Travel Photos - Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree Climb, Western Australia

We had a busy morning before our drive thru the Blackwood Valley. A daunting prospect first thing was a scale up the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree near Pemberton(http://www.pembertontourist.com.au/). The tree has been pegged with steel spikes in the side and you just start at the bottom and walk up - sounds easy except this tree is 75m (that's 230 feet) high and you're not roped in or clipped in or anything! There is a half way station which is good but this also gives you a chance to chicken out as its here that the tree starts to sway in high winds!



Photo above is actually 2 photos stitched together as I couldn't get the tree in one shot, its that tall. Squally showers and a sign advising us not to climb in the wet put us off our first attempt which saw us reach the first platform, roughly half way up.





Photo above is from the half way station looking down.





After this “practice run” and a break in the rain we did the job properly and made the top of the 75m tree to see mist rising over the top of the forest. Its 135 steel pegs to the top of the fire lookout tree in Warren NP and its quite tiring and you do use muscles that you don't normally use (unless you're a fire lookout in Warren NP that is). A great sense of achievement hits you when you reach the top. But there's only one way down!






Lookout trees were used as an ingenious way to spot bushfires in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The Karri tree is the tallest tree in Australia and the 3rd tallest in the world. The views are amazing, even on a damp day, the photo below shows the mists rising above the forests as viewed from the 'summit' of the tree lookout.

You can still climb the trees as they are open to the public, the ones we know of are:

The Gloucester Tree in the Gloucester National Park is only 3kms from the Post Office in Pemberton. This is 60m high. Great views.

The Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree in the Warren National Park is a 15mins drive from the Pemberton township. It is 75m tall. Awesome.

The Diamond Tree in the Diamond Tree National Park is also a 15 minute drive from town.

You can get all the info you want by calling into the Pemberton Tourist Centre (http://www.pembertontourist.com.au/) for any information on these climbing Trees. They are open 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm.

Travel Photos - Whale sharks, Exmouth - Western Australia

This day may have just been one of the best day trips we've ever done! We were at Ningaloo Reef - Exmouth in Western Australia. The guys we went with from Exmouth were 3 Islands Marine Charters - (http://www.whalesharkdive.com/). They are a great bunch of guys who really do want to look after the whale sharks as well as the customers. None of the whale shark tours are cheap and so we wanted to get this decision right. As soon as we met the guys the next morning, we felt quite assured that we had made exactly the right decision going with 3 Island Marine - they wanted to look after us right from the off. There's also heaps of information given on the trip about the whale sharks and their habits, markings etc.



The excursion to see the whale sharks started well with an offshore breeze flattening out the swell we had experienced on earlier trips. Our practice snorkel was brilliant – a stingray on the ocean floor and then a huge cod fish – my god, I thought they came the size of the batter on your plate. And then a moray eel, mooching at the foot of the coral – and yes that was impressive too. Large “bombies” sprouting roundly out of the sand. Then two more rays – one huge and black, his edges curled at the sides. Exciting and scary all at once. There was plenty of other fish too including cute banded anemone fish like nemo.



Back on the boat we headed out of a gap in the reef and it wasn’t long before the spotter plane had our first target whale shark, it loomed like a large shadow gliding across the surface. I shivered with chill from the breeze and with excitement, I was right on edge, I knew it would be special. We slid into the water and ducked under to be met by a huge gaping mouth – oh my god – I wanted to scream and shout with excitement but I daren’t take my eyes off the beautiful bluey, grey creature in front of me least it disappeared into the murky shadows without me. We swam fast – this lady wasn’t hanging around. I could hardly contain myself but back on the boat I was almost speechless; in awe of such magnificent being – so powerful and yet so docile, gliding through the water, mouth agape with gills pulsating and a slow rhythmic wave of the tail.

On our third swim I found myself almost along on his right side, conscious of the conservation rules I was trying to keep my 3m distance but he kept coming at me, turning towards me so close I could almost touch his smooth, uniquely patterned skin. He was curious, who was this strange sea creature starring so intently at him as he went about his daily life. But I was nervous – it was both incredible and frightening, totally exhilarating being the focus of his attention and vice versa.

After a couple more swims we broke for lunch, totally fulfilled, our expectations already exceeded. Lunch was fabulous by the way.

We then spotted a large group of Manta Rays outside the reef on the way home - this was more than the icing on the cake – it challenged the whale sharks for amazement. We counted up to ten rays after hastily donning our wetsuits again and sliding in with them. They were curious too – it was a wonderful spectacle as they dived and glided about us – almost brushing past, mouths open filtering the plankton. Rays are magnificent creatures, large and other-worldly, the things of sci-fi films – but these are harmless and gentle. As they performed their dinner-dance around us we could see right inside, white internal stripes imitating a rib cage. One was unusually black all over and came up right underneath me; I held my breath and marvelled at every inch of his vast body. After several minutes, they went on their way, unknowingly having given a small group of people an experience of a lifetime. I’ll sleep well tonight!

Video below of our whale shark encounters

Short video below of the manta rays - amazing!