Jac & Baz's 6 month trek

[bigcol]

oooooohhhhhhh nice

just outside of Denmark - on the way to Walpole - is Bartholomews Meadery - about 16Kms
well worth the stop for the Honey Ice Cream, and also the Wines and Mead.................

 

[bigcol]

Denmark, Walpole, Manjimup, Nannup, Busselton is a good route

dont rely on Google Maps........ they lie.......unless they have paved the road from Lake Muir to Dingup through the Upper Warren area..........

 

[bigcol]

if you have a look at a map,
Pemberton - Northcliffe road.........
it swings north just before Pemberton, there is like a Triangle
Vasse Hwy(sort of east west) Pemby-northcliffe rd (sort of north south) and Warren National Park..........(sort of west - south)

in the Warren Nat Park is "Old Vasse rd" - there is some free camping spots in there........
WATCH OUT though
Old Vasse Rd is dirt.............in places............

if you were heading south from Pemberton, you could stop at their Tourist Info for a map, which shows where there is free Camping spots

 

[jacbaz]

Denmark, Walpole, Manjimup, Nannup, Busselton is a good route

dont rely on Google Maps........ they lie.......unless they have paved the road from Lake Muir to Dingup through the Upper Warren area..........

That's the way we planned @bigcol ... We 'may' now stay at Denmark for a night and take a look at William Bay and the tall trees etc ... don't think we can take the van in there?

 

[bigcol]

I hate passing through the town myself, (Denmark that is..........
but to stay..........??????????????
I would be far too biased to give fare comment

there is Denmark Ocean Beach Holiday Park - I have heard from others is nice

Parry Beach used to be free camping (20yrs ago)

I would travel further west to either Peaceful Bay or near Nornalup myself or even Walpole

but YES you must do the Tree Top Walk at the Valley of the Giants - it is amazing (DONT TAKE THE VAN - the roads to it, from Bow Bridge or off the Hwy are twisty and great fun without the Van) - you can tow the van, but its a real nice drive on that road without a van on - just saying

just looked on Google Maps - hey, they call it Muirs Hwy now........ must be paved (last time I was down on that road, it was dirt up to the lake from Dingup (we were following tracks for the Warren River - about 15yrs ago......maybe more)

 

[bigcol]

@goncampin did a fare bit of travels down that way last year (however, they dont get on here much)

 

[jacbaz]

Thanks @bigcol ... any comments on taking the van into William Bay - if this is doable, we may well venture further down the road to stay the night

 

[bigcol]

sorry, I cannot even remember if I have been there..........

 

[jacbaz]

That's where the elephant rocks are

 

[bigcol]

Elephant Rocks
Wave Rock
Hippo's Yawn
Gnamma Rocks


see too many to try and remember..........

(I'm old, my mind stopped working with my brain years ago...........)

 

[dagree]

if you have a look at a map,
Pemberton - Northcliffe road.........
it swings north just before Pemberton, there is like a Triangle
Vasse Hwy(sort of east west) Pemby-northcliffe rd (sort of north south) and Warren National Park..........(sort of west - south)

in the Warren Nat Park is "Old Vasse rd" - there is some free camping spots in there........
WATCH OUT though
Old Vasse Rd is dirt.............in places............

if you were heading south from Pemberton, you could stop at their Tourist Info for a map, which shows where there is free Camping spots

@jacbaz If you do decide on the Pemberton area here's a PDF link to The "Karri Forrest Explorer" .
BUT.... If you do go there and want to camp along the Warren River Drive (Heartbreak Trail to Drafty's Camp etc) I'd suggest doing the lap without the van in tow. From memory when we visited the area years ago the exit part of the loop, from Warren Lookout back to Old Vase Rd was loose gravel and hilly.

May have improved since then? This is still on our "To Do" list for a stay over ourselves!

 

[bigcol]

we did meet up with a young couple with a 20' expanda in there @dagree when we were down that way last year.........
I was amazed.....
young couple with 2 young kids traveling Aust - from Victoria.......... lucky doer's

 

[bigcol]

awesome sauce @dagree for that............ never thought to look for a download of the map I have

Maiden Bush would be the pick - with a small caper trailer
the rest of them are on tent camping (I think Warren Campsite I saw a few caper trailers..........)

yes, that part of Old Vasse Rd is dirt........ good run though
I think it was between the Information Shelter, and Marianne Tree was a small shelter, selling local produce..... cheap as as well

 

[bigcol]

Beedalup Falls is quite nice (clean toilets as well when we were there........)

over near Big Brook Dam was a nice little winery, on a sharp corner...... good food, good price

on the other side of Pemberton (towards manjimup) is the Lavender Farm...............ooooooohhhhh yeah, got to have a look if you can
they do a nice Scones and Jam & cream - with the Blue Wrens coming in and being fed by you

 

[dagree]

awesome sauce @dagree for that............ never thought to look for a download of the map I have

Had it saved in favourites as I found it when looking for something else and wanted to go have another look!

 

[jacbaz]

Bit of an update time ...
We consider ourselves so lucky to be living in this beautiful country.
We left Esperance last week with the plan to go to Bremer Bay except the rain and wind kept following us!
Went straight to Albany instead - the following day, we drove out to the Blowholes, Salmon Holes and did the tour at the Whale Museum which was very interesting. The Gap was closed due to 'renovations' !
We also drove up to Mt Clarence but ran out of time to do the actual Museum section of this.
Next day, had a meander around town and then threw in a line - no luck!
From there, we drove through Denmark (missing Jennifer Hawkins by a day or so!) and ventured on to Walpole where we stayed for a couple of nights.
The weather turned it on for us when we went to Elephant Rocks and Greens Pool and once we got to Walpole we headed off on a circular trip taking in the Tingle Tree and Circular Pool.
We then headed up to Mt Frankland for a drive, coming back past Fernhook Falls.
You could spend days in most of these beautiful areas.
Headed to Busselton yesterday and today we'll take a drive down to Margaret River, the caves etc ...

 

[jacbaz]

Did the Margaret River region, taking in the chocolate factory and Providore shop and looking at all the beaches Baz surfed at 30+ years ago! Stayed away from the wineries ... SO many of them and such a trap!!! Also visited Lake Cave for a tour. The next day we went to Busselton Pier and went to the underwater observatory and realised just how many fish are down there, yet they are so hard to catch!!!
Headed from Busselton straight through Perth and stayed at Nambung Station where we caught up with some Melbourne friends who we are currently tagging along with. The farmer that owns the property to us to the pinnacles at the rear of his property and we had a wander through there - great morning.
Drove to Geraldton from there and the following day did the lobster factory tour which is well worth the $10 per head charge. It was Baz's birthday so seafood banquet washed down with wine for tea!
The lady that took the tour told us the Mullewa Muster was on ... before we knew it we were in the red dirt at a rodeo doing some 'boot scooting' into the evening - $15 for a campsite across the rode - another great day!
Yesterday, we headed to Kalbarri arriving to a spectacular sunset ... photos next post!

 

[jacbaz]

Good morning ...
We have been having such a fantastic time, thought I should update you all again! Here are the sunset photos when we arrived at Kalbarri ... Baz finally got the boat in here and did a bit of fishing (no success!)

Went up to Natures Window and Z Bend lookout ... huge boar down the water at Natures Window

From Kalbarri, we headed to Hamelin Station - this is a fantastic place to stay ... the managers Shane and Jason are the nicest people who provide you with heaps of information about the area - we stayed for 2 nights, taking in Monkey Mia and Denham from there and then we left the van there for 2 nights and camped at Steep Point ...

Hamelin Station - now a Bush Heritage site

The trip in to Steep Point was a148km 4 wheel drive track in that took about 3 1/2 hours to do - camping here was definately a high light of the trip (so far!) ... Went fishing, camped right on the beach, fed fish skeletons to the bronze whalers (thanks to the guys camping near us in a big boat!) and caught a few fish which were promptly stolen by a huge groper named 'Mr Bojangles or Jangles' ... So called because of all the hooks and lines hanging from him - they say he jangles as he swims!!! We saw him come straight up to the surface and eat one poor fish we managed to catch and tried to release!!!
We had Dolphins swim by every day right in front of us at camp and saw a few big turtles

The guys balloon fished off the cliff at Steep Point, straightening and losing a few hooks - the number of rod holders in the cliffs everywhere is amazing

We took in the blowholes on the way back to Hamelin Station and collected a few flies along the way!!!!

We also went and had a look at the Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool

Headed to Carnarvon yesterday - timing belt and service to Hilux today and then head in to Cape Range for a week ... booked this a while ago, so when we come out, we'll head back down to Warroora station and Coral Bay!
Stay safe everyone!

 

[17triton]

Spectacular pics Jac and loving the write up. You must be getting a bit warmer now?

 

[mfexpanda]

Looks like you are having a great time and brings back memories of where we went in 2007