Walpole WA
Trip Leader: Terry Keesing
When: 27th December 2009 – 10 January 2010
Location: Walpole WA
Participants: Many
Dec 27th – 29th
Terry and Ric arrived a day earlier on the 26th of December and enjoyed a relaxing day setting up and getting ready for the rest of the crew most of whom were arriving on the 27th. They got their boats prepared for a possible fishing expedition the next morning but discovered to their disgust that all the boat ramps had been closed at Coalmine beach for one reason or another. This did not deter the boys the next morning who decided to unhitch the trailer at the ramp, wheel it around the bollards and push it through the sand. A bit of early morning exercise.
The fishing was not too bad…. getting a feed of good sized skippy, herring and the odd flathead. It was magic out on the water and would have been worth the effort without catching a fish. They left the boat in the water and the trailer on the beach as the thought of pulling it uphill through the sand by hand was a bit much.
During the day Sam and Pasc, Trevor and Rachel, Steve and Fiona and Paul and Louise and families arrived at various times during the day. The trailer load of wood arrived and a camp fire was roaring. Happy hour was underway, the first of many.
Sam’s extended family arrived to celebrate Sams 50th .
The next day Terry organized a trip out to Rame Head and to explore some tracks around the Peaceful Bay area. In previous years a circuit had been attempted around part of the coastline but was stopped by a creek which had washed away the beach.
Terry was a little challenged for a while to find his way but eventually managed to complete the circuit which took in local beaches and inland sandy tracks. Sam’s relatives tagged along in their cars and seemed to enjoy the challenge. Lunch and the afternoon was spent at Rame Head on the beach enjoying games of cricket, frisby and throwing the vortex. Others went swimming and fishing.
Later that afternoon Bob and Teresa arrived and the new Jayco was set up for its first outing.
Terry was up early in the morning as usual and was shocked to find Paul up and about and on his bike heading off to complete a lap of the Knoll. This was the new fitter Paul in all his glory . Little did we know that this was a once off exercise and the bike was wheeled around the back of the van and didn’t see the light of day for the rest of the camp.
The weather was looking pretty good so Terry took the crew for a beach run to the mouth of the Walpole inlet. This is a great location and a place enjoyed on many occasions over the years. The fishing was not great but still it was great just to be there.
30th January 2009
Some adventurous hunters and gatherers got up early and went fishing, the second wave headed of for an early morning walk, everyone else took it in turns to rest by the camp site and head into town for supplies and caffeine at the local coffee shop, come gift shop, Woo’s and Sue’s (don’t quote me on the spelling). A lovely restful day for all.
31st January 2009
Trevor lead us on a trip to Fern Hook Falls. Not an early start so people had a chance to get up and get organised, laze around or go for their daily walk as it pleased them. On the way to Fern Hook we stopped at Swarbrick (Walpole Wilderness Discovery) – a kind of outdoor art gallery among the natural bush setting, a pleasant 10-15 minute walk.
After that we headed for the falls which ended up being very dry at the height of summer, but an easy 10 minute walk (beware of falling iPods on the rocks) found us at a nice pool of flowing water.
Back near the car park the camp kitchen provided a nice shady spot for lunch. After lunch many of the group headed back down to the water for a paddle on the kayak and to dip their feet in the water.
The adventurous headed off to Mount Frankland for a walk to the summit (about a 20 min round trip) while the less adventurous headed back to the camp for tea and scones and an afternoon nap to prepare for the New Year’s Eve festivities.
We shared supper with delicious food supplied by all to get us through to midnight. The children had party poppers and sparklers and glo-bracelets and we all enjoyed a night around the fire with music from Terry’s sound system and at midnight . . . you will have to look at the trip notes for the 1st of Jan if you want to know who kissed who . . . hopefully they will include all the juicy details . . . HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.
Friday 1st January 2010
After the previous night’s celebrations, it was decided that the first day of the year should be one of relaxation and nothing too strenuous. Those with boats (Ellis’s, Keesing’s and Ryan’s) decided to take a cruise up the River to Monastery Landing for a picnic lunch.
The Ellis’s drove to Nornalup Bridge to launch their boat, and Teresa and Louise had driven to there also to meet their respective boats. Paul and Terry had decided they would travel by boat from the inlet near camp. Monastery Landing is approximately 4km up river from the Nornalup Bridge where we were joined by the Goswell’s, Theunissen’s and Gigenjack’s who all drove to meet us there.
It is a secluded and quiet riverside picnic spot, with a landing jetty and picnic tables.
The majestic beauty of this particular location, where the trees overhang the river from both sides, overawed an early settler’s surveyor’s assistant. There was a feeling of peace, with the birds singing and the early morning sunlight filtering through the branches. He gasped, and said, “It’s as quiet as a monastery”. And “Monastery Landing” it has been called ever since.
After an enjoyable lunch with good company it was decided that we should head back to camp. After leaving the Ellis’s and Teresa and Louise at Nornalup boat ramp Captain Courageous Ryan and fellow Captain “she’ll be right mate” Keesing, went on to face the afternoon breeze across the inlet. Having almost made it to the river mouth Paul suddenly lost power in his outboard. With motor on full throttle and going nowhere, he was reminded of the benefit of travelling in groups. He was confident that his mate would be at his immediate aid. And he was…… Eventually. Captain Paul watched Terry Long-gone disappear across the inlet until he realised that Paul was no longer following. Fortunately he was able to tow Paul and his junior crew to safety and joined the rest of us for happy hour and some interesting discussion on the probable cause and ways to fix the problem…
Saturday 2nd January 2010.
Today most of us went for a drive to Denmark for a bakery run. We decide to get lunch at Denmark Bakery and go down to the river where the kids could play on the playground and the adults could relax under a tree. As we arrived at the bakery at lunchtime, the queue was out the door and along the path outside. The service was very good and we were all able to unload our pockets in return for fresh homemade pies and cakes.
We spent a couple of hours at the park chatting before decided to head back. Some stopped at Greens Pool on the way back but the wind was quite strong and consequently the visit only short. Upon arrival back at camp, we soon settled into the customary formation where we chatted some more until dinner. Another great day.
Sunday 3rd January Boat Harbour
Leisurely breakfast. The Trip left at 1030 for an easy sand track drive to Boat Harbour. Boat Harbour is a sheltered East facing beach with granite headlands and gentle sloping white sand.
There was a gentle shore break providing all the kids with excellent bogie boarding. Kelly was particularly good a catching waves right into the beach. The more water temperature aware had noticed the water was freshly melted Antarctic ice an watched the kids from the shade shelters at the cars. Trevor had a snorkel. After lunch there was a very serious game of beach cricket. The standard was very high with several contenders for future baggy green selection. The rules were people who give catches get a life and one hand one bounce is still out.
Back at camp there was some fire side cooking and chat before an early night. People were still recovering from new years.
Walpole 4th January Forest Drive.
The boaties in the group went out early to wet a line and feed their bait to the blowies. Even the stories of the ones that got away failed to sound convincing on their return. The kids spent the morning at the parks play ground and some of the fitter members walked around the knoll. A lovely 4 km walk in Marri forest with sweeping views of the inlet.
After lunch we all went on a forest drive to see some of the local natural wonders. Circular Pool was beautiful with the children enjoying scrambling over the rocks. It would have a magnificent water fall in winter. And still had a large deep tea tree stained dark pool.
The Giant Tingle Tree, hollowed by fire was a very pleasant walk and could easily hold the whole group of us. There is a group photo to prove it. I convinced my 3 year old daughter Sam that it was a dragon’s lair. We had afternoon tea at a lavender and herb farm. The girls all bought smelly soap and the children cased blue fairy wrens through the lovely garden.
A very easy but lovely drive.
Tuesday 5th January:
Daytrip Leader: Trevor Theunissen
We welcomed Chris and Jan Smith to the convoy today and left Walpole just after 10.30am with 6 vehicles. We headed about 40Km east to Perry Road and then went south to the coast. The white beaches looked great but we escaped from the wind amongst some rocks to eat our lunch. We drove along and up some 
sandy tracks. From there Trevor led us through uncharted territory on overgrown tracks that were hard to define, before navigating a swamp crossing back to the main road. After a quick comfort stop we proceeded to go to the river mouth for afternoon tea, only to discover that Terry had inadvertently left Teresa back at the toilet stop!! After some beach driving we went back to camp arriving about 5.30pm. That evening Trevor and Bob both tried their hand at baking scones in the camp ovens. Many thanks to Sam for organizing a trailer full of wood; it was a huge success to enable a nightly campfire!
sandy tracks. From there Trevor led us through uncharted territory on overgrown tracks that were hard to define, before navigating a swamp crossing back to the main road. After a quick comfort stop we proceeded to go to the river mouth for afternoon tea, only to discover that Terry had inadvertently left Teresa back at the toilet stop!! After some beach driving we went back to camp arriving about 5.30pm. That evening Trevor and Bob both tried their hand at baking scones in the camp ovens. Many thanks to Sam for organizing a trailer full of wood; it was a huge success to enable a nightly campfire!
Wednesday 6th January
Daytrip Leader: Terry Keesing
Departing again about 10.15am, 5 vehicles set off east and went to Freddy’s Bay. We drove through the undulating sand dunes where rubber matting preserved the track over many of the crests. We drove along the beach until we came to a nice bay where everyone relaxed by swimming, snorkelling, fishing or reading followed by a BBQ lunch. Sam gave instructions on gutting and filleting fish and all was tranquil until a large gust of wind tried to tear the awnings off Paul’s and Sam’s vehicles and then the 2 families moved very quickly to retrieve the parts and pack them away. Once the sea breeze was in, it was time to get back into the cars. We headed back along a gravel track and got back to camp by about 4.15pm. All in all it was a very relaxing day.
Trip Notes Walpole Thursday 7th January 2010.
We decided to have a very lazy day today with not much happening. We all stayed at the Camp site until about 3.00PM and decided then to take some nibbles and afternoon tea down to Sandy Beach, just before Rest Point Caravan Park. Sam, Chris and the Ryan’s tried their hand at fishing but only caught 5 or 6 fish between them so they threw their catch back. We had our afternoon tea on the beach and then headed back to camp so that we could start our happy hour and cook tea. We had a nice roaring fire happening, Chris grilled a whole chicken over hot coals, Sam cooked a lamb roast and Bob perfected my recipe and cooked some scones. We sat around the fire until about 11.00pm and then we all decided to go to bed after having such a tiring, busy day.
Trip Notes Walpole Friday 8th January 2010.
We awoke to another beautiful summer’s Walpole day, had breakfast and then packed morning teas, lunches and snacks and all four vehicles ( Vasile’s, Ryan’s, Smiths and Gigengack’s) headed down to our most favourite spot in Walpole, the mouth of the inlet. When we arrived it looked like half of the population of Walpole were down there. Cars, boats and people fishing. We set up camp and settled in for a nice relaxing day of fishing, swimming, reading, watching il Divo DVD’s eating, drinking and most importantly beating the Ryan boys playing Uno Spin. (Pasc is the champion). We relaxed until around 3.00pm and then headed back to town where we cleaned out the butcher’s shop of chicken wings and pork ribs.
We enjoyed another great happy hour and another enjoyable night by the roaring fire but were upset that it was going to be our last night at Walpole .
A big Thank You to everyone who was at Walpole and to Terry & Paul for organising a great holiday.
Sam & Pasc