Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Many Faces of WA

The sun was climbing on the horizon and it was time to move on.  From our previous day's experience we assumed that the drive that lay in front of us would not take the 5 hours that we had planned on, but many more.  Unfortunately, we were not proven wrong as it took us close to 12 hours to reach our final destination.  
Fortunately, the trip was not fruitless. The long and sometimes windy road revealed the contrasting faces of WA.  Leaving the Pinnacles Desert behind us we headed towards the Southern Ocean.  We traveled through low heathland and eucalyptus open woodlands and past the concrete jungle towers of Perth's CBD and the majestic peaks of the Stirling range. The further south we traveled the less arid the land became.


Stirling Mountains WA
By mid-afternoon we were surrounded by the magnificent forest of karri, marri, and tingle trees.  Time was not on our side, and we were unable to stop and enjoy the clear, crisp air and explore the forests of the area.  Instead we were forced to observe and enjoy the landscape from the car.  As we watched the scenery flash by, we knew that we would some day have to return to the area to explore it in a more leisurely fashion.


Coastal Inlets Near Albany
The final leg of our journey took us from the larger, more traveled roads to smaller tracks.  The towering, green, moss-covered giants that lined the narrow bitumen path created a cave-like sensation.  Before us, in the few rays of light that reached the forest floor, thousands of white moths fluttered around the car.  Many of them were crushed to death against the windscreen of our moving car.
We were tired and anxious to arrive at our destination, since nightfall was just around the corner and with the darkness would come the wildlife.  When we arrived at the small town of Pemberton we knew that we were not far away, but I misread the map and prolonged our trip by more than just a few kilometers.  When we finally arrived at the Karri Valley Resort we were treated to the last few rays of light shimmering on the Lake Beedelup.


Lake Beedelup
Posted by Maya at 2:04 PM
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3 comments:

  1. TrekcapriJuly 30, 2010 at 10:09 PM

    Hi Maya, I enjoyed your post this morning. 12 hours is a long drive, but what beautiful scenery to enjoy along the way. Thank you so much for sharing. I look forward to reading about your stay at the Karri Valley Resort. The reflection on the lake in your last photo is really cool and beautiful.

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  2. MartaAugust 1, 2010 at 1:01 PM

    That is a long drive. I was thinking you were only going a bit farther than Perth but Pemberton is far from Pinnacles. We broke it into two days. We drove from Jurien Bay to Narrogin. Not much there although we did find some interesting flowers near by. It took us about 8 hours. Next day we drove to Albany. We had several stops and that part of the drive was nice.

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  3. MayaAugust 3, 2010 at 10:28 AM

    Hi Kathy, there was a time that we dreaded a 3 hour drive, but now we think nothing of it. Of course we still see 12 hours as very long, but it isn't uncommon for us to do 6 or 7. The lake was beautiful and the perfect place to relax after such a long drive.

    Marta, even the drive to Pemeberton from Perth is a bit long. The day we did the Pinnacles/Pemberton trip we went via Albany (yes just a bit out of the way). We have been through Narrogin at least once on our way to Dyandra National Park--did you visit it? We have gone there a couple of times in search of numbats. I should write it up soon. Unfortunately, we haven't spent much time in the Albany area, but it is a beautiful area that we want to explore more.

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