Granite Skywalk, Porongurup National Park 09

Porongurup is a small village on the northern slopes of the

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in the

Shire of Plantagenet The Shire of Plantagenet is a local government area in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, managed from the town of Mount Barker, south of Perth and north of Albany. The shire covers an area of and includes the communities of ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. At the , Porongurup had a population of 370. The name is derived from the Aboriginal place-name, and consequently arrived with no spelling as such. A common alternate spelling is Porongorup and while some maps still show this spelling, state government signs around the town use "Porongurup", as does the promotion association for the region. The

includes Castle Rock, a popular climbing destination, and the Devils Slide.

Industry

The main industry in the region is dairying, but there are some vegetable crops grown as well. Tourism based on the Porongurup Range's giant

karri ''Eucalyptus diversicolor'', commonly known as karri, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is Endemism, endemic to the Southwest Australia, south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall tree with smooth light grey to cre ...

forests is limited by the difficulty of access because the nearest public transport is in Albany or Mount Barker. The Granite Skywalk, a suspended walkway that spirals around the granite outcrop of Castle Rock, in

Porongurup National Park Porongurup National Park is a national park in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It covers , and is southeast of Perth and north of Albany. The park contains the Porongurup Range, which is the relic core of an ancient mount ...

in 2011. As with other parts of the lower Great Southern region of

silviculture Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, and quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests and wo ...

, specifically plantations of Tasmanian blue gums (''

Eucalyptus globulus ''Eucalyptus globulus'', commonly known as southern blue gum or blue gum, is a species of tall, evergreen tree endemic to southeastern Australia. This ''Eucalyptus'' species has mostly smooth bark, juvenile leaves that are whitish and waxy on ...

''), is becoming a notable, and sometimes controversial, industry in Porongurup. Viticulture is a relatively young but flourishing industry in the region with eleven local wineries listed on the Porongurup Promotion Association web-page . The Porongurup Wine Festival is held at a different local winery each year in March. Another increasingly popular annual event is "Art in the Park", an outdoor sculpture competition in the picnic area on Castle Rock Road in the national park. The week-long event is held in April and attracts a diverse range of traditional and contemporary works vying for cash prizes.

Wine region

Porongurup is the fifth of the subregions of Great Southern, somewhat untidily locking into Mount Barker on its western boundary. Eucalypt forest and rounded granite knobs and boulders give way to views out over the stirlings in one part, and towards Esperance in another.

Environment

In July and August 2006 eight noisy

scrubbird Scrubbirds are shy, secretive, ground-dwelling birds of the family Atrichornithidae. There are just two species. The rufous scrubbird is rare and very restricted in its range, and the noisy scrubbird is so rare that until 1961 it was thought to ...

s were released in the Porongurup Range by the Department of Environment and Conservation, Western Australia, as part of a trans-location program for the

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

of this endangered species.

History

On 11 February 2007, a fire began on private property near the north-west corner of the national park, around west of the Porongurup village. The fire spread along the rear boundaries of several properties and into the national park. Fire crews helped prevent the fire spreading to nearby housing throughout Sunday night but on Monday afternoon (12 February) it jumped Porongurup-Mt Barker Road and spread into private property to the north-east of the village centre. One private residence and a number of farm sheds and buildings were destroyed and other buildings seriously damaged in the fire. Fire crews, including aerial support from six water bomber planes, battled the blaze and by Tuesday morning it was effectively under control. By Wednesday morning (14 February) the fire had burnt through around 95% of the national park and several farms and wineries showed the scars of the fire.''Albany & Great Southern Weekender'', 15 February 2007 It was reportedly the most devastating fire in the region since the 1960s. Less than a week after the fire began, a committee was formed to take charge of remedial work in the community and in a show of resilience, local wineries still held their annual wine festival a few weeks later. Despite the national park remaining closed to visitors, the annual Art in the Park exhibition was allowed to go ahead in early April. Sections of the park, including the Castle Rock walk trail and the Tree in The Rock picnic area, were reopened to the general public in September 2007.

References

External links

Porongurup Promotions Association Inc.

Friends of the Porongurup

Thorn's Mountain Retreats
{{authority control Towns in Western Australia Great Southern (Western Australia)