F
unny that the park is named after
Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of
Wellington. The eponymous dam that
is its centrepiece was built to supply
water for the mining and railway
yards at nearby Collie – and Wellesley
detested the railways because “they
allow(ed) the damn people to move
about too much”. It’s not recorded
what he thought of mining. He also
detested the people in general, and
became a member of White’s Club in
London just so he could stand in one
of its bow windows when it rained and
“watch the damn people getting wet”.
Still, he did help the 71 year old
Generalfeldmarschall Gebhard
TRAVEL
WELLINGTON
NATIONAL PARK
WINTER WONDERLAND
WORDS THE BEAR PHOTOS HARLEY-DAVIDSONLeberecht von Blücher, nicknamed
“Marshal Forwards”, to win the
battle of Waterloo.
Wellington National Park is a
beautiful part of the world with
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blackbutt forests. Most people would
probably not think of WA as a land of
forests, and of course for some 98 per
cent of its land area they’d be right.
But down in the southwest the place
makes up for all the sand and rock, the
growing conditions for the big trees
are perfect, and the forest is home to a
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Wellington in particular is popular all
year round, with the spring show ofZLOGÁRZHUVPDNLQJLWDSKRWRJUDSKHUV·
paradise. But it doesn’t need to be
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in the cool gorge and forests of the
Collie River Valley, the river tumbles
over granite boulders and forms deep
pools worth exploring on foot or in
a canoe. You can enjoy the cool crisp
days, with the evenings a perfect time
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be better than the smell of dinner
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the WA Department of Parks &
Wildlife brochures. The West Aussie
authorities are quite accommodating
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