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.