D’Entrecasteaux NP Region

Campground 1: Drafty’s Camp in Warren NP
Facilities: Toilet, Fire-pits, Non-potable water, Camp Kitchen including Gas BBQ and hob, Picnic Benches.
Good stuff: Ridiculously good campground for a National Park. The Camp Kitchen area is like no other we have seen with large work surfaces and cooking areas all free to use!
Not so good stuff: For the price and facilities there is nothing bad to say about the place, maybe the Mozzies but that’s part of camping.
Price: $7.50 per adult

Campground 2: Humpback Hollow at Black Point, D’Entrecasteaux NP
Facilities: Toilet, Fire-pits, Non-potable water, Picnic Benches.
Good stuff: Nice campsites nestled between peppermint trees and are secluded from each other. Brand new toilet blocks dotted around too.  Not so good stuff: Great overnight stop but not much to do in the area unless you are into fishing into some crazy waves.
Price: $7.50 per adult

Back on the road again a little earlier than we had anticipated. A few days late but hey who cares. The only difference was the weather was now rather dire. There is a circular (ish) loop near Walpole that takes you to a hill top lookout, a giant Tingle Tree and Circular Pools. Waterproofs were on for both the giant Tingle Tree and the Pools walk. Maybe we should visit in summer next time…

The "fake" giant Tingle tree...

The actual giant Tingle tree! HUGE!!

Circular Pools

We spent another night at Crystal Springs campground, as it was a beautiful spot nestled in between the Peppermint trees. The scenic drive finished a little earlier than we had expected it to and after checking out Mandaley Beach, our next thought back at camp was ‘Let’s make a damper tonight’… BAD IDEA! The wood was soaked through rendering the fire useless. After half an hour the coals were well and truly cold and the damper was still in its raw form. C’est la vie.

There are the remains of an old ship buried just on the water line...

Information point about the Norwegian ship that ran aground and a boat steering wheel... for ages 4 and up

From Crystal Springs it was all new territory to be explored! Checking out the Fernhook Falls (minus the waterfall – where’s the water at?) and its awesome campground! It has the facilities (even a pair of huts to camp in) but the scenery isn’t as dramatic as Crystal Springs. Then our touring experience was a little shaken while traveling through the Southern section of D’Entrecasteuax NP and Shannon NP. A bush fire had torn through the area a while ago and decimated the bush, so most of Shannon NP and its surrounds were closed. At least it gives us an excuse to come back to the region again.

We saw this at every turn... 

However, on the plus side we got to see the reincarnation of vegetation.

The flagship attraction of Warren NP is the Heartbreak Trail. Depending on how energetic you feel you can either embark on a 10.5km loop walk or drive it. We chose the latter giving us time for attempt no.2 campfire pot roast and no.4 damper. Probably the most standout part of the park was the Dave Evans Bicentennial tree that used to be used as a bush fire lookout point. Kyle managed to get to the top (65m), however Liz bailed out after around 20m mark. It was just way too high!

About 35m up, that's Liz down the bottom for scale. Big nail things are the ladder spiralling up the trunk

This is when you realise that there is a LOT to do in D’Entrecasteaux NP region and that is covers a huge area of the southwest coast in WA! Our next venture was take Margaret off-road because that is what she likes the most. Driving through a mixture of lumpy bumpy, sandy and muddy sections (TYRE PRESSURES PEOPLE!), to nice flat compact sand through the northern section of D’Entrecasteaux NP. And as always you have your to do’s: Lake Jasper and Black Point.  For Black Point alone this drive was well worth it!

Big Waves!!! The spray was going up about 20m

Breakfast Holes Columnar Jointing in Basalt, cross section of columns in foreground left of shot

The whole area has a fantastic Basalt coast line around Black Point

Highly weathered columns at 'Stepping Stones' Black Point. Camera bag for scale

View from the headland above the Stepping stones

One thing we have to say about WA National Parks in general is that the campgrounds are top notch. Yes they are more expensive than some other States, however the quality of the facilities and the walks/information boards are brilliant. At Drafty’s Camp the facilities were in better condition than some of the caravan parks we have stayed in along the way. At least our money is being put to good use!