Pemberton Novelty Number plate

Aluminium with embossed border

PEMBERTON is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, named after original settler Pemberton Walcott. The region was originally occupied by the Bibbulmun Australian Aborigines who knew the area as Wandergarup, which in their language meant ‘plenty of water’. During the 1980s, Pemberton began to grow as a tourist town and tourism, particularly domestic, continues to play a key role. Log sawmilling was still the most active industry in 2005, occupying 12.8% of the workforce, despite the state government drastically reducing old growth logging in 2003. Rather than shut down, the mill switched to plantation Tasmanian blue gum and pine in addition to Karri. Viticulture is now widely established with many investment schemes buying up large areas of pastureland and converting to vineyards.

The nearby Gloucester National Park contains three climbable Karri trees, each more than 60 metres tall. The most famous is the Gloucester Tree, but there are also the Diamond Tree and the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, the tallest of the three at around 71 metres. The trees have metal rungs that allow visitors to climb them and reach the constructed lookout at the top.

Other tourist attractions include the Pemberton Tramway Company, Yeagarup Dunes and the Bibbulmun Track. Tours include river cruises, hiking, canoeing and four-wheel drive tours of the national parks.