When you get to Pemberton, chances are you want to climb a tree. This is, after all, what thousands come to the town every year to do. I was among them.
There are three in the area: the Millennium Tree is the highest and the Gloucester Tree the best known and most popular. They are all Karri trees, famous worldwide for their height and magnificence, and deservedly so. The reason there are metal stakes driven into the trees is to provide fire lookouts, still in use occasionally today, but not as much as in the past.
The Gloucester tree climb is about 60m and involves clambering up 153 rungs to the top. On the way, you are likely, as I did, to meet people of all nationalities. In my case, Brits, Canadians, and Swedes. Very cosmopolitan.
You get slugged A$9 to enter the area, but, hey, where else can you do something like this? It is not for those who suffer vertigo, but it is nowhere as scary as you might think. Though three people have died climbing, none of the deaths were from falling. We're talking heart attacks here.
The area is all part of a large national park, and the forests are some of the world's finest. It's the reason I wanted to go to W.A., and I wasn't disappointed.