Western Australia 2011: Walpole to Pemburton

Our sleep was punctuated by periods of driving rain. At five, I got out of bed and looked out to a mob of kangaroos. There was large male and his harem of females, all with joeys and some with out of the pouch youngsters. It was cold and pouring rain.

I went back to bed and woke around 7:30am to the sun shining and this was the view from bed

The mails were gone and the females and their joeys were happily grazing. The cabin information said that tomatoes are poisonous to kangaroos and they liked widabix. Way down by the lake there was a little Joey frisking about back and forth. Mum was standing there watching. Closer to home there were a few younger joeys who had ventured from the pouch. They were so delicate, all legs, and not straying from mom, always a fore paw touching her. At the slightest sound, they would race for the pouch legs akimbo diving head first, not caring which legs stuck out. In ever could get a video of the return to the pouch. ButI was able to get quite close to the mums before they would lower their heads and squawk. Maybe they were asking for food, who knows.

We had our breakfast rolls and coffee while watching the Roos. Then we checked I asked the owner why there were so many Kangaroos and she said: I don't shoot them. I suspect she gives them treats and has the type of space they like to frequent and finally there are always people who do not bother them. The clouds returned and a big storm broke and the Roos vanished all except one female who stayed under a tree. I was sad for the rain because there were walking trail into the woods and you could hear all manner of birds and I am sure I could have found an orchid or two
We got back in the car thankful for the heat and worried that we wouldn't get to do the tree walk with the weather. We drove back toward Denmark and while we were driving, it was thunder and lightening. But miraculously, as we pulled up, the sun began to shine and up we went. The tree walk is a structure that gradually rises up to 40 meters into the tree canopy of very old and very large tingle and karri trees. The incline is gradual enough that even a wheelchair can manage. The railings are stable, so actually Michael was better on his own. I am not one for heights but this was o k and the canopy views were wonderful. I just couldn't look down through grid of walkway. The structure is made to move which is a bit unsettling. One major gust of wind had me grabbing on for dear life.

After we came down. Michael had a cheroot and I did the ancient tree walk. The rain held off but it was getting darker and darker. It was like being in a fairy tale. Some of the bigger trees were named, others you walked through.