Description: On our car trip from Margaret River to Albany we arrived at the Walpole-Nornalup National Park and Walpole Wilderness Area. It is 430 kilometres south of Perth, on Highway 1. The park has spectacular landscapes encompassing estuaries, forested hills dissected by rivers, and extensive unspoiled areas.

We stopped at the world-famous Valley of the Giants containing gigantic tingle trees some over 400 years old. A spectacular lightweight bridge gently rises 40 metres above the forest floor into the treetops. It consists of a series of sixty metre lightweight steel trusses built on steel pylons to form a secure ramp which is wheelchair accessible.
The walkway allows visitors to experience the forest without damaging the delicate roots of the trees. It was the first walk trail of its kind in the world - at 600 metres long and 40 metres high it allows a unique perspective of the forest. The attraction now also serves to inform visitors about the local ecosystem and the forest's ancient beginnings.

Looking through the forest canopy from the Tree Top Walk we got a bird’s-eye view of the towering forest. Burnt crowns from major fires in 1937 and 1951 appear above the forest canopy at the highest point of the tree top walk. Most of these trees are still alive having grown a new crown under the old dead one. Tingles have adapted to fire however frequent intensive fire would eventually kill them. The walk gives awesome views over the grove of giant trees. There is only one word for such a walk - exhilarating.

This special and uniquely Western Australia tourism attraction has won the Environmental Experience category in the prestigious British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. A panel of environmental experts chose the Tree Top Walk from more than 75 entries from 38 countries as a world role model for responsible tourism.
Descending to the boardwalks below we explored the "Ancient Empire Walk" which winds through a grove of the tingle trees. These are some of the most enormous trees in the world with bases up to 16 metres in circumference and are only found in the forest surrounding the Valley of the Giants. A distinctive feature of many red tingle trees is their large hollowed out base caused by fire, fungal and insect attack. They have shallow roots that sit just below the ground's surface.

Interpretive signage makes for self-guided walks, while a school holiday education program includes interpretive tours including an Aboriginal cultural experience. Sword grass grows prolifically throughout the wet tingle forest. As its name suggests its leaf blades are razor-sharp and can cut an unwary hand.

The burls and gnarled bark of one distinctive red tingle give it an almost human character. It is almost as if she is watching over the forest and those who enter it. She measures more than 12m in circumference and is over 400 years old.

The southern forest bat roost in groups of up to 100 in the hollow butts of the tingle trees. They emerge at dusk and feed on various insects and moths. Other nocturnal creatures are the quenda and quokka which are rat like in appearance.

All in all the Valley of the Giants gives a sense of awe at the ability of nature to produce something so spectacular and even to adapt and survive fire.
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