FAMILY ADVENTURES - A Land of Giants and Lost in the Wind

Day 3..

A drive South through towering forests led us to the gorgeous town of Walpole.  We purchased tickets for the Valley of the Giants - Tree Top Walk and made our way towards Nornalup.

I know there are a handful of these tree top walks scattered throughout the country, but I had never been to one.  The views were amazing and the feeling of being so high up in the canopy of the forest was exhilarating!

As much as I loved this experience, I think I felt more at peace and in harmony with nature down below on the Ancient Empire walk.

Being an absolute tree hugger, I savoured every moment of this walk.  The breath of life, the wisdom, the heart expansion...  In my mind, I had transformed into a tiny wood nymph and there were many little secret hollows calling me to take up residence :)

I could have wandered on blissfully all day...

Me and The Petals of My Heart

From here we traveled East along the coast to Albany.  A spirited city with a rich seafaring history.

We checked into our motel as the sun was setting.  There was still one place, however, that I was keen to see before retiring for the night. 

Albany Wind Farm

The Albany Wind Farm sits 80m above sea level along the Torndirrup Peninsula, just 12km's out of the city centre.  The paths throughout the turbines offer some of the best views of the Southern Ocean in the area. 

It was an incredible feeling to walk amongst these eco-friendly giants.  They are 60m in height.  The sound of the wind powering the 35m long blades to turn is reminiscent of something you would find in an extra terrestrial movie.  Quite eerie actually.

You would expect a wind farm to be.. well.. windy, but seriously this place was windy.  The top speed of these awesome towers of metal is 22 RPM.  Which works out to be about one revolution per three seconds.  Not all that fast yet still impressive considering their size. The twelve turbines lower Western Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 77 000 tonnes per year.  Fantastic!! 

Lulu doing her airplane thing

I found the sheer size and design of the turbines fascinating.  So much so, I spent a great deal of time looking up through the lens and not a great deal anywhere else. (I had already been mesmerised by the beauty of the ocean and the surrounding hills) Before I knew it the sun was down and I was separated from the rest of the family.  Lucy was still with me as she was content to skip around the paths following me as I snapped away. 

I didn't panic initially as I was pretty confident I would find my way back to the car park.  Unfortunately, all of the paths looked identical, especially in the dark.  There were no street lights out here :)  

I began to fret when I couldn't hear the whir of the turbines anymore...  I had walked for ages!!!  It wasn't until I realised I was heading towards Albany on the main road out of the park that I scooped Lucy up, switched directions and began sprinting frantically back in the opposite direction.  At this point I didn't know which way was up :)  I felt completely lost... and I'm usually good with directions, especially when I turn the map upside down and back to front hehe :D

Somehow, I managed to find everyone ?? We were safe and sound.. Phew!  It did get me thinking though how having my head securely glued to the back of my camera had caused me to lose all sense of direction. 

And now I'm wondering...  Is getting lost like this a keen (amateur) photographer thing or is it genetic??  

1.  Because I love my SLR and was obviously caught up in the moment and 

2.  Because my mother got lost in the Nevada desert somewhere blissfully taking photos until she too did not know where she had come from..

Whatever it is, I will be a lot more observant of my bearings next time.  That was a little bit too "Woman vs Wild" for my liking.  ;)