Risking life and limb at the Gloucestor Tree, camping in the snottygobbles, and eating head-sized icecream sundaes

Onward ever onwards. We headed for a little forest town called Pemberton which is also renowned for its stunningly tall trees. Indeed, a major tourist attraction is a few super tall Karris that were made into fire lookouts in the 1940s. Basically they stuck big metal pins into the trunks of the trees to make a sort of spiral staircase/ladder up to a little wooden hut at the very top. We were surprised to discover that visitors can still climb the trees - seems strange in this age of cushioned playgrounds and frenzied risk management. Climbers just cling onto the pins, up and up and around and around. No safety nets, no rules and just a notice to say 'climb at your own risk'. The tree we visited was called the Gloucester Tree - a stunning 61m tall. Kate and the kids had a look at the famed tree while Bill made sandwiches and fended off an army of brightly coloured parrots who came to flash their beautiful feathers and convince us to give up our lunch. The moment the kids saw the tree they were jumping up the first few metal pins in a desperate attempt to prove their ability to climb to the top. The tree was clearly too dangerous for little kids to climb and while Kate initially managed to lure them away with the promise of lunch, after sandwiches poor Bill worked hard to hold two very disappointed kids back by their jumpers while Kate tripped up the pins to the spectacular view at the top. Met Sue and Gary (from Pt Ann campground) at the lookout and heard some hair-raising tales from Gary's previous life as a repair man on electricity towers in Queensland - made the fire lookout tree climb pale a bit in comparison! Back on the ground, tried to chat to Sue and Gary whilst continuing to restrain desperate children. Gave up eventually and dragged them back to the car...

Our next campspot was chosen purely for its fabulous name - Snottygobble. Fortunately it was also a beautiful spot set amongst the trees and on a little creek. It was easy to see that May Gibbs must have spent some time there before writing Snugglepot and Cuddlepie because the paths were strewn with gumnut babies, raggedy blossoms and big bad banksia men (indeed we confirmed later that Gibbs did spend some years nearby during her childhood). First thing in the morning, Sash and Kate sat by the creek and stayed as still as statues watching for platypus. Nothing doing (hardly surprising as we learned later that same day that there are no platypus in WA!) but a lovely peaceful way to start the morning. We drove into Pemberton and did a beautiful short walk through the forest to see a somewhat underwhelming waterfall and to jump across a swinging bridge. Next we climbed aboard the ye olde Pemberton tram for a ride through the forest. We were slightly uncertain about what we were getting ourselves into but found that the driver gave a funny and informative commentary on the local plants, animals and logging industry as we clattered over rickety wooden bridges and through lush forest. He was clearly passionate about the local environment and even told us that Snottygobble is a small local tree or shrub used by aboriginal people for food and medicine. Early in the ride Zara went up the front and started chatting to the driver and before we could blink she had been appointed co-driver and was on horn-blowing duty for the rest of the trip - much to her joy and our amusement!

Emboldened by Zara's new train horn blowing adventures, we decided to unhitch our bikes and hit the Pemberton mountain bike trails. We humbly chose the beginners track but realised by the first hill that we are less than beginners... So Kate and Sash spent the next hour cycling around the carpark and up and down some local dirt roads, while Bill and Zara pushed valiantly on through the 'beginners' trail arriving back much humbled but (surprisingly) with all their limbs intact. To restore our spirits we hit the pub for dinner, finishing up with chocolate sundaes that were literally bigger than the kids' heads. Back to snottygobble to roll into our sleeping bags!