Serpentine to Pinjarra via Dwellingup

7th September 2014

John was keen to have a ride on the Hotham Valley Tourist Railway which operates from Dwellingup.  The track and engines have been restored from the timber logging days.

Hotham Valley Railway

Unfortunately, when we arrived the morning journey was sold out [being Father's Day] and we didn't want to wait until the afternoon trip. Instead, we went for a walk along part of the Munda Biddi cycle track which runs alongside the rail tracks. The weather was very changeable again today so we did not venture too far.










After this we booked into a caravan park in Pinjarra and drove across to the coast for a look at the thrombolites in Lake Clifton.  Lake Clifton is a long narrow lake locked behind sand dunes and runs parallel to the coast.

The lake was formed during the last ice age and supports a large colony of thrombolites, very ancient life forms built by micro-organisms. Thrombolites and the similar stromatolites survive in just a few places in western Australia.

Submerged thrombolites at Lake Clifton

The weather had turned very cold and windy by the time we arrived and at this time of the year the boulder like organisms are well submerged as the water levels are highest due to the influx of freshwater from winter rains.  This made them a bit hard to see.

Orchid at Lake Clifton

Later, we went into Mandurah for a look around, there is a huge amount of development going on there.