After spending most of the last few months travelling along and around the WA coastline, it was time to head inland and explore something a little different. First it was Porongurup National Park and the Stirling Ranges National Park to do some trails before heading into the Wheatbelt to explore the smaller communities and visit Wave Rock.
Porongurup
On our way to the Stirling Ranges we stopped in the Porongurup National Park to climb the Granite Skywalk. The Granite Skywalk is a boardwalk, fastened to the top of the granite rocks atop Castle Rock. The walk to the top is constantly uphill, but isn’t particularly difficult, steep or challenging. It was the first real uphill walking we’d done for a while so everyone felt it.
With this walk, the challenge isn’t so much getting to the top, it’s getting to the skywalk part. There is the easy option of a lookout, which is at track level. It still affords some great views, but doesn’t take you to the very top of the formation.
The Skywalk itself is a tough climb. Getting up there is a combination of boulder climbing, using pegs driven into the rock face and scaling a steep and relatively tall ladder. This effort was simple enough for the adults, but the kids found it harder going. Hannah was a bit short and just didn’t always have the reach to get between hand and footholds. With some assistance we all made it to the top. It was one of the best views we’ve experienced, the skywalk allows you to really appreciate the view.
Stirling Ranges
The walk-up Bluffs Knoll was the main event. Abby had found this climb and it was expected (at least by the adults) to be a great trail. It was steep, long and winding. It was advertised to take four hours and we used that whole time.
When we arrived at the bottom, it was truly beautiful, with the mountaintop hidden by cloud. It reminded us of many of the trails we did in New Zealand. The trail up was quite challenging too. It was steep, with rough formed steps, rocks and towards the top pretty limited trail building. It’s also one of those exposed places where the weather can change quickly, making the top impossible to reach. Experience told us to be prepared, with wet weather gear, warm weather gear and plenty of water.
We figured that with our early start as we climbed the cloud would burn off and we would get the magnificent views the walk promised. We took it easy, stopping on the way to talk with other walkers and some rangers. The climb took us through a variety of vegetation, it changed as we slowly climbed. Eventually towards the top it turned into alpine style vegetation and it was gorgeous. Walking this section of the trail, was the highlight. Between the fleeting cloud cover, stunning views and amazing plant life it made the whole climb worth it.
When we hit the top, we had patches to clear sky mixed with periods of cloud. It was noticeably cooler and windier but when the clouds parted the view was special.
Once we returned to the base, we had a chat with a few of those taking it in from the bottom. One gent was a traditional owner of the nearby country, who was visiting with some local rangers to install predator fencing. He wasn’t able to make the climb, but was determined to build his fitness to make it in the coming months. It would certainly be worth his effort.
Wheatbelt
The wheatbelt is pretty self-explanatory, the centre of wheat growing in Western Australia. It is a huge area full of small country towns and slightly off the beaten track things to do.
Country Town Touring
We used the great little town of Kulin as our wheatbelt base and explored. We created a bit of a tourist drive as we approached Kulin, taking in Lake Grace and the Jam Patch. Both were short stops but worth a look considering they are not out of the way. The most entertaining element of the drive to Kulin was the Tin Horse Highway, a series of community created artworks. They are pretty much as described, being tin horses. The brief must have been pretty wide open and the tin horses are constructed from a variety of material and into a variety of poses. It was a good laugh on our way into town as we spotted them by the roadside.
The next day was a self-drive tour of the region. We decided to visit a few of the nearby town to take in some of the highlights. First stop was Gorge Rock, an old swimming hole carved and dammed into the granite. Next was Corrigan to see the Dog Cemetery, before we stopped at Emu Hill on the way into Narembeen. Narembeen was the home to the grain museum and some street art before we turned to home with a final stop at Statues Lake.
But the critical part of the big plan was to be back from this little tour in time to spend a few hours at the Kulin Pool. The waterslide opens on the weekend and given you can’t really enter town without seeing it the kids were super excited to ride it. It was pretty fun and several hours later they had made well over 20 runs down it. An impressive feat considering it’s 86 steps to the top.
Wave Rock
The main reason we pushed out this way though was Wave Rock. A famous piece of granite, shaped by the forces of water over millennia. It quite clearly resembles a breaking wave about 15m tall and over 100m long. It was pretty hot during our time there so we were careful to dodge the worst of the heat.
We visited Wave Rock a few times, twice around sunset and once in the morning. Abby woke up early one morning and decided to see the sunrise instead of lying in bed awake. Each time the rock was different and the light changed the colours and shadows. We walked the trails on and around it, learning the history and seeing probably the strangest water collection system we’d ever see. The rock has been dammed and small walls have been built all over it to direct the rainwater flow into the dam. Not the prettiest arrangement but effective enough.
Over the road from the caravan park was a resort. Caravan park guests were welcome to use the Salt Pool there. It was the weirdest and coolest swim we’ve ever had. They have pumped hyper saline water from the nearby salt lake into the pool. This super salinity means you float without any effort, similar to the dead sea. It was disconcerting to say the least, especially once we figured out you could float vertically.
The Humps
The last part of our visit in the area was to the Humps. We took the trails over and around the Humps, which focussed on both the indigenous history and European history. It was there we really began to understand skill and knowledge the traditional owners needed to survive in these parts.
Our visit to the Humps was wrapped up with a stop at Mulka’s Cave. There is a huge indigenous history at Mulka’s Cave. Not the least being the story of Mulka himself, the cross-eyed giant son of a forbidden relationship. The cave is full of handprints and offered a cool respite from the heat to enjoy them too.
This part of the journey was great. We really enjoyed being back off the coast and exploring the smaller communities. It’s a very different experience and despite the heat, we are looking forward to the next inland legs in South Australia.