Week Away

My boyfriend and I booked time off from work for holidays. For months we couldn't decide whether to go to Melbourne or Bali eventually we decided to go somewhere a little close to home; Pemberton.

In case you weren't sure where Pemberton is located, please see the above map.

Pemberton is a very small town surrounded my huge forests consisting of the famous Karri trees, which are these massive and magnificent trees that grow up to 70 metres tall. We went during late July, which was the coldest time to go but also probably the loveliest, because due to the wet and cold weather, it made the surroundings even more green and for that week I felt like I was in an enchanted forest.

It was a four hour drive, that was well worth it, and we stayed for four days at the Rainbow Trail Chalets (room below).

The room was so lovely, up high on stilts, and outside us was nothing but forest. Every morning while we drank our coffee on the balcony wearing a thousand layers of clothing, three or four parakeet's would sit on the rail and I'd feed them pieces of bread.

Sipping wine from our balcony in the evening

On the first day we went horse riding at Tails of the Western Trail Ranch, for $80 per person. This included riding your own horse with a group of others for a two hour trail ride through the amazing forests, exploring both tight and large trails, up hill and down hill. I had never ridden a horse before so this was a really exciting and scary experience for myself. I had to walk my horse (his name was Mio) to the appropriate area to hop on and I was literally whispering to him, asking him to go easy on me, and thankfully he did.

It was a great experience. The leader told us the appropriate ways to stop, turn and during my ride I even broke into a gallop several times which was an amazing personal achievement for myself.

My only regret was organising the horse ride for the first day and leaving me practically disabled for the rest of our trip. Totally worth it though.

On the second day we explored the Karri forests and the famous Gloucester tree that you can actually climb. There is also a radio station available for when you are in the area, which tells you the history and significance of these forests to the Aboriginal people which was actually really quite interesting.

The above was taken of the Gloucester tree while I was on my way down, trying not to hyperventilate and pass out. One of my biggest fears is heights and it took me almost thirty minutes just to reach the top. My boyfriend was so amazing though, staying right behind me, giving me words of encouragement and not letting me go back down when I began to cry (which I am appreciative of now because of the amazing view when you reach the top).

It is so absolutely terrifying though and all you have is metal pegs poking out from the tree, and some wire surrounding the sides. I couldn't help but feel like someone could so easily slip through but my boyfriend reassured my fears by saying, "you're bound to grab on something if you do". Luckily my reflexes and grabbing-on-to-something-skills was not put to the test.

Above is a terribly taken Panorama of the view from the Gloucester tree. In total the Gloucester tree is 61 metres tall above sea level and they were built in the early 1900's as fire lookouts. If you do ever climb the Gloucester tree and are in need of a slightly bigger challenge, 15 minutes outside of Pemberton is the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree that you can climb and the lookout is located at 75 metres above sea level.

On our third and last full day in town, we spent it driving around Pemberton and its surrounds, having a relaxed and laid back day, appreciating the setting before sadly driving four hours back home the following morning.

We went four wheel driving around Callcup and saw the river meeting the sea, creating this strange red colour in the ocean and visited the Beedalup falls (below).