A nice, short day: first, we see the best tingle trees on the Hilltop Lookout--huge, red, hairy trees with out a middle, including one named Hollowbutt!
Then, after driving down Ficifolia Road to see the one spot on the planet where red flowering eucalypts naturally grow, we stop at two wineries near the pretty town of Denmark. And then it's into Albany.
We get on the road, and it's a quick drive to Hilltop Lookout, and a short 400 meter walk through the Tingle Trees. This is all part of Walpole Nornalup National Park, which has a web page at http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/national_parks/previous_parks_month/walpole_nornalup.html
These are wonderful, actually better than the ones on the Ancient Empire trail we did yesterday. They're big. They're hollow. They're magnificent. I particularly like the two showcase trees: Hollowbutt and Giant Tingle. Hollowbutt is an old tingle that's been burned twice in the past century, and its trunk has no center--it's been burned out. But what makes it great is that the remaining trunk is in two pieces, like a carved wooden puzzle.
Just down the trail is the big guy, though. This Giant Tingle has enough room for thirty people to stand inside its trunk. We took quite a few pictures, then walked through the mist back to the car.
Ficifolia Road
This was one of those things I Wanted To Do in Australia. The red flowering eucalypt (Eucalyptus ficifolia, or Corymbia ficifolia these days) is planted everywhere along the coast in California, and in June the whole tree becomes this huge red ball of flowers. It's native to a very small patch near Walpole--and you can see them along Ficifolia Road.
I was surprised at their native habitat. It's just sand, under gray misty skies, with a fair amount of boggy, soggy soil in depressions. There were a couple of other plants that were neat to see growing around it: Banksia quercifolia, and the yellow kangaroo paw (Angiozanthus flavidus). That's good to know. And down the road, growing in waterlogged sand in a roadside ditch, was a really colorful bottlebrush (Callistemon). I'm not sure what it was, but it was unusual looking to say the least.
Wineries
We stopped at two wineries after Ficifolia Road: Old Kent River, and Howard Park. Old Kent River had their tasting room in a barn, and it had that old hippie dropout look and smell. It was just kinda skanky, and we didn't bother to taste. Howard Park was much more upscale, and the tasting room woman really encouraged us to try a few wines. So we did... and after she observed Chris' tasting technique, she asked if we were in the wine industry. That's amusing. We liked their Riesling... it was steely and dry, very very good... so good that Chris thinks they'll have a hard time selling it, as it's not a wine to drink Right Now, but to put away for a few years and let it mellow.
Denmark, where the wineries were, was great. It has that main street feeling, with little cafes and shops. It felt comfy. We then just drove into Albany, where we did boring things like get haircuts and relax for the rest of the day.
Where we stayed
- Albany Foreshore Apartments, Albany
- $88 - huge studio apartment
- Great location, comfy beds.