Aussirose Travel and Photography: The Big Lap

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I call Pemberton foodie heaven.

That is majorly due to the mouth watering sweet tasting Marron found here and further south to Albany. Last time we were in Pemberton we had Marron twice. Once at the Cafe on the main street that is still there and also at a place just down the road past the rail crossing that was called Shamrock Hotel. Unfortunately it does not exist any more.

Story time. Last time we were in Pemberton and dining at the Shamrock Hotel with a bunch of VT mates, we were having so much fun that the owner Andrew shut the doors and brought out his home made brew. Hooleydooley, what an evening to remember.

😉

But as they say, what happened in Pemberton, stays in Pemberton. Well that is except when we heard the same thing from the dude that operates the Marron Farm in town. He remembered his times with Andrew at the Shamrock too and we all had a great laugh at the old times.

So we visited the Marron Farm just down the road from the caravan park that we were staying at. Marron season is in January. We arrived end of April and there were only just a few live crays in the tanks so we chose the last 2 medium ones and they were bagged up. Live. 😟

So I dealt with the moving plastic bag at my feet until we arrived back at the caravan park. As per instructions, hubby put the moving plastic bag into the freezer for half an hour whilst preparing a pot of salted water. Once the water was on the boil, he quickly dropped the marron into the water and topped with the lid. Brought it back to the boil and 7 minutes later, they were cooked to perfection.

Meanwhile I did a quick butter/garlic/mustard/cream sauce to drizzle over the top. Platter plate, a bit of lettuce, fresh lemon slices and capsicum in and around the marron and voilia! We were in heaven.

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PEMBERTON CARAVAN PARK

So we stayed at the Caravan Park in town for 2 nights as we were due to arrive later in the day and I had no idea how difficult it might be to get to our planned destination at Big Brook Dam.

This turned out to be a good idea as we could do a much needed clothes wash and check out in town how to pay for our stay at the bush site near the dam. Tip - If you plan to do the same, you can pay for your stay in Pemberton after at the Parks and Wildlife Centre located near the Gloucester Tree.

Pemberton Caravan Park has resident little wrens, ducks, parrots, kookas and maggies.

We couldn't wait to have a shower and neither could Tookie.

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BIG BROOK DAM CAMPSITE

Big Brook Arboretium as it is called is classed as a reserve and not a National Park which meant that we could take the bird. We had checked it out and hubby confirmed that it wouldn't be too difficult to park the van there. He had sussed out a site and we hoped to secure it before any one else could. To stay overnight here we paid just $22 for 2 people. We paid at the Parks and Wildlife Centre in town.

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BIG BROOK DAM

What a stunning view! Not sure what's going on with the white sand. It's not like we were near the beach. But it was a bit of beachside peace in the middle of the forrest and well worth the visit.

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PARTY TIME AT BIG BROOK DAM

We met some great people here.

Millsie and George from Grafton NSW. Melissa is a nurse and works in accident recovery. She had stories to tell about working out at the Bathurst car races. Her hubby is a paramedic. Both high stress jobs. We also met people from Victoria. All in all everyone was super friendly and the campsite every night was party time with the campfire stoked and plenty of grog flowing.

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MUSHROOMS, MOSS & FUNGI

Staying amongst forrest there are ample opportunities for macro photography. I was keen to get out my new Lensbaby Edge 35 optic. This lens is attached to a unique tilt shift base that is what Lensbaby do well. It produces a line of sharp focus throughout the photo with bokkah either side. Manouvering the tile shift along with manual focus is the key to getting that great shot.