Walpole to Denmark

Tuesday 13th December

It was raining when I awoke at 8am so I went back to sleep for an hour. By 9am the rainfall had dwindled to a shower, so I waited another hour until it had completely stopped, then set off. It was still very overcast and clearly more rain was on the way, but there didn’t seem any point in spending any more time in Walpole, hardly the most exciting of places. Before leaving the town, I took a photo of the town jetty:

…and the main street - nothing to see here…

After about 5km along the South Coast Highway I turned off onto a dirt road that led up a very steep hill -

On the way up there was a lookout over the Walpole Inlet but sadly it was too overcast to get a decent photo:

After a long hard uphill slog I reached the Giant Tingle Tree, a local landmark.

Hollowed out by fire, over 400 years old, yet still very much alive, this huge tree has a girth of 21 metres at its base. Tingle trees are a species found mainly in this area of WA and are specifically adapted to the region’s relatively high rainfall, and poor soil.

Then it was back downhill again to the main highway for a few kms, then at 20kms there was another turnoff to the Treetop Walk. This excellent attraction consists of a walkway suspended along the top of the forest, giving an amazing vantage point from which to appreciate the magnificence of these mighty trees:

Back at ground level there was a walkway from which you could view the trees at close quarters:

The route then descended back to the main South Coast Highway which was relatively flat for the rest of the day’s journey - however what would have been a fairly easy ride was made quite arduous by a strong headwind which blew the whole day.

There wasn’t much else of note along the way, the only thing that did entice me to stop for a while, after about 60kms, was a toffee factory, where I enjoyed a tasting of their produce.

Shortly afterwards, inevitably, the rain started. It wasn’t too heavy though, and didn’t last long, the worst thing was the headwind which just got stronger. The rain stopped for the last 5kms of the ride, soi I arrived at Denmark, the day’s destination, reasonably dry. By this time it was about 5.30pm - although the total distance today was only 82kms, a lot of this had been uphill, all had been into the headwind, I’d made a late start anyway, and had spent a long time enjoying the Tingle Tree and the Treetop Walk.

I checked into the Denmark Hotel, pleasantly situated by the inlet.

Denmark’s a pleasant little town but it was too overcast to get any decent photos:

There were several decent restaurants to choose from and I enjoyed a very good meal at the Denmark River Bistro.