Day 169 Manjimup, (Beach & Forest Eco Tour Pemberton), WA

This was the scene from our bedroom window at 6.00am.  Beautiful scenery but yet more rain....

 But we were booked on the Beach and Forest Eco Tour departing from Pemberton at 9.00am sharp so onwards and upwards!  The tour was described as "A tour travelling through four different ecosystems: from National Parks, to Yeagarup Dunes, the largest sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere, through old growth Karri Forest and down to where the river meets the coastline". 

We met our tour guide in his Toyota Troop Carrier outside the local bakery where he picked up a box of food for our lunch stop. We went into the bakery before he arrived but only stayed for a very short time as the smell of pies and sausages rolls filled the air.  If we had stayed we undoubtably would have bought something!

There were eight of us in the Troopie plus our guide, Graham.  Once we were all settled comfortably we set sail towards a "secret" old growth Karri Forest.  We thought we had seen some pretty impressive Karri trees up until today, but they were nothing compared to old growth.  They are the true beauties of the forest.  Our guide talked a little about the management of these forests that he says does not go far enough to protect these trees.  Interesting.  We stopped around the middle of the old growth forest so that we could walk and really take in the Karri's magnificence that is not always appreciated from the car.

(This tree had fallen across the road recently.  No wonder the timber is prized.  It is just so lovely.)

Once we had finished the walk our guide followed us up in the Troopie and we once again set off down the road towards Yeagarup Lake.  We stopped here for a comfort stop and also for Graham to let some air out of the tyres for our tour across the sand dunes.  There had been a fire go through the area not so long ago and the vegetation was still blackened.  But good things grow after fire as our guide told us as is evidenced by the orchids that only pop out of the ground after fire.

The Yeagarup Sand Dunes are an odd sight when you first come upon them, rising up to 40m above otherwise normal forest.  They form a ten kilometre long body of sand being blown inland, swallowing the forest at a rate of about 4 metres each year.  Slow, but unstoppable. It was sad to see so many dead tree stumps poking out of the dunes.

We didn't stay on top of the dunes too long as the rain came tumbling down once again.  The next part of our tour our journey took us up and over many dunes along a track they called Warren Beach Track.  It was very narrow in parts and Graham had to keep up speed so that we wouldn't end up bogged in the sand.  I loved it.  Philip filmed it on the GoPro so I will add it at the end.  We stopped numerous times to photograph some of the lovely orchids that are so tiny.  For the inexperienced, as we are, you would certainly miss them without someone pointing them out to you.  

It was awesome driving over the last Sand Dune and having the Great Southern Ocean stretch out in front of us.  It was a wild and wooly ocean today though with storm clouds out to sea.  Once we reached the beach we travelled east towards Meerup River.  It is quite incredible to see the river meeting the ocean with its strong currents that would take your feet out from under you if you waded into the river.  I watched some little birds that apparently have migrated from Siberia. Do all birds migrate from Siberia to Australia?  We have heard this time and time again on different tours.  Wouldn't blame them if they did😩

 Once we had finished our walk along the beach we were once again loaded into the Troopie and we made the return trip to Yeagarup Lake where our host laid out a picnic lunch of Salad Rolls and Tea or Coffee.  The rolls were delicious but where is the protein...

The return trip to Pemberton was uneventful although our driver did seem to be in rather a big hurry.  Even Philip commented on it but I assured him that our guide does this trip twice a day in peak times so he would know the road very well.  Once we were back at the Bakery we said our goodbyes to the people that we had got to know on this tour and thanked our guide Graham.  That is the thing I like most about tours. Apart from gaining a lot of information you get to meet people from all different walks of life.

You would think that this would have been the end of our touring for today, and we had intended it to be so, but we stopped by the Pemberton Tram ticket office to purchase tickets for Thursday only to be told that Thursday is a public holiday to remember the Queen (God Rest Her Soul).  So it was today or never and as the tram was ready to leave in just under thirty minutes we chose to do this 75 minute tour.

The Pemberton Tramway is an iconic tourist adventure and I can't speak highly enough of the staff who run this private enterprise.  The tram meanders through Karri, Marri and Jarrah forests, passes by the old timber mill and crosses three rivers over trestle bridges along one of Australia's most majestic rail lines.  The tram runs south to the Warren River Bridge where we all alight. There are various walking tracks around the turnaround point.  We decided to walk to the Cascades but don't stop here long as it seems everyone had the same idea.  

Instead we walked back to the tram and started a conversation with the Tram Driver.  He pointed out yet another orchid to us, the snail orchid.  Aptly named don't you think?

The return journey seemed to be all uphill and the tram was quite noisy as it chugged up those hills.  We enjoyed this tram ride.  I mean how could anyone not love these old work horses.