WA WAnderings

[JohnM]

Plenty of insectivorous Drosera spp.



Wandoo (Eucalyptus wandoo), aka ‘whitegum’, (Eucalyptus wandoo - Wikipedia, Wandoo conservation) is characteristic of the laterite soils of the western Darling Scarp. It tends to form an open forest.

 

[JohnM]

Peak time for Leschenaultia biloba. This species is the one most commonly referred to as ‘Leschenaultia’ and it abounds in the Perth Hills. The iconic wreath flower, which I’ve recently posted about, is Leschenaultia macrantha.



Moving on from the forested escarpment into the Wheatbelt and a stop at the Corrigin Dog Cemetery Barking at heaven's door: iconic dog cemetery looks for new land to expand).

Another of those places I’ve driven past many times when working, but never stopped at.

 

[JohnM]

Then into the nature reserve directly across the road.

Most orchids had senesced, but I found one goody.



There was a rather splendid Xanthorrea species present in the reserve, although one was slightly less splendiferous than its neighbour.

 

[JohnM]

 

[JohnM]

Then the rain hit as I moved on. It was fairly short and sharp, but the temperature plummeted.



That was it for day one.

 

[JohnM]

Next morning, a brief look around in a nature reserve on the edge of Narrogin.

Banksia nobilis, commonly known as golden dryandra.



Plenty of these orchids.



Then on to Dryandra Woodland. The reserve has a main loop road but is laced with an extensive network of drive trails.

It was on one of these minor trails that I achieved the rare feat of sighting a numbat. It was moving too fast to photograph but I had a clear view of it as it ran across the open ground under the wandoo trees in front of me. Mission accomplished!

Numbats were once distributed across Australia but are now restricted to two reserves in WA (The Numbat — Project Numbat).

 

[JohnM]

And that was it for those couple of days’ WAndering.

 

[JohnM]

Next day. Wednesday. PJM’s day off and a glorious spring day. Off we go to the quaint old timber-milling town of Jarrahdale.



The Millbrook winery is just out of town. Not open on Tuesday-Wednesday but the grounds are accessible. Pretty spot and particularly attractive on a sunny day in early spring.

 

[JohnM]

Back to town and a spot of lunch at The General Store café.



Very neatly maintained old millworkers’ cottages.



What’s this strange tower, we wondered?



And that wound up last week’s WAnderings.

 

[JohnM]

A short WAnder this week.

The Ferguson Valley (Home - Ferguson Valley) is a rural area east of Bunbury, rising from the irrigated dairying country of the flat coastal plain through rolling pasture hills and, in recent years, vineyards and wineries into jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) (Eucalyptus marginata - Wikipedia) forest of Wellington NP (Wellington | Explore Parks WA | Parks and Wildlife Service).

The forest was heavily cut for timber in the early 20th century. Now, as National Park, it provides recreation around Wellington Dam and along the Collie River downstream of the dam. It’s a pretty area with good camp sites and walking and mountain-bike trails.

On the way back, a poke around Lakes Preston and Clifton, both a short distance inland from the coast between Bunbury and Mandurah in mature tuart (E. gomphocephala) forest, which is unique to the sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain between Perth and Busselton (Eucalyptus gomphocephala - Wikipedia).

I also wanted to scope the thrombolites at Lake Clifton: Thrombolite - Wikipedia.



The King Jarrah near the old Wellington Mills timber-milling townsite, of which nothing remains. Even though ancient and large by today’s standards, the King Jarrah is a rare ancient tree in the mostly regrowth jarrah forest and would have been soundly exceeded in girth size in the original forest.

A marri tree (once Eucalyptus calophylla, now Corymbia calophylla) to the left of King Jarrah.



Quirky Gnomesville (Gnomesville in The Ferguson Valley | Wellington Mill WA) has thousands of gnomes accumulated over about the last twenty years.



The recently-completed mural on the wall of Wellington Dam is a major drawcard.

 

[JohnM]

Along the road winding through the granite hills by the river downstream of the dam. Very tranquil on a Monday afternoon.

 

[JohnM]

The peppermint trees (Agonis flexuosa) (Agonis flexuosa - Wikipedia) were flowering profusely and shedding blossom fragments onto the water.



Jarrah regrowth.

 

[JohnM]

After visiting friends later that afternoon and overnighting at Bunbury, it was on to the coastal plain lakes.



It was a little too early in that area for flowering of the WA Christmas tree, the florally magnificent monospcific genus unique to SW WA (Nuytsia - Wikipedia).

 

[JohnM]

The Christmas spiders (Austracantha - Wikipedia) were massively abundant around the path leading to the Lake Clifton thrombolites boardwalk, but difficult to focus on close up with my dinky camera.



And that was it for this WAnder.

 

[RB]

I am guessing the fishermen were hoping the peppermint blossoms had stirred the fish up. The grasstrees really flowered after our 19/20 fires and the lorikeets went bananas

 

[JohnM]

I am guessing the fishermen were hoping the peppermint blossoms had stirred the fish up. The grasstrees really flowered after our 19/20 fires and the lorikeets went bananas

We could do without those lorikeets in WA. Real pest here.

 

[JohnM]

With the Xmas and school holiday zoo now behind us, unrelenting hot weather in Perth and Mad Marko still driving Covid paranoia, it was time for me to shoot through on Sunday to remote locations on the WA lower southwest coast for a few days’ solitude and a little more WAndering.

Even in summer, the S coast is often cool and cloudy, so when there’s a large high sticking in place over the Bight making for very hot conditions further north, the S coast can be particularly inviting with clear skies and warm temperatures.

So, the stars aligned.

Here’s the main route.

Sunday Perth-Windy Harbour, Monday exploring around the Shannon NP and on to Black Point and Tuesday meandering home via the Cape Naturaliste area.



Windy Harbour is a tidy little settlement of neat holiday shacks with a basic shire-run caravan park, accessible by sealed road.

Shannon NP is the location of the Great Forest Trees Drive (Great Forest Trees Drive, Shannon National Park, Southern Forests, Pemberton | Trails WA), a 50km loop through spectacular karri, jarrah and marri forest.

Black Point, which I also visited last year (A short slip south), is a more isolated location accessible only by 4WD on about 25km of sandy track. A track from the north is open only in summer because it traverses swampy ground, while a track from the west gives year-round access. I came in on the softer and more challenging north track and left by generally firmer west track.

Facilities include good drop toilets and viewing platforms and shelters, steps to the beach, and camping spots tucked amongst the trees in some hollows that provide excellent protection against wind. It’s a gorgeous spot and I only saw three other people there. The weather was PERfect – warm, sunny and calm. Bliss!



I meandered north towards home through Margaret River with a brief stop at Canal Rocks before heading out to the beach at Eagle Bay for a couple of hours. Canal Rocks is an interesting geological formation where channels resembling canals have been eroded into the rock, while Eagle Bay beach is a north-facing beach protected from the strong south westerly sea breeze so common on the west coast in the afternoon.



Recently a severe fire tore through the Meelup Regional Park. The area around Castle Rock to Meelup Farmhouse is burnt out. Fortunately, the firies arrested the fire before it got to Meelup Farmhouse. It could have been a personal catastrophe as my elder son is getting married there at Easter.

 

[JohnM]

A detour through a section of jarrah/marri forest west of Manjimup on the outbound drive.



A stop to scope out Mt Chudalup, a granite monadnock between Northcliffe and Windy harbour.



Windy Harbour.



Cathedral Rock and Point D’Entrecasteaux.



The Windows.



Around the point to Salmon Beach to take in the sunset from above.

 

[JohnM]

Next morning, it was bright and calm, so back around to Salmon Beach for a walk along the beach.



Looping around Point D’Entrecasteaux.



After leaving Windy Harbour, I stopped in Northcliffe and scoped the tidy small museum. Northcliffe was a timber town and one of the areas for the Group Settlement Scheme (Group Settlement Scheme - Wikipedia) in the 1920s, focussing on dairying which is still prominent in the area.

 

[JohnM]

Then on towards Shannon NP and the Great Forest Trees Drive. Boorara Tree was one of a network of tall karri trees used to mount fire-spotting cabins.



In 2015, a lightning strike ignited a massive blaze in Shannon NP. Unlike many eucalypts such as jarrah that can regenerate quite successfully from epicormic growth, karri trees generally regenerate from seed shed into ash beds. There is some doubt as to the long-term prospects of karri trees refoliating from epicormic growth.



On to prettier forest scenes. Summer is when karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) sheds its bark, with attractive colours resulting.