This time we went on a tarmac road over the dunes down to the beach (Hamelin Bay). There should be stingrays in the water. I was pessimistic but we did see them swimming very close by the coast.

The roads inland are beautiful. The rolling hills are covered with mostly untouched forest. Sometimes high old growth in valleys or newer forests with signs of forest fires on the hill tops. The road winds up and down through the tree tunnels.

In Nannup we stopped to go for a walk along the Blackwood river. There are many flowers in bloom under the tree canopy and on the banks along the river.

Driving further east to Bridgetown we found a designated street camp-spot next to the tourist information center. Since we arrived after closing time, we will drop by there tomorrow morning for information on these areas. Meanwhile we did a short walkabout around town and grabbed a drink and fish and chip at one of the cafe.

We didn’t want to wait for the tourist office to open at 10:00, so we drove on to the logging town of Manjimup.  On the way we stopped at the ‘King Jarrah’ tree. Estimated age 500 years. Impressive sight. In Manjimup, we visited the open air museum with old logging equipment and historical houses. From there some 18 km through the karri forest to the “one tree bridge”. The bridge had collapsed some years ago but the remnants were pulled up and on display. Here we did a fantastic 4km walk through the Karri forest with many 200+ year old giants towering over you.  In Pemberton we climbed one of these giants (Dave Even tree).  Well, Rudy went up 10 m before he decided the climb was difficult with varia focus glasses. Jamaliah went up to the first platform without hesitation. The second platform is closed.

Our campsite tonight is at a farm some 8 km outside town. It has cooled down a lot with cold wind. Time for the red wine we bought some days ago and Rudy enjoyed it with Vintage English Cedar he found in the fridge.

The Karri Forest Explorer drive is 86 km long starting in Pemberton. It has long stretches over good graded road through pristine Karri and Jarrah forest. We made a few short stops along the way at the Gloucester tree (closed for climbing) and the Brook dam walk. The focus was however on a walk to the Beedelup waterfall. There we also saw a walk to the “Walk Through Tree”. Lets go…. It was a long climb through the forest up the side of the mountain. The Karri’s are tall and plentiful. But in the end you just want to get there. Not a long walk but many steep slopes to climb. The tree and the scenery is well worth the effort.

When back on the main road we turned the camper south to the coast. At Windy Harbor. The name is well chosen. Quite a change from camping in the forest to camping near the beach in the dunes. After the morning drive to the nature window a bit further up the coast. we drove back inland to Northcliff and stopped along the way to climb the large granite outcrop (Mt. Chudalup). At the top you can see more small islands of large trees on granite sticking up out of the low scrubby wetland. It is a steep climb over the granite boulder. Going up was easy but it was difficult going down without uncontrolled sliding.