D'Entrecasteaux NP

 From Albany I headed west stopping at the adorable town of Denmark. I walked the Main Street looking at lots of cute shops and got some books at the book store and perused the quaint small town. It was so charming. Outside of Denmark is an amazing National Park, William Bay, which has stunning beaches with huge granite boulders. I met Quentin there. A large cover is protected by a line of the boulders making a perfect swimming area. I took a quick dip despite the cold, but spent most of my time at this park sitting by a tidal pool watching the interactions of the fish. At least 7 different species inhabited this large pool and it was so cool to watch. My favorite were these small (like the size of the nail of your pinky finger) black and yellow zebra striped fish. Their yellow stripes were almost iridescent and they hung out in pairs. They didn’t seem to be too nervous of me and often came close to check me out, unlike the other fish which all scattered or hid at the sight of me unless I sat very still for a long time. I enjoyed just sitting and watching the critters. 

Next we went to Walpole where we went on a hike up a beautiful mountain covered in huge gum trees that were like 6 ft across. They towered over the forest and were really cool many were living despite having the interior of the tree hollowed out by wildfires. 

Quentin and I separated for the night as I went to a campground at D'Entrecasteaux NP. The campground was really quiet. I was the only person there and it was really beautiful. These mid-story trees created a fairly dense cover over the area letting in little sunlight. The ground was bright with mosses and grasses. Kookaburras were frequent in the areas and laughed into the night. After the sun was long gone I lay in my tent listening to owls, Boobooks, quietly hoot to each other on all sides of me. 

The next morning I made myself a big pancake breakfast of kiwi coconut upside down pancakes, and met Quentin for a hike. We wandered through the woods looking at plants and then went to the beach to lay in the sun since it was a beautiful day. I ended up reading almost all of one of the books I bought, Salt, a book about a fisherwoman who lives and works in this area and her time as a ‘deckie’ for an old school fisherman. It was cool to sit in the area the book talks about while reading about her adventures and insights. In the afternoon Quentin parted ways, having had enough of the beach and the sun, and I stayed til sunset. In the distance I watched as many whales traversed the area and occasionally breached in an incredible show. I returned for a second night in the campground after a lovely relaxing day.