Australia 2019, part VI

There was one good thing about the Rangers House – the grill. Fantastic! The bed on the other hand really sucked. After two nights on this mattress I’d have paid a fortune for a real bed.

Otherwise, we only tested the bakery just outside Nornalup, the Tingles Bakehouse, and found good coffee, nice cakes, and good pies. Nice garden with lots of birds, too.

We also tried to hire a kayak to paddle up the Frankland River but even though I’d called them the day before they didn’t turn up. So we went hiking instead. Lots of good trails in the forest, by now we’d already covered a good stretch of the Bibb Track, piece by piece.

The treetop walk is of course very touristy, but we found it nice, why not do it when they went to so much trouble to build these 50m high walkways. Won’t be much left of these forests in a few years anyway, so let’s enjoy life while it’s worth living (Allan Sillitoe).

But enough of Walpole. From the crappy Rangers gangbang shed to one of the nicest places we’ve ever stayed at, what a contrast. Rainbow Trail Chalets in Pemberton. One word: marvelous! Super spacious, comfortable, friendly, helpful, clean, perfect. Sit on the balcony, watch the roos and emus wander over from the state forest next door, witness the kookaburras fight the magpies, get visits from sweet nosy 28s and fantails – what more could you wish for? And the area itself, magnificent old forest all around. The Warren River Loop walk is highly recommended, we also climbed the Gloucester tree and the Dave Evans Bicentennial tree. Both are grand old trees that were used to spot fires and have iron rungs running around their trunks to a viewing platform at the very top. Not for people who are afraid of heights, obviously. And not for Americans who only worry about insurance. 😁 Great views from the top, obviously.

Then there’s the Lavender and Berry Farm, just outside Pemberton. Homemade ice cream and giant pancakes. Wonderful pancakes, like they should be, not the American ‚batter from the bottle‘ thingies. I managed to wolf down the big portion and the cook and the other guests were duly impressed, high fives for yours truly. Didn’t have to eat anything else for the rest of the day, too. ☺ 😁 😋 The best thing about this cafe were the birds though, lots of parrots, of course, but also splendid fairy wrens and honeyeaters about.
According to the Reisebegleitung, the sandwich at the Holy Smoke Cafe is also recommendable.

The one thing I don’t understand is the complete absence of real fruit ice cream from Australia. I don’t get it. The Kiwis have it all over the place, Tassie has it, but not the mainland. Why? What the fuck is wrong with you? Wanna lick my butthole? 😁