Adventures in a fascinating forest
CHRIS PARRY and his family head to Dryandra Woodland for a memorable getaway
It’s not hard to begin this story sounding like a voiceover guy announcing a new horror movie: “Two nights in an old woodcutter’s cottage in the Australian bush. Six adults. Six children. One outside toilet. One ukulele.”
But far, far away from the fiction of Wolf Creek is a parcel of this State just begging to be unwrapped and enjoyed for a weekend escape.
Dryandra Woodland is less than two hours south-west of Perth and about 20 minutes to the north-west of Narrogin. Deep within its 28,000ha is the Lions Dryandra Woodland Village, a magnificently maintained Nissen hut complex and eight refurbished 1920s woodcutter cottages of varying sizes, all facing towards the setting sun in the west.
The woodlands are home to our State’s animal emblem, the numbat, and other gorgeous yet threatened animals such as woylies, rufous hare-wallabies and the red-tailed phascogales, which all live in the mallee thickets and she-oak stands.
I grew up in the area and over the years have stayed in Dryandra regularly: as a schoolkid on camp, as a father teaching his kids the ways of the bush and as a way to spend time with friends and their kids.
Travelling south on Albany Highway, turn left on to the North Bannister Wandering Road, just past North Bannister Roadhouse. Dryandra will then only be about 45 minutes away, depending on whether you stop at Wandering for a quick stretch.
The drive from Wandering is full of fields of sheep and cows, including some enormous bulls that sit in the firebreaks by the fences.
Arriving at the caretaker’s house in the Lions Dryandra Woodland Village, we settle into our chosen cottage, Possum, which sleeps 12 with three bedrooms full of bunk beds. There’s a veranda at the front, rainwater tank on one side, barbecue on the other, a neat kitchen and a snug living room. Oh, and an inside bathroom, plus an indoor and outdoor toilet.
My family is the first to arrive and the kids quickly scout what room they want and toss their bags in. Then they’re off outside and over to the paddock, where some kangaroos are padding around in the dying light.
I leave them to their adventure and make my way to the back of the cottage to investigate our woodpile. I want the fire burning and crackling when the other families arrive. The caretakers, John and Lisa, have provided us with a well- stocked pile and our cottage is soon filled with the warmth of a fire.
With the arrival of two carloads we soon have the noise of kids and our friends’ stories of driving into the woodlands at dusk and seeing kangaroos and emus to the left and right, and wedge-tailed eagles above.
Later in the evening, I take the kids for a walk to spot possums. Pointing our torches up into the trees, we fail to spot possums but it’s still been a good adventure. We make our way back to the cottage with the promise of fire-roasted marshmallows before bed.
In the morning, we’re up early to light up the fire and fire up the kettle. Before running off to make stick huts in the bush, the kids are fascinated to find evidence of wildlife at our back door. Clearly the nocturnal wildlife of the woodlands has been busy throughout the night. Maybe they came to use the outdoor toilet and found the door closed.
After breakfast there are choices to be made. Some need to make the short drive into Narrogin to get fresh supplies, while others are keen to do some bushwalking to the Aboriginal ochre pits, Old Mill Dam and mallee fowl nests. A few just want to sit on the veranda wrapped in a blanket with both hands around a cup of coffee, watching the frost on the paddock turn to mist by the morning sun.
There’s also an impressive kids’ playground built by the local Lions Club volunteers who maintain the properties and facilities.
Like all country towns on a Saturday morning, Narrogin is bustling with activity.
Just Jesse’s on Egerton Street is the perfect cafe to grab some good coffees and milkshakes. Big recliners and sofas for the adults and mini sofas and recliners for the kids are just the ticket before we head back to our bush retreat.
For lunch, we use the outdoor brick barbecue to make the best damper of my life. Ripped into warm chunks with a choice of butter, jam or maple syrup, it scores well but is outdone by my daughter Matilda’s camp-fire bananas. She puts a cut in the skin, slips in some chocolate, wraps them in aluminium foil and leaves them in the coals for 10 minutes to make perfect campfire sweets.
The variety of trails available caters to the variety in the length of legs in our group. The trails range in distance from 1km to more than 12km and they are looped, so that you don’t need to worry about being able to find your way back.
There is also an impressive audio-drive trail and a night- walk trail with reflective markers.
In the evening, we make our way further into the woodlands to Barna Mia animal sanctuary. We’re given a nocturnal tour by two guides and, with the assistance of infrared torches, we are spellbound by the sight of seldom-seen Australian wildlife including bilbies, boodies, quendas and rufous hare-wallabies.
The bilby is furtive at first, as if somehow aware of its star power. It’s seen several times just beyond the glow of our red lights before making an entrance as big as its ears, to the hushed delight of our group. What an amazing night: the sky bursting with stars we can’t see in the city and, below, adults and kids all quietly watching these endangered animals shuffle, skip and scratch.
It’s weekenders like this that make you think, as you hit your first traffic lights on the fringes of the city on the way home: could we live in the country? Isn’t that the sign of a wonderful weekend away?
To book a cottage at Lions Dryandra Woodland Village, phone 9884 5231. dryandravillage.org.au.
Barna Mia is open on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights. Bookings can be made via the Department of Parks and Wildlife office in Narrogin; phone 9881 9200. parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/barna-mia.
To book a cottage at Lions Dryandra Woodland Village, phone 9884 5231. dryandravillage.org.au.
Barna Mia is open on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights. Bookings can be made via the Department of Parks and Wildlife office in Narrogin; phone 9881 9200. parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/barna-mia.
