South Coast - Perth and West Coast Australia - page 343

www.nomadsguesthousewa.com.au ; 12 Morpeth St; s/d/yurts/chalets $70/90/100/110) . The owners frequently
play host to orphaned joeys (baby kangaroos), so don't be surprised to see a few tempor-
ary marsupial visitors in the main house.
If you're stopping for lunch, try the Old Station Cafe (11 Albany Hwy; mains $11-20;

9am-4pm

Mon-Fri,10am-3pm Sun) , which offers a big selection of cakes in a little cottage.

8 Getting There & Away
Transwa ( 1300 662 205; www.transwa.wa.gov.au ) operates the following bus services:
GS1 to/from Perth ($51, 5½ hours) and Albany ($9; 39 minutes) daily.
GS2 to/from Perth ($51, 7¼ hours), Northam ($56, 5¾ hours), York ($53, 5¼ hours) and
Albany ($9, 41 minutes) four times a week.

TOP OF CHAPTER

Porongurup National Park
The 24-sq-km, 12km-long Porongurup National Park (entry per car/motorcycle $11/5) has
1100-million-year-old granite outcrops, panoramic views, beautiful scenery, large karri
trees and some excellent bushwalks.
Karris grow in the deep-red soil (known as karri loam) of the range's upper slopes; nur-
tured by run-off from the granite, this area's karris are 100km east of their usual range.
The rich forest also supports 65 species of orchid in spring and, in September and Octo-
ber, there are wildflowers among the trees.
Bushwalks range from the 100m Tree-in-the-Rock stroll (just what it sounds like) to the
harder Hayward and Nancy Peaks (5.5km loop). The Devil's Slide (5km return) is a walk of con-
trasts that takes you through a pass of karri forest and on to the stumpy vegetation of the
granite. These walks start from the main day-use area (Bolganup Rd). The Castle Rock Trail
to Balancing Rock (3km return) starts further east, signposted off the Mt Barker-Porongurup
Rd. In 2012, the newly opened Castle Rock Granite Skywalk provided spectacular and more
convenient access to the summit of the rock.
A very lovely 6km scenic drive along the northern edge of the park has great views to-
wards the Stirling Range, which from this angle looks like a woman lying on her back. If
you're driving here near dusk, take it slow and watch out for kangaroos.