Around Australia 2012: Denmark WA 10/10/12 to 13/10/12

We packed up at Pemberton and drove 30km to Northcliffe to the “Hollow Butt Café”, to have breakfast to celebrate Doug’s birthday. It was his idea as he said it must have good food if you are prepared to call yourself the “Hollow Butt”. From there it was off to just the other side of Walpole to “The Valley of the Giants / Treetops Walk”. With the “Treetops Walk” you venture out on a suspended platform some 40 metres above the ground and walk through the tops of the Tingle Trees. Pretty cool being up at the top of the trees and looking down on the valley floor. Later, on the “Valley of the Giants” walk you walk through the valley floor. The trees grow in such a way that the base of the trunk splits and creates a sort of cave or, sometimes, a complete passage through the tree. In the past it was a popular pastime to park your car in the base of the tree and take a picture. However, this has shown to destroy the root system and cause the tree to topple over. The “Valley of the Giants” walk allows you to have a good look at the trees from the forest floor and even walk through one on a specially constructed platform.

Once we finished here we proceeded on to Denmark. Denmark is a lovely little town on an inlet, and our caravan park was right down on the water. Once again the countryside during our trip was beautiful. Not much was done first day but a quick check out of the town, the info centre and then out to a brewery we were told about - on Doug’s insistence as it was his birthday. That night we had Doug’s birthday dinner and the boys had their apple ciders in the bottle in stubbie coolers – they thought they were so cool.

Next day was the big one – Vicki and Jacob’s birthdays. Present opening first thing in the morning with Jacob very impressed with his ball slingshot thingy and other stuff. Vicki did alright too. Morning was spent trying to catch fish off the nearby jetty, with absolutely no luck. Later we packed a lunch and headed out of town to check out Elephant Rocks and the Green Pool. Elephant Rocks are enormous rocks that look like just like a group of elephants wandering along. The climb to get to them was a bit treacherous with some difficult sections; and the difficulties further compounded by a snake. The Green Pool was a small inlet from the ocean and quite spectacular. We all went for a swim here, but only very briefly as the water was extremely cold. Then it was a drive the long way home, stopping at a winery and at a cheese factory; on both occasions sampling the product and making a purchase. Back home it was birthday drinks and nibbles from our days purchases. A great day.

We were enjoying our time in Denmark, and in particular our caravan park down by the Wilson Inlet, so we decided to stay a further day. We spent most of this day in and around the park area, although Doug and Nate ventured into town early to get haircuts. We hired canoes and paddled up the river. We also had another go at fishing in the area – but again with no success. After most of the day around the park, Doug wanted to get out, so guess where we went. Out to the brewery we visited on our first day. A couple of ales, a bowl of chips and then home for dinner and an early night.

Happy birthday to dad

Birthday breakfast in "The Hollow Butt" cafe in Northcliffe

The Big Breakfast, naturally

Tree Tops Walk and Valley of the Giants

Rural Fire Service putting on a show out the front of the Tree Tops Walk

Birthday beer at Boston Brewery, just on the outskirts of Denmark

Boys mucking around in the kids play atrea at the brewery. As I think we have mentioned earlier, most wineries and breweries seem to have something set up to entertain the kids. Perhaps it's a way to get the adults to stay longer.