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.. )

RubyStarrs in Paris...

Finally we have made it to Paris. It was a bit of a long travel day - we decided to come by train so we could experience the full glory of British Rail or whatever it's called now which actually delivered perfectly on time... and then the Eurostar which was incredibly disappointing! All that beautiful St. Pancreas Station and the Eurostar is sited in the dungeon... overcrowded, dark, lousy facilitated space... and then the train was an hour late it felt like a long time before we got any fresh air - but eventually we wound up in gay Paree... We navigated the metro and found our airbnb gaff. A mere 70 steps to the fourth floor on a rather lovely winding wooden staircase to a very nice roof top flat which is comfortable and gives a view across a lovely Courtyard with some obviously much posher flats. It's located really centrally about two minutes away from the Opera Garnier so a very good location for getting everywhere...

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 backyards.... We got off th

Another Day in Norway where our Trusty Traveller finds Tromsø, Trolls and Totally misses Aurora....

Tromsø - the most northern city on the planet... Its quite a pretty little town with lots of wood fronted shops, but of course like everywhere like this, it is just one big tourist hive and every shop is selling 'indigenous' gifts- didthe Sami make aurora themed mugs and fridge magnets? Nearest I'll get a polar bear (i hope) Although I have to say I did like the big stuffed polar bear and black bear and I am presuming that these are either not real (unlikely) or culled as they sometimes have to be. But most of the stuff is just northern lights tat or Troll tat. Peer Gynt.. famous worldover To be fair the best bit of Tromsø for me was the Troll Museum! We went to the art gallery which was quite interesting (see instagram account) but not astounding, but I always like to look at the local art. We had a mooch around town in the snow and then we went to find the Trolls. This museum was absolutely crazy daft... it was totally dedi

Planet Ruby Starrs

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