January 20 – Greens Pool and the Valley of the Giants

We are driving the South Coast Highway today on our way to Walpole. 

We did take a detour inland a bit to see Mt. Barker and to get views of the Sterling range. 

Occasionally we have seen interesting "statuary" along the roads.  Today we were able to get some pictures.

We also stopped in the tiny town of Denmark to get information on the area.  After going over the options we decided we were going IN the water this time.  So we elected to visit Greens Pool, a lovely beach that is protected from the powerful surf by a ring of huge rocks.  The beach was actually rather crowded for a change.  All of the other beaches we have visited in Western Australia were pretty deserted.  

We both suited up and spent some time in the rather cold water.  Then dried off in the sun for a while before continuing on our way.

Next stop was the Valley of the Giants.  The trees here are tingles (sounds like a tree that might be common in Hobbiton (Lord of the Rings).  There are red, yellow and Rate’s tingles.  And they are the tallest eucalypt, growing as tall as 180 feet tall.  And they can live over 400 years.  

The tingles are isolated to a very small range in a wet portion of south western Australia.  They require a lot of water and this area is very wet.  The park here has installed a wonderful suspended walkway that took us up through the treetops.

After our walk in the treetops we took the Ancient Empire Walk.  The interpretive walk took us through the understory of the forest and talked about the evolution of the trees and the forests.  

One of these giants was named "Grandma Tingle".  There is certainly a face here.

Many of the trees have been hollowed out by fire but still thrive.

Tingles and many of the surrounding plants are unique to the area and have origins from when Australia was part of Gondwana, are relics of the trees that existed in the area when it was part of Gondwana over 65 million years ago. 

The drive through the area was beautiful with towering trees lining the roads. 

Walpole turns out to be a pretty small town.  There are several cafes but all close early.  We had dinner at the one open restaurant.