Australia 2023 - South West (Part a)
Route: Melbourne - Perth - Dwellingup - Quinninup
24.04.2023 - 14.05.2023
18 °C
APRIL - MAY 2023
A four hour flight west from Melbourne deposited us in a cool and damp Perth. This was the start of a new adventure with our good friends Glenn and Guylaine.
Glenn picked us up from the airport and drove us to their apartment in the Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove. An evening of catching up was followed by a tour of the neighbourhood the next morning.
Peppermint Grove Surfer Beach

Peppermint Grove sculpture park
It was then time for our road trip to explore the south west of Western Australia. With Glenn and Guylaine’s car loaded with luggage, food and two bicycles we headed south out of Perth. First stop was the village of Jarrahdale where Glenn left us and started cycling a section of the Munda Biddi trail (3) to Dwellingup where we would meet up again. Anne, Guylaine and I drove onto Dwellingup, and after a tasty lunch in town, checked into our rented cottage. The cottage was very comfortable and in a gorgeous location. The rest of the day was spent in the garden watching birdlife and waiting for Glenn to arrive from his 75km cycle ride. Dinner in our spacious cottage completed a great first day.
Australian Ringneck Parrot

Sliver Eye

Rosella

Rufus Whistler
The cottage was conducive to relaxing, which is what Anne needed following her bout of Covid, so getting motivated to go out was difficult. Our first full day was overcast and a bit chilly but we did manage to leave the cottage for a walk around the surrounding area and Glenn went further afield on his bike.
A bright blue sky and sunshine greeted us when we awoke on the next day, motivating us to be more active. By mid morning we were in the car on our way to Lane Poole Reserve to hike the Chuditch Loop. Once parked we crossed the Murray River (not the big one in Victoria) and began an undulating walk through the forest. For the most part, the four of us had it to ourselves, bar a few birds that would appear then disappear just as quick. Towering Jarrah trees lined either side of our route together with the unusual grass trees. This enjoyable walk was completed in around three hours by which time we were all hungry and ready to return to the cottage for food.
Fan Tail

Grass Tree, endemic to Western Australia

Chuditch Hike Scenery
The following day’s weather was even nicer and a bit warmer. Glenn & Guylaine had a bike ride planned so Anne and I decided to explore a stretch of the Bibbulmun Track (1). This stretch runs from close to the cottage and off into the nearby forest, following a rail track. Other than a couple walking their dogs we had the forest to ourselves, but this didn’t enhance our chances of seeing wildlife which was noticeably absent. A very pleasant walk though.
Tourist Forest Train

Our Cabin Dwellingup
It was now time for a new location and after a failed attempt to visit a local market we started the drive south to Quinninup. After a couple of stops en-route to stretch our legs and passing through numerous town with names ending in “Up” (2) we arrived at the nearby town of Manjimup. It was here we had lunch and bought provisions before driving the short stretch to complete our journey.
Quinninup is a tiny hamlet with a pub and a few properties scattered amongst the forest trees. Our accommodation for the next four nights was a rustic cabin set in woodland about 50 meters from the road. Not quite as comfortable as our cottage in Dwellingup but with everything we needed. It even had a group of Kookaburra’s as a welcoming party. After settling in, we took a short walk around the surrounding area, seeing a female Western Grey Kangaroo and her youngster on two occasions.
Kookaburra

Another Kookaburra

Ringneck Parrot on the cabin veranda

Roo family
Not far from our cabin is Karri Lake and the location of our first day exploration hike. As we walked down the access road the sun began to appear from behind the clouds and the day warmed up from then on. The notice board at the start of the circular walk warned of venomous snakes in the area. This, however, didn’t put us off as they should be hibernating by now. Our route hugged the shore line and weaved through the surrounding Karri Tree forest. Although the bird life was sparse the light on the lake was beautiful. Back at the cabin we met up with Glenn and Guylaine who had just return from their bike ride. Glenn climbed back on his bike and embarked on another section of the Munda Biddi (3) in the afternoon, whilst the rest of us chilled out around the cabin.
Karri Lake

Karri Lake

Karri Lake
The nearby Warren National Park drew our attention for the following day’s activity. A thirty minute car ride got us to the start of the trail deep inside the park. Our trail ascended and descended several times as weaved though an ancient Karri forest (4) (some of the trees are over 200 years old) before arriving at the Warren River. Here we rested before re-tracing our steps back to the car park. Lunch and food shopping in the small town of Pemberton completed our morning. The rest of the day was spent around the cabin and a night walk in the local forest when it got dark.
Gloucester Tree, once a fire lookout, 61m high, now a tourist attraction

Night Sky
Our last day in Quinninup followed a familiar pattern. Glenn headed out to cycle another section of the Munda Biddi whilst the rest of us went for a local hike. Although not far from Karri Lake the scenery was quite different for our chosen walk in the Orchid Forest. Plenty of tall karri trees but more spread apart giving a much more open environment. We searched for orchids as we followed the trail but found none, concluding it was the wrong time of year. However, this did make us look more closely at other flora and felt we benefitted from that.
Orchid Walk

Red Ink Sundew, carnivorous plant endemic to Western Australia

Banksia Seed Pods
The afternoon was spent relaxing at the cottage and the evening presented a nice surprise. Just as we were about to go to bed I spotted a female Western Grey Kangaroo (5) and her Joey right outside our bedroom window. She seemed quite relaxed so we crept out onto the balcony and for a time were no more than a few meters away from her. She accepted our presence for a few minutes before bounding of into the bush.
Night Visitor
It was now time to move on once again. Next destination was the small town of Walpole on the southern coast of Western Australia (see part b).
Observations & Interesting Facts
(1) The Bibbulmun Track is a long-distance walking trail in Western Australia. It runs from Kalamunda in the east of Perth to Albany on the southern coast, and is 1,003.1 kilometres long. The name comes from the Bibbulmun, or Noongar an Indigenous Australian people from the Perth area.
The Rainbow Snake (giver of life in Aboriginal culture) is the Bibbulmun Track symbol
(2) Many suburbs and towns in Western Australia end in the suffix 'up', such as Dwellingup, Manjimup and Quinninup which means place in the Indigenous Noongar language.
(3) Running almost parallel to the Bibbulmun Track (1) is the The Munda Biddi Mountain Bike Trail. This is a long-distance, mostly off-road, cycling trail that runs for over 1,000 kilometres from Mundaring to Albany. The completed Munda Biddi Trail opened end-to-end in April 2013 when it claimed the title of the longest continuous off-road cycling trail of its kind in the world. The name Munda Biddi means "path through the forest" in the Noongar Aboriginal language.
The Munda Biddi Mountain Bike Trail symbol (Path Through the Forest)
(4) Karri trees, which are from the Eucalyptus family, grow up to 90m tall. This makes them the tallest tree in Western Australia and one of the tallest trees in the world. Karri have a long straight trunk with smooth bark in shades of pink, orange, grey and white.
Karri Trees
(5) There are four species of Kangaroo. The Red, is the largest marsupial in the world. A Red male kangaroo can grow to over 2 meters tall and weighing as much as 90kg. They can be found in arid and semi arid part of the country. The Western Grey is smaller with a large male weighing around 54kg. They can be found in the southern part of Western Australia, South Australia & the Murray-Darling Basin. The Eastern Grey occupies the eastern side of the country including Tasmania. Finally, the Antilopine Kangaroo occupies the northern part of the country and has a unique characteristic of swollen nostril passages. This allows more heat to be released whilst residing in the hot and humid climate.
Posted by MAd4travel 10:24 Archived in Australia Comments (0)