21st APRIL 2013 – PARRY’S BEACH, SOUTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Ocean Beach Denmark

Weather changeable, misty drizzle intermittent with some sunshine which we soaked up at our outdoor table at breakfast in case we didn’t get any more today. Filled in an hour or two doing Sudokus(Stu) & crosswords (me) till morning tea, then decided to go exploring again, including a cycle along the Nornalup – Denmark rail trail. We drove back 20 kms to Denmark where it begins, a little delayed due to Stu getting involved as a good samaritan helping to fix a childs bike for a couple of good looking young mums. The trail proved to be very good, sealed some of the way along the river, then a wide dirt track through pretty native bush. A few other walkers & cyclists here & there but certainly not busy. We managed to cycle 7kms before turning back as the weather looked as if was about to worsen. Just as we got back to a lovely little inlet with a nice park to eat lunch, the rain increased, so we sat at a picnic table under a tree with our ‘hoodies’ on in an attempt to stay dry. It was quite interesting watching families in canoes & inflateables, & the odd small ‘fizzy boat’, watched by feeding pelicans & seagulls, all oblivious to the rain & having fun. Luckily it didn’t last too long before some blue sky came out again, so we managed to get back to Denmark reasonably dry. On the way home we deviated to explore some more beaches we hadn’t seen along the coast. You would expect to be tired of them, but the coast here is so spectacular, & each beach or headland though a little different still displays that wonderful colour in the water. Today the sea was much rougher & I tried with the camera to capture the spray of the waves as they broke & were caught by the wind in the opposing direction. Truly fascinating to watch. This area seems to have just about everything, surf, inlets, bush, hills, wildflowers, & a reasonably good climate. Think I could live here. One even tends to forget about the snakes – almost! Have only seen a dead one on the side of the road thus far.

Parry Beach

Parry Beach

Parry Beach

 

 

Heavy rain overnight so we managed to collect some nice rainwater for drinking by putting out a 30ltr bucket. Only 13deg so getting cooler, & we thought we were in for a miserable day. However the rain became a drizzle so we thought we would attempt a walk, part of the Bibbulmun Track (quite a mouthfull). This track actually goes from Albany to Perth, a distance of 1000 kms, but of course it is possible to do parts of it only. Shortly after we set off we had to don our coats, mine actually a plastic poncho with a big NZ & silver fern on the back. Luckily it didn’t last long & the sun came out so the rest of the walk was very pleasant. There was no-one else on the track which took us through bush on a narrow sandy track on which we found a nice rocky bit for morning tea. We had no idea what we would see or if it would lead to anywhere interesting, but it is well signposted. Well along we saw a large hill ahead with what looked like a post on top, so decided to head for that in the hopes that there would be a good view. The signs for that part of the track were hidden and when we found them they were well covered by shrubbery which we had to push through & found the track again. Stu is surprised at how I have become quite blase about walking here now. Anyway it proved to be a lovely lookout with a seat, so was well worth while with views right out over the bays & sea one way, & green pastures & farms the other. On the way back we did meet a lady walking alone so were able to tell her not to miss the lookout. Back in time for lunch, & the ‘Chief Organiser’ decided we hadn’t had enough exercise for the day, so we set off for an investigation round the rocks. The sea today has a large swell & the waves are crashing into the beach in a very noisy fashion. Usually there are commercial fisherman at the other end of the bay, but nothing is out there today. Wise decision I would think. Unbeknown to us, a man of about 40 was surfing yesterday & had a heart attack & was drowned. We were away for the day & didn’t hear about it till this morning. I’m not sure if he was staying in the camp or not but what a shock for his family. Getting back to our rock hopping, there were only about 3 fishermen casting their rods from the rocks, as it was so rough. Sensibly they were on a fairly safe spot. We just kept walking round to the next beach, then over the headland because it was such a great site watching the sea unleash itself. There were massive waves forming from quite a distance out, & lots of cross currents. We were careful to keep well back as you just couldn’t be sure how far up the beach or the rocks they would come. Once up high it was just amazing. The force of the waves was so exciting but also quite scary, hitting the cliffs & rocks with such a force & with such noise. How mighty is the power of the sea! We found a great vantage point & just sat there mesmerized for about 30 minutes, it was truly beautiful because it wasn’t dark & stormy or even windy, & the water colour was still those beautiful colours I have mentioned before, coupled with so much white foam like eggwhites beaten up for a pavlova. We both found it a great experience, even though Stu has seen so much of the sea in his day. It was a great ending to our stay at Parry’s Beach as we move on tomorrow.

 

Braving the bush

 

 

Elephant Rocks