65 Metres above Ground...

Second post today... the rock posts are just interludes..

FINALLY!!! More kangaroos.... there loads more but it was too dark to photograph them....

We camped in a site at Windy Harbour and it sure was aptly named... serious gales confined us to quarters.. we did a short walk on the beach but I had a dreadful headache so Dr Fred went off to explore the headland on his own... the rock here was very different to the granite we had become used to. It was more fossilised sand dunes quite crumbly and eroded into fantastic shapes and patterns.

As a campsite Windy Harbour did the job but it wasnt the best.. but for one night it was ok.. in the morning we got up and the weather was loads calmer and there were no kangaroos to be seen!!! We drove to the headland where Fred had walked the day before - the rocks were pretty amazing .. there had obviously been a huge cave made out of the fossilized rock which was everywhere and it had partially collapsed making a huge window or bridge affair vet spectacular especially as it was this really interesting lumpy crystal type of rock.

we had a walk around the rest of the headland... again fantastic views across the ocean - beautiful colours but no sign of any dolphins or whales.

We set off back toward Pemberton but on the way we decided to stop and have a look at Mount Chudalup - another masive lump of rock. We had chatted with a woman who said it was a nice walk through the forest before you had to make any effort to climb the actual rock... so we had a wander and it was very pleasant - there was no-one else there which was nice and eventually we got to the rock and it didnt look too hard so in the end we both climbed to the top and it was a fabulous 360 view

- forest more forest and forest....

Next adventure was to set off to find the 'big tree'. We had heard about this tree from a couple of friends who said it was a crazy experience - so we thought we should go look... we were surprised how busy it was- but mainly spectators... no actual takers for climbing the tree... the tree was amazing.... scary but amazing - its called the Dave Evans Bicentienal tree.

Basically its a tree with steel rungs driven in extremely securely to make a spiral ladder around the trunk. There is a bit of flimsy wire at the sides but absolutley nothing below... and if you have

the nerve (and skill to be fair) you can climb up using these stakes - its completely mad. But of course - a

challenge - and one Fred rose to - he practically ran up

- well he was obviously being quite cautious but he got into his stride and 65 metres later he was at the very top of this ginormous tree.

photos are great but I have to say my heart was in my mouth watching him climb it - he did make it look very easy and he did say it wasnt hard but a bit nerveracking.. coming down was much harder... I climbed the first 4 rungs and that was more than enough!! (But this picture of me shows how the rungs were to the tree.. )

Scotland part 2

The second half of the week continued in much the same vein. We had one rainy afternoon which was actually quite nice to be holed up in the house with the rain lashing the windows. It probably wasn't quite so nice for the two visitors that came on their bikes but they're tough cookies - and its only water- but I did feel sorry for them having to cycle six miles back down the track in the wind and rain, but given Scotland, it wasn't as bad as it could be. The big quest for the 2nd half of the week was to find some deer antiers! The chap that owned the house dropped in to visit - he was a very friendly fella and was chatting about how this was the time of year when all the Stags lost their antlers (he collected them and sold them) so after that we were on the serious lookout. It's always been Fred's mission to find some dropped antlers.... The Monro baggers continued with the mission to bag the remaining three Monros... there is discussion as whet...

Vigo

We left the ship to explore Vigo. Its a much larger place then we expected... although tbh I hadn't given ut a lot of thought. Its a real mish mash of old and new and having got a map from tourist info we decided to follow the walking trail to the Monte Castro... the highest point of the town. Most of the town was pretty much as everywhere else... lots of traffic... lots of people... one or two interesting buildings and a lot of shopping. We headed to the art gallery - this has been a year of gallery visits so we we seen o reason to change now. The Museo de Marco is housed in the towns ex prison building and its very grand. In fact, I think that on this occaision the building might have been more interesting than the art.... Although the visiting exhibition by Susanne S D Themlitz was strangely compelling. It was a huge varied collection of eclectic items... found, salavaged, manipulated and arranged in lots of ways - weirdly inspiring - and mostly enjoyable to look at...

Funchal

So after three days at sea we finally hit Funchal in Madeira. An escape from the ship, and I have to say it was very pleasant indeed. First of all the weather is really splendid. Especially when you know that everybody else in the UK is suffering grim storms and vile winds.. Over here it is between 22 and 25 degrees is really quite warm. Funchal is a pretty city. It's built on a hill it with lots of lovely white houses with stunning red roofs. In order to get the best of it we walked along the sea front until we got to the cable car and we took it up the hill. It was a really good ride much longer than we imagined and it's quite weird because it goes right through the town - completely over everybody's house... So not only do you get a lovely vista of the bay but you can view the beautiful rooftops and get to look in everybody's gardens and to look at their picnic sets.. clean washing nice plants... scratty b...

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