South west forests

from 3rd October

From the deep south we cut across inland to Bridgetown, such gorgeous country!  It’s fairly hilly, green and lush.  We both really liked Bridgetown, a former timber town set in the hills.

 

A taste of the sort of country we travelled through to Bridgetown

About 15 minutes south, halfway between Bridgetown and Manjimup, is the tiny settlement of Yornup where we spent 3 nights with ‘Doc’, someone Phil knows.  This was good, as Doc’s an interesting fellow and with the weather being pretty wet we couldn’t have done a lot of outdoor things anyway.  He lives in one of about 15 old buses he has on his property – we stayed in another.  So much room! 

The bus we slept in - Doc has dozens of them!

Our travels then took us into the amazing forests of south west Australia, through Manjimup, Pemberton and Northcliffe.  All of these are former timber towns and lovely little places.  Some of the taller, strategically located karri trees were used as fire towers and still have the pegs circling the trunks to enable them to be climbed.  We only went up a short way, just for the experience. 

 

Deb

Phil

Happy together in the karri forests

There are so many national parks in this region and we had a fabulous time exploring.  It’s impossible to describe the beauty of this area.  The weather was cool, there was some light rain at times and this only made the forests even more inviting.  We camped out in the bush for 7 nights in a row, each at a different location.  So peaceful!  The fresh smells, the bird sounds, the colours.

Soooo much better than a caravan park!

Morning view through our window