Pemberton, Western Australia
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Pemberton is a town located in the southwest corner of Western Australia, named after the early settler Pemberton Walcott. It is the home of the Karri tree, the largest tree in Western Australia and the third largest hardwood tree in the world. The nearby Gloucester National Park contains three climbable Karri trees, each in excess of 60 m. The most famous is these is the Gloucester Tree, but there is also the Diamond Tree and the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, which is the tallest of the three and stands at around 71 m. Each of these trees has been fitted with metal rungs which allow visitors to climb these trees and reach the constructed lookout at the top.
Pemberton was originally occupied by the Bibbulmun Australian Aboriginal tribe until white explorers settled the area in the 1880s. The timber industry was established in 1912 and the town grew. Free land was offered to group settlers during the 1920s, however life was tough as clearing the land proved difficult.
Timber remained the primary industry, however dairy and crops such as potato, cauliflower and hops were developed. During the 1980s Pemberton started to grow as a tourist town. Tourism now plays an important role after old growth logging was drastically reduced by the state government in 2003. Rather than shutting down, the Pemberton Mills have switched to plantation blue gum and pine in addition to Karri. Other tourist attractions include the Pemberton Tramway Company and the Bibbulmun Track.
Viticulture is now widely established with many investment schemes buying up large areas of pastureland and converting to vineyards.
In May 2005, in its launch issue the magazine Australian Traveller voted Pemberton as Australia's third worst town. This caused public outcry from Western Australians many of which choose Pemberton as their favourite tourist destination.
