Albany was wet, very wet and in fact as we set up for our one night stay it actually hailed! Not that conducive to site seeing but there was one spot I had to re visit having last seen it 41 years ago – the iconic Dog Rock. We found that and had a quick look at the Port area but more storms were rolling in and we decided to call it a day.
To our dismay we had no luck getting anyone interested in looking at the Moho slideout so continued on toward our next destination, stopping en route for lunch in lovely little Denmark. A coffee shop in a book shop will get Russell’s vote everytime and the gallery next door got mine. I saw a beautiful canvas drone shot of a local coastal scene and did some research about the location, Elephant Rocks, and we decided to drop in there for a quick look.
Of course as soon as we pulled into the carpark torrential rain started falling but we waited awhile and eventually it abated so we scurried down the path toward the lookout. I couldn’t quite reproduce the beautiful greens that I had seen in the canvas, the weather didn’t help but we still thought it was a beautiful spot.
Back on the road it was a very picturesque route past icecreameries, wineries, breweries, cideries (who knew?) and many other quirky little stalls that we didn’t have the time or suitable weather to visit until eventually we rolled into Walpole and our quirky little caravan park on the shores of Nornalup Inlet.
One review on Wikicamps had mentioned a ‘Kellerman’s (Dirty Dancing) summer camp feel’ and with a bit of imagination I see that too, a little gazebo on the jetty, (not quite big enough for Penny’s salsa lessons) a big wooden Boat Shed (“no one puts Baby in the corner”) but alas no Patrick Swayze 😉
The locals affectionately describe Walpole as ‘the belly button of the world‘ – “you’ve got the South Pole, you’ve got the North Pole and you’ve got Walpole” …. It proved to be a a little town with lots of options for us. Russell managed to get in a game of bowls whilst Steph and I visited the spectacular Valley of the Giants tree top walk which afforded a unique view of the mainly karri forest interspersed with the wider based tingle tree.
Someone we met in the Esperance caravan park had highly recommended the Walpole eco tour run by the extremely knowledgable and very entertaining “Gazza.” If ever you are in the region, don’t miss this! We spent a couple of hours touring the inlet learning about history, ecology, geology, biology, the indigenous population and other facts so diverse you wonder how they could be strung together in an a very enjoyable narrative which was topped off by Gazza’s mum’s cake for morning tea.
About 1.5 kms off this coastline is the “The Right,” one of the most challenging waves on the planet apparently which has infamously only been surfed by a select few very experienced surfers.
I had made several phone calls trying to get the Moho looked out without success, some offering to look at it in July (!) but had eventually found The Caravan Shed near Fremantle which had agreed to see us in a week so we had adjusted our itinerary to allow a (hopefully) quick visit to Bibra Lakes and so temporarily parted company with John and Steph the next day as we started northwards.
On the way was Pemberton, another little gem I had last visited forty one years ago but some things hadn’t changed at all, namely the gorgeous local pool.
We had a chance to meet some of the local residents as well before heading north the next day for what we hope will be a diagnosis (and solution) on the slideout situation ….
We have booked in to Coogee Beach Caravan Park (horrendously expensive) but convenient to The Caravan Shed so fingers crossed 🤞