23RD APRIL 2013 – SHANNON NATIONAL PARK,   SOUTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The morning dawned nice & sunny as we set off once again, this time heading for the Shannon National Park about two hours away. We were ready for a restock of some basics & luckily there was a small town called Walpole about half way. It reminded me of Paparoa, just a small village with several cafes, a service station, butcher, IGA store, & bakery & a small park which most places have here, as usual catering for nomads by providing good parking for vans etc. Shopping done we continued on, the drive very pleasant as the highway was like an avenue of trees most of the way.

On arrival, Shannon National Park proved to be a really lovely spot, very peaceful, partly due to the fact that of the 28 caravan sites only four were taken (including us). We had purchased a N.P Pass which gives us free entry into all of WA’s N.P’s & also got the pensioners concession, so it only cost $24 per night, with beautiful free hot showers & clean ablutions blocks. Although there a lots of trees as you would expect, most sites get some sun & we had plenty to select from. Once the setting up routine was done & we had partaken lunch, we took one of the short walks through the park, about 1.5hrs, then settled back to sit in the sun & read (yes, even Stu). As in most of the NP’s they provide lovely fire places at each site which we normally don’t use because we don’t have wood. However in this instance they had a woodpile from which we could help ourselves, so I decided that for a change we would cook dinner outside. They are marvellous fireplaces, round concrete rings with a cast iron hot plate which swings over the fire when required – if it gets too hot it is quite simple to push it away from the fire for awhile & it keeps cooking by it’s own heat. Quite ingenious & of course took Stu’s fancy. It was lovely to sit & have predinner drinks while watching dinner cook, & not nearly as many dishes! Then afterwards have coffee in the dark by the fire serenaded by some neighbours with a ukelele & very good voices – blissful.

2nd day & more walking first thing in the morning, armed with our morning tea. This time it was 8 kms, very pleasant & interesting with the lovely giant Karri trees (a type of Eucalyptus), Karri Oaks (a different tree, )& others. It led to a lovely dam with wonderful reflections. Information boards along the walk provided us with information about the area in earlier days. This park was actually a milltown from 1949 – 1968 when the houses were all shifted away as holiday homes & the mill dismantled. The area still has some Karri trees of 300 -400 years old, the tallest being 85m high. They are a little like our Kauri in that they too drop their branches leaving no knots & form a canopy at the very top. Their bark also drops off displaying beautiful shades of yellows & oranges. Thankfully the whole area has regenerated to be a wonderful forest which in spring would have lots of lovely flowering native bushes. In the afternoon we took a drive of 48 kms on what they call ‘The Great Forest Drive’. The really neat thing about it was that along the route at different points you tuned your car radio into a local station & got a commentary about what life was like in the days of the milltown. There were funny stories from oldtimers who had lived & worked in the little town of Shannon in the days when the mill was operating.

350 year old 85m Karri Tree