Thursday 7 November 2013

Cape Leeuwin and Pemberton 03 - 04 November 2013

Stopped off at Cape Leeuwin, which is the most south westerly point of mainland Australia, to see the lighthouse. This is the tallest lighthouse in WA, but only about the sixth tallest in Oz. Still the Wait Awhileians do like to brag about it ;-) It's not really trying to imitate the Tower of Pisa either - I just didn't hold the camera/phone straight when I took the photo (so hard to get good help these days!). Cape Leeuwin is also where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet and prior to the lighthouse being built there were many shipwrecks in the area. None since though, so it must be working.







While constructing the lighthouse, the builders needed a constant supply of water and this was pumped to the site by a waterwheel which is still there on the beach today. It is now encased in lime from the spring water which drove it and is virtually fossilized.



 

Well, after all that touristy excitement, there was nothing left but to push on for Pemberton. We camped in the national park at a spot called Big Brook Arboretum. Back in the 1930's they planted a bunch of different trees here from around the world in the middle of the forrest. We saw American Sequoias, pine trees from Mexico, trees from Cyprus, and even some from NSW and Victoria. No idea why - maybe they were looking for a replacement for all the Karri trees they were cutting down. Anyway, they are an interesting site to see, but I think that if you wanted to have a look yourself you need to hurry as many of them had ominous white rings painted round their trunks and I'm betting that they are now deemed surplus to requirements.
The campsite came complete with fire pits and this was the first time so far where it has been both cool enough and permissable to light a camp fire. It was great to cook on a hot plate again and sit up and stare into the flames. Definitely brought back memories of the Murray.



Also reminicent of the Murray was the fact that there was a family of Kookaburras in residence, and they were more than prepared to elbow their way into anyone's dinner. They knocked off sausages and chops from right under the noses of other campers. Luckily, we were running a little late and didn't eat until after the birds had gone to bed for the evening.



While we were in town we went searching for the Gloucester Ridge winery. This was owned by Don Hancock, the brother of one of the guys (Paul) I did System 12 (an old type of telephone exchange if you don't know) training with in Sydney years ago and last time we were here Don and his wife were very nice to us and invited us back to their home after closing to help drink the left overs from the day's tastings and eat kilo after kilo of maron and smoked trout their son had caught - yum. Sadly, the winery is no more and the vineyard had been plowed under in preparation for subdivision. Oh well, it has been twenty odd years since we were in town... We also had a look at the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree and the Gloucester Tree which are both ex fire watcher trees. Basically a really brave and foolhardy ranger climbed these trees using spiked boots until they were 60 to 70 meters off the ground and then they proceeded to cut the top 10 metres out of the trees with an axe, so that a fire watching platform could be built there. They then put steel pegs in a spiral from the ground to the platform to make a staircase for the fire watchers to climb up and down. Amazing what some people will do when it needs to be done.


Bicentennial Tree
Gloucester Tree

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