South-West WA

Pemberton Tramway - built 1929-33	Pemberton Railway Station	Old locomotive	Our tram
Pete ready for the journey	The route travelled through karri, jarrah and marri forests	Over some very old bridges	We stop at Cascades
It's summer - the water is low	Lefroy Brook	The driver has a great view	Through the forest
Another old bridge	Jarrah Jack's Brewery	Lovely rolling hills and red earth	Vineyards all around
Lunch, a local wine and a beer tasting paddle	Spotted this colourful tree in Pemberton	Gloucester Tree - a bushfire lookout tree	You can climb up this 53m karri tree
Pegs are hammered into the tree to act as a ladder...	...and a cabin built on top...built 1937-52	Pete climbing up	Pete and Jackie on the pegs
Pete looking down	Pete at the top	View from the lookout	Little hatch to get into the cabin
Forest all around	The pegs wobble a little as you step on them	Jackie at the bottom of the tree (her ankle has still not recovered fully from Mexico)	Jackie did go higher than this but Pete refused to take a photo
More people climbing...	...up and up they go	On our drive west	Lookout near Walpole
Walpole-Nornalup NP	Valley of the Giants...	...a treetop walk that takes you up...	...into the canopy...
...of beautiful tingle trees	Looking up as we climb higher	Pete on the walkway	The walkway helps protect the sensitive tingle tree roots
Looking down - it's hard to get a photo of the entire tree, they are so tall	The walkway rises further...	...until we're at the treetops	We get great views
The highest level is at 40m	Grandma Tingle - can you see her face?	Many tingle trees have been burnt inside by bushfire but they will survive...	...and continue to grow, they also house tiny southern forest bats, maximum body length of 47mm
This bulge is a burl - caused by insect, mite, bacterial or fungal attack - the tree forms a protective growth around the wound	Pete walking on the Ancient Empire Boardwalk trail	King Tingle	Denmark River
Australian White Ibis	Boston Brewery - lunch and beer	Boston Brewery - near Denmark	Our campsite - shaded peppermint trees - heading down to the beach
Parry Beach	In for a swim	First underwater photo with new camera	Jackie back on the beach
Waves all around	The wind is picking up...	...the surfers...	...will be out on the waves soon
Walking back to our camping spot	Look out for snakes	Gotta love Aussie humour	Parry Beach - next to our campsite
National Anzac Centre - this museum remembers the men & women (from all over Oz) who left by convoy from Albany to fight in WWI	Australian & New Zealand troops at the Great (Cheops) Pyramid in Egypt	Copper sculpture - Anzac Spirit...	..."Sharing the last of the water with my old mate, he deserves a drink as much as I before the charge"
In the 1930s Ataturk visited Australia	Princess Royal Fortress - inside the guard house	We laughed (sorry) at the emergency evacuation plan inside the very small guard house	Princess Royal Fortress (1893) - huge guns to defend Albany
Another huge gun	Views from the top of Mt. Adelaide...	...a great spot to help defend the city	Ataturk Entrance to Princess Royal Harbour
A ship coming into the harbour	Wood chips for export	Desert Mounted Corps Memorial - for WWI soldiers who fought at the Nek in the Gallipoli campaign of 1915	Brig Amity (replica) - built 1816 - carried Albany's first British settlers from Sydney in 1826
Middleton Beach - Emu Point in the distance - where we camped	Emu Point Beach	Watch out for bandicoots and wee turtles on the road	Torndirrup NP - The Gap...
...a natural cleft in the rock, channelling surf through walls of granite	Looking down from the walkway over the sea	Beautiful beaches all around	The Natural Bridge
Cheynes Beach Historical Whaling Station - Cheynes IV whale chaser	We explore the boat	The harpoon used to kill the whales	View from the whale chaser looking out to King George Sound
The engine room	The whales were followed using sonar equipment and when they surfaced they were chased	The captain was also responsible for firing the harpoon	The whale would be brought alongside (fastfish); pumped full of air; attached to a radio beacon, cut free & picked up later
Flensing - blanket pieces of blubber are removed with the help of flensing (Norwegian word) knives	All of the whale goes in for cooking - although the teeth are saved, as they are ivory	The cutting area	The bits of whale were put into these holes for cooking
The cookers underneath the deck	These tanks stored whale oil	Bits that remained were dried off and used as fertiliser and animal feed	Pygmy Blue Whale skeleton - 22m
Humpback Whale - not a toothed whale but a baleen whale	Baleen Plates - when the whale expels a mouthful of water, they act as a strainer, catching small fish, krill & plankton	Sperm Whale skelton	Whaling ended here in 1978 - the last station in Australia - the water and the beach are no longer red
Two men enjoying a spot of fishing but the bird got there first!