Denmark
Trip Leader: Terry & Teresa Keesing
When: 13th January, 2004
Location: Denmark
Participants:
Tuesday January 13th.
The convoy left the Rivermouth Caravan Park at 10.15am.
Trip Leader was Terry K. with John B. as tail end Charlie.
There were no other vehicles in the convoy!
As we proceeded along the main road towards Walpole, there were workmen cutting back the trees and foliage beside the road. The cutting machine was mounted sideways and as it moves along the road it cuts the tree branches with ease.
It would be good to have something like this on some of the trips the club goes on!
The first stop was at Peaceful Bay beach. The water was very calm and ‘peaceful’ due to the rock reef that was just off shore. We then drove eastwards along the beach to Irwin Inlet. The wind was a little chilly and it was overcast with some fine mist. Both Teresa and Sue drove back to Peaceful bay along the beach. We explored the Peaceful Bay caravan park and walked around the shady caravan sites. We visited the facilities and the shop where we all had an ice cream and purchased a photo-copy map of 4WD tracks in the area. We then drove around the Peaceful Bay settlement looking at some tatty holiday homes and others with such pretty gardens they must be permanent homes.
Terry found a soft sandy track and we stopped to let down our tyres. We had not gone very far when Terry demonstrated how easy and quick it was to sink into the sand like a lead weight. He then let his tyres down even more, from 18 psi to 15 psi and got out of trouble UNASSISTED and then INSISTED I put that in the Trip Notes!
We visited Groper Bay and then got back on the hilly track where wooden planks had been laid on the steeper parts which made an easy climb. We climbed higher and higher and then dropped down to Cape Hope. Here we had our lunch stop as a picnic table had kindly been provided for us. We set off again and visited Kingi Rock. It was spelt ‘Kingi on the first sign and ‘Kingy’ on the second sign!
We met another vehicle on the track and he kindly reversed for us. We then visited Castle Rock and Diamond Rock which was a large diamond shaped rock just balancing on a flat surface of rocks. It was most unusual and looked a bit like the Pajero logo. Teresa, Liam and Kelly went and collected some pretty shells.
Then we saw a sign for ‘The Gap’ but did not find it!
We drove up some steep twisting tracks and got down onto the sandy beach, where we had to cross some rocky terrain in order to get to the track on the other side and progress again up hill. Three vehicles approached us and pulled over to let us through. We saw lots of pale green Kangaroo Paws. Soon we were back on the bitumen.
This was a great 4 x 4 run – very sandy narrow tracks, up hill and down dale with lots of twists and turns. There were spectacular views and good stopping points – Cape Hope for lunch and Diamond Rock for fishing and shell seeking. This will definitely be a Club Run at some future date!
After pumping up our tyres at the Peaceful Bay shop, we again drove around the quaint little settlement and found the new part of town with some better quality homes. Soon we were on our way to the Valley of the Giants and the Walpole Tree Top Walk which we had all been on before but it was good to go again to view such majestic old trees.
We passed a field of Deer just before the Bird and Reptile Discovery Park. This was another great visit. The children loved having the various birds sitting on their shoulders although Kelly was a wee bit wary. Liam loved it the best of all the day’s activities. He walked around the whole time with one or two birds perched on him and did not want to leave. We all had parrots deposited on our arms.
Terry’s collar buttons seemed a big attraction for his parrot and half a button was eaten! The bird then did its own deposit (!) down the back of Terry’s shirt! This was such an interesting place to visit and the owners walked around with our small group explaining what the birds were.
The ladies drove the vehicles back to Denmark. John B. thinks it is a very good idea for the ladies to be capable of driving their vehicles plus whatever they tow, be it caravan or trailer, so that in the event of any problems, (as has happened to Dot and Reg on one trip way up north) the ladies have had experience in driving while towing something behind them.
On the way back to camp, we passed four Emus close to the road and arrived back at 5.30 p.m. The rest of the group were settled down at Head Quarters (John & Rosalie K’s front garden!) already imbibing in Happy Hour without us! So we had another enjoyable evening!
Wednesday January 14
Everyone was on the move today to go their separate ways. Dot and Reg were off to Walpole; Sue and John to Mount Barker; The Keesings, Kings and Weldons to Perth.
This was a super trip Terry and Teresa, please can we do it again next year?
Sue