We drove on to Pemberton, settled into the caravan park and did the laundry.
The weather had improved somewhat after overnight rain. We took the tram ride from Pemberton to Warren River. The driver was very informative. He a voice which reminded both Jean and I of Charlie Marrett. The line wends its way through the karri forest to the south of Pemberton and the guide identified many of the wild flowers and trees as we went along.
When we got back to Pemberton, we had a cup of coffee and then headed out of town to see the Gloucester Tree. This is an old fire lookout which is now open the public to climb, once you have paid your parks entrance fee. I certainly didn't want to climb the 60 metres (200 feet) to the lookout on the metal pins which form the ladder. Jean couldn't even watch others climb without getting vertigo.
For lunch, we went to the Trout farm where Jean sampled marron (freshwater crayfish) and I had trout, both local delicacies. Jean liked the marron and I found the trout particularly delicious.
After lunch we took the new Little Motley for a trial drive on a gravel forest road. At last we saw what we had come all this way to see, tall karri trees in all their glory. They are so huge, straight, and beautiful that one can just look at them and look at them. We stopped by the river, did a little birdwatching, and absorbed the sublime beauty of the forest.
Despite the weather which hadn't improved, we stayed on another day to take in some more of the forest drive. The trees in these forests are absolutely stunning. They are tall and straight with all the branches high on the trunk. They reach full height of about 70 metres (250 feet) at about 65 years, growing in girth thereafter reaching up to 10 metres (30 feet) in circumference at 250 years of age. The shed their bark every year so they always look clean and fresh. The trunks are any colour from cream to grey and their scientific name is Eucalyptus diversicolour. The forests tend to be all of the same species but of different ages so there is a uniformity and a diversity at the same time. Sadly it is almost impossible to do justice to the forest in a photograph.
The forest drive starts out through Warren National Park. It comprises stretches of gravel road interspersed with stretches of bitumen. We strayed a little from the advertised track and found ourselves clearing fallen saplings from the road, presumably downed last night by wind and rain. We eventually found our way back to the main track and came to Beedelup National Park where we stopped to view the falls.
The falls are deep in a gully and the Parks people have put in the best facilities for visitors we have seen at such a site. The viewing platform is accessible by wheel chair and the lower river crossing, from which the best view is obtained, is a swinging suspension bridge. Jean overcame all her fears and crossed by herself because two on the bridge at the same time causes even more alarming motion.
The weather had not improved so we returned to the Motley for a late lunch and a cosy afternoon indoors.