Pemberton is our destination today but of course we don’t drive straight there. Oh no, first we head back up the coast to Australind where there is a fantastic little museum and wood gallery. The owner was very talkative and woodturning has been in his family for many years even centuries. A great display of Western Australian wood turned into clocks, coasters, picture frames etc. The museum showcased history including Gallipoli, Bunbury Jetty, local Aboriginal tribes, American Civil War, Indian tribes, Ned Kelly and the Ablett family of wood turners – not sure if they are related to the football player.

I was being pretty observant as we were driving along and said, “Hang a right here” onto a road leading to Wellington Dam. I wonder why so many things are named Wellington like the mountain behind Hobart and the city in New Zealand. The dam was created during the Depression years but still works well. Off the quarry, where the stone was gathered for the dam, you can go abseiling. We didn’t try this.

Next to Collie where coal was found back in the 1800’s. A lot of coal is needed for electricity but the fellow who found the coal didn’t get the reward offered by the government. Instead the owner of the land claimed it.  In the visitor’s centre, they had a beautiful display of native flowers, but Miss W is determined we will find them growing in the wild so we didn’t take any photos.

On through Boyup Brook, Bridgetown and Manjimup and finally heading down the road to Pemberton. But one more stop was the Diamond Tree. I did try to climb up to the fire watch tower on top but it was too tall and the hand holds were too far apart. Miss W did take a photo of me though. Finally in Pemberton and what is it doing – raining!