Orchid hunting around Dalwallinu

4th September 2014

The Dalwallinu information centre provided details about likely places within a 50km radius to find a good display of wildflowers, particularly orchids.

This morning we drove west to Miamoon, where there is a granite outcrop.  Orchids favour damp patches in rock depressions, usually growing through other plants that have colonised the area.  Another favoured spot is close to trees.

We did eventually find 3 types of orchid after much searching. There is such an overwhelming variety of plants that the identification book I have does not detail most of them!

In the afternoon John was not feeling too good so I left him at the caravan and took off to the east in search of the old rabbit proof fence.

The fence was erected in 1904 to try and stop the spread of rabbits.  The fence was an abject failure and had been abandoned by the 1940's when biological methods were tried to control the rabbit population.

Part of the old rabbit proof fence

The area I visited had a water hole which was put down for the boundary rider along with a shelter. He was popular with the isolated farmer's wives, because he also carried the mail to these remote areas!

Further to the south I found Petrudor rocks, another granite outcrop. 

This one had several water holes which were an important resource to the local indigenous people. The rock holes were full of tadpoles today.

I also found two orchids here that I had not previously seen.

Mingenew to Dalwallinu - on the wildflower trail

3rd September 2014

Drove south today on the trail of more wildflowers.

View from the top of the rock

We traveled to Dalwallinu via Perenjori and on the way found a nature reserve called Buntine Rock.

There were carpets of flowers on the flat plains right up onto pockets in the rocks.  I was hoping to find orchids but only found 2 species, I think most of them have finished.

Coalseam CP and Three Springs

2nd September 2014

Coalseam Conservation Park is a vestige of the flora which once covered vast areas of the inland sandplains.  Now almost all the natural vegetation has been cleared and huge quantities of wheat and other crops are grown.

Irwin River, Coalseam CP

Irwin River, Coalseam CP

The conservation park survived in part because of the rugged terrain and because coal seams were visible in the river banks.  Fortunately the coal mining in the early 20th century proved unprofitable so the area has been saved.

Coalseam CP

The wildflowers are about 2 weeks past their best but spectacular non the less, and the geology interesting too.

Later we drove south east in search of the unique wreath flower, which only grows in a few small areas.

Wreath flower

The wreath flowers like to grow on disturbed stony ground and we were surprised to find them in a quarry and on the roadside edges of farms. Seems like a precarious existence for such an endangered plant.

A trip to Geraldton

1st September 2014

John has been getting a sore hip at night since we've been back in the van so we decided to make the 200km round trip to Geraldton to buy a memory foam mattress topper.  The mattress in the van is between a double and a queen in size so we were undecided whether to go a bit too small or a bit too big.  We opted for the double and it turned out to be a good fit.  Tonight will tell if it makes the big improvement that he is looking for.

Visiting Geraldton was also an opportunity to visit John's favourite store, Bunnings, and find a channel to fix above the rangehood vent to prevent any leaks in the future.  He found just the thing and has fixed it onto the outside of the van and added roofing silicone.  We will give it a test with the hose tomorrow.

Mingenew nature reserve

We did find a few flowers in a nature reserve on the way back, and also a curious decoration on the water tank at a rest stop!

Decorated water tank at Drovers rest stop.

Moora to Mingenew and lots of wild flowers

31st August 2014

We drove north with the idea of finishing in Mullewa for the day.  However, along the way we went into the information centre at Mingenew and two very helpful ladies in there said it wasn't worth driving further north as the flowers were early this year and we had mostly missed them!  However, they said there are still plenty to see to the east and west of Mingenew so we booked into the local caravan park and went looking in some of the locations they suggested.

Drifts of flowers on Depot Hill

This just goes to show how important local knowledge is as we would have bypassed Depot Hill because it didn't look promising from the road.  However, here we found beautiful drifts of daisies, everlastings and all manner of other flowers and shrubs too.  Truly spectacular.

The hill is so named as it was an army training ground during WWII.  A trench was dug, still intact, which was used for target practise.

WWII trench for firearms practise

Lots of orchids, most of which I can't find the names for.

Cowslip Orchid

Fringed Lily

After this we drove up Mingenew Hill for a great view of the little town.  There is a spring here so it was a very important watering point on the drovers trail in the past.

Perth to Moora

30th August 2014

Bright and early start this morning beginning with a big stock up in Coles as soon as they opened at 8:00. The caravan and car took up 4 spaces in the car park so we wanted to shoot through ASAP.

Our first stop was New Norcia, which is Australia's only monastic town.  However the rain was just as bad here so we only stayed for a cup of tea and to purchase a loaf of bread which the monks bake on site using flour they grind in their own mill; and very nice it was too.  I want to take photos of the wonderful Spanish influenced architecture so we are hoping for better weather on the drive south when we will pass through the settlement again.

Camp set up at Moora

We pushed on north and did eventually get out of the rain at Moora.  A bit grey but some blue sky.  We are staying in the Council run camp site which is very good and it has free washing machines and dryers!  This is a rarity and an excellent opportunity to wash and dry the soggy towels from soaking up yesterday's floods. John has now covered the offending vent with duct tape which hopefully will suffice until a  more permanent gutter can be fashioned.

Moora Town Clock

Everlastings in Moora

We had a bit of a wander around town, which is not very exciting so we will only stay one night.  Found some everlastings, but not in the wild, they were in a garden.  Hope to see the real wildflowers tomorrow.

Return to Perth - rain, and more rain

29th August 2014

Today we flew back to Perth after a relaxing month at home catching up with family, friends and the garden.

We will miss the grandchildren as they are such a delight.  Nicole kindly drove us to the airport, which was much appreciated.

Katherine (20 months)

The flight was late leaving Sydney [where it was still raining after 2.5 weeks of wet weather] but uneventful until we approached Perth.  The skies were leaden, pouring with rain and 30km winds so we had an exciting landing!

We picked up the newly raised caravan, which is now about 100mm higher off the ground and checked into the campsite, the same we stayed for our last 2 nights in Perth.

Joel (3 years)

Upon entering the van we were greeted with a floor awash with water and it took several minutes to work out where it was coming from.  In the pouring rain the outside vent of the rangehood was leaking.  Water was running off the roof and straight into the vent.  From there it was running through the base of the cupboards onto the floor.
Fortunately none of the storage contained anything that could not be dried out.  The sleeping bags were under the seats but luckily I had stored them in plastic garbage bags which had not leaked.

Anyway, poor John was out in the pouring rain drenched through despite a goretex raincoat and waterproof over-trousers.

Amelie (6 years)

Nathan (7 years)

Eventually we stopped the leaking by a combination of covering the vent with tin foil to deflect the run off and chocking up the van to make the rain run to the other side.  Then began the mopping up operation.  We still don't understand why it leaked like this as we have had plenty of torrential rain the in the past with no problems.