Day 161 – Walpole – Thierings on Tour

This morning we woke up to yet more rain, which was annoying, but at least we had the undercover kitchen and games room to spread out.

I cooked the girls their favourite egg circle and they had two each, they must have been hungry!

I’d heard about the WOW eco cruise as we headed into the region, so this was our morning activity for today. The girls found a cool tree to climb as we waited for the boat.

To jump on the boat we all had to clean our shoes using a special machine with brushes and a stream of water, as we would be disembarking on a stretch of coast that is wild and inaccessible by road or foot otherwise, so it’s important to keep the biodiversity protected.

Gazza the guide had an energy I have never seen before and he was so knowledgeable – painting connections between history, geography, biology and ecology whilst running left to right on the boat to grab yet another photo or show yet another artifact. It was both fascinating and hilarious! A really cool thing he shared was two bottles filled up with different coloured sand from the beach, one normal white sand and the other purple, which was much denser and heavier. Gary explained that a few weeks ago the beach turned completely purple from the natural processes and reactions and then was back to normal within a few days.

I had no idea of the significance of Walpole in so many aspects of life with political and historical events all tying in to the protection of Walpole’s reserve. Frank Skinner Thompson who had fled the UK and had close ties to Leo Tolstoy had build Tinglewood Lodge, which helped rescue a Norwegian boat the Mandalay and later led to a bravery medal from the King of Norway. There were ties to France and other countries, which certainly influenced the geopolitical events in the early 20th century. Throughout the cruise Gary shared so much information that my head was spinning by the end of it and there’s no way I would be able to recall it all, but all I can say is that it was a fascinating journey and his close family ties to the area for over 150 years gave him a knowledge that is unparalleled.

Once we had docked we walked across to the other side to see Shelley beach, a beautiful stretch of coast. Gary showed us the purple sand and we walked around admiring the view. Upon our return to the inlet, we got treated to delicious lemon cake, an absolute hit with our girls.

By the time we disembarked it was time for lunch and the local pub had a Chinese buffet with the most delicious sticky, slow cooked pork ribs. Poor Scarly disregarded my request of “no running” yet again only to fall in the most unfortunate way of head meeting metal table leg pole. The huge bruise raised instantly and was purple immediately. It was horrid and honestly I don’t know who cried more – our brave girl or me… the ice helped but it’s huge!

It was good to see her bounce back quickly and enjoy the playground before we headed off to our next stop for the day.

The Valley of the Giants is a beautiful walk along the treetops of the forest with many Karri and jarrah trees showing off the natural beauty of the area. The platform goes up to 40m high and I must say the height bothered me a bit, whilst the kids happily skipped through the whole place.

At the end there was also a forest walk, complete with 4 magical fairy doors and yet more incredible species of trees. It was stunning and we enjoyed seeing these with a bit of sunshine around too!

After a long day the girls had more energy still, so we enjoyed some more Indoor games and the playground at the campsite. These girls honestly don’t stop, ha ha! Scarly has also taught herself how to go down the firewoman’s pole and she is so proud of herself! Bless.

Beefcake and family were back out again and we enjoyed a nice evening and very early bedtime.