Albany, Australia

How do you like to spend your birthday? Well, cooped up in the car driving for all day in the rain or course.

There wasn’t as much of a blow last night as we’d expected, in fact, the night was quite warm and we sort of dawdled around a bit this morning only to find that by pack up time it was raining. We managed to get hooked up without getting too wet and drove back into Busselton in the hope that we could get a look at the jetty. Busselton’s jetty is the longest wooden piled structure in the world, at 1.8 km long.

Of course with the rain and mist, there wasn’t much of a view today and I didn’t need to pay $3 each to walk almost 4km return in the rain but we did manage to get up the lighthouse tower at the visitor’s centre and take some photos. It’s pretty wild out there today which is a pity as there’s a 12 mtr underwater observatory at the end of the jetty which is known to be Australia’s best but as it looks out to sea, and rough weather causes it to be closed.

We’re all a little wet now and it’s still bucketing down so the plan is to head toward Pemberton, in the heart of the tall tree region. On our list are the Diamond Tree, Gloucester Tree and the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, all Karri trees that have fire spotting platforms accessible by climbing a series of metal spikes driven into the trunk. At 51, 62 & 78 meters high, I won’t need to climb them though.

It rained all day, a pretty miserable day really and a shame given it’s Lyn’s birthday today. The drive down to the Karri forest was uneventful and our first stop was at Beedulup Falls. Of course, it’s still raining but we’ve come a long way to get to WA and a little rain isn’t going to stop these intrepid explorers.

Decked out in the latest hiking fashion wear, $2 plastic ponchos, we brave the elements and trek the 300 mtrs to the suspension bridge to view the falls. It’s nice and dry inside the poncho but I’m sure that we all look at little odd? Of course, wherever there is a suspension bridge, there will be some nuisance who wants to jump up and down and make it swing around and wobble. Today was no exception and even though it was her birthday, Lyn growled at me for doing it. Beedulup Falls are pretty little waterfalls and it was probably good that it was raining as there was plenty of water going over when we were there.

Even after getting a little lost we managed to find our way through some really pretty countryside full of vineyards and avocado plantations, to the Diamond Tree. Of course, it was raining and we must have looked quite stupid standing around the base of the tree looking up with our umbrellas. Matthew stayed in the car (sensible boy) but the rest of us all climbed six or seven steps for a photo opportunity but it was far to wet to climb the whole way. It’s huge and I can’t imagine spending all day at the top, gazing around the forest looking for fires.

Onward again, this time to find the Gloucester Tree. Originally used for fire spotting in 1947, this is the most famous of WA’s Karri trees and by the time we got there the rain had stopped (briefly). Matthew was away and up the tree like a rat up a drainpipe with Merryn not to be outdone, following along behind. Lyn and I stood at the bottom and watched with no intention of climbing up any further than a few meters and Patrick just looked green as he gazed upward. He, like me, doesn’t like heights but he looked decidedly ill even considering the prospect.

Of course, it rained and Matthew and Merryn got soaking wet on the downward journey so a change of clothes was in order before we departed Pemberton. Since the weather is so lousy today, we’ve opted to push on to Albany for the night. Lyn booked a park, we fueled up and leaving Pemberton at 3:00pm, we moved off for the last 250km of the day arriving just on dark around 6:00.

Dinner at the White Star Hotel in Albany for Lyn’s birthday was a nice way to finish off the day listening to a quirky little folk/blues ensemble in the lounge. Great food, great company and we’ve still got a couple more weeks to