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The rest of the day was free for exploring Manjimup and the surrounding region. The area is a famous wine producing one, so the first destination was a well-reviewed local winery for lunch and, of course, some wine; I wasn’t flying after this meal so could enjoy everything the winery had to offer! The wine was accompanied by an unreasonably large cheese and fruit board; thoughts of additional courses were immediately dashed upon its appearance. When leaving I thought the man behind the reception desk looked very familiar, and asked him if he’d been working at Tall Timbers the previous night. “Not me”, he replied, “it must have been another fantastically handsome Irishman”. It had of course been him. Manjimup is a small place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Manjimup region has a multitude of protected national park areas around it, much of this designated in order to protect impressive old-growth forest. Not far from the winery, the Gloucester National Park surrounds the Gloucester Tree; this 58 meter tall tree has spikes driven around the trunk to form a crude ladder, and platforms at the top which used to host fire lookouts. This and a couple of other trees are now open for the public to climb; which was a huge surprise, given the very sketchy appearance of the “ladder”. Sadly the Gloucester Tree was closed today; but happily the even taller Bicentennial Tree was not too long of a drive away.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Winery views<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Tree closed<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Old steam locomotive in Pemberton<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Forestry equipment in Pemberton<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nAfter a short stop in the nearby Pemberton to have a look at an exhibit of some old forestry equipment, it was a short trip to the Bicentennial Tree. This tree is the tallest lookout tree in the area at 75 meters (246ft) in height, and was pegged for climbing in 1988. Although it has been used as a fire lookout, its primary use has always been tourism. 165 metal spikes, hammered into the truck, serve as the ladder with a half-way platform in the middle to allow for a break. Despite the presence of a wire mesh on the sides as something of a safety measure, there is nothing to stop one from simply slipping through the very, very wide gaps between spikes and plummeting back to the ground. I nonetheless made my way, very very carefully, to the top; first up the spikes, and then up a few ladders that connected the levels of the platform structure at the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The views made the climb worthwhile. I sent Mitch a message to let him know I was up here doing his fire-watching job for him. He turned out to be in the air at the time on patrol, but sadly not anywhere near the tree. As I took in the view, and snapped a few photographs, the mobile phone of the young Irish chap behind me rang and he answered a video call. “Lads!” he started off, “look at the size of this fookin tree!” A braver man than I, he ended up climbing all the way down the tree while still on his video call, to the horror of his girlfriend below who was exhorting him to pay a little more attention to not falling.<\/p>\n\n\n
Bicentennial Tree<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The view from the Bicentennial Tree<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Platform atop the Bicentennial Tree<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The "ladder"<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Looking down the tree<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>With the Bicentennial Tree<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThat afternoon was finished off with a visit to another tree, and a couple of Manjimup’s in-town tourist attractions. The first of these was the timber arch which sits above the road entering Manjimup from the north. This was constructed before the town’s “Timber Week” in 1958, to commemorate the timber industry and act as a gateway to the Southern Forest Region. <\/p>\n\n\n
Manjimup entry arch<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Forestry equipment in Manjimup<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Forestry equipment in Manjimup<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Forestry equipment in Manjimup<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Forestry equipment in Manjimup<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Heritage buildings in Manjimup<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nJust down the road from the arch is the Manjimup Heritage Park. This park started off as a wildlife sanctuary in 1964. In 1977 the State Timber Museum was built on adjacent land. Since then the park has developed into something of a community hub and gives a home to the Manjimup Community Gardens, the Historical Society, the Woodturners Society, and numerous historical buildings and artifacts. Most of these are centered around the timber industry.<\/p>\n\n\n
Pilots dinner in Manjimup<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Night in Manjimup<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThat evening I met up with Mitch and another flying friend of his for dinner. We wanted to try out Manjimup’s Indian restaurant; but it was full! We hadn’t anticipated that mid-week in Manjimup would be so busy. The town is not blessed with a huge number of restaurants, so we ended back at Tall Timbers again. I didn’t see my Irish friend this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Breakfast the following day was from the same donut shop as before, before meeting the rental car guys at the airport to return the car. On arrival at the airport a few individuals were busy pre-flighting a light aircraft while waiting for their flight instructor. A few minutes later the instructor arrived, and who should it be but the instructor from Bunbury Aero Club who had sold me fuel a couple of days before. Western Australia is geographically large, but can feel very small!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My irrational desire to land at as many airports as possible had led to my planning a slightly unusual route for the first half of the day, with brief landings at about ten strips. Lunch would be at the Wave Rock natural feature, followed by a final much longer flight northwest back into the desert.<\/p>\n\n\n
Departing from Manjimup<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dry crop fields in Western Australia<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Salt lake in Western Australia<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dry lake beds<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>On the ground at Dumbleyung<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The road to Dumbleyung<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nPlaney leapt into the air and we made our way across the southeast corner of Western Australia, dropping in at little country airfields along the way. Places with names like Boyup Brook, Kojonup, and Gnowangerup, as well as the less exotically named Cranbrook. I realised later that I had actually landed at this latter airport back in 2020, but it didn’t hurt to visit again and enjoy the beautiful views of the Stirling Ranges. After these brief visits I stopped for a longer break at the town of Dumbleyung. The airstrip here is within walking distance of town which offered an opportunity to buy some dinner snacks; the chosen accommodation for the night was walking distance from the airport but not from anywhere to eat! A group of other pilots had apparently had the same idea as the parking area was filled with a mixture of ultralights and autogyros. I squeezed Planey into a gap, careful not to blast any of the smaller craft with my propwash, and set off down the dirt road into town.<\/p>\n\n\n
Heavy traffic<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approaching Dumbleyung<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Welcome to Dumbleyung<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe walk into Dumbleyung took about 25 minutes, and only a couple of vehicles passed during that time. The center of town was made up of just a couple of blocks adjacent to the railway tracks. The supermarket was unfortunately closed as was the cafe, meaning that dinner supplies had to be sourced from the petrol station. Before stocking up, though, I took the opportunity to visit the replica of the Bluebird K7 jet boat<\/a> which Donald Campbell had run on Lake Dumbleyung in December of 1964. It was on Lake Dumbleyung that Campbell set his final water speed record of more than 270mph (440 km\/h). He was killed just 2 years later attempting to beat the 300mph mark on Coniston Water in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n The pilots and passengers of the little microlight and autogyro fleet were hanging around outside the petrol station feeding the birds. They were out on a week-long trip flying around part of Western Australia; apparently this was an annual activity for the group of mostly retired aviators. I bought some “Pot Noodles” for dinner and spent a while chatting before taking the walk back to the airfield and heading out to visit a few more small airfields on the way to Wave Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n The next legs took me through Kukerin, Lake Grace, Newdegate, Kulin, Kondinin and Narembeen before arriving at Wave Rock airport. The country below looked dry and parched, and the harvest of the region’s cereal crops was in full swing. During the flight I passed through the Lake Grace wetland system; this protected wetland system includes four ephemeral lakes covering an area of more than 50 square miles, or 130 square kilometers.<\/p>\n\n\n Wave Rock is a natural rock formation in the shape of a wave, about 15 m (50 ft) high and around 110 m (360 ft) long. A wall lies above Wave Rock about halfway up Hyden Rock and follows the contours of the rock surface, to collect and funnel rainwater to a storage dam. These were constructed in December 1928 for the colonist settlers of East Karlgarin District. <\/p>\n\n\n The rock has of course become a tourist destination with a number of attractions springing up around it. This includes a caravan park, a couple of stores and cafes, and even a “wildlife park”. After lunch in the attached caf\u00e9 I bought a ticket for this park; a white kangaroo had been visible when walking from the airport and I was keen to see more of it! The wildlife park turned out to be like no other I’d ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first hint that this park might be unusual was the fact that one of the four model animals at the entrance was an oversized velociraptor. The second was the hand-written sign on the entry door reporting “Sorry to let you all know. The Koalas have died.” The sign went on to reassure visitors that this was as a result of old age, but that it was difficult to get replacements. Entering the park, one was greeted by a cage of exotic birds which on further investigation proved to be plastic.<\/p>\n\n\nDumbleyung Tavern<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Railway through Dumbleyung<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dumbleyung logo<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Bluebird K7 replica<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Old bank building in Dumbleyung<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Feeding birds in Dumbleyung<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nDumbleyung airfield<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Harvesting cereal crops<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Lake Grace<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Lake Grace<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dry lake beds<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dry lake bed<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nNewdegate airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Ephemeral lake in WA<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Sand dunes<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Grain facility<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Wave Rock<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>An unlucky visitor<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Wave Rock airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Mineral pools at Wave Rock<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Scrub land at Wave Rock<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWelcome to Jurassic Park<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Bad news<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>A fancy dove<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>No caption needed<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The African animals didn't move much<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>