We had to bid adieu to Michael and Heather this morning which was rather sad. Such a wonderful and happy couple with such a positive outlook on life and using an old phrase, good country souls.
We did have one last feed of lambie who is doing really well now as she had a bit of an infection in her face which Michael had been treating with antibiotics. Might ask Heather to send us a photo of lambie as she gets bigger but not one of her on the kitchen table!!
It was then back into the Skroda for a four hour drive south to Pemberton for our tour at 2.00pm with Pemberton Discovery Tours which Jen and Al had put us on to.
Found this rather fascinating piece of art that we think our mate Peter Q in Calgary will find quite amusing as he rides a tandem with his wife Nadine.
We were wondering when we might come across a flock of sheep on the road to navigate through or around. This is certainly the norm in rural Australia and New Zealand.
Toni and Graeme run the tours at Pemberton as well as a lodge where we are staying tonight. Great place to crash and no one to share it with – even better.
We arrived just in time to join the tour along with a family of four from Singapore. The Pemberton area in Western Australia is best known for its spectacular forests of karri and other native trees.
These are old growth forests which are preserved and some of these trees are over 500 years old.
And then….
…after driving a further half hour on bumpy forests roads, which by the way was a lot of fun, we came upon this.
Rising suddenly out of this forest – and slowly creeping inland – is an expanse of big sand dunes on the move. These are the Yeagarup Dunes, the largest land-locked mobile dune system in the southern hemisphere.
Rising up to 40m above otherwise normal forest. They form a ten kilometre long body of sand being blown inland, swallowing the forest at a rate of about 4 metres each year. Slow, but unstoppable.
Hop onto google earth and zoom into them. This gives you a very accurate picture as to how far inland they have moved already.
They have planted an imported South African grass to try to stabilize the sand but there is the issue that it will prevent the sands from continuing to move as it has taken a firm hold.
Fraser chasing his hat down the dunes into the forest as the wind whipped it off his head. This is the sole reason why the dunes are moving – the winds.
We are actually driving on top of the forest that was previously there and there is also a lake that the dunes have buried. They are very close to encroaching upon another lake and will probably be there in approximately 80 years.
I
You come off the dunes onto the beach and meet the Southern Ocean. This is a very isolated spot and beautiful. The wind was blowing a gusto and the waves were pounding into the shore.
This is where the Warren River mouth meets the ocean and the waves were forcing their way up. There is a lot of tannin which comes from the trees and causes this discolouration in the water. The tour was four hours in total and a heap of fun – could get into this 4WD gig.
Rowkin Rovings Blog 