Valley of the Giants

The Valley of the Giants is located near Walpole, in south-western WA.  Tony takes us on a tour of the forest.  It is one of the only places in the world that contain the Red Tingle, a majestic eucalypt that has survived the perils of logging by being simply too difficult (its girth is too large), too dangerous (it falls without warning and can be unpredictable when sawn), and not economically viable (the wood is very damp and takes a long time to dry).

The tree grows for hundreds of years.  Once it becomes around 200 years old, it starts to buttress, that is, the top of the tree stops growing up, and the base of the tree starts to grow out.  These Tingles are not called 'giants' because of their height, but rather, their amazing girth, measuring up to 30 metres around.

Fires can, and do, occur in the forest, which tend to hollow out the base of tree, leaving it to resemble a giant person with enormous legs. 

The Tingle has a very shallow and short root-base and so the trees can fall very easily and without warning.  Red Tingles contain large burls and one large tree at the entrance to the forest is nicknamed

"Grandma Tingle" because of the face-shaped burls along its trunk.

The Treetop Walk stretches for 600m across the top of this forest.  It gives you a fantastic perspective of your surrounds, and you can get up close and personal with some of the giants as you stroll around the canopy along the wobbly suspension bridge, 40m above ground. 

 

Tony is very passionate about the Red Tingle, and we enjoy his very decorative descriptions of how nature
operates in his neck of the woods. 
As an example, "Some people will tell you that Quokkas only exist in Rottnest Island.  That's bullshit!  The little buggers are everywhere in here; see there - they live in 'runnels', there's some runnels right there!"
And you should hear him discuss how the native wasp pollinates the orchids!!!



  

It's so big!!!

 

Be careful!!!!!



The Valley contains enchanting giants, but if you get up close, there are small things to delight you as well.

 

 



A yellow-bellied robin is nesting nearby



Bibb Track Northcliffe to Schafer

Today's walk is the easiest hike we've done so far.

From Northcliffe we walked towards Schafer, just 10km or so away.

So we were able to wander, take our time, and take photos, whilst absorbing our beautiful surroundings.

The weather was perfect, cool and sunny, and we were in high spirits.

I have bought a new pair of runners (mmmm bright blue.....  soooo fashionable) which have been completely brilliant.

We are deep in karri forest- it rains often here, and there is mud and puddles here and there.

I spotted a large tiger snake drinking from a puddle, but he scarpered before I managed to get the camera out to snap a photo.

At camp, we noticed someone had left a large foam mattress on the one the bunks, so we slept in great comfort.  We were joined by John, who is doing the whole Bibb in about 38 days - a massive effort, with many days topping 40km!

In the morning, a fog sat heavily over the lake, so we took our time getting ourselves organised, and enjoyed our surrounds with a sense of relaxation before the day's hike.

We came across quite a few hikers - there are many people in their 60s and 70s walking which is such an inspiration!

On our return back to Northcliffe, we decided a parma at the local (very local) was in order.  Salad bar!!!  The biggest salad bar I've ever seen!  When they presented us with our 'salad plate' it was a little like a "let's see who can pile the most pasta/rice/veges/seafood extender onto their plate competition"..... and THEN they brought out the parmas - enormous!  As big as your plate!  We gorged ourselves, soaked up the local atmosphere (a few unemployed blokes hung around talking amongst themselves about horseracing and drinking beer) before heading back to camp.

Another brilliant Bibb experience!

Tree climbing for grown ups

The Gloucester Tree is 72m high, and the tallest fire-lookout tree in the world.

And, if you're brave, you can climb it!!

  

An onion in my belt



One of the many houses built from karri wood



Pemberton is a quaint quirky town in WA’s south west.  It is best known for its magnificent karri forests.  These trees grow to 80m and live for 200 years – they are absolutely gigantic, and beautiful.  There is high rainfall here (1,100mm pa) so the grass is always green, the cows and sheep are fat, and it’s damp and smells wonderful.

There are many heritage listed houses in Pemberton, all built from karri wood. 

If you like trains, you'll love Pemberton.  They have quite a stock of old engines, carriages and whatnot, and you can even ride on the old tram to Warren Bridge.



Pemberton historic Train Station



We decide to have our picnic lunch right here next to the tracks



But.......

BEWARE



Our tram conductor stops the tram for
a few minutes to discuss a tree



Fans of the Simpsons may recall a very early epsiode which features Grampa Simpson sitting under a large lemon tree, talking endlessly about his youth, which included a meandering (and boring) discussion that started with "I used to wear an onion in my belt.... which was a style of the times....." and ended with the same sentence. 



Our tram conductor could be likened to Grampa Simpson.  His rambling and meandering continued, unabated, and enthusiastically, and noisily, for 90 minutes.

Every tree was named, in common terms and with the botanical name attached, and often spelled out.

The tram was stopped on numerous ocassions so he could ramble on about a flower, about why a log has a particular colour, and to discuss, at length, the difference between hard wood and soft wood.

Dear reader, do not take pity on this old man, possibly a volunteer, who is just trying to share his wealth of knowledge with we mere tourists.  This was a hostage situation.

There was no getting way.

The speakers on each carriage were loud.  Shrill.  Every syllabub was an insult to my ear drums.

Do we need to know what trees he observed while travelling in South Africa?  Did we need to hear him say "Of course, I wouldn't go to Sth Africa now, what with all their problems of late...." when there is, plainly, a nice looking Sth African family sitting on the tram?

Do we need to have every species of tree names AND spelled out for us?

Halfway along the journey, the tram was stopped and we were advised that a 10 minute break would ensue, to stretch our legs.  "Walk down the hill to the water's edge, there is a pretty waterfall," he advised us, "I'll toot the horn when it's time to return".  For 5 minutes he explained that the kiddies should be careful walking along the path.

So with five minutes remaining of our reprieve, like cattle we were herded, single file, down the path to the water, which took five minutes.  The horn was sounded, and we about-faced to return to the tram.

This time I put bits of tissues in my ears to muffle the speakers.

The conductor continued.

"Time now to learn about the tallest tree ever measured; which of course is not the same as the tallest tree alive now, not to be confused with the American trees (I'll give you the spelling of that).  Then we have the widest girth on a tree.  Now that's from South Africa, and there's a nice church made out of that material if you're ever over there.... now the name that tree is the Boam, not to be confused with the Australian Boab, now i'll spell that for you.  Now that reminds me of an interesting story, i'll get back to that in a minute."

Children were restless, staring at their knees in well behaved manner, or crying and wriggling.

The young woman next to us was shooting daggers at her boyfriend, who must have been a train-freak.

The couple behind us laughed the whole way there and the whole way back - that nervous "oh-my-god-what-am-i-doing" kind of laugh.

And we laughed too.

Here's a clip - turn up the volume!! (it goes for 23 seconds, so you can imagine what 90 minutes felt like!!!)

(for more hilarious Grampa Simpson ramblings, check out http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/lists/grampa-stories, which is a site I found while preparing this blog post....)