Day 191 Peaceful Bay (Valley of the Giants), WA

One thing is for certain.  Philip and I will not die wondering 😂.  We really try to see and do as much as we possibly can when we are touring.  We had a general outline of where we were going today but as is always the way with the help of google maps and a lot of other physical maps obtained from tourist information centres we find lots of things to see and do along our intended route.

Today would take us west to Walpole then north to South Frankland National Park.  From here we would turn east for around 30 kms before turning south towards the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk. It is a large loop drive that would eventually bring us back to Peaceful Bay.  Simple.  But then I started doing research.  Along this route I found Fernhook Falls, Mount Frankland Wilderness Lookout and the Wilderness Wall of Reflections at Swarbrick.  Everyone of these places had ticks of approval on google and should not be missed.

Our first stop was Fernhook Falls.  From the carpark it is a very easy 500 metre walk to a well positioned boardwalk that takes you to the falls and then follows the Frankland River until you come to Rowell's Pool. If you wanted to, you could continue the walk for around 18kms but we had neither the will not inclination to tackle that today.  The falls are fantastic and with all the rain we have had in the past few weeks they are flowing very rapidly over the rocks.  The water is a dark brown colour from all the tree tannins.  At first I thought it was muddy but the water is actually crystal clear!

We really enjoyed walking around Fernhook Falls area and there is a camping area close by that I'm sure would be well utilised.  Rowell's Pool would also be another place to swim and refresh on a warm summers day.  

Once we were back in the car it was around 20km to our next stop, Mount Frankland Wilderness Lookout.  Actually google maps has the lookout as "permanently closed" but the lookout is advertised in many brochures so we took the gamble to continue on our journey towards Mount Frankland.  The road is very quiet but it is a cold and wet day so most tourists have probably decided to stay inside.  When we finally reach the carpark at Mount Frankland, we are the only vehicle.  This is strange because there are usually at least one or two others at most of the visitor carparks that we visit. We guess it is because google has declared it closed.  But let me tell you it is certainly not closed and it is one of the best lookouts we have visited.  It's just a shame that we didn't have the views that we might have had on a fine day but nonetheless it is still worth the visit.

After our brief walk we were back in the car and heading south towards Swarbrick and the Wilderness Wall of Reflections.  It is an unusual place to have this Art Loop Walk as it is kinda in the middle of nowhere but once I did some research I found out that it is near to the place where a huge protest was held to stop the clearing of the Karri Forests.  Indeed the art loop tells the story of the logging and the fight to keep the forests from being destroyed by loggers.  It is a beautiful walk with lovely stories to read.  The Reflection Wall is unique.  At first glance it looks like a wall of mirrors but get up close and there are stories written on the reflective material.

Our last stop today is the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk.  We have been looking forward to this walk ever since we arrived into the south west of Western Australia.  The 600 metre suspension walkway that reaches a height of 40 metres winds its way through the canopies of the giant Tingle trees.  It is such a different perspective to be looking into the canopy of these trees and one that I loved. The suspension bridge takes a bit of getting used to as it sways as you walk across it but once you get used to that feeling it is great.  After we completed the Tree Top Walk we then took a walk through the 400 year old tree tree trunks on the Ancient Empire Walk.  It's hard to get your head around the ages of these magnificent trees.

Can you see a wrinkled face in this trunk?

It is only a 20 minute drive home from the Valley of the Giants but we made one last stop to take a photo of this ingenuous use of an old car.  It is very artistic and clever.