Woonona Mob "Zig Zag Oz": How Green is this valley?

What can we say about the stunning Margaret River region? Well it is lush, green, farmland, with gently rolling hills, small villages, wineries dotted throughout and fat cattle grazing on the fertile pasture. The forests of Karri tower above, creating magical worlds beneath their canopies. Just delightful…like most Margarets we know! We camped at Leeuwin-Naturaliste NP, about 50 km south-west of the town of Margaret River. A beautiful, small campground, set amongst the coastal dunes and melaleuca forest. We could thankfully have a fire, as the nights were very cold. Fires are not something that we have been able to have in many places, and so they are always a bonus. We spent the days exploring the region, the amazing coastline and cliffs, and even managed to visit a winery (Evans & Tate, now owned by McWilliams), go through a limestone cave (the Lake Cave) and a brilliant hedge maze. Karri trees (huge eucalypts, as also are the Jarrah and Marri) are the third largest tree in the world. Driving and walking in these forests is spectacular, although you could suffer from neck strain, constantly looking up. Maybe that’s why the area has so many towns ending in the word “up”, because that’s where you tend to be looking! It would be easy to stay in the region for several weeks, in one of the numerous cabins or chalets, visiting wineries, trying the local delicacies and just relaxing. We managed to spot more whales and a seal or two from Cape Naturaliste, which added another layer to the experience. We stopped at Cape Leeuwin, which is the most south-westerly point of WA and where the Indian and Southern oceans meet. We then headed to Pemberton, a picturesque town set among more towering Karri forests, where we camped in the Warren NP, on the Warren River. We realised we were now heading east for almost the first time in this entire trip - we must be on our way home! Warren NP is within a large Karri forest, and camping surrounded by these giants was very special. The road through the forest is one way, as it is very narrow, windy and steep in sections. The road forms a loop through the NP. It was incredibly quiet and still at night, something we were not used to after months of west coast wind, and felt quite eerie. Again, fires were permitted, which was just as well, as some nights it was only 6 degrees, and we had had a fair amount of rain, so the ground and us were a little slushy, and we needed drying out as well as warmth. Russ decided he could live in Pemberton when we retire, as they have a small tramline that runs along an old timber rail route for the tourists, and he could volunteer to help run it. He said it would be like having a grown up version of a model train set. The surrounding countryside is again incredibly lush and fertile and the land is affordable. We had a lot of adventures, climbing trees (with steel rungs in the trunks, used originally as forest fire-spotting trees), aerial tree walks in the Tingle forests (another giant eucalypt) and of course, going on the tram ride. The villages in the south-west boast historical buildings and pretty houses, taking you back to a bygone era, without being overly quaint or twee. A truly beautiful part of Australia.

Ellen writes… climbing the Bicentennial Tree.

We had to drive back around the loop to get there. We walked out and already I gasped! Getting closer was much more exciting. I looked up and Mum told me that it was 75 metres tall. We started climbing and about at 29 steps mum chickened out. It was only dad, Maeve and I. Once we got half way we were already huffing and puffing. Mum from down below was yelling at me to come down but I yelled no. We were climbing and I almost slipped. Up the top it was so beautiful I lost my breath it was that amazing (it was also because of all that climbing). But climbing down was even better…hooray touch down and off we go. “Let’s do the Gloucester Tree” we all shouted. And we did, but it was only 60 metres high.