August 18th

Boorara Fire Watch Tree

We started the day badly by getting our feet, boots & socks wet as we walked on the beach. An incoming wave was just too quick and high for us! However, despite that we enjoyed the first fine and sunny day for a week. The roads along the coast from Windy Harbour were too wet for us to attempt so we drove north to the bitumen and headed east. Unexpectedly a track went off to another Fire Spotting tree. Boorara tree is over  200 years old. The tree top cabin was built in 1952 and was used as a 'Fire Watch' until 1972.

From there we explored some of the gravel roads before returning to the Highway. These roads took us through some beautiful forests. the Karri trees are surely the most majestic tree. There are so many of them all very tall and very straight. The under-story of the forest is quite dense with quite a few flowers in bloom. One outstanding splash of intense blue/purple/colour is the thick climbing vine of the Sarsaparilla.  Another spectacle we saw  today was a flock of red-tailed black cockatoos flying through the tree tops.The red feathers in their tails really glow when they fly.

As we neared Walpole we came upon the Fernhook Falls on Deep River. There was a massive amount of water flowing over the wide rocky falls resulting in a thick layer of froth. The water is deep brown in colour which results from the vegetable matter that is soaking in the river.

This evening we are camped in the Walpole Noralup National Park with pretty bush around us and a few very dark coloured kangaroos. This park is near Peaceful Bay and south of Walpole.

Fernhook Falls on Deep River