| Subject: | Wine, Sheep and Tingles… |
| Date: | Fri, 21 Feb 2003 00:42:41 -0600 |
| I have just returned to Perth from a bus trip tour of southwest Western
Australia. It was an organized tour with a guide. I got to see so much of this vast and beautiful state…and we only covered 1400 kilometres in four days through Albany, Pemberton, and Margaret River. My coach mates consisted of the over 60-year-old set from mainly Germany and the UK. They were all really nice and gave me great advice on two of my next destinations: Tasmania and Thailand. But let me tell you, the red carpet was rolled up right after dinner with this jet set! Just as well, since they had us up at 6am every day. Some of the highlights of the trip included: Travelling through the Karri Forest. I have never seen the great California Redwoods, so I really can’t compare things here…but I was in the most beautiful forest that I have ever seen. and Yellow Tingles, a type of Eucalyptus tree and pine trees. The Tingles grow to massive heights and over 400 years. They are the sort of trees that get so large at the base that you can cut a hole in them and walk through. There was a Red Tingle so large at one time that you could drive a car through it. Unfortunately, all of the weight from the cars eventually killed the root system and the tree died. So now, they have constructed a tree top walk. This is an elevated walkway made of a series of suspension bridges interlocked at viewing platform junctions. As you trek through the forest 40 meters in the air you see birds from above. It was very cool. There is also a walk there called the Valley of the Giants. It is there that you can walk through the giant Tingle trees. It had rained that morning and the air was cool and crisp. The wind gently whistled through the leaves in a very peaceful and soothing way. The scents took me back to my days of Girl Scout Camp in northern Wisconsin. What a great moment! We also went to a working sheep-shearing farm for a demonstration. Although I had been to Australia before, I never saw a sheep being shorn. 
The shearer had me hold the sheep in position while he explained the process. I am sure that will be a really cute picture of me in a dress holding on to this goofy sheep! It completely reminded me of the sheep farm in the movie, The Thorn Birds. We also got to see a working dog demonstration with a Border Collie gathering up the sheep in the field and herding them right into a chute and then into the holding pen by the barn. To move things along, there is also a Keltie dog that jumps on top of the sheep in the chute and scares the hell out of them so they move quicker. So the Keltie is running all along the tops nipping and the Border Collie is behind the heard nipping. Meanwhile, all the not-so bright sheep are just stampeding each other and throwing up a whole lot of dust. It was so fun to watch. They tag the sheep by age and use their wool through age seven. When they reach the age of seven they are sold for mutton. The farmer works on a rotating basis shearing each sheep just one time per year. They do not shear in the winter months of Jun-Aug because it rains a lot and the wool is too damp. The wool is also rich in lanolin, so the shearers actually have very soft hands for all the manual labour they do. We visited a couple of wineries in the Margaret River valley. This is a relatively new area for growing grapes. The oldest vineyards are only 30 years old. The Evans & Tate Shiraz won wine of the year in a major competition in London a few years back and that has put their wine-growing region on the map. And I must say, most of the wines I sampled were pretty good. Not as cheap as South Africa, but still a good. price. AU$11-$24 per bottler. BTW, the exchange rate here right now is AU$1=US$1.59, so the greenbacks still go a bit further. We also got to see the Mammoth Cave (ours are bigger in Texas!), an old whaling station, an eagles heritage centre, and beautiful, rugged coast where the Indian Ocean meets the Great Southern Ocean. 
I will be heading to Tasmania on Monday. This is the first place I will arrive without a solid plan or any bookings made. Just get off the plane and have the taxi take me to the city centre of Hobart. Isn’t that exciting? If there were anyplace to do something like that, I would think it would be very user-friendly Tasmania. I will let you know how it goes! Hopefully there won’t be some big event going on and I will have to sleep in the park. That gives a whole new meaning to unemployed and homeless. Anyway, I hear there are lots of Internet cafes, so I will be in touch! I saw a special last night here about how America is in a panic to stock up on duct tape, plastic, bottled water and gas masks. Now c’mon, is this an example of the media taking a remote incident and making the world think it’s much worse than it is? I hope you are all well and safe. Love from Down Under, Kathleen |
The majority of the trees are Red
