Seventh Entry - Denmark and Valley of the Giants

Figure this is the second to last entry from the trip. Just about 2 hours away from Perth. The plan is to find somewhere to camp out and then check out Rockingham tomorrow. I left off this morning before we left for Denmark so I’ll pick up there.  We woke up to an overcast sky that quickly faded and turned into another sunny day. It is worth mentioning that we did not see a single cloud until the sixth day into our trip. On the way out of Albany we stopped by a lookout point where we spotted multiple whales in the bay!

 We then made a quick stop at Ocean Beach, a surfing beach in Denmark. Saw this sign at the beach and just thought it was funny - very welcoming, eh?

Just makes me really want to go swimming here! Although once on the beach I was very tempted!

Click to enlarge Pano.

Good ole Winston

I had just heard about the Denmark Bakery before we left Albany, so we decided to stop there for breakfast or an early brunch. We had high hopes – both from what we heard and the signs on the outside revealing all the first place prizes the bakery has won over the past couple years – and man did it deliver. Anyone who knows me and how good I am at picking one thing to get when I see a menu full of options will not be surprised that I ended up buying multiple meat pies and desserts. I wolfed down two unbelievable meat pies (Beef and Smoked Bacon and Satay Beef – yeah I just capitalized them because they were that good.) and dove into my dessert. Maybe the best meat pies I have had yet. Also got a sticky date pudding (standard dessert here – when they say pudding it is actually a cake) and a piece of chocolate mud pie. Seriously delicious food though maybe not the best idea to eat all of it before climbing up 40 meter trees (131 feet!) About 30 minutes out of Denmark was the Valley of Giants. Hard to capture how huge these trees were, but they were massive.

Click to Enlarge Vertical Panorama.

Click to Enlarge Vertical Panorama.

 After entering the grounds you ascend on this narrow grated metal bridge that sways and bobs as you walk across it. Since it is grated you could see the forest floor beneath you. 

Despite my fear of heights I was pretty relaxed about the whole thing! Maybe walking on the edge of cliffs back in Albany has increased my tolerance for heights! 

Part of the walk across the bridge. Not even holding the rails!

Once we finished the tree top walk, we wandered through the forest where I took some macro shots.

Pretty subtle difference, but I couldn't tell which of the two I liked better... 

Came across this scary looking ant 

Beetle hard at work

After the Valley of the Giants we began to drive up north, stopping along the way to play in this field of neon yellow wildflowers. 

The metal fence had barbed wire on it ...

I am surrounded by flowers! ~ Kristen

We decided that on our last night we would rough it and just find a random place to camp out, rather than a camper site. We found this nice beach a little bit north of Bunbury and pitched a tent on the dunes. 

Once again the stars were pretty incredible and the waves crashing behind us was really soothing. Would have been a very nice night of sleep except I had proposed the brilliant idea of sleeping all five of us into a tent that at max holds 3 people. While yes, at times it was uncomfortable, it was really fun being squished up in the tent. Definitely was very warm and cozy in a strange sardine like way.

Getting up the next morning

 The plan for our last day tomorrow is to continue heading north, stopping by Rockingham to visit Penguin and Seal Island before returning to Perth.