Rex came over to say goodbye and gave us a card with his phone number and email address. Not that we'll need it. He's in the Manginup pub from 4 on weekdays, and 12 on weekends. Looking forward to catching up over an Emu Bitter, although I swear I saw Rex drinking XXXX Light, not sure what that is about.
We got away early and arrived at the Stirling Ranges. I did the best backing job I have ever done with the van, receiving scant praise for my troubles. The campsite was lovely, and before a stabiliser had hit the gravel, we were met by Eddie the volunteer park ranger who assured us all was well despite the local bush fires and imminent threat to shut the park down due to the high risk of lightening strikes. Turns out Eddie (indeterminate age) has been here as a volunteer for 12 years. He has also been a consultant for stud sheep farms all over Australia, a bird breeder, a farmer, an orchid collector, a roadhouse owner / burger flipper, and I'm sure a lot of other stuff he simply didn't get around to telling us.
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| Oli and Ned on Toolbranup |
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We sat around for a while after Eddie left. Sara and I read a bit before it became obvious that there was still some energy left in the camp that would not disappear between now and dinnertime. Oli chose the hardest climb we could do in 3 hours, and so Ned and I decided we'd better accompany him to ensure he didn't do anything more stupid than anything he'd attempt on a normal day. We didn't ask Eddie's advice, but possibly we should have.
Mt. Toolbranup is the second highest peak in the Stirlings after Bluff Knoll, but a harder climb. Ned almost quit 20 minutes in, but a little bit of reverse psychology, and a few squirts of Ventolin created a monster and we summitted in record time. We saw a snake of indeterminant deathliness which gave Toolbranup that extra bit of Bear Grylls flavour.
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| Top of Bluff Knoll |
Ivy and Sara, whilst proud of the achievements of their boys, were certain they could equal them. The next day was rainy. Homework was assaulted. Discrepancies became immediately apparent between the teacher who was more interested in reading John Pilger's conspiracy theory about the CIA and Sir John Kerr than espousing Miss O'Keefe's of Camberwell South mantra of readin', writin', 'rithmitic! Luckily the sky cleared. Free at last, times tables done, Ned burst from the van and declared his desperation to add the tallest mountain in South-East Western Australia to his belt. The information said it would take 4 hours. The sign in sheet indicated people had taken more than 5. Sara sneered. Oli raised one side of his top lip and hissed, "We'll be down in three." Despite the vaguely Indian nature of his accent, he was true to his word. DYB DYB DYB DOB DOB DOB Three hours, Bluff Knoll sorted...next...
The rest of the day was spent with Eddie. He went over his orchid collection, showing us photos of all the orchids he'd seen in the park. Then we saw the snakes, and the lizards, and the birds, and the floods, and the fires, and the spiders. It was fantastic. We left the Stirlings early the next day, arriving in Albany before any Grey Nomad had even done a reccie of the local dump sites. Albany is a nice town. We went through the local op shops with abandon; had real bread for the first time in 2 months, and close to the best doughnut ever. We said g'day to Tattoo Dude again, Ned made his first drop in on a scooter, Sara and I bought new hiking boots, and we had fish and chips for tea. Not bad. Today was the whale museum, an animal park, and Linton's for a BBQ dinner. It's been busy, but whilst we all feel like moving, I think we should.
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