest is primarily Tingle and Karri. There are both Red Tingle and Yellow Tingle trees. The red have very shallow roots, so widen at the base for stability - and also have redder bark. The wider ones are often split due to age and fire damage. Several of them you are able to stand inside of (if you can avoid the spider webs)

These trees are amazing in their ability to survive. You see great chunks of a tree which has been destroyed by fire and yet the tree just plods on growing new branches and picking up where it left off. The Karri trees lose their bark and are very smooth.

Next we headed to the ocean - and the weather co-operated nicely as it was warming up and the sky cleared. Greens pool is a beautiful sheltered bay with white sand and green waters (photos are mostly from the outside rocks protecting the bay). There are rocks all around the shore which you can hike across to explore the coast - being careful to stay on the flat dry ones!

There are also scenic views back into the hills behind you from the coast. This area is much hillier than where we are living.

Further down the beach after a short walk (where we spotted our first large lizard), you come to Elephant Rocks. The white dots on the large rock on the right of the photo are people standing at the base of the rocks - they are quite large. I think I would have named them Whale rocks tho', as they remind me of whales more than elephants.
The rocks in this area are mostly granite with veins of quartz. However there was this interesting slice along the side of the cove which seemed to be full of iron and the patterns in the rock were very different than the
surrounding landscape.

We finished the day with a visit to yet another beach - Madfish bay. It was very a cove with a small island where the surf came around both sides to meet in the middle at a sand bar. Just off to the side was a great area for body surfing - smallish waves as the bay was protected, but still enough for fun. Kyle had a great time while Mikey napped on the beach. I could not resist and joined Kyle in the water.

We headed back to the cottage all exhausted and rented our first DVD here for a quiet night. Needless to say, we slept well. All in all a great day - perhaps my favourite so far.

Trip through Dwellingup Fire Region

We started our trip down to the southern coast on Friday when I picked up Kyle and Mike from school and we started the over 4 hour drive down to Denmark. Our route first took us through Dwellingup where the fires did the most damage. It was eerily quiet and the devastation left you feeling empty. We passed several homesteads which were either fully or patially destroyed also.

These shots only begin to capture the effects of the fires. From accounts of those involved, one of the most terrifying aspects was the noise. The roar of the fire and the exploding of the tree nuts disturbed even those who were prepared for the fires. The most disgusting part is that most of the fires were started either intentionally by arson, or by careless tossing of cigarettes from car windows.

The tree on the left (not the one in the foreground!) was quite intriguing as it was obviously 1/2 in the fires, and 1/2 spared. What is most impressive however, is how the trees and landscape recover. In the future, we'll include some photos of the local park which was burnt. There are trees which looked totally destroyed which are now beginning to sprout new greenery. Life here really has adapted to deal with the heat and fires which come with it.

It Does Rain Here!!!

I've been so spoiled by the weather, that I have become house bound with the rain of the last two days. Both days I backed off from venturing out on the bicycle due to the high winds and heavy downpours. I'm told this is a sign that summer is on its way out and autumn is moving in. Sigh.

Having spent date night at the movies, there are no Tuesday photos. Mike headed down to catch some windswept sunset photos tonight though. Guess the winds and stormy weather has brought in some stray ocean trash (left).

No worries, the weather is supposed to heat up again to the mid 30's in a few days. This is a long weekend here (Labour day comes at the end of summer here also). We'll off to Albany and Denmark on the south coast for our next adventure.

Stay tuned!

The Newest Footie Fans

Kyle and Mike enjoyed their first game of Aussie Rules Football last night. Tickets include transportation to the game - very smart. As you can see, Kyle tried to catch a few winks on the way to the game. The tickets were courtesy of a teacher at the school - a Fremantle Dockers fan and season ticket holder.

Appropriately, Fremantle won the match.

Day in Perth - Kings Park

Yesterday Mike & I spent the day in Perth. Kyle decided to stay back. He had other priorities - namely to acquire a copy of World of Warcraft (online computer game) so that he is able to play with the local kids from school. Since our priorities were different, we dropped him at the centro (mall) to make his purchase and the 1-1/2 hour walk home, and off we went to Perth.

We planned on spending most of the day in Kings Park, which we did. Started with a leisurely walk to the park through the neighbourhood and a stop at a local cafe for our morning fix. Learned that this area is big with the fitness training crowd due to the park, the hills and Jacob's Ladder (photo to left).

Kings Park is about 1,000 acres of botanical gardens and natural bushland. My feet are quite sure that we saw most of it! Entering the park where we did, we were greeted by an enormous fig tree (they all seem to be enormous - none are ever just average) and yes, that's the roots I'm sitting on.

After picking up a guide map at the shop, we wound our way through the gardens - you even get to see Michael on the journey as I was able to control the camera for a minute :-)

There are some breath taking views over Perth and the Swan River and the Darling Range.

There are several war monuments through the park, and trees have been dedicated to many of those who have fought in the wars. Interspersed there are aboriginal meeting places and other places of significance to the natives. Mount Eliza is a major component of the park which provides the views and bluffs with many unique species. We also witnessed several wedding parties along with an actual marriage ceremony. The entire area has much history and is of importance to all groups of Australians.

The botanical gardens has many specimens of native Australian flowers and trees. The flower here on the left is a Scarlet Feather Flower. As with most of the local flowers, they have either no or very small petals in an effort to preserve moisture. Most of the flower consists of the pistil and stamen which can be very ornate.

As through our trip so far, the trees were also very interesting (at least for us tree type folks). This tree stood out with its pale foilage against the blue sky and darker trees surrounding.

The park also had many birds - this kookabora sat patiently as Michael took his photo. There were all the 'typical' birds - pink & grey gallahs, crows (VERY vocal), magpies, cockatoos and varieties of ducks.

Following the gardens, we headed to the DNA tower - a double helix staircase which provides a nice view of the surrounds. From the top Mike got this nice panorama, and a view down to a young boy.

We headed down to the childrens park (about a mile or so), by which point I was famished - we each had a nice foccacia sandwich with salad and smoothie and felt much better!

We journeyed back through the bush trail despite casual warnings of possible reptiles (we carried a big stick). However, we saw little life - in the heat of the day all other living beings were much smarter than we and stayed less active!

It was a very hot walk - there isn't much forest shade when the sun is at its apex. The most shade we saw was the start of the walk where we had pavement (photo) - when we reached the real bush, it was more barren. All the bush managed to do was to block the breeze - the only saving grace during the heat. It's ironic that we have been complaining of the constant winds here on the west coast - but yesterday we would have really appreciated it! This is probably the most heat we have felt (guessing about 35)- even though not as hot as the day in Fremantle (over 40), it felt much hotter given the conditions.

As always however, more interesting trees and burnt out remnants of them.

Upon returning to our entrance spot of the park, we collapsed under a tree for a bit of a rest before heading off to explore a bit of downtown Perth. Skyscapers to the left reflect the old along side the new.

Despite constantly replenishing our bodily fluids with water (a gallon or so), we headed to find the Brass Monkey (photo) for a pint - and we weren't disappointed. We had their 'own brewed' stout - and it sure tasted good!

Since we were nearby, we checked out the location of a recommended Indian restaurant for next time. We had thought of staying for dinner, but we were both spent for the day. As the stores were closing for the day, we decided to rest our weary bodies and headed back to the car and surprised Kyle with pizza for dinner.

Besides - Kyle & Mike had to save their energy for the Aussie rules football match they are going to see tonight!!