We had finally made the bottom section of the WA coast. It was time to crawl along the south coast.
Denmark and Walpole
It would seem the small towns on the Rainbow Coast are popular. Given our preference for late bookings, we couldn’t get in at either Walpole or Denmark. No worries as we found a farm stay halfway between them.
It worked better for us ironically, as it was more central. We ended up stopping in at both Walpole and Denmark on our travels.
Walpole
The small community of Walpole was explored on one of our day trips. Somehow it was smaller than we expected. We saw its curious double inlet arrangement and enjoyed lunch on a beach on the outer inlet. The inner inlet was interesting too. It felt more like a lake when we stopped at the jetty. The inlet looked shallow and would have been (another) great spot for a kayak. It wasn’t the focus of the day as we kept moving in search the Giant Tingle.
Denmark
We called in at Denmark on our way to Albany. It was the morning after some rain and it gave the town an interesting vibe. Denmark was pretty, especially the main street and river front. It was only a short stop but it felt like Denmark was on its way to becoming the next Margaret River style holiday town. Good luck to the locals.
Albany
We have written about some of the Albany highlights in other posts. The National ANZAC Memorial, the Whaling Station and Brig Amity were highlights for us. To save repeating things they are more than worth a visit. The ANZAC Memorial and Whaling Station in particular, as they are very unique experiences.
Albany itself was a nice little town and we enjoyed our time there. It had a bit of everything with activities to do, beaches to visit, National Parks on its doorstep and was a bigger centre before we headed into the wheatbelt.
We didn’t have the time to explore all the natural spaces in the area, but it was good enough we’d happily return in the future.
Tingles
One of the biggest attractions of this area is the trees. The area is home two several unique types of eucalypt that are fortunately these days afforded some protection. You can visit the Karri, found in several protected forests, but the major attraction though are the Tingles. Fortunately these sites have now been absorbed into the Walpole-Nornalup National Park.
Giant Tingle
The Giant Tingle is just that, an absolute giant of a tingle tree. It’s estimated to be well over 400 years old and it shows its age. The inside of the base of its trunk has been entirely hollowed out by both fungi and fire. The space inside is cavernous, showing just how large the giant has grown.
Despite the hollowed trunk it continues to survive. The top is gnarled and far from pretty, but effective at keep the tree alive. It’s been said that during the days the area was cleared, that larger trees were felled. It’s a shame, but this is the largest left.
Tree Top Walk
Built high into the canopy of a forest of Red Tingles is the Tree Top Walk. It’s one of the most touristy things we have done for a long time. It is popular, but by some stroke of luck we arrived in a quieter period.
The walk takes you up into the canopy on a series of suspended boardwalks. They allow you to really appreciate just how large these Red Tingles can get. It was pretty special being both so high and surrounded by the canopy. It gives a completely different perspective to the forest and protects these trees from the thousands of footsteps of tourists. The suspended boardwalk is so good we did it twice, just to enjoy the forest.
There is also a second lower walk that takes you along the forest floor to explore these giants from the ground too. You can explore this a little more leisurely. It was our first chance to really get close to the based of these trees and there are several hollowed specimens to see. It complemented the high walk nicely.
National Parks
This part of WA has a great variety of National Parks. They are our favourite things to visit and explore and in addition to the Walpole-Nornalup National Park we made a pretty good effort exploring the natural riches of the area.
Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks
Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks are a very, very popular option for explorers. Simple to access, with plenty of space and rather spectacular to see, we were on the fence about it. We need not have been concerned though, as despite visiting on Australia Day the crowds were manageable.
Greens Pool is a very large protected bay type area. It’s protected from the ocean by a wall of granite boulders, which keep the waves at bay and create a sheltered pool on the inside. It is known as a place to snorkel and this was a popular choice for the day.
The snorkelling is not great as it’s not a reef, but we have been pretty spoilt so far. If you wanted to introduce kids to snorkelling this would be a great spot. There is plenty of seaweed beds to see, which are interesting and there were a few fish on offer to. We were happy we made the effort both see the pool and snorkel it, but it wasn’t blow your socks off amazing.
Elephant Rocks are rocks that look (with some squinting and imagination) like a herd of elephants walking into the sea. We could see the resemblance and they were certainly more elephant like than some of the other shaped rocks we’ve passed.
The highlight though was the crevice between the elephants. A crack in the granite where at the right tide you could walk out of the elephants and back to the beach. The tide was wrong for us, but the water rushing up this little crevice was pretty special.
Mount Frankland
We explored Mount Frankland while in the Walpole area. It felt quite out of the way and was one of the quieter parks to visit. The highlights of this park are the massive boulders. When we say huge, we mean incomprehensibly large granite boulders that are almost hills or mountains in their own right.
There are two main ones to visit, one surrounded by a walkway that gives a view out over the valley. The second is much larger and higher and is still used to spot fires. It’s a steep climb to its base, past the fire spotting infrastructure before you climb a series of stairs and ladders to reach the top. It got the blood pumping but the reward was worth it.
On our way out was one of the more unique experiences in a National Park we have had. It’s an art installation (in the forest), the theme of which is how the perception of the forest (and its value) has changed over time. It’s intended to make you think and it certainly does that.
Fortunately the perception has well and changed from an exploitation to a preservation mindset. But when you read into it, the fight its still on going. Some protection has been afforded, but native logging still continues throughout Australia.
Torndirrup
Torndirrup National Park is one of the parks close by to Albany. It’s probably the most popular and most accessible, with some of its best attractions only a very short walk from the carpark. It also happens to surround the Albany Whaling Station, so you can easily visit both in a day.
The two most famous attractions here are The Gap and Natural Bridge. The infrastructure recently installed here makes these two viewpoints spectacular and allows you to get up close (or out over them). Watching the power of the ocean here is mesmerising.
Our visit was more comprehensive though. We made the effort to see the Blowholes, walking the 78 steps to see them in action. While they weren’t spraying water high into the air like some others we have seen, the rush of air was unmistakeable. Besides, the view from this section of the coast was worth the walk anyway.
We stopped for a look over Salmon Beach on our way to the Isthmus Hill trail. We have seen our share of beaches so far and skipped walking on the sand to get the longer trail walk in. The Isthmus Hill trail is a shorter section of the much longer Bald Head trail. It takes you to an early granite peak, giving 360 degree views of the area. The section we walked was tough but afforded some pretty special views in all directions. It would have been amazing to walk the 12.5km to Bald Head, but we didn’t have the time do that.
The rest of the our visit was spent looking in at the lookouts, that take in the various bays, beaches and formations of the area. This park needs to be on the shortlist of any visit to Albany, even if you only take the easy options.
We enjoyed our time on the Rainbow Coast. The mix of forest and sea was nice allowing you to vary your exploration. Despite visiting around a long weekend, it was busy but not crowded. Just how we like it.