Week 6: Tour De Oz (Southern Forests)

Pemberton

As I got closer to the Pemberton, my jaw dropped – I found myself riding through an amazing forests of enormous karri trees! Unfortunately, I was soaked to the bone and every time I was passing a turnoff for bush camping (and there were plenty of them!) I was so sad thinking “this would be a dream camping spot – I could hug those trees all night!”

But staying in town turned out to be a great deal – a single room at the backpackers cottage only cost me $49 and, most importantly, the room had a heater so I could dry all my no-longer waterproof gear.

The next morning I woke up super excited thinking “today is the day I’ll climb one of the tallest trees in the area” … and by 7 am I was already at Gloucester Tree! The whole ‘climbing’ thing turned out to mean walking up on a winding ladder around the tree, but it’s 60m high so it was still awesome.

There was no one around at that time, plus it was still raining so I thought – great the tree is all mine! Half way up it turned out to be no so exciting anymore – I totally freaked out thinking: “I’m alone, up a tree, in the rain, and there’s no one around – what am I doing?”

After a short break I managed to pull myself together and continued climbing up. The view form the top was the reward – I was on top of the tallest tree in the area, looking down at top of the other trees, and besides, the way down was much easier than I expected!

Walking Above the Giants

120km later, between Walpole and Denmark, there was another attraction I couldn’t miss out on – the ‘Tree Top Walk’ – a canopy that soars 40m into a forest of red tingle trees. I was amazed with the trees themselves, and also with the canopy’s very clever design – it’s a brilliant suspended structure that rocks delicately while you walk on it. Definitely worth stopping by and checking out if you’re in the area.

Kinga’s Tour De Oz – Supporting the Shepherd Centre

Please sponsor my ride at: http://everydayhero.com.au/onherbike