Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 58 – Valley of the Giants

Early morning activity on the lawns at our accommodation – Yellow-rumped thornbill

Splendid fairywren

Knoll Drive leads past the Walpole-Nornalup National Park lake system and onto a hill above the lake.

The park is famous for its towering karri and tingle trees.

Heaths in parts of Walpole-Nornalup NP adding spring colour.

A species of hammer orchid

Plants of the wet forest floor

Hilltop Lookout

Giant Tingle Tree. Tingles are the largest girthed Eucalyptus known in the world.

Burls on the side of a Red Tingle tree

Tassel flowers were often the most common understorey shrub in the wet forests.

Pea vine

Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk – a 600 metre steel suspension walkway that reaches 40 metres above the forest floor.

Mount Frankland in the far distance from the Tree Top Walk with fire tower on top.

Common small understorey tree with oak shaped leaves.

One of the giants

And at the base of giant trees, little things grow like these snail orchids.

More giants – Red Tingles and Yellow Tingles

Female Red-winged fairywren

Pea adding colour to the forest

Bow River bridge – “The first thing you know I’ll be back in Bow River again.”

We looked for The Big Marron (one of Australia’s Big Things) at the permanently closed Old Kent River Winery, between Walpole and Denmark. It could not be found…it may have become roadkrill.

The Big Burl at Bow River that was from a giant Red Tingle many years ago.

Abby the Angus and friends enjoying the grass in this high rainfall part of the state.

The deerest block of land in the district.

William Bay National Park has a coastline characterised by granite instead of the limestone further west. Much of the coastline east of here to a few hundred kilometres east of Esperance is granitic.

Greens Pool has beautiful turquoise green waters edged by huge granite boulders. When planning our new kitchen at home, I wanted manufactured stone for our home renovation. My lovely wife argued that granite, a natural stone, would be better. It was a pretty good counter argument.