The Great Southern Forests - Manjimup & Walpole

We headed off to Fonty’s Pool Caravan Park the Friday morning of a long weekend (and beginning of school holidays) to try & get to the Gloucester Tree before it was too packed to climb! We arrived to a beautiful serene grassed park within a sheep farm with amazing gardens. Unfortunately by later that night we were surrounded by large groups of holiday makers (including a bikey group) and lots of family groups that were very loud! It’s so very different from the grey nomad dominated parks that are silent by 8pm.

We got to the Gloucester Tree (a massive 61m high tree used for fire lookouts) at Pemberton late afternoon and were able to have a try climbing it (not me though – my thigh is still giving me grief and I’d prefer to keep my feet on Terra Firma!) Elise got the highest but no one reached the top of 61m. I still can’t believe that OH&S don’t require harnesses! We did the forest walk instead which was stunning.

The next day Kieren wanted to go back to conquer the tree but it was raining & windy – not a good combination for tree climbing. So we took the kids to Manjimup Timber Heritage Park and they had a wonderful time playing for hours. Back to Fonty’s where the crowds had increased and one tenting family group had totally surrounded a Motorhome so he couldn’t even get out! Mr J decided he’d had enough of close quarters with girls & demanded a tent outside of his own. So we set up the 3 man tent and packed it full of blankets (it was only 5 degrees overnight). The next morning (after using ear plugs cos of the bikey group noise) he decided that 3 girls & a warm bed wasn’t so bad after all. Lol – till next time ;-) Mr J was pretty happy about one thing at Fonty’s – a whole box of apples straight from the orchard next door for just $10. Miss A & E also made the most of school holiday families and earned some money selling cupcakes they’d baked. Thanks for the suggestion Caitlin!

Walpole

We left Manjimup early and drove down to a rest stop just shy of Walpole where we dropped off our van and went exploring for the day.  First on the to-do-list was a massive Tingle tree (a eucalyptus unique to this area). It’s so big that you used to be able to park a car underneath in the trunk’s hollow. Next was a visit to circular pool which Mr J really loved. The water in this river has so much saponin from the trees nearby that the little waterfalls cause it to froth up looking exactly like a massive flowing cappuccino! We enjoyed our lunch here watching the froth swirl around the circular pool.

Next was a visit to Mt Frankland which gives you 360 degree views over the massive Tingle forests. It was a beautiful walk with massive granite boulders sitting right at the top that you need to climb to get to the lookout! After this we were all tired & hungry so headed back into sleepy little Walpole for a hot chocolate & scone. We freecamped that night back at the rest stop with only 1 other car in sight and silence….ahhh.

Giant Tingle Tree

Hot Dog lunch at Circular Pool

Miss T thought this looked like a Dr Seuss character!

Mt Frankland Lookout

The next morning we got going early (or tried to!)  to get to the Treetop walk before the crowds of long-weekenders. The treetop walk is a suspended steel walkway that reaches up to heights of 41m in the tingle forest. The swaying at the highest point is unreal but pretty scary. We were glad we didn’t go later as crowds were clearly ignoring the 10 people per span & 20 people per platform rule. It was a sensational outing and certainly makes you appreciate the height of these amazing trees.

On the way to our next stop we pulled in at Elephant Rocks & Green Pool. This was an amazing swimming spot that is protected from the southern ocean with massive granite boulders. We did a quick walk around the 2 gorgeous spots but couldn’t stay longer as there was no caravan parking L

Next stop Albany!

Perfect place for a cat nap...