The Muster is over and most of the attendees have departed. After bidding farewell to the few remaining committee members, we headed off, firstly south to Geraldton to have our awning replaced, then north, past Horrocks, to Kalbarri and the Kalbarri National Park. We decided to stay 3 nights at a Kalbarri caravan Park, rather than free camping, in order to get our clothes washing done. Not quite the relaxing destination I was craving following the muster, but the chores need to be done.
Our two full days were spent exploring the National Park, firstly the inland gorges and then the seascape. We enjoyed the terrific landscapes but soon tired of the inland heat and the coastal winds, not to mention tiring of being cooped up in a caravan park.
School holidays are fast approaching, which will clash with our time in Perth. Time to find a house sit in Perth. We had success with a sit in Success (strange name for a suburb). Although we were relatively close to Perth, there was still some areas we wanted to explore before getting there, especially the wildflowers.
We set an itinerary that includes some of the iconic wildflower locations in the greater Geraldton region and headed off. Due to an extremely dry year so far, the wildflowers were disappointingly scarce. Expecting to see thick blankets of wildflowers covering parts of the landscape, there were just thin sparse pockets of them. Nevertheless we stopped regularly, where the road shoulders allowed, to take photos of what we found.
With the Muster behind us, we passed through the nearby town of Northampton on our way to Geraldton, then stopping overnight at the Fig Tree Crossing rest area, 15km north of Geraldton. By the time we arrived there were already 3 vans from the Muster, with a further 2 pulling in after us. A veritable mini-muster.Whilst waiting for the awning to be replaced on Blake, we wandered the streets of Geraldton, walking the foreshore and past the Geraldton Courthouse.On the 19th November 1941, after leaving Geraldton 4 weeks earlier, HMAS Sydney encountered the German Raider HSK Kromoran off the WA coast and became involved in an engagement leading to the loss of both ships. No trace was found of the HMAS Sydney or the 645 seamen on board.On Sunday 16 March 2008, HMAS Sydney was found at a depth of 2,480 metres, 207km west of Steep Point WA. The gull in the Pool of Remembrance indicates that location, whilst a sailor’s mother continues to look out to sea in the hope of the ship returning.We collected Blake at about noon, and headed back up north to Kalbarri National Park. Reasonably early on the following morning we visited Natures Window before the arrival of tourists, with views over the Murchison River (no, we’re not tourists, we’re grey nomads).
Around the information area of the Skywalk are bronze critters including a western quoll, a Kalbarria brimellae (extinct), a eurypterid (extinct), a Peregrine falcon (not extinct) and an emu family (definitely not extinct)Kalbarri National Park’s Skywalk, an amazing and obviously very expensive piece of infrastructure, with two walkways cantilevering 17m and 25m from the cliff face, overlooking the Murchison River.
Views of the Murchison River from the Z Bend lookout. Yum Yum met a black-flanked rock wallaby at the track head.30km south of the Skywalk is the Ross Graham River Trail, with access to the Murchison RiverWhilst at Kabarri we stayed three nights at the Murchison Caravan Park. It was a wonderful relief to to move on to the Miners Camp in the Coalseam Conservation Park with its spacious sites and views from the balcony. Unfortunately we spent only one night at Miners.The Kalbarri NP reaches the coast, encapsulating some wonderful coastal scenery. Red Bluff, Blue Holes and Island Rock are pictured.A boardwalk links Island Rock and Natural Bridge. One of two jewel beetles that hitched a ride on my shirt along the boardwalk.Views near Island Rock and Pot Alley. A small pod of dolphins cruised along the coast.Between Kalbarri and Northampton is the old port town of Gregory and the adjoining pink Hutt Lagoon. The pink hue is due to the presence of the carotenoid- producing algae, Dunaliella salina, a source of beta-carotene. Unfortunately the cloud cover didn’t allow the lagoon to look its best.Wheat is the most significant crop in the region, together with canola and lentils.Our journey inland in the hope of finding wildflowers took us through the town of Mullewa, with some old trucks on display and a wheely long road train, with 28 axles.Coalseam Nature Reserve is renowned for its wildflower displays, as evidence by their brochure. Unfortunately the dry year has led to bare earth in much of the campground area.Whilst at Coalseam I did the plateau loop walk with views down to the surrounding countryside, and our campsite (Blake is arrowed). Flocks of galahs and white cockatoos frequented the area and a few ring-necked parrots were up on the plateau.The little town of Canna, with its delightful free camp and interesting history would also normally be a wildflower mecca.War Rock, near the town of Pintharuka, was thought to be the site of an aboriginal tribal conflict. In 1936 a small wall was built around its perimeter to capture rainwater and channel it to Pintharuka Dam.Morawa is a small but proud town with a nice streetscape and numerous quirky and humorous road safety banners lining the street.Before returning to the coast between Geraldton and Perth we stopped for two nights in the Badgingarra National Park where we found another BOGGER from the Muster. An afternoon walk into the park revealed a nice assortment of wildflowers.A prolific wildflower along many of the inland roads is the Prickly Plume Grevillea. The flower spikes protrude from the nicely rounded main bush, starting as closed flower buds that then open into cream, then red, blooms.Now to get technical, these flowers are within the genus “purple”. Well, that’s how I’ve grouped the following images.Genus “white”. I do know that the central photo is of a Conospermum unilaterale.Genus “purple”.Genus “orange”, including kangaroo paw.Genus “red” including weeping bottlebrush.Genus “yellow”, with a thin carpet of daisies on the top of the plateau at Coalseam Conservation Park.Two varieties of Banksia and open seed pods following a fire.
Our final stop before reaching Perth was the Pinnacles in the Nambung National Park, on the coast, 22km south of Cervantes. Several theories exist as to the formation of the pinnacles. Both involve the calcification of trees.
One thought on “Where are the Wildflowers?”
Hi, photo’s are amazing. The wild flowers are beautiful.
Hi, photo’s are amazing. The wild flowers are beautiful.