To Bunbury:

It was late when we left Mandurah after our unexpected trip to Freo so we went to for the hills. Luckily we didn’t have very far to go. We were heading for a free camp which was near an old POW camp near Dwellingup. (many towns in southern WA end in “up” which we believe means water). We turned off into a forest on a narrow road without much signage so we weren’t quite sure if we where we were going. Finally we found the POW camp but it wasn’t the camping area. However as it was getting late and it was pretty isolated we decided to stay the night. The trees were really tall and there was lots of that purple climbing wild flower (whose name escapes me) climbing up the trees. Some wattle and a red and yellow pea flower made it a pretty picture. I started going down the path to find the site of POW camp but it was a long way into the bush and it was getting late so I returned.

The next day we went to Dwellingup which is a small town that was devastated by a massive bushfire in 1961. The fire fighting and communications were very different to what it is now.

From here we went to the Lane Pool recreation reserve which is a huge forest and lots of camping areas with a beautiful river running right through it. It is a popular place for canoeing and swimming. There is a large pool and waterfall not far from the entrance of the Park which is very popular with locals. As it was a weekend in the school hols it was very crowded. We chose a campsite right at the far end of the park among some huge pine trees which wasn’t near the water so it wasn’t as popular. It was the site of an old mill. We had a relaxing few days here.

From here we passed through some rolling lush hills till we came to the highway. We came to a lovely little town called Harvey which is renowned for its citrus. It was also home to May Gibbs (author of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie) in her childhood and its said she found her inspiration from this area. There are lots of big gumnuts on the ground from the trees here. There was a replica of her house which is now a tea room where we had a delicious lunch. There was a beautiful garden with a veggie garden set on the river.

Harvey was the site for an internment camp in World War II. All the Italians and Germans who lived in Australia (even some who were Australia citizens) were taken from their homes and imprisoned. Their wives were left to fend for themselves. The history of this event is quite disturbing as many of them had no affiliations with the Fascist party. The prisoners built a shrine here at Harvey and it has now been enclosed in a chapel to recognise the inmates.

We stayed in a caravan park here to catch up with washing, have a shower and get the internet. Everyone who comes here is treated to fresh scones and cream by the park owner. Brain was pleased!!

We headed south and found a beautiful place to camp Belvidere campground which just north of Bunbury which was on a lake. There were huge trees, lots of birds and unfortunately many mosquitoes. I even found a new wildflower. We thought it would be crowded as it still was school hols but we were the only ones there the first night. We had a fireplace, a table and wood provided.
Belvidere was the site of an earlier settlers place and there is a huge stand of olives trees which are 160 years old as well as the biggest fig tree I have ever seen. I also found a big mulberry tree with some ripe mulberries. This brought back some childhood memories. In the seventies it became a refuge for people of alternate lifestyle who developed a commune here. They also had a thriving veggie garden as well as developing lots of arts and crafts. Finally a complaint was made and they had to move and now the whole area has become a conservation park as there is a lot of wild life on the lake.
We went across to Belvidere Beach which is just over the sand hills. There is a long expanse of white sand with no-one on it. We could see Bunbury from there.

From here we made day trips to Bunbury which is quite a large town. There is a very long dive along a beautiful foreshore with beaches all the way along. Of course the sea is as always very blue. There are lots of new modern houses all along the
shoreline.
There is also a port and we watched a large ship navigating the shallow waters of the bay assisted by two tugs.
We were very impressed with Bunbury.