- Chris setting off along the Tree Top Walk
The tree are tingle trees and the website can tell you about them better than I.
The red tingle (Eucalyptus jacksonii) can be identified by its rough fibrous bark of a grey-red colour and can have a base circumference of up to 20 metres, which makes it the largest buttressing eucalypt. The red tingle tree can only be found in an area of approximately 6,000 hectares between Deep River to the west and Bow River to the east. The flowering cycle starts after 30 years and occurs once every four years in the late summer and early autumn. Trees can reach a height of 75 metres and have been found to be more than 400 years old in certain areas.
From the walkway you can see the canopy of the tingle tree forest.
The forest canopy from the walkway
The walkway is very popular depite being very shaky in the breeze.
People on the aerial walkway
Nearby you can walk through the tingle forest at ground level and get close to the trees. Because they are buttressing trees they often become hollow while staying quite healthy.
Chris inside a hollow tingle
But trees do not live forever and eventually fall.
Fallen tree roots
After Walpole we thought a swim would be nice so we headed for Parry Beach but found the wind to be too strong for comfortable swimming. But the kite surfers found it much to their taste.
Kite Surfers at Parry Beach
Kite surfer at Parry Beach
Eventually we arrived at Albany and the next day decided to look at the cliffs at Frenchman’s Bay. These are rather quite spectacular and well worth a look.
The Gap at Frenchman's Bay, Albany
The rocks are Proterozoic quatzo-feldspathic gneisses and are very tough rocks. The need to be as they take a terrific battering from the Southern Ocean.
Chris on The Bridge
Chris on The Bridge
But not all the Albany coast is cliffs. There are some wonderful beaches. Our favourite was Little Beach at Two Peoples National Park. Two People because in 1803 a French exploration expedition met an American whaler in the bay.
The beach is quartz sand which squeaks as you walk. The waves are not as big as at other places but do give lots of fun.
Little Beach, Two Peoples National Park
Little Beach, Two Peoples National Park
But we also went inland and climbed in the Stirling Range, particularly the 1100 metres Bluff Knoll. This is the second highest peak in Western Australia and took a lot of effort to get up.
Bluff Knoll from near the car park
Chris was particularly pleased to get up even if her legs hurt for days afterwards!
Chris at the summit of Bluff Knoll - you can see the car park from which we started, and also the edge of the National Park
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