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Barden's Great Aussie Adventure 2015
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- Oceania
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Location Date Queensland 1452211200 New South Wales 1452038400 Western Australia 
1451260800 Australian Capital Territory 1449964800 Victoria 1448582400 South Australia 1446768000 Northern Territory 1437346800 -
Location Date Vittoria 1451260800 Balladonia 1444258800 Kalgoorlie 1444172400 Esperance 1443999600 Cape Le Grand National Park 1443740400 Lucky Bay 1443567600 Masons Bay 1443394800 Bremer Bay 1443222000 Albany 1442962800 Walpole 1442790000 Windy Harbour
1442703600 Boranup 1442530800 Busselton 1441926000 The Vines 1441321200 Parmelia 1441148400 Ledge Point 1440975600 Jurien Bay 1440889200 Wagoe Beach 1440716400 Kalbarri 1440630000 Eagle Bluff 1440543600 Denham 1440457200 Carnarvon 1440111600 Quobba 1440025200 Cape Range National Park 1439593200 Exmouth 1439506800 Cleaverville 1439334000 Sandfire 1439247600 Mercedes Cove 1438729200 Broome 1438642800 Gibb River Road 1438556400 King Leopold National Park 1438470000 Gibb River Rd 1438383600 Mount Barnett 1438297200 El Questro 1438124400 Kununurra 1437951600 Purnululu National Park 1437692400 Lake Argyle 1437519600 Leonora 1437433200
We have enjoyed the campground at Conto's but it is time to move on once again. We went to Beedelup Falls which was a short loop walk and included a bridge over the falls and a suspension bridge over the river.
We then did a 2.6km return walk through the national park to the "walk-through tree". It is 75m tall and 2.4m wide. It was interesting and the boys had fun jumping in and out of it.
Next stop we had to choose between going two different directions, one to Bicentennial Tree the other to Gloucester. Gloucester was the original plan as it was actually used as a fire lookout. Between 1937-1972 8 fire towers were built in the southern forests region and used to monitor fires until plane surveillance took over in the 70's. The towers were used in1994/95 again though as it was too windy for planes to fly. Two of these can still be climbed today. We ended up choosing Bicentennial though because it was 8m higher and apparently has nicer views. Only when we got there we learned it was only made in 1988 and was never used as a fire lookout tree. It as built to commemorate 200 years of European settlement.
Even with the carpark quite full no one was climbing or even at the tree. (they must be on the walking tracks). It is quite amazing people are allowed to climb it as there is no protection if things go wrong. It is fairly intimidating having 130 climbing pegs poking out the side of the tree in a spiral pattern. They aren't all consistent either making it a little harder. They have a thin fencing wire screen along the outside which wouldn’t do much but I must say if it wasn’t there I would feel even more vulnerable. There is no protection if you were to slip or fall though. Thankfully there was no one else climbing so we didn’t need to worry about trying to pass someone. There is a platform at 25m and a tower about 75m above the ground. This cabin at the top weighs 2 tonnes and in high winds can swing up to 1.5m in either direction. (no wind today luckily) I had to keep focus just on the pegs and didn’t even see past it until I was on the platforms. I would have been too nervous if I was looking at the drop the whole time. I am glad we accomplished it, as it is definitely a unique experience.
We camped at Wind Harbour tonight which wasn't windy at all.
We then did a 2.6km return walk through the national park to the "walk-through tree". It is 75m tall and 2.4m wide. It was interesting and the boys had fun jumping in and out of it.
Next stop we had to choose between going two different directions, one to Bicentennial Tree the other to Gloucester. Gloucester was the original plan as it was actually used as a fire lookout. Between 1937-1972 8 fire towers were built in the southern forests region and used to monitor fires until plane surveillance took over in the 70's. The towers were used in1994/95 again though as it was too windy for planes to fly. Two of these can still be climbed today. We ended up choosing Bicentennial though because it was 8m higher and apparently has nicer views. Only when we got there we learned it was only made in 1988 and was never used as a fire lookout tree. It as built to commemorate 200 years of European settlement.
Even with the carpark quite full no one was climbing or even at the tree. (they must be on the walking tracks). It is quite amazing people are allowed to climb it as there is no protection if things go wrong. It is fairly intimidating having 130 climbing pegs poking out the side of the tree in a spiral pattern. They aren't all consistent either making it a little harder. They have a thin fencing wire screen along the outside which wouldn’t do much but I must say if it wasn’t there I would feel even more vulnerable. There is no protection if you were to slip or fall though. Thankfully there was no one else climbing so we didn’t need to worry about trying to pass someone. There is a platform at 25m and a tower about 75m above the ground. This cabin at the top weighs 2 tonnes and in high winds can swing up to 1.5m in either direction. (no wind today luckily) I had to keep focus just on the pegs and didn’t even see past it until I was on the platforms. I would have been too nervous if I was looking at the drop the whole time. I am glad we accomplished it, as it is definitely a unique experience.
We camped at Wind Harbour tonight which wasn't windy at all.
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