26 June 2013 - Bunbury Glade Caravan Park, Bunbury, Western Australia

What a day! Not only does the 26 June this year mark our second granddaughter’s fourth birthday, but it is a momentous day in the political history of Australia, but more about that later.

We set the alarm because we no longer trust our ability to walk at a decent hour; obviously retirement has deeply embedded itself now and there is no going back. We were expected for morning tea at 10 am down in Peppermint Grove Beach and were relying on our not-so-trusty Tomtom to find the address. But not before posting a Happy Birthday on Bella’s mother’s Facebook wall.

Peppermint Grove Beach lies about ten kilometres to the west of Capel which in turn is about twenty kilometres south of Bunbury and is known for its long white steep surf beach. Apart from those who live there in houses on the ridge between the sand dunes and the inland Stirling Wetlands and enjoy the cooling sea breezes and the distant views of the Indian Ocean horizon, it seems that the beach is also popular with surfers, some of whom were waiting for The Wave this morning when we checked the beach.

We took the Busselton Highway south toward Capel, an alternative route to the South Western Highway. It passes through more lovely lush pastureland populated with cattle, both beef and dairy, and a surprising number of sheep. Turning off that highway toward our beach destination, we passed the northern reaches of the Tuart Forest National Park and mobs of grey kangaroos in the lush grassy paddocks.

Apart from a small mob sighted from the bus window on our rather impromptu mine tour a few days ago, we have seen so few wild animals since leaving the wilderness far to the north of the state. One might have been forgiven thinking that roos did not live down here in the more populated part of Western Australia, however the locals would tell us otherwise. In fact we have been told that there is an over population of these creatures, and after today I can see that might be true after all.

Lauren, Logan & I

Lauren is the sister of our daughter-in-law, her three month old son, a cousin to two of our grandchildren, so she can be considered family, albeit rather extended. It was so lovely to see her, looking so well, to meet little Logan who was more interested in his digestive system than we two oldies, and to see their lovely home. Sadly, for us, Ben was at work, so we will have to meet him some other time, however we did acquaint ourselves with Jessie, the dog, and the colourful snake whose name escapes me. I was fascinated to learn that the pet food for the snake is kept in the freezer; dead mice sourced from a pet shop. I remarked that I would be far more fearful of that pet food live, than any non-venomous snake. We were treated to home baked peanut brownies and coffee as we like it and learn about life in Peppermint Grove Beach and the Bunbury region. After spending a very pleasant hour, we left Lauren to attend to her important work, giving her attention fully to little Logan and we headed off to explore Capel.

Capel is a very small township, centre of the shire of the same name, with a library, a small supermarket, a newsagent and a few other services. I am sure it serves the community well and no doubt will, in time, be the place of education for little Logan when the time comes.

We called into the Shire office in the absence of an official Information Centre, and asked about walks in the nearby Ludlow Tuart Forest. The helpful woman behind the counter was possibly happy to have something to do, because she searched the council’s website for proposed trails, printed off a screed of possible options and sent us on our way with best wishes and happy travelling.

Our first stop was toward the southern end of the Forest, near the heritage listed Wonnerup House, at the Malbup Creek Bird Hide where we lunched and then took the two walks on offer.

Black Swans at the Malbup Creek Bird Hide

The bird hide is one of the best designed we have encountered and even better, is in the middle of a wetlands well populated by water birds; principally ducks, swans and shags. A loop walk begins on the same access track, wending its way through the forest, below the towering tuart trees, through the fallen elders, and through mobs of numerous kangaroos. All those missing as we have travelled south have congregated here, it would seem, some having been bowled over on the way. We had seen their carcasses on the roadside on our way to Lauren’s. We also delighted in the miniature wild flowers along the way including everlasting daisies too small to photograph.

But the primary focus of this particular little circuit is the possum population. Research has found that the Tuart Forest National Park contains the largest population of ringtail possums secure within the conservation reserve in the State. This area also contains the densest population of brushtail possums ever recorded in Western Australia with up to forty five animals in three hectares. This fact would make a New Zealander splutter into their coffee cup; remember that possums are a major pest in that country and the environmentalists pray for possum annihilation. The Park acts a bit like an island of fauna surrounded by a sea of farmland and increasing urban development.

Much of this region was victim to milling however the same Charles Lane Poole, Conservator of WA Forests, mentioned a few days ago, dedicated 542 hectares of Tuart Forest in Ludlow as State Forest No 1, the first in Western Australia. More surrounding Tuart country was purchased by the government, and all of this, 2,880 hectares, formed the Tuart Forest Reserve, 2,049 hectares of which were declared a National Park in 1987.

Tuarts grow naturally only in the South West of Western Australia, on the coastal limestone band from Busselton north to Jurien Bay, over four hundred kilometres. It is the largest naturally occurring tree on the Swan Coastal Plain. Tuarts grow in many forms but here at Ludlow the tallest tuarts are found, single stemmed and up to forty metres tall. The tallest of these was 39.6 metres in height, had a girth of 11 metres and was thought to be about 500 years old.

Prior to colonial settlement there were over 111,600 hectares of tuart woodlands. Today 30,316 hectares of tuart woodlands remain; 9,482 are protected in parks, State Forests and Reserves with 2,049 hectares in the Tuart Forest National Park. It is one of the rarest forests in the world. Unfortunately, tuart is a species under threat due to lack of regeneration, canopy decline, property development, faster germinating weeds and weeping peppermints that can out complete young tuarts.

A tall tuart tree

After this delightful walk, we drove north through the forest, up through the abandoned township of Ludlow, once a hive of milling activity, now harbouring a few diehard occupants. Further north, just past the turnoff to Peppermint Grove Beach, having now driven a long loop, we pulled into the most northern section of the Tuart Forest National Park and walked for an hour along The Avenue, a sandy track through weeping aromatic peppermint gums, off a Trails Master Plan, dated February 2009, given to us by the woman in the council office. We heard kookaburras, saw dozens of tiny birds, flitting about too fast for identification, deep tracks from 4WDs, and foot prints of roos, horses and ourselves.

It was a concern to see so many signs about warning of the danger of the mosquitos in the area. Of course, when you consider the geology of the area, all the way down from Mandurah with the series of lakes and wetlands, it must be an ideal home for such critters and we had certainly seen them about. In fact when we lunched before the walk out to the bird hide, we remained inside the vehicle because of the marauding masses. At the council office, we had been handed a leaflet explaining the dangers in the area of contracting Ross River Virus and Barmah Forest Virus, two mosquito borne diseases which exhibit “symptoms including emotional distress or depression and can effect family, social and work relationships”. These I found quite fascinating given that these “symptoms” are so often attributed to one’s economic situation, occupational or marital stresses rather than a tiny leggy insect. The signs did suggest that the disease was more likely to be transmitted in the spring and summer, and in the hours of dusk and dawn. Given we were in the area around midday and in the winter, we felt quite safe from being thrown into the depths of depression, although realised we were still likely to receive their unwelcome love bites. I can report that we did heed the signs, cover ourselves from tow to wrist with clothing and smother ourselves with insect repellent, both which proved effective.

Back home we turned on the ABC News 24 TV channel and learned a leadership spill was about to occur so have remained fixed to the screen ever since. As I write this Julia has fronted the media and spoken graciously and bravely under the circumstances of her defeat. Now she has just been seen emerging from the Governor General’s residence, having attended to the constitutional processes required and soon we will hear from the new leader of the Labour Party, the soon to be caretaker prime minister or perhaps the fully fledged prime minister depending on the GG’s decision. These indeed are interesting times to be in Australia.