We were packed up and on the road by 9:20am. We were heading for Pemberton and our plan was to see how far we wanted to travel for the day with plenty of available spots to stop along the way if we wanted to. Ah, the freedom of the open road!
This area of Australia is home to great forests and it was actually very serene driving through the winding countryside. At Pemberton we made our way to the National Park which houses the Glouchester Tree. This tree was used as a lookout to signal bushfire warnings and is now maintained as a challenge to anyone who feels like climbing the 61 meters up and around its girth. The steps which you take this challenge on are are metal pegs dug deep into the side of the tree and a flimsy wire surround gives some semblance of security. Caleb was eager to climb so we let him go as far up as he could. After 22 pegs, he reported that his legs were wobbling and he returned to the ground. We were glad he had a go. There were other people there, grown men included who didn’t get much further up than Caleb and had to retreat. Very challenging!
We decided to head for Walpole and the “Valley of The Giants”. This area is home to the massive Karri trees which are hundreds of years old. There is a Treetop Walk that you can do which we had seen in brochures so we thought we would give that a try. The area through here is very picturesque and we travelled through some very quaint towns. Upon arrival at the Treetop Walk we quickly purchased tickets (very reasonable at $12.50) without thinking too much about it. I noticed a sign I hadn’t ever seen before of a cross through a high heel. Luckily I was wearing my thongs! As we made our way up, up, up into the treetops along a suspended walkway, Aaron realised just how far off the ground we were (41 metres) and remembered that he was seriously afraid of heights. He decided to hurry past us to the finish as you couldn’t go backwards down the walkways. The only problem was that the faster you walked, the more the suspended walkway swung to and fro. Poor Aaron! Once settled back on the ground, we took a look at the Valley of the Giants. This was a boardwalk set up amongst the bottom of the trees in the same forest. These trees were huge and hundreds of years old. 
From there we needed to hurry. We were still a couple of hours from Albany and it was 4pm. We decided to head straight there, ringing a park along the way to tell them we were coming. Some park receptions close at 4pm but if they know you are coming they will reserve a site for you. 
We had a couple of problems. Firstly, I had no phone reception so had to wait until we we just about in Albany to start ringing. Secondly, we had totally forgotten that this weekend is the Australia Day Long Weekend and that people would be escaping to places like Albany. Our worries were confirmed when I was told by two parks that they were booked solid over the weekend. More ringing resulted in one night available at $83 for the night and then we would have to move on and find other accommodation for the remainder of the long weekend. We were a bit worried about that. One more phone call, further out of town on the other side of Albany and we struck it good. A caravan park on the river, $53 a night with plenty of room. We were saved. 
When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised. Apart from the mozzies, the rather long walk to the toilets and pebbles instead of grass on our site, we will be quite comfortable. Phew!