Four Aces and One Tree Bridge, Nannup, Western Australia

Hi all, I hope you are doing well. A couple of weeks ago I took you down to Nannup in Western Australia's south west where we explored some of the walk trails over a weekend. If you missed it you can see it here - Weekend away and bushwalking in Nannup, Western Australia

As promised, this week I am taking you to the Four Aces and the One Tree Bridge located 37 kilometres east of Nannup via Vasse Highway and then Graphite Road towards Manjimup. We decided to park at the Four Aces picnic area about one kilometre short of the bridge. From here you can follow a 400 metre loop walk through the karri trees before walking the one kilometre (each way) to One Tree Bridge. 

But first the drive through the karris. Karris are my favourite tree of the southern forests. 

Western Australia’s southern forests are dominated by Karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) trees which grow only in WA’s wettest corner.  Belonging to one of the 900 Australian eucalypt species, many of the Karri trees are over 400 years old. Reaching a maximum height of about 90 metres they are one of the tallest forest trees in the world - behind the Californian Sequoia Redwood and the Australian Mountain Ash. Karri’s are easily identified. Their long straight trunk has a smooth bark which is shed every year, and changes colour as it matures. Interspersed with the Karri are Tingles, Jarrah, Marri, Bullich and Blackbutt trees and a stunning display of over 1500 wildflower species from September to November. 

The Four Aces are 4 tall karris growing evenly spaced in a straight line - you can see them in the photo above. Estimated to be over 250 years old, and over 70 metres tall, it is thought these trees grew up in a fallen log from seedlings in the ash of a previously fallen karri tree which had possibly been burnt in a bushfire. 

 From here there is a 400 metre Karri Glade loop walk trail through the karri forest, suitable for all levels of fitness. It was a pleasant walk through the forest. Take your time to appreciate the forest. 

Unfortunately we were too early for wildflower season, but there is always something to photograph. 

The yellow flower below is I believe the Cape Leeuwin Wattle (Paraserianthes lophantha). It has a fern type leaf and is common in karri forest, though I don't think I have seen it in flower before. There are invasive wattles from the Eastern states in the south west forests, so I was glad to learn this is not one of them.

Below that is bracken fern, a fungi, and a fallen leaf. 

We then walked the one kilometre through the karri forest to One Tree Bridge. 

At One Tree Bridge you can see the remains of a bridge built from a single karri log over the Donnelly River. In 1904 there was no bridge over the river, so settlers Herbert and Walter Gilblett felled the giant karri across the 250 metre wide river, forming the basis of the bridge. Jarrah tree wood was used to complete the building of the bridge. Only part of this bridge survives today. 

In 1948 a second bridge was constructed. In 1955 a new bridge was constructed to cater for heavy log trucks. This is the bridge that operates today, with a foot bridge adjacent. You can see the remains of the old bridge below here and the new bridge and footbridge below that. 

The early days of One Tree Bridge (Manjimup Historical Society)

The 1,000 kilometre Bibbulmum Track from Perth to Albany and the Munda Biddi bike trail crosses the river here at One Tree Bridge south of Donnelly River township. 

Munda Biddi markers on left, Bibbulmun Track on right. 

From One Tree Bridge we returned to Four Aces and had our lunch under the picnic and information shelter while the rain drizzled. It is a beautiful spot to just sit and absorb the forest sights and sounds. 

Below clockwise from top left - Water Bush (Bossiaea acquifolium) - it's amazing the amount of rain water it drops on you when you brush past, Karri Hazel (Trymalium floribundum), Tassel Flower (Leucopogon verticillatus) and a native orchid leaf emerging. Sadly none in flower!

And a Spotted Pardalote pair we saw at Four Aces - female on the left, male on the right. Thanks to my husband for these photos. It was lovely sitting at the picnic area listening to all the birds.

You cannot camp at either Four Aces or One Tree Bridge but there is a campground at Green Island, about 4.6 kilometres away -  turn back towards Nannup on Graphite Road and then turn north at the Green Island sign. Gravel road but suitable for 2-wheel-drive. 

There are 21 campsites surrounding a central grassy cleared area suitable for tents, camper trailers and small caravans. Jack and Irene Green first settled here in 1929 with the hopes of growing tobacco. Unfortunately the venture failed and they left after several years of hard work. 

On our way back to Nannup we stopped in at Tank 7 Mountain Bike Park - two kilometres east of Nannup on Brockman Highway. Here there are many mountain bike trails for all levels of experience. I am not a bike rider, let alone a mountain bike rider, so I don't have more photos to share. The bike trails are colour coded easy, moderate, difficult and extreme. I suggest you select the correct one for you! There is a good guide here - Tank 7 Mountain Bike Park

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   

Mosaic Monday @ Soul & Mind & So On

Saturdays Critters - Viewing Nature With Eileen

Inspire Me Monday

Travel Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

Talking About It Tuesdays @ Slices of Life

ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Until then, enjoy your day... it won't be back. 

A walk in the Northcliffe Forest - Understory art trail

 Hi everyone, I hope you are all safe and well. We are just back from a few days of "forest bathing" - walking in the forest. 

We managed to organise a few days away in Northcliffe, located deep in our south west karri forests. It was so lovely to get away, slow down, and walk in the forests. Karri trees, one of my favourite native trees. 

The name ‘karri’ is the Aboriginal word for the Eucalyptus Diversicolor. Karri is Western Australia’s tallest tree and one of the tallest hardwood trees in the world. The tree reaches its peak height within a hundred years. The tree can grow up to 80m. You can learn more here: Margaret River Vista.com

We arrived in Northcliffe after lunch, and in the afternoon we went to the Northclliffe Visitor Centre to pick up some information and to visit the Understory art and nature trail which starts at the back of the Visitor Centre. 

Inspired by nature and created by local, state, national and international artists, the easy 1.2km walk meanders through the forest. The project was initiated by local artists and launched in 2006 and continually evolves with new pieces being added. 

Allow at least an hour for the walk which closes at 4pm. A small payable fee goes to the local non-profit Art community. 

While some pieces you will love, and others will have you going mmm..???... they will all leave you something to think about. 

It is recommended you follow the trail in an anti-clockwise direction. Collect a map from the Visitor Centre. 

The entry statement and trailhead was created by Torbay (WA) artist Kevin Draper. 

The first piece on the trail is Wishing Wheels by Denmark (WA) artist Peter Keelan. Created from assorted recyled materials including oxygen and gas cylinders, steel, bamboo, ball bearings, stub axles, street signs and pressed tin. You are invited to turn the wheels and listen. Resulting from community workshops, they reminded me of prayer wheels. 

Hopefully you can play this video below here....

This post would be too long to show you all the pieces individually, but I will show you just a few of my favourites.  You can see more about the arts and artists on their website and Facebook page.

Feature throughout the trail are a series of portraits by Kim Perrier from Bridgetown (WA) entitled Rising from the Ashes. The series commemorates the catastrophic Northcliffe bushfire in the summer of 2015. It acknowledges the trauma, loss, and resilience of the community and acknowledges the assistance of hundreds of people from across Australia who helped fight the fires. 

Over 40 local residents where cast in plaster and then the faces created with charcoal and glue. As you look about along the walk you will see them in the forest. 

Another of my favourites was Bower created with found sticks by Perth (WA) artist Gemma Wood. You can see a video of Gemma talking about her work on Facebook here - Gemma Wood - Understory 

There are a series of five stone benches and sculptures entitled Forest Stones created by Albany (WA) artist Kati Thamo, representing forest creatures. 

A giant suspended halo of steel, karri sticks and wire around a Karri tree was created by Perth artist Lorenna Grant (WA), entitled Whole, You Were Meant to Be Here. 

I did enjoy this Cascading Rain Shelter by Perth (WA) artist Tony Pankiw, but I don't think I would want to be out here in the rain to see it in operation. 

I think my favourite is Sundew by Perth (WA) artist Natalie Williamson. Created with metal pipes, steel roads, laser cut steel, glass nuggets, silicon and glass enamel paint in 2006, it is based on the tiny delicate native sundew flowers and towers through the trees. Beneath the images of the sculpture, I have shared a photo of a sundew which I took locally. 

One art work that disturbed me a little was Treecycled by Denmark artist (WA) Cecile Williams. Books have been nailed to a fallen log and are slowly decaying.

But then today I found this from Cecile on Facebook, which puts a new light for me onto this piece. @ Facebook.com/UnderstoryArtinNature then scroll down to 12 May 2019. 

"A small collection of old hardcover books was left to me and became the inspiration for this work. These books bring a new skin, bark, and a wisdom back to this unique old tree. It has fallen, yet it still stands strong, carrying the weight of time on its back. The written word, the book titles, the colours all weave a new story back into this site. In time, the weather and nature will come to play their part in this continuing cycle, with moss forming a new skin, regrowth, and moisture interacting with the pages, swelling them and urging them to ‘open out’ and slowly decompose their stories back into the earth. This was their origin, and now they’ve come home."

Another interesting piece was Nature II by Perth (WA) artist Graham Hay, returning 20,000 pages of mostly unread Government reports to the forest, where they have been impregnated with native scarlet bracken fungus spores. Interesting use for Government reports! 

During spring the forest would be a mass of wildflowers, but in autumn when we visited only a few of the swamp bottlebrush were flowering. 

However any time of year lends its own beauty to the Southern Forests Understory art and nature trail and your experiencing of "bathing in the forest". 

We stayed at Around-tu-it caravan park nestled in forest on the edge of town. Although a little "rustic" and tired, we enjoyed the quietness of the lovely forest situation and the handy location close to town. We had perfect weather for bush trail walking. 

There are a number of forest walks in the area, including parts of the 1000km Bibbulmun walking track and the Munda Biddi bike track from Perth to Albany.

The 48km loop Great Forest Trees Drive winds through the karri forest.  I'll be back another time with some of the trails we did. 

For more information:

Northcliffe Visitor Centre and on Facebook - Northcliffe visitor centre

Southern Forests

You might also like:

Where the forest meets the sea - Denmark, WA

Deep in the Boranup Karri forest, WA

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this look at Northcliffe's forest art trial. Do you have an art trail you like to visit. Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments. 

 I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me
Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Boranup Forest lookout loop walk - Western Australia

A couple of weeks ago we took a few days out of our busy lives to spend a few days down at Hamelin Bay in the beautiful Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park in the Capes region of south west Western Australia. We stayed at the Hamelin Bay Holiday Park  caravan park which is only a short walk to the beach. 

There are many walks in the Cape to Capes region. Notably the Cape to Cape track 
which one of these days I would love to do. It runs approximately 125 kilometres from Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. But there are also many other walks which you can enjoy in the region.  I've blogged about Cape Leeuwin last year - Cape Leeuwin - meeting of the Oceans

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse - where the Indian & Southern Oceans meet

 

Cape to Cape track

You can pick up brochures and books at the Visitor Centres. We have had this book for many years, Walking The Capes by Jane Scott and beautiful illustrations by Patricia Negus, but there is now an updated version, Walking Round in Circles. The best thing of course about walking in circles, is that you can park your car at one point, and come back to it at the end of the walk without having to backtrack. The book outlines shorter and longer versions of walks, so you can choose how far you want to go depending on your fitness and how much time you have. The illustrations help you identify some of the plants, birds and other species you might see. 

We decided to do the Boranup Lookout 9 kilometre loop (see map above), which starts at the Boranup Lookout, 3km from the southern end of Boranup Drive. From here you can see beautiful views over the coast. No camping allowed, but there is a picnic table.  You can extend this to the 12 km walk.

Make sure you follow the usual hiking tips, wear a hat, carry water and food, wear good hiking boots, and as we found out on this loop walk, make sure you carry a map or guide as sometimes trails are not marked. More on that later. 

The first part of the walk is gentle gradients through mixed forest, peppermint, karris, jarrah.  The track alternates between sand and gravel.  Early on in the walk we disturbed two kangaroos which hopped across the track in front of us, unfortunately I didn't ready my camera in time to get a photo.

It would be lovely in spring with the wildflowers. But there were a few.  Below you can see the red Cockies Tongue - Templetonia retusa. 

Here you can see the Easter Bunny Orchid - Eriochilus dilatatus subsp magnus - and in the bottom left hand corner is Parrot Bush - Dryandra sessilis 

 It was at this point on Arumvale Road where we saw Easter Bunny Orchid, that we misread our map and took a wrong turn to the right onto a side track. It was probably about a kilometre on that we realised our mistake. We did not feel that we were walking towards the beach, but parallel to it! So we had to backtrack back to where we had made our mistake. Looking at our GPS tracker later, I am very glad we realised before we had gone much further.

The photo below was taken in the tall Karri forest, about where we decided we had made a wrong turn. The flowers are karri flowers on the forest floor.

Back to the corner again, we continued on, and yes this time we were heading towards the beach as the track turned from gravel to sand on the coastal dunes. 

If we had read our map correctly we would have noticed that the junction where we intended to turn south along Trig Road was an intersection with the Cape to Cape Track which was clearly marked. This is new Cape to Cape signage.

From here the sandy track, Trigg Road, ran south parallel with the coast. This was a bit of a hard slog up and down sandhills, with very little shade, but great views.

To give you some idea of it's size I asked my husband to pose with this huge Grass Tree - Xanthorrhoea. In the South West, the Aboriginal Noongar name is ' balga'.

A little bit further along the track he spied this Tiger Snake sunning itself by the edge of the track. It is one of Australia's most venomous snakes so we were very lucky he saw it before we stepped on it.  A timely reminder that we were in the Australian bush, the habitat of snakes!  They don't rear up and attack unless threatened, preferring to retreat, and I think this one was enjoying a sunshine siesta, but I am sure he knew we were there long before we saw him. I took a photo from a distance, then we walked on by along the other side of the track.

After two and a half kilometres of up and down sandhills, we came to the intersection with Grace Road 4 wheel drive sand track which leads down to the beach from Boranup Drive. 

Then back to the Boranup lookout where we enjoyed our picnic lunch.

After lunch we decided to drive back along the gravel Boranup Drive through the amazing karri forest - truly one of my favourite trees. We stopped several times to take photos. The birds were having a high time highup in the canopy where the karris were flowering. It sounded like we were in a giant avairy. Just beautiful.  Our car in this image below can give you some idea of the size the these trees.  

I wanted to show you a little video, but Blogger is telling my my video was too long but you can view it on my Facebook page -  Boranup forest video on Facebook
(I hope you will go and have a look- sorry about the dodgy phone video.... :)

Karri trees typically grows to a height of 10 to 60 metres (33 to 197 ft) but can reach as high as 90 m (295 ft) making it the tallest tree in Western Australia and one of the tallest trees in the world.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this look at bushwalking in the Boranup Forest. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday
Friday Bliss at Floral Passions

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.