The Porongurups and Drive Home

As we were 'in the area' and had an afternoon at our fingertips we headed towards the Porongurups. 

When we got there, I'm not sure if Claire realised that any views would require walking... uphill, something neither of us are particularly talented at, or partial to. 

However as the rain had stopped and the cathedral of Karri trees looked inviting, we trekked inwards, away from the car park, stopping occasionally to catch our breaths check out the surrounding flora and fauna.

It was spectacular, but then having both grown up around nature, it doesn't really take all that much to satisfy our tastes, and desires for (instagram-able) photos.

Having reached a small clearing (still with no view) Claire did require some convincing to climb the last leg of the track up to Devil's Slide. What had put her off was that the little notice had indicated that the 0.7km route was very steep and very rocky. I correctly interpreted this to mean rock scrambling as opposed to the tramping we had just been complaining about, and so leaped and bounded ahead like a mountain goat while Claire more carefully scrambled up behind me.

The view was worth it. While the rain had stopped, it was still considerably blustery, resulting in us remaining a considerable distance from the edge and not scrambling to the very top as I would otherwise have probably done.

The journey back to Perth the following morning was uneventful. It's a four and a half hour drive, the majority of which is along a long straight road that cuts through cleared paddocks and fields of flowering canola.

Construction of Albany Hwy (the road connecting Albany with Perth) began in 1832, only two years after the founding of the colony, with completion in 1863 (after the introduction of convict labour). With this being a main road into the south of the state, it isn't surprising that compared to the route from Bridgetown to Albany, it is rather denuded of trees, with cleared paddocks stretch to the horizon on either side of the track.