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After leaving Perth we travelled south to Bunbury stopping there for lunch. It looked like a great spot. We travelled further south but a little east into the southern forests, the countryside becoming increasingly hilly and bushy with clearings for cattle and sheep farms, gorgeous, green and lush. We travelled through a gorgeous little town called Nannup which we would love to come back to one day. There were old pubs and cottages and the streets were lined with pots of tulips. As we got closer to Pemberton the towering Karri trees started to emerge, all of us craning our necks to try to see the tops of these amazingly tall trees. We camped in a National park camp in the Big Brook forest. The boys loved getting back to the bush. They made their own park from the fallen trees and stumps, a slide, a see-saw, a swing and a balance beam. They also played stick races in a clear stream, dropping them on one side of a little bridge and seeing whose stick made it to the other side first. The next day we drove in to the very pretty little town of Pemberton and went to the Gloucester tree, a 53 metre Karri with a ladder winding around and up the trunk to the top! The boys went a little way, high enough, but Ben went ALL the way! He said that even after all the things he's done in his life that was DEFINITELY the most scary thing yet! It was quite dangerous, with no safety at all. We went back into town for a beautiful pie-lunch and a play at the park then we drove out of the forests down through marshlands to Windy Harbour, a strange little fishing settlement on the coast (Southern ocean). There were little mini houses and one shop and a few camping spots. We had a walk around the beach to stretch our legs. We left there to head towards Walpole but to stay in another national park camp, this time at Fernhook falls. Because of the winter rains the falls were gushing, the water slightly brown from the tannins from the forest floor and it made a heap of foam and made one of the pools look like a cappuccino! The next day we drove in to Walpole, a small ordinary town, where we got a very ordinary coffee but nice bread and buns from the bakery for lunch later. We were planning on visiting the giant Tingle Tree, a very old huge tree with a circumference of 24 metres!, but unfortunately we weren't able to drive in with the caravan so we drove on to the Valley of the Giants to do a Tree-top walk. It's a 600 metre long 40 metre high platform walk through the (almost) tops of the Karris and Tingle trees, wow! A very exciting and a beautiful way to see the trees. After that we did the ground walk, another beautiful way to see the ancient trees up close. Some of the Tingle trees were hollowed out, so the paths went right through the middle of them. One was called the Grandma tree, it's estimated to be about 450 years old and had a circumference of 12 metres! I can only imagine how huge the Giant Tingle was at double that circumference! We will have to see it next time. Hopefully it will still be standing in another 20 years. After a spot of lunch we moved on to a reptile and parrot centre. We were greeted by the resident White Cockatoo with a "Hello Darlin'!!" which the boys thought was hilarious. The centre also had some models of dinosaur skeletons, the T-Rex was very impressive and reminded us why humans would have never survived on earth with them around! We all then got to have a cuddle with a couple of cute bearded dragons, a slippery but stunning looking python and some pretty parrots. A beautiful black cockatoo kept me company, sitting on my shoulder for ages as we walked around looking at all the other birds. The man said he only liked mums and he was right, as whenever the boys or Ben came too close he'd have a go at them! We left there, being farewelled by the white cockatoo giving us a cheery "Bye Bye!" from the tree as we got into our car, lol! We drove on to the very gorgeous river town of Denmark where we set up overlooking the river mouth and inlet. Unfortunately it was too cold and wet to sit out and enjoy the scenery. Next time.......
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Nana I have to try to stop chuckling as I imagine you walking around with that big bird on your shoulder Megs!!