tree top walk

On Jan. 29th we went on the Valley of the Giants tree top walk, near Denmark, WA. The walk is in a forest of giant Tingle trees and the suspension-like walkway takes you 40 meters into the tree tops. The trees can be up to 400 years old and their base up to 20m in girth. Their roots are weak so their base widens out to support them, called a buttress. We had fun with that word. The trees only grow in this area, within a 6000 hectare range.

Notice our motorhome parked among the trees, this was our campsite the night before. Beautiful. Black cockatoos and fairy wrens were our companions.

Thistle cove

Just a little down the road we found Thistle cove. We had the beach completely to ourselves. We're not sure why, maybe because you had to walk a bit to get to it. Again, the white sand and turquoise water. Mercedes is holding out a tiny mussle shell, soft and see-through.

Cape Le Grand

After the desert drive we reached the port town of Esperance. We spent a night in the campground getting laundry done, etc. The next night we went to Cape Le Grand national park, so far the only Australian national park we've been to that doesn't require 4 wheel drive (which we don't have). The beaches here are like a dream. The sand was white as snow, the water a turquoise blue. We went for a snorkel around those rocks you see us standing on. Then played on the beach. When we were leaving the beach Kyra spotted a kangaroo. It hopped through the piles of dried sea grass and then chewed on something for a long time. It didn't seem to mind our presence. Back at the camp area other kangaroos were hanging around the camp kitchen waiting for handouts. Some had joeys with them. When some kids got too close to a mom and joey, the mom took off like a shot and her joey matched her hop for hop, never missing a beat.

Nullarbour pictures

Nullarbour

'Nullarbour' literally means 'treeless'. Well, as Kyra pointed out, there were some trees across the several 100kms stretch but mostly low bushes and desert-like conditions. The road runs along the coast but the cliffs are so high you don't see the ocean unless you go to the edge of the continent and look down, way down, while you keep a tight grip on your offspring. The right whales raise their young here around August to November.
Driving this road was much like driving down through the centre of Australia. We saw far too many roadkill kangaroos and several live ones if we drove past supper time. Flocks of emu were also common. No one lives here except folks who run the roadhouses with essential items such as gas, food and accommodation about every 100-200 km. Everyone you pass on this deserted stretch waves. The sign the girls are standing by was repeated several times during the drive, sometimes with an emu instead of a wombat. Kyra is demonstrating what could happen if you get too close to the edge of the Great Australian Bight (if you look at this on a map it does look as though a giant has taken a bite out of the continent).
It took us 3-4 days to cross this stretch. When you're almost through they make you relinquish your fruits, vegetables, plants and seeds, something about fruit flies and diseases. The produce in the first town you come to after that is awfully expensive. hmmm.

Crabs and Birds, Eyre Penninsula

We've been trying our hand at catching crabs. Every little port town around the Eyre Penninsula has a jetty or warf, off of which people fish and swim. We got a crab pot and have tried to catch blue swimmer crabs several times. We've only had our bait stolen so far. Kevin and Kyra have seen these big crabs while snorkeling. One was enjoying a fish head (bait?) and didn't like the snorkeler intrusion.

We enjoyed the little port towns and bird life. Here on the left is a Galah who thought he was a seagull. His own flock was nearby but it seemed to prefer being an ocean bird rather that a parrot.

Pelicans are very common all around Australia. I liked how this picture shows how big they really are, comparing it to a regular seagull.

Look what we found!

Near the ocean we found ourselves a blue tongue skink crossing the road. It was very cooperative and had a look at us while we had a look at him or her. His tongue really is blue and his back end looks very similar to his front end. It's hard to tell if it's coming or going.