Wildflowers, Whales, Wobbegongs and walks

-

Our next stay was at Murchison House Station. This was a lovely campsite by the river surrounded  by wildflowers near the National Park. We had two full days in Kalbarri  one exploring the gorges and and the next exploring the seaside cliffs. The Kalbarri  gorges are spectacular  and the flora amazing in its diversity and when we were there large amounts of it were in full bloom.













The day by the cliffs was a clear blue day with no wind ( a very rare day according  to the locals ). We walked along the seaside cliffs over heathland in full bloom with wildflowers everywhere. There were many whales offshore. A fair way out but the clear day allowed us to see them well. We had a snorkel in a few blue pools off the shore and saw quite a few fish and a wobbegong shark. By pure number of photos taken best day ever.













Having truly been taken by the wildflower bug we decided  to head back inland via Mullewa to Mingenew.  The weather had turned and it was cold and grey but we saw many wildflower verges and fields of canola and wheat. All very verdant where apparently  last year there was just fields of dry earth. We stayed in Mingenew  and ate in the pub which had the fire going and was full of colourful locals and fellow wildflower addicts. Alison said she could be in a pub back in West Wyalong.  
The next morning we explored nearby Depot Hill and Coalseam Conservation Park. These made other wildflower areas seem tame by comparison.  The shear size of the swaths of wildflower carpets and the variety blew us away as the frenzy of looking for a new species took hold.
























Finally  we left and came to Sandy Cape near Jurien. Nice seaside spot but fairly cool when we arrived with drizzling rain to welcome us to spring. I thought we were done with wildflowers but we once again found many orchids and others as we walked the nearby trails in Lesuer National  Park.













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Savannah Way and (mostly) averted disaster

-
Image
First some good bits. From our great site at Lake Tinaroo we started west. We pulled in at Undarra to do the Lava Tube tour. This  is a a must do. Amazing geology and landscape, and a well run, and informative  tour. We loved it there and wished we had more time but we had a booking at Talaroo Hot Springs. Talaroo was an Indigenous run site at an old station near some hot rock springs by the Einasleigh River.  Great campsite with friendly communal fires and a enjoyable tour by a young Ewamian guide who explained the history and culture of the Springs followed with a soak in a pool fed by the Springs We  had a slap up dinner for our 36th wedding anniversary. See photo below. After a few nights  at Talaroo we headed out excited for our next stop in Cobbold Gorge. This is where things fell apart. Not far from Talaroo  on the road to Georgetown we heard a loud screeching noise from the car wheel. I looked for a rock but couldn't find anything, so we...
Read more

Penultimate Post

-
Image
We are nearing the finish line and our thoughts have turned to home, but there are a few more bays and piers to explore.  From Tumby Bay we drove up to Lucky Bay SA to catch the ferry across the Spencer Gulf to the Yorke Penisula. This takes two hours and was a nice calm journey. We then drove down to Edithburgh on the heel through fields of ripening wheat with old rock walls and nice old towns.  The campsite was nice enough, but maybe we should have taken a hint from the many nearby wind turbines as to how windy it would be. The wind did not stop us exploring the Yorke. We enjoyed the wild coast, the pink lakes and the Dhilba Gurranda-Innes National Park on the toe. The scallop surprise from the nearby Coobawie pub did not disapoint. From there we travelled to Elizabeth where we dropped off the van for a well deserved service.  We drove on to a nice hotel in Adelaide. We arrived fairly dishevelled from the wind in our casual camping clothes and were asked by the receptio...
Read more

Eyre Peninsula

-
Image
Our journey down the Eyre Peninsula continued with a trip out along the wild west coast to the Point Labatt Sea Lion colony. You peer down at the sea lions from high on a cliff overlooking  the rocky shelves and beaches where the sea lions congregate. It was  fun to watch the young ones play around while the big males just lie in the sun. We also visted Murphy's  Haystacks an interesting rock formation on the way to Coffin Bay. We stayed at the excellent camping facilities at Yanga Bay where emus and wallabies wandered through the campsite. We four wheel drived further into the park and did more walks by the wild coast. After a peaceful few days the weather turned wet and windy again. We headed into Coffin Bay town for a lovely seafood lunch watching the white caps on the bay and then closed the Domino's hatches in travel mode and bunkered down in the town caravan park as the rain and wind swept in. The next morning was slightly calmer so our Coffin Bay Oyster tour went a...
Read more