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The
first activity in Perth was to visit King's
Park with Gwynne. We then met up with Barbara, and took a trip
down to Freemantle,
where we did a tour of the Freemantle
Prison, which was built in the 1850's,
and was still in active use until 1991,
with few changes!
The inside is just like
the pictures from TV series! The
exercise yard was basic! In the last year, the prisoners were
allowed to paint their
walls, some showed a lot of talent! Please
let me out!!! |
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Gwynne and I had a three day trip to SW of the
state. Starting with a drive down to Albany, via these mountains
called the Porongarups. On the way we went through Tenterden,
just 10 miles from my parents in Kent!!! We also saw a Kookaburra,
several Ring Necked
Parrots, and this lovely Stumpy
Skink, trying to camouflage in the Road!!! |
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The next day, after I
paddled in the Southern Ocean, we left Albany
for the Gap Rocks, which
are the original connecting
point with Antarctica, when it was all Gondwanaland.
The Gap was originally a Bridge.
We next went on to the Blow
Holes, which unfortunately weren't blowing. However, we did
have a wonderful time watching a
large pod of Dolphins feeding and playing!! |
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Next, we went to a forest of Tingle
Trees, which are very tall, at about 60 meters, and an ingenious
tree top walk allowed
us to walk at 40 meters above the forest floor, and get some lovely
views of the canopy. This is ancient
forest left over from the days of Gondwanaland.
The trees produce a
large buttress root,
which through fire, over time, hollows out. |
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This part of Australia is fairly heavily forested,
so there is a big timber industry. After a tour of a couple of processing
plants, we visited the 100
Year Forest, now 140 years old, which re-established itself
in the 1860's when a farm failed. It is a stand of trees that is
cathedral like in it's appearance. We then visited a craft centre,
which had this lovely "Bottle
Brush" tree, with beautiful
blooms. Later we went for a walk around Big
Brook Dam, with some lovely tranquil
spots. |
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The final day of the trip was planned to visit
"Jewel Cave". On route we went through an old mill town,
where we were privileged to see Kangaroos,
and an Emu and chicks. The
cave was only discovered in
the 1950's through this
hole! The hole was originally formed by a tree
root like this. It is quite beautiful, having lots of colours,
but mostly silver and gold. There were stalactites looking like
folded caramel,
some looking like cauliflowers,
others like organ pipes.
The most spectacular was the one that looked like a Karri
Forest, and another that looked like a Camel.
There were stalactites that grow sideways called Helictites,
and there was even the skeleton
of a possum that fell through the hole 250 years ago, and could
not get out! We stopped for
lunch at Plovelly, a beautiful beach with big
waves, and white sand. Somewhere behind this
wave is a pair of whales, mother and calf! |
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