On a high at our Young Travel Writers finalists’ day
Gemma Nisbet has trees and travel on her mind during a day out to name the winners of our annual contest.
“Today is going to be a bit of a tree focus,” Grady Brand announces, standing — appropriately enough — on Fraser Avenue in Kings Park, admiring the rows of eucalypts lining the road.
He’s not kidding, either. Not much more than 15 minutes later we are all rather more focused on a tree than we might have expected — in this case, Kings Park’s prize giant boab, known as Gija Jumulu.
One by one, we clip on a harness, fasten a helmet and climb into a cherry picker to be manoeuvred around and above the boab’s branches for a unique view of the park and its surrounds.
We’re here today with senior curator Grady for our Young Travel Writer finalists day. Travel Editor Stephen Scourfield, columnist Jan Bromilow and myself are joined by the 10 finalists.
And by the time Grady begins his whistle-stop tree-themed tour of some of the 400ha park, we’re already well into the morning’s proceedings. Earlier on, after a welcome and introduction from Stephen, the 10 finalists each received their prize — a Canon SX60 HS camera, courtesy of Canon and Camera Electronic, along with some instruction on the camera’s features and the basics of photography from Canon’s Sheryl Mauger and Camera Electronic’s Dan Morton.
The 10 finalists with Stephen Scourfield by the boab tree. Picture: Gemma Nisbet
Following morning tea, I gave a presentation to the finalists on travel writing, sharing some of my own travel experiences and describing how these translate into stories forThe West’s Travel section. Then it was time for Grady and the cherry picker.
The walk over to the boab, at the Two Rivers Lookout, gives Grady a chance to tell the finalists a little about what goes on behind the scenes at Kings Park. It receives some six million visitors a year, he says, making it the most visited attraction in Western Australia.
He also tells us about the work of the park’s arborists, who are responsible for the care of some 12,000-plus trees here at Kings Park and Botanic Garden and at Bold Park. This can include moving trees — Grady points out a pair of coolabahs that were transplanted successfully to the area in front of the cafe on Fraser Avenue following three years of preparation in the ground.
Gija Jumulu is also a transplant success, having travelled 3200km from the Kimberley to Perth in 2008. And those of us feeling sufficiently brave get a close look at just how healthy it is as the cherry picker rises above its branches to provide a spectacular elevated view.
The view from the cherry picker during our Young Travel Writer finalists day out in Kings Park. Picture: Gemma Nisbet
Most of our finalists give it a go. Then finally it’s my turn to step into the harness and take a ride on the cherry picker. We get a quick photo of the finalists with Stephen, standing in front the boab, before rising up to the machine’s full 17m reach for a clear view over the tree, the park, the river and beyond. And though I’m not entirely comfortable with the elevation, it is a spectacular outlook.
The morning ends with all 10 young writers receiving their finalist certificates from Ross MacCulloch and Suzanne Fisher, representing Australia’s Coral Coast tourism region.
And then the two winners are announced: Giulia Villa and Jesse Tucek. They will travel with Jan, Stephen and Australia’s Coral Coast chief executive David O’Malley to Exmouth to swim with the whale sharks at Ningaloo next month.
Look out for their stories and photographs from their adventure in the pages of the Travel liftout.
EXMOUTH READY FOR VISITORS
The peak tourism season in Exmouth and Coral Bay is imminent. And it’s business as usual, despite the effects of the recent Cyclone Olwyn.
Exmouth shire president Turk Shales says there was some minor damage from the cyclone, but the community has pulled together to ensure everything is ready for the influx of visitors.
Community facilities, businesses and local beaches are open, while whale shark swim tour operators are now in full operational mode.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife has reopened Cape Range National Park to the public with camp grounds and popular attractions such as Turquoise Bay, Yardie Creek and the Milyering Discovery Centre, now open.
Kristy Bryan-Smith, from the Exmouth Visitor Centre, says visitors can feel confident the town is ready for them.
“The whale sharks are here now and will be ready in all their gentle beauty to welcome visitors to the Ningaloo,” she says.
