REVIEW: The silence is the point in the state’s southern forests.
The change is noticeable as the South West Highway passes through Manjimup and the busyness of the city gives way to the slower pace of the state’s south.
The road narrows, cutting your speed as you drive into the karri forests, where the scale of the landscape quietly recalibrates a sense of proportion.
These trees are not background scenery; they dominate the sky, their trunks rising tall, filtering the light into soft, shifting patterns that dance across the windscreen.
With every kilometre, the urgency of Perth feels increasingly irrelevant as we reunite with our happy place and seek out hidden gems.
It is impossible to rush this stretch of road. The forest insists on a slower pace, not through signs or warnings, but through atmosphere alone.
The scent of eucalyptus fills the car. By the time Walpole appears, you are in a different frame of mind: one attuned to stillness rather than any insistence we must arrive on time.
Water world
A weekend aboard Houseboat Holidays’ aptly named houseboat, Cruise Away, starts our week’s getaway.
Once away from the jetty, the houseboat glides into a landscape that feels untouched and deeply private. There are no roads, no buildings pressing in, no artificial sounds competing for attention. Just water, forest, sky, and time, suddenly abundant.
We are reunited with ospreys, kangaroos, dolphins and stingrays.
This is our 16th visit to this hidden gem since 2010.
Yes, we love it. Why? The solitude and the silence.
It matters little what the weather offers. We have seen everything from 37º Celsius and glass-still waters to fog and storms. Each offers magnificent vistas and the sunrise and sunsets are stunning.
Evenings are perhaps the most memorable. As the light softens, the forest takes on a deeper green, and the water darkens to ink.
Dinner is unhurried, cooked on the barbecue with a glass of bubbles. When night falls, the sky reveals the majesty of the Milky Way unspoiled by artificial glow.
Houseboat Holidays has three houseboats sleeping four through 10 guests. You don’t need a skipper’s ticket and you get a full briefing on operating the houseboat, which is simple.
And they are always on call should you have an issue, which we never have.
You can hire for three, four or seven days with changeover on Fridays and Mondays.
Monday comes all too soon and we are off to Denmark to spend four days seeking old and new experiences.
On the road
The drive from Walpole toward Denmark winds through rolling forest and farmland, eventually delivering us to the Denmark Good Food Factory, which is another of the region’s gems.
Set among trees and gardens, it is a place that celebrates flavour without pretension. Shelves are lined with handcrafted chocolates, sauces, preserves, and ciders, each reflecting the region’s agricultural richness.
Every time we visit there is something new.
It now has a distillery and owners John and Jill concede they started with gin and got carried away … and they just kept going with black and white sambuca, rum and liqueur whiskey. And there is more.
You can taste, and once done, move to the sauces and have another taste sensation. After a casual burger lunch, why not try Denmark’s biggest ice cream cone.
And talking of gems, just down the road towards Denmark is The Dam, which is always first class. The Dam is a relaxed place designed for lingering rather than ticking boxes.
We discovered The Dam in October 2021 not long after it opened. Our many visits since have always impressed. It has lost none of its class.
Located on a farm that includes 200 Angus cattle and 2,500 oak trees (for truffles), it has a superb upmarket restaurant and an outdoor deck area for a more casual dining experience.
And it has a great children’s play area with shade, grass as well as sand areas.
Staff, as usual, are exceptional.
Forest stay
From here, serenity deepens at Denmark Forest Retreat, where luxury is defined by space, and privacy.
Nestled amongst the trees on a little more than five hectares of peaceful bushland, each cottage is positioned to allow maximum privacy. Yet you are only minutes from town and a short drive to the spectacular beaches and natural attractions.
Tucked into native bushland, the chalets feel entirely removed from the world.
Inside, the design is thoughtful and warm. Constructed from earth bricks and cedar, each cottage is beautifully finished and offers all modern conveniences, as well as traditional country comfort.
Large windows frame nothing but forest, drawing the outside in. You feel completely connected to nature.
This is the kind of place where plans feel unnecessary, where the absence of activity becomes the activity itself.
There are four two-bedroom chalets and, despite the high level of fit-out, new owners Tom and Michelle have a range of decorative plans to give the chalets their personal touch.
In Denmark, we found another gem in Kind Folk, which opened in August last year.
On Facebook, the owners shared that they were excited to open their doors and described the cafe as a place shaped by “care, resilience, and feeding people well”.
Kind Folk offers a warm, human counterpoint to the solitude of the forest. More than a cafe, it feels like a community hub: welcoming and creative.
The coffee is excellent and the cakes are the kind that demand attention.
Sitting by the window with a slice of something indulgent and a well-made coffee, it’s easy to lose track of time.
Conversations flow easily as we run into old Denmark friends coming in for their cake fix.
The pace is unhurried, as if Denmark itself has collectively agreed to resist the rush.
What unites these places – the forests, the inlet, the distillery, the retreat, the cafe – is not spectacle, but tone.
The south coast does not announce itself loudly.
Its gems are hidden, not because they are hard to find, but because they ask something of the visitor: patience, presence, and a willingness to slow down.
That wine or that coffee may not arrive with the speed of bars and cafes on St Georges Terrace, but this is the south coast; it’s a different time zone.
In Walpole and Denmark, you arrive expecting a week away and leave with something quieter and more lasting: a recalibrated sense of time and a reminder that sometimes the greatest luxury is simply space to breathe.
