Sunday 4th November 2018 - Time to move on again and this morning we are heading for Walpole. On arrival we went into the visitor's centre where we were greeted by a gentleman from Southampton in the UK who instantly recognised us for Spurs fans… After a chat and some information on the area we drove around to Coalmine Beach and set up camp.

We then set off again to visit the Giant Tingle Tree; a huge red tingle tree that has been hollowed by fire. We wandered through the forest to oldest living eucalypt in the world that is estimated to be 400 years old. Tingle Trees can primarily be found in forests near Walpole; they grow with a hollow trunk, fibrous trunk with a shallow root system. This can make them natural survivors of bush fires and continue to grow with their burnt our hollows.

We walked through the hollowed trunk of this magnificent old tree before heading back to the carpark as it had started to drizzle hoping to make it back before it poured. No such luck! We briefly took shelter under the canopies of the tingle and karris trees, made a quick dash to the car and headed back to camp where we were greeted by drenched and sorry looking Kookaburras and kangaroos feasting on the lush green grass.

Monday 5th November 2018 - We had heard about the WOW Wilderness cruise and that is a must do and that's exactly what we did. We rinsed our shoes in disinfectant before getting aboard and were greeted by the owner Gary Muir our host for the trip.

The disinfectant is to fight dieback disease a soil-borne water mould that causes root rot in plants and it is having a devastating effect on the native vegetation.

Well as the name suggests - Wow! This cruise certainly was one not to miss. The tour have been running by the same family since 1910 and takes you across the Walpole inlet through two forested knolls and then out into the big Nornalup inlet. We sailed to the inlet where it flows out to the Southern Ocean. The sight was stunning with a mixture of wild breakers and clear turquoise water over shallow and deep pools against a sandy shore.

We stopped at The Depot jetty and walked across the sand dunes that came out onto a gorgeous ocean side beach that was pristine, rugged and windswept as it remains untouched as part of Walpole's many designated parks.

The tour was made interesting by Gary as he had a never ending knowledge of everything that was delivered with enthusiasm and good storytelling. Morning tea was served on the way back and we enjoyed the homemade lemon cake made by Gary's mum. This was a good way to spend the morning.

After the cruise we then headed for Mt Frankland a large granite peak around 400m amongst a forest of Karri, Jarrah and Tingle tree. We walked along the bitumised path that climbed steeply to a lookout before continuing on to the start of 300 steps to the summit.

We carried on up through the granite rocks and vegetation of small trees, Balga's and wildflowers before we arrived at two sets of vertical ladders and finally the summit that gave panoramic view across the tree tops of the Mt Frankland Range, the Walpole wilderness, the Stirling Ranges and the Ocean.

It was starting to get blustery sowe took shelter by the weather station that is used to survey for bushfires before heading back down and avoiding a rain cloud that was heading our way.

Our next stop was at the Swarbrick Art loop that took us through old Karri trees that featured a few sculptures depicting Aboriginal message stick. As we completed the loop that took past a long mirror reflecting the forest it started to rain again and we made it back to the car without getting wet again. We have been lucky today managing to duck the numerous showers throughout the day.

On our way back we took a short divert and drove the Knoll drive that wound it way to the narrow inlet and back along to Coalmine Beach where we went for another walk. We didn't stay long; you've guessed it! it rained again, so we drove back to camp and more soggy Kookaburras and Kangaroos.

Tuesday 6th November 2018 - Melbourne Cup Day. We had a lazy morning before heading to the Walpole Hotel for a cup day lunch and a bet.

We watched the race where the first two horses of our trifecta came in before heading into the restaurant and enjoying a lovely 3 course lunch.

All was not lost though as we decided to place a bet on the last race and thought we had put an each way bet on an outsider. We sat and watched in disbelieve as Teleplay came in first. When we collected our winnings the amount didn't tally and found that we had put it all on to win. You can imagine the surprise. Not bad for picking a horse where the name had LEE in it!!