Walpole 27/4 to 30/4

Rest Point Holiday Park Pavilion

After completing our Easter break at Parry Beach, we set off for Walpole which is 43 km further down the highway.  In the main we were looking for a caravan park so we could wash and dry our clothes, fill our water tanks and replenish our food supplies.  Thankfully Mark and Lee Keeble who we had met at Parry Beach had recommended that we book into the Rest Point Holiday Village which is about 5km west of Walpole. 

Boat built by Swarbrick's in 1936

What a rare gem this park was to become.  The caravan park is located on the Walpole Nornalup Marine Park inlet and provides access to many water based activities, from swimming and kayaking, to fishing as well as a range of other boating and sailing activities.  It was owned by the Swarbrick family, a pioneering family who not only developed the area but also built boats.  In fact they are still involved in boat building, building “The Pink Lady”, the boat sailed by Jessica Watson.

An albino stingray at Rest Point

One of the local attractions is hand feeding the very large stingrays that frequent the fish cleaning tables adjacent to the boat ramp.  As the fishermen clean their fish, the stingrays and pelicans line up to feast upon the scraps.  Naturally it didn’t take long for the stingrays to start beaching themselves on the timber jetty to be hand fed and stroked. 

A stingray, keen for food & a pat

Everyone we spoke to about Walpole recommended that we book into the WOW Wilderness Eco Boat trip that was to become one of our trip highlights.  This trip lasted about 3 ½ hrs and had been initially set up to introduce visitors to the magnificent waterways and ancient Gondwana relics that are only found in the Walpole Wilderness and Marine Park habitats.  Our commentator on the boat trip was Gary and he set about entertaining everyone with numerous stories and anecdotes about the Walpole – Nornalup region and he provided us with an overview of the many unique and beautiful features of this bio-diverse hotspot; which included an insight into the first inhabitants, the early settlers and numerous other heritage features.

The trip took us along the waterways and finally to a short walk over a small hill and some sand dunes and down to Circus Beach.

Circus Beach

  Gary advised us that Circus beach was so named because the locals used to go there to watch the light horses being trained on the beach...as much fun as a circus.

One of the views from our boat trip...WOW

Mark at Circus Beach

View of Nornalup & Walpole Inlets

View over Circus Beach from lookout

Walpole is encircled by several mountain ranges and the township is marketed as the place where the “Forest meet the Sea”.  The surrounding roads have several viewing platforms that provide visitors with breathtaking views on the waterways and Tingle and Karri forests. 

Donna at Giant Tingle Tree

The Giant Tingle Tree which was in a local tourist drive was at the very least, 400 years old and has a base circumference of 24 metres.  It was unbelievably large, still flowering and quite awe inspiring. 

We then drove to the ‘Circular Pool’ which is a beautiful natural pool in the Frankland River. It was interesting to see the change as the river flowed through the rocks and into the pool where we marvelled at the reflections.

Donna at Circular Pool

Reflections in Circular Pool - Serene!

The Frankland River

Mandalay Beach, named after a Norwegian ship that ran aground on the rocky outcrops along its shores was also within a short drive away from the caravan park.

Mandalay Beach

For such a tiny town of less than 350 people, there is a lot to do in Walpole.  If you were into boating it is a boating paradise.

Walpole Inlet.  Tranquil, quiet and breathtaking.

 We’re unsure how long we’ll be away from internet & telephone contact as we move to a National Park next, so HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mums watching our blog, especially our Mums!  It’s times like this that we feel a long way from home, however we have a lot more of the country to see yet.