Braving the gloucester tree ladder, "Cripes is that the time! I'll have to come back another time"
That was a great sleep in a very comfortable bed. Woke up at 7am as the light was starting to arrive. Donned the running shoes and headed out for a run. There was a sign to the Gloucester tree about 3km away. I thought sounds interesting and headed that way not knowing what it was about. A big Kangaroo thumped away through the bush confirming our decision to leave a bit later was a good one. Got to the Gloucester Tree, which is, a tree that has a ladder made from steel rods put into the tree in a spiral up to a fire observation platform 60 metres up. Yes you read that right six zero, that’s sixty metres up. These trees are monsters and the Gloucester tree was selected as a big one on a prominent piece of land. Someone spent 8 hours climbing the tree with climbing boots and a climbing belt to assess the suitability of the tree as an observation platform, a superhuman effort. Having decided to use this tree they then put the steel rod ladder in and cut the branches off as they went, I guess for stability. One of the branches came down and knocked several of the steel rods out trapping the man above them for about 5 hours while his assistant replaced the damaged rods. When they got to the acceptable height they topped it at about 60 metres with what looked like about 20-30 metres of tree above coming to the ground. They then built a hut on top of the tree so that people could climb to the top and sit observing for fire in the surrounding forest and warn via telephone the fire teams to allow and early response preventing a major fire in the forest. Interesting stuff I guess I had better go up and have a look I thought and started up the very precarious looking ladder.
A couple of days ago I talked about strengths and weaknesses. I have to admit that heights are one of my weaknesses. It’s not that I am scared of heights, it is just that the thought of falling from a height terrifies me. Illogical but true. I don’t know where it comes from, but its there. I had a sudden reminder of this when I got about 3 metres up the ladder. That was enough for me, lets face it the next 57metres would be just the same as the first 3 metres anyway so what is the point of wasting all that time going up there? Hey isn’t it time we got on the road anyway? Of course I could go up there is if I wanted to, I just don’t want to, right? The view is probably terrible anyway, I had better get going, and the sun is coming up. So I came down and ran back to the accommodation, head held high in the knowledge that the Gloucester tree hadn’t beaten me, I just decided to reprioritise the morning. Yeah Right.
If my life depended on it I suppose I could do it, but when is my life going to depend on me having to climb a 60-metre tree? It is a skill I am comfortable not having, but I do admire those people who can do that sort of thing. To stand on a pegged platform 60 metres up and swing an axe to chop down what amounts to a large tree above you, that is impressive. That man deserves a DB. Although it is Australia so perhaps he would prefer a VB. Then again it is Western Australia, so he would probably go for an Emu lager or something? You get the idea.
It was cold and getting home after a run I was hardly sweating, a notable point for me, however once in the accommodation it started pouring out of me. Had a coffee and a shower than loaded the bikes and off we went.
We rode to Walpole via the town of Northcliffe. This was a gorgeous ride through the forest in the early morning light, with occasional misty areas. The road was winding its way trough the forest and the surface was dry and good grip and the speed crept up. Dad commented went we got to Walpole that I must have been enjoying it as I was going 120 through the 90km corners, and it is true I did enjoy the road. Valentino Rossi would probably go through those corners at 200km/hr but 120 on a fully loaded touring bike when you do not know the road is exciting enough for me. We stopped and had breakfast at Walpole. We were both grateful for having the insulation in our jackets and pants, as it is really quite cold now.
After breakfast it was back into to final 120 km or so of riding to get into Albany, where the bikes are booked for a service and Dads bike for some more tires. We rode through the town and found some accommodation in a motel in the centre of town unloaded our gear and then rode them back to the Bike shop. They felt like they would take off without all of the load of the luggage on them, the handling is hugely different. Having ridden the bike pretty much every day for the last three and a bit weeks you really get tuned into the machine and riding it in a different state was dramatic. I do not recall feeling that I could tell the difference in fuel in any other vehicle that I have owned before, but on this bike I am so used to its performance now that I can tell if it has 95, 91 or 98-octane petrol in it. That is subtle.
The bike shop owner ran us back into our motels and gave us a wee tour on the way. He drove us passed the town hall which is an old building built in 1888, and is used for any functions in the town, then took us to what has been a very controversial upgrade for the town hall. The controversy is in the character of the town, and the new buildings lack of respect to that character. You see, Albany is the oldest town in Western Australia, and it has a large number of old buildings, as you would expect. They have the character of the 19th century all over then, and this sets the character of the town. We got down to the water front (which was not on the way to our motel, but the bike shop owner was enjoying showing off his town) and there was the controversial new arts centre, a very modern architectural masterpiece that looks half way between the Sydney Opera House and a sinking ship. This is absolutely not in keeping with any of the other buildings in the town and there is the controversy. Myself I like it. It has a character that is all its own. Imagine if they did not build the Sydney Opera House because it did not fit in with the existing buildings (how could it). No, I think there is a role for modern buildings amongst historic ones, provided the historic ones are not bowled over to build glass towers. But clearly a lot of the locals do not like it, and it really does stand out so it will be in their faces.
After our tour finished we headed around the corner to have a coffee and cake at a nearby café. Dad is struggling with the walking, as his leg is really swollen and tender where he dropped the bike so we headed back fairly shortly. Got onto the Internet and Skyped home.
I went for a walk in the afternoon and was surprised to learn that there are no antique dealers in Albany. Bought a book to read and wandered around the shops for a bit. I then headed down to the waterfront to look at the ANZAC Peace Park.
This park was opened earlier this year and is a large waterfront park that honours the ANZAC troops and all who followed. Albany is an important place for the Anzacs as this is where the troop carrying ships congregated prior to going off to Europe and ultimately Gallipoli. 39 ships congregated here for 4 days to take on water and supplies and then departed with a naval escort for Egypt where the ANZACs trained for several months before landing at Gallipoli. This had a major impact on the population of Albany, about 4500 people at the time. Over the next few months over 2000 people enrolled for service in this town. It is great to see such a prominent park being established in recognition of these people and the sacrifice that they all made.
Had a salad for dinner, but Dad stayed in the motel with his feet up to try to get the swelling to come down in his leg.
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