Day 186 Porongurup, WA

We finally woke to some sunshine this morning so we drove the short distance to the "Tree in the Rock" carpark in Porongurup National Park.  It seems that everybody else had the same idea because we were certainly not the first car in the carpark!  There is a well marked signpost showing all the different trails that we could follow but we wanted to go to the Tree in the Rock first.

The tree in the rock defies all odds as it is literally sitting on top of a granite rock!  Mother Nature is certainly clever.  The trail continues on past Tree in the Rock and it is a full circuit of around 8km that takes you up and over a lot of granite peaks. We had not intended to hike this particular trail but the path was well marked and not too step so we decided to walk as far as we could push our bodies.  The walk is lovely and reminds us very much of our hikes through Mt. Lewis National Park in tropical Queensland.  There is lots of moss covered rocks, wildflowers and of course the towering Karri Trees.  

At about the two kilometre mark the path deteriorated and the rain started to softly drizzle.  The path became much steeper and slippery.  I said to Philip that I didn't want to risk walking any further and I was happy to wait on the path if he wanted to continue.  He walked for about another 500 metres before he turned around and together we made our way back down the path. 

Once we had returned to the carpark we looked at the map again and decided that the Wansborough Trail looked like a good option.  We could continue on to Marmabup Rock from this trail if we so wished.  It was the kind of walk that I really enjoy.  The trail was actually a fire trail that was wide enough for both of us to walk side by side and chat.  It was also a relatively easy walk and only became steep near the saddle. Most of the walk is through Karri forest and as you get closer to the top you catch glimpses of Marmabup Rock.  It is a very enjoyable walk.

At around the three kilometre mark we came to a three way intersection.  Straight ahead would take us down a very steep section of the Wansborough Trail, to the left would take you on a challenging full circuit back to the carpark passing Nancy's Peak and Devils Slide, and to our right was Marmabup Rock.  We decided to walk along the Marmabup Rock path to maybe get some views as we were around 500 metres up and they should be spectacular.  

We only walked along the path around two hundred metres before the path turned to granite rock.  I didn't feel comfortable walking up the steep granite rock and elected to stay in a lovely spot beside a little waterfall with moss laden rocks and some truly lovely wildflowers.  Philip continued on.

It was so incredibly peaceful and beautiful sitting on the granite rock in the sunshine surrounded by spectacular mountains with only myself for company.  My connection with Mother Nature's serenity was short lived though as some very talkative trekkers passed by.  

It wasn't long after the trekkers passed that Philip returned.  He didn't get to the top of Marmabup Rock because he came to a place where the views were spectacular (thank goodness for the GoPro so that I can enjoy the views as well).  He talked to another couple who walked a little further and they said that the views were better were Philip stopped so he was pretty pleased about that.

The return walk was, thankfully, downhill and seemed to take a very short time to reach the carpark.  We had walked around seven kilometres that took us almost three hours (with lots of stops) and we had reached an altitude of almost 500 metres.  

Another little GoPro video of our morning trek.....