We left the van at the caravan park and did Hilltop Road scenic loop which leads to the giant 400 year old tingle trees. Unlike other eucalyptus, tingles do not have a taproot. They have a shallow root system that spreads as they grow older, causing the trees to buttress. Not so long ago one huge tree was the main attraction because visitors could take a photograph of their car in the hollowed out base. However, years of people and vehicles trampling around it's base had compacted it's nutrient supply and in 1990, the giant collapsed. To minimize the impact of humans on the tingle trees and to allow for an ever increasing number of visitors a tree top walk was proposed and a competition was held to find the perfect design. We picked up the van and continued to the Valley of the Giants Tree-Top walk. We had a look through the discovery centre and did a guided walk through the ground level Ancient Empire walk. The tingle trees are very different looking with lots of burls and tangled branches. They can have a base circumference of 20m. The 600m tree top walk which was opened in 1996 takes you high into the canopy - 40m at it's highest point. It is designed to sway in the breeze, mimicking life in the tree tops. The view of the trees are amazing. The next stop was the 'Elephant Rock Cider' company where they make a variety of ciders, toffees and sauces but the best thing was the delicious ice creams. We drove through Denmark and decided to continue on to Albany - another 54km.
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