It was close to ten years to the date that the three of us first stayed at the Mount Trio Bush Camp in the Stirling Ranges.  On that first visit, in the school holidays, the place felt deserted and in subsequent years word of mouth did its job and the place got busier and busier.  More powered sites popped up and the facilities, whilst keeping that rustic feel, grew in size.  Over the last few years we haven’t been back as a family, but Lisa and I decided we would head there for our 20^th wedding anniversary:

The joys of Lisa having long service leave meant that we could head down for a long weekend and stay for three nights, during term time.  The place felt familiar as we drove in, other than the information bay looking a bit more swish and the camp kitchen having tripled in size.  We found a quiet spot and set up camp, then armed with both a cuppa and a beer we made our way to have a game of pong.  In the past you’d have to keep an eye on the pong room and be ready to duck in as soon as it was vacated, on this trip we didn’t see anyone else use it:

That was probably in part due to the place being relatively quiet, as John the owner explained to us that evening as we caught up.  He explained how the last few months had been really busy but in the last week or so things had eased off.  Today had been a steamy 32 degrees and while we were pleased to be back, Lisa had forgotten one thing and that was the flies.  They were out in force and it seemed impossible to escape them, but as the sun went down they disappeared as we soon also did retreating to our tent:

When camping we tend to hit the sack soon after it gets dark and then wake up early.  That doesn’t mean we both get up, Lisa enjoys having a snooze and read waking up slowly.  I’m the opposite being up and out ready for stuff.  From about 4am there was the sound of birds chattering, chirping and tweeting away.  Too many to mention and many with young so the noise levels were elevated, as the impatient young incessantly demanded feeding by their parents.  I was up just before 5 and it was another clear blue sky:

One of the things I really like about this spot is that it has a great patch of bush with a trail that runs through it.  The ground in spring time is littered with flowers, and if you hit the right part of spring this place is a haven for orchids.  So while Lisa read in bed I went for a wander.  I had started this trip with an upbeat feeling of possibly doubling my orchid tally for the season.  However, John had dispersed that aspiration the night before when he said that the orchid season had pretty well all dried up:

No matter the walk was still amazing and I spent a lot of time checking out all the flowers, completely mystified as to what they may be.  I have to admit to having got a little hooked on Questagame and was happy to find a few of the more specky looking flowers to chuck on the app to both share them and find out what they are.  Most, but not quite all, of the flowers would close up at night and some would only fully open when it was sunny.  As such I went on this trail at several different times of the day to see how they changed:

Whilst John had been a little negative about any opportunity to find orchids, I wasn’t completely put off and searched high and low.  Rongy had been here just a few weeks back and he had sent me some images of the orchids he had spied, surely there would be one or two left?  I found lots of frazzled, wrinkly and browned remnants of orchids but did luck upon this solitary Dragon Orchid.  Whilst similar looking to the Mantis and Spider Orchids, they are much smaller and clearly have a different shape with the apex sticking upright:

I persevered checking all the nooks and crannies thinking that the more sheltered spots might be where I would strike it lucky.  In amongst all the fallen dead trees I came across my first Hairy Rufous Greenhood Orchid, and subsequently found lots of them.  I’ve read that these species generally flower late in spring, and when I told John of my find he told me that and said he wasn’t surprised that I had found them.  There are several variety and I started to get excited that I had maybe found different ones, but on closer inspection back home they are all the same:

The short 1.2km trail took me close to two hours to get round, due to constantly stopping and searching.  This approach had paid off and as I returned to the camp area not even the clouds rolling in could dispel my happiness.  Lisa and I had been checking the forecast so we were not surprised by the clouds, and were in fact expecting rain.  What did surprise us was that the forecast for Saturday jumped from a nice mid-twenties to the mid-thirties, and when you are out camping there is little respite.  Lisa it seems has a built up a reduced tolerance not just to flies but also the heat:

After having a cuppa I managed to convince her that it was time to get some food into us, so we made our way to the camp kitchen to find it empty.  Everyone else had been and gone, all bar this Sand Monitor.  As we were busy preparing and cooking up a feast it wandered round the kitchen area checking for any food that might have been dropped.  Seemingly unaware of, or not worried about, our presence and even getting close to our feet:

It was already feeling hot and fly ridden, so Lisa returned back to the tent which was thankfully not heating up like an oven due to the cloud cover.  While I headed off once more but in a different direction, towards the national park.  There were huge fires here last December and they had reached this property by literally meters.  It was only saved by a southerly wind that thankfully never turned.  Standing on the edge of the property looking at the national park the contrast between the bush I had walked through and what was left in the park was clear, no understorey and blackened tree trunks:

As such after a little wander in the remains of the park I decided to stay within the property.   As I was checking out the scrubby understorey I stopped suddenly; something close to me started to growl.  It turned out to be a roo that was maybe 6m away, which eventually decided it was easier to move on that try to scare me.  Searching for flowers in the undergrowth I found another orchid, one I have not seen before.  This one is however an invasive species called the South African Orchid, and was introduced in the mid-1990s in Albany.  It has now spread all the way up to Geraldton:

I also came across the Common Mignonette Orchid, which you may remember from Lisa and my walk closer to home near Dunsborough, in the Meelup Nature Reserve.  There are two types of these that can be commonly found and the other is the White Mignonette Orchid, which was also present.  The flowers for the former are a pale green and the second not surprisingly white.  The latter also tends to have less flowers up to 60, as oppose to the common variety that can have up to 100, and the frilly apex hangs down further and is much more prominent:

On arrival back at the tent Lisa was looking uncomfortable, hot and bothered.  So I suggested we might be better heading out somewhere, which would allow a bit of reprieve in the air conditioning of the car.  As we drove out the car was indicating a temperature of 32 degrees and it left muggy, so we headed not for a walk but the Bluff Knoll café for more reprieve from the furnace and where we could enjoy a cool drink and game.  I have no idea how I managed it but on the way back I suggested a walk would be better than the ten, as there seemed to be a breeze picking up and Lisa agreed:

Above we drove past Mount Trio, as we recalled that walk as having of a long series of high steps and my memory told me Mount Hassel was the easiest of the main peaks.  John had recounted to us how the fires had worked their way in a southerly direction up Mount Trio, then onto Mount Hassle and ended up on Mount Toolbrunup all of which could be clearly seen from the campsite.  On our last trip here the vegetation would be thick and hard to walk through, this time the land was open and splattering’s of life was just starting to come back:

It’s hard to believe that any of the charred trees would ever come back, but many still felt supple indicating that live wood may still be inside.  Lots of other trees didn’t fare so well and lay broken and blackened on the ground.  The life that was returning was mainly ground over and only is small amounts so far, but the grass trees all seemed to be doing OK.  Lisa however wasn’t do so well, my memory was obviously mistaken and the walk felt steep and hard or was it just the conditions:

The last section of the trail goes up a rocky pillar from where Mount Toolbrunup can be seen, as shown below.  That was our favourite peak that we have walked up, but we also knew it was one of the more challenging ones.  A good job we hadn’t aimed for that taller peak as Lisa wasn’t feeling this walk and didn’t follow me up the last section.  The rocky scramble was just that bit too much.  So I leapt onwards like a mountain goat while she sat on a large rock ledge on which the breeze coming up the valley provided some respite.  Needless to say I didn’t hang round and was soon on my way down:

I kept a beady eye out for anything that looked different but there were no orchids to be seen, some flowers were coming through but not the variety that we would expect to see in spring time.  The clear conditions did however allow us to spy the many variety of skinks that reside here and that included the King Skink, Common South West Ctenotus and South-Western Rock Skink, but sadly no snakes.  The last skink being my favourite with its bright yellow band round the eye and bright yellow gills:

It was a slow walk back down, and even slower for Lisa who was suffering.  I’ll be impressed if anyone can spot her bright yellow t-shirt in the following image.  That said she did confess that it was probably better to have been out, as oppose to suffering in the tent getting even hotter.  As we made our way back in the car while it was still toasty it felt like the temperature was finally dropping.  By the time we had a cold beer while playing a game of pong, without needing to wait for anyone else to finish playing, life seemed to seep back into Lisa:

Being our anniversary we had bought a bottle of bubbly along, which helped wash down a simple but tasty meal of cheese, tapas and toasted flat breads.  John and Margot joined us for a drink and we caught up.  It is strange but whenever we catch up, which I have done a bit more often with climbing trips here, it never feels like it has been a long time.  That is until we start mentioning how old the kids have gotten.  They left us to it, as it started to drizzle, inviting us to pop over in the morning for a coffee:

Needless to say I was up and out early, we had organised to catch up with John and Margot at mid-morning allowing me another chance to have a slow walk round the trail to see what I might find.  No new orchids this time, but I did enjoy watching the Currawongs feeding their young and also came across a couple of big roos.  This time I knew it was me that should move away, and leave them in peace.  I got back in the rain and made a cuppa for Lisa under the watchful eye of one of the resident magpies:

It was a cold and damp morning, the tops of all the peaks were shrouded in mist and the rain came and went.  Two good things resulted from this weather, which would surely make Lisa happy.  There were no flies and it was cool.  As such it didn’t take too much for Lisa to feel motivated and we were soon both up having brekkie and playing another game of Yahtzee and crib.  Arriving at John and Margot’s at 9:30, stepping in just as a delicious freshly baked banana cake came out of the oven.  The next hour and half with them flew past, and then we went on our way:

Today we headed for Mount Trio, and we braced ourselves for the steps.  Yesterday when we had got back Lisa had checked out the information board and it indicated that Mount Hassle was harder than Mount Trio and about an hour longer walk.  Margot and I were not convinced by this, so the proof would be in the pudding.  The same grim sight of a decimated landscape greeted us as we started up the track.  The track had been completely burnt out, offering a chance to make the steps less gruelling.  We were however told they had been built equally high:

Whether Margot or I were wrong or whether it was the cool conditions I will not say, but we both found the walk much easier.  Even the steps didn’t feel as bad as we expected nor did they go for as long.  Like yesterday the only greenery was the occasional ground cover, and the amount of flowers was very limited.  Mount Trio is also known as the flower mountain, but it didn’t live up to its name this time.  We soon hit the saddle and that meant the steep section was over and the rest of the hike was a gentle incline to the top:

We were greeted to cloud, there were no views to be seen but the rain and coldness of the clouds against our faces was really refreshing.  It was amazing how contrasting yesterdays and todays conditions were.  And based on the weather today we were already making plans for our next trip here to be earlier in spring time.  Allowing for hopefully cooler weather and also more orchids for me to hunt while Lisa lays in bed reading.  As we stood atop the peak the clouds started to lift, and then the closer peaks and eventually the entire Stirling Ranges came into view:

When spent a good amount of time on top taking it all in.  Eventually we started back down and behind us the clouds started to roll back over the peak.  This made it felt very special, and even more so as it felt like a present for us as we celebrated yet another anniversary.  It was 21 years ago that Lisa and I first met.   In the image below Mount Toolbrunup is in the background, and on our first trip here ten years back the three of us had walked first up Mount Trio and then the next day up Mount Toolbrunup:

Elseya had picked the second peak, on the basis that as we looked at it from the campsite it was in the clouds.  We told her the clouds may not be there by the time we walked up it, but back then just like our experience today the clouds covered the peak as we arrived and lifted while we were up there.  Now, as we caught up with John and Margot in the morning, he had hinted I might find an orchid or two atop Mount Trio and he was right.  There were lots of Red Beak Orchids, they look a little bedraggled but were still a great find and checking out the guide it seems that blackened ends are normal:

Back down at the car I had to make a quick detour to check out “the Mount Trio boulder”, which has a number of great climbs.  It comprises friable rock that loses a hold or two on probably every ascent.  The intention wasn’t to climb but just to check it out and see if these sheltered spots had any more orchids.  Unfortunately not, but I did find a bolt plate to add to my collection of climbing gear.  Back at the camp it was that time again, beer and pong.  Then we prepared another feast.  It is amazing how the simplest of meals tastes so great when you’ve been outdoors all day:

More games were played as we ate under the watchful eye of a magpie sat above us.  It was no doubt waiting for a momentary lack of concentration when you might leave your food unattended.  We also came across a Bobtail otherwise known as a Bluetongue Lizard sneaking about looking for what morsels might have fallen to the ground.  Afterwards Lisa went for a nana-nap while surprise, surprise I went for my last wander round the trail and various areas of the camp.  Ever hopeful to find something new, and while that didn’t happen I did manage to find a second Dragon Orchid:

The clouds hung overhead, as the sun started to dip towards the horizon and for a brief moment it looked like there may have been an opening to allow the rays of the sun to light up the sky with red.  That didn’t quite happen and before it got dark we started to pack the car leaving only the essentials in the tent for sorting in the morning.  The forecast was for rain, rain and more rain overnight and into the next day, with the possibility of a thunderstorm.  So we were being prepared and wanted to avoid too soggy a pack up:

As it was, at 5am when I got up, the rain had just started to ease off.  This allowed us an opportunity to cram the last of the gear into the car and then pull down the wet tent and throw it into the back.  We permitted ourselves time to make a cuppa for the road, and for the first morning on this trip we were the first in the kitchen.  In and out before anyone else was about.  Back on the road for the nearly four hour drive back home, it felt like we had been away for a week and felt refreshed.  We are already looking forward to a return trip next year:

I’ve been told off once or twice before when I have included an image of something that some people have been less than comfortable with seeing without prior notice.  So this is an upfront warning that there is a bug or two in this one, including one of our eight legged friends.  Yesterday I handed Lisa our book on local walks and suggested she might like to pick one, so it was we headed out today for a circular walk at Blackboy Hollow near Prevelly.  The book is aptly called “Walking Round in Circles”, however on arrival we discovered that part of the Cape to Cape trail that we were supposed to use had been redirected only just recently in August this year:

As such we couldn’t complete the intended circuit, but not put off we instead followed the realigned Cape to Cape trail with the intention of walking there and back instead of in circles.  Early on Lisa spotted a beautiful four foot Carpet Python crossing the sandy track.  I was too busy looking in the adjacent bush scouring for orchids to see it, but she promptly told to me to stop in my tracks and just in time so as not to frighten it away.  While it would have been possible for this python to give me a nip, it is harmless so I was never worried.  Both the snake and we stayed there motionless, we watched it until  it quite literally decided to do a U-turn and head back into the undergrowth:

It was a cracker of a way to start the walk, and so now my eyes were tuned into not just orchids but also anything that moved.  The next large creature we came across was a pair of Red Tailed Black Cockatoos, happily munging away on the gum nuts.  Below is an image of the female, which you can easily determine due to the speckled white pattern on the head, abdomen and upper part of the wings.  The male, which was also clearly visible on another tree being all black.  If you are keen, you may like to try to spot some of the differences between this and the similar Long Billed Black Cockatoo, other than the tail feather colour, by flicking back to my post Fire and Water.  For example the white patch over the ear-coverts for the latter:

While the focus started out on orchids for me I was also taken by the stunning banksia flowers.  So far on our walks we have only seen the dried up cones after they have flowered and while very cool to see as this image shows, they are even more impressive when in flower.  This is the Bull Banksia, with one of the largest flowers and as such called Banksia Grandis.  Sadly many of these trees lay fallen, presumably having being struck down by phytophthora dieback.  Spread by us people trudging our way along this trails:

As we went on our way we spotted many of the seemingly ever present Cowslip Orchids.  We also spied a number of other repeat finds including Purple Enamel, Donkey and a variety of different coloured Scented Sun Orchids.  These were not in the same great numbers that the Cowslips Orchids could be found and in fact we only saw a couple or even one of each.  The other repeat find was the Forest Mantis Orchid (below), which we saw quite a few of during our walk.  The reason for including it this image was not just so I could have an orchid image in this post, but due to the insect that I spotted:

If you check out my post from a few weeks back called Flower Power, which set off this great Orchid hunt, you will find an image of a Cowslip Orchid with a few bugs on it.  There is a beetle with its head buried in the flower having a feed and some much larger bugs.  Well this find is the same as those bigger ones.  It is called an Assassin Bug and in that previous post they were attempting to catch the beetle, which they didn’t manage to do.  Narrowing it down further I believe this is a Kissing Bug, sometimes called a Vampire Bug, as it uses its long rostrum to pierce its prey to suck out blood.  You can see the rostrum folded back underneath it’s head:

Due to the rerouting of the Cape to Cape trail the section of the circuit that was supposed to have the ocean vistas was not accessible, which was a bit of a bummer.  While seeing all of the wonders on offer was amazing, we both also enjoy coming round the corner to be greeted by a great expansive view out to the beyond.  As it was due to deciding to go there and back again, we picked a number of steps and when Lisa’s Fitbit indicated we had reached our target we stopped for a snack.  At least at this point we got to see a bit of the ocean:

Like the magnificent Carpet Python it was our turn to do a U-turn, and head back from where we came.  While we saw heaps of them on the way out I’ve included this particularly lovely clump of Swan River Daisies that we spotted on the return leg.  This is in part as Lisa really liked them, but also just because they are so bright and cheerful looking.  Unlike so many of the native flowers over here, these plants reminded the early European settlers of the flowers from their homelands.  As such they have become a popular garden plant:

In the background of the image above you might spot some of the yellow-brown pea flowers, which are commonly referred to as Egg and Bacon.  There are loads of different types of these flowers, and they are all very striking with their neat symmetrical shape and very clean cut lines and colours.  Now, Lisa will often remark that it is not a bad thing to return the same way as you came, as you tend to spot things that you would otherwise have not seen.  This was very true and we spotted more and more Forest Mantis Orchid, as well as the only Donkey Orchid we could find:

As I was carefully getting into position to check the Donkey Orchid, which ended up being the same Common Donkey Orchid we have seen on several other walks, I spied something that looked quite different.  It looked like a sun orchid, so named as they only fully open in bright sunlight, but from the solitary flower that was open it was obvious this was not one we had seen before.  While it is a member of the sun orchid species, we had stumbled across a very cool looking Leopard Orchid.  Needless to say this made me even happier than I already was:

As a result of the diversion sadly much of the walk followed firebreaks.  While this meant we could walk side by side, there is something nice about following a narrow trail that weaves through the vegetation, resulting in the sight that you may see round every turn and twist being unknown.  Still it was a lovely day to be out and we had seen a heaps of great finds.  We even got to have a bit of a vista towards the end as we descended back down into the gully valley to return to the car:

Seeing I made reference to an eight legged friend, I had better include it in this write up.  I told you in the post about our last walk about (Fire and Water) how I have joined QuestaGame.  This has made me curious to find things that I can put on the App to test the experts, who verify your finds.  It is through information I got via this App that I was able to confidently name the Assassin Bug, but I am guessing and quietly confident about it being a Kissing Bug.  It will be interesting to see if the experts can help me identify this spider:

Over this last couple of weeks I have inundated you with posts, however both Lisa and I will be back at work next week.  That means there will be less time for adventures and of course less posts coming through.  Being the last weekend of our holidays we headed back to Wellington National Park, with the intention of walking the Kurliiny Tjenangitj Trail.  This trail includes a bit of the track along the Colie River and then veers off up the granite hills for some specky lookouts before looping back to the riverside track:

As it was the lookout loop section of the walk was closed, as well as the trail we had done last week.  Despite it being school holidays, a weekend, glorious weather and every campsite in the park booked some clever person decided to close some of the trails and do a controlled burn.  We did however have a backup plan and that was to take the Jabitj Trail, which followed the Collie River upstream all the way to the café near where I usually climb.  As you can see we were immediately greeted with some stunning flowers:

The first two images are of Scented Sun Orchids, which can come in a variety of colours.  I’ve had to do some investigative work for this post and can say that what makes me sure of these is that unlike the Blue Lady Orchid the petals are less rounded and more pointy shaped.  Continuing on our walk Lisa somehow spotted these two skinks hidden behind a small shrub.  We watched them for a while, one can be seen biting the other and they ended up coiled together in a tight knot and we assuming they were mating:

The trail followed the Collie River, but didn’t run right along the water’s edge.  It instead wove along the bank through tall trees in the gullies and then over open rocky areas, as it went over the ridges that dipped from the top of the valley down to the river.  The gurgling sound of the river as it cascaded down the rocky channel came and went, as we moved further and closer to the channel and also at times being masked by the vegetation:

Despite a late start, having left the car at 11:30, and it being predicted to be a warm 23 degrees the shade of the trees made it a lovely temperature to be walking in.  While the images may not show it there were flowers all over, and the next find was what I think may be a Beautiful Donkey Orchid.  I have to admit to struggling with this one, and have come to this conclusion due to the mauve-tinged labellum:

It is also different to the Common Donkey Orchid, as you will see later on.  Below is the first open section we came across and the ground and lower storey shrubs were littered with flowers.  We spied a Splendid Fairy Wren in the shrubs, but these little birds rarely stay still so we just enjoyed seeing it briefly before it went on its way.  Out of the shade you could feel the bite of the sun, a warning that summer is on its way:

Regardless of that bite went spent a bit of time checking out all the flowers in this area, and of course I managed to find yet another beetle to photograph.  I have joined QuestaGame, a global web based platform on which you can post any flora or fauna findings and other people using the system can help identify them for you.  This is one of the ways that Howsie has helped me before, so now I will be popping some of my better finds that have me foxed to see if I can get an answer:

In addition to the Splendid Fairy Wren we saw the usual suspects including Willie Wagtails, Fantails, and both the Long Billed (below) and Red Tailed Black Cockatoos.  Most kept their distance and could be heard but were hidden from sight in the tall trees, but this one was quite low down allowing us to get a really good look.  It was hard to know whether to look up or down, and on this trail it seemed whichever we chose there was so much to see:

The great flower, or more precisely orchid, hunt was what really drew my attention.  And as such I was super excited when I found a small patch of these very dainty Rabbit Orchids.  It is also possible to find Bunny Orchids and Hare Orchids, and I first thought that I had found the latter.  It was not until checking the various guides at home that I learnt more about the three very different types, so there is no mistaking that this one was a Rabbit Orchid:

Lisa was also getting into it spending time to get that perfect picture and marvelling at all the finds.  We were maybe going a little over the top with her phone camera (which is actually pretty damn good), my little point and shoot, as well as the big SLR.  But when I get home I need a range of images to check all the fine details of each flower, including their stems and leafs.  Without that level of inspection it can be near impossible to narrow down what we have actually seen:

I’ve got a field guide for orchids, which is now a bit outdated but still acts a good first check.  Glen has put me onto a more contemporary and comprehensive web based guide that has loads of images that allow me to compare what we have seen.  Below was the solitary Little Pink Fan Orchid we discovered.  We also came across just one of these last time we came to the area, and I couldn’t resist including this image just because I feel these are very beautiful.  The compressed image in this post may not show it clearly, but the outside of the petals and sepals are covered in fine hairs:

Using this new resource that Glen sourced, I reckon that the next find was a Twisted Sun Orchid.  The colour made me think of a sun orchids, of which there are a few variety.  While it is hard to see, due to the glare in the image, it has a slight purple colouration at the rear and top of the column, the bit in the middle of the petals and sepals.  While only just visible in this image, in other sun orchids this colouration is far more pronounced with a couple of prolonged purple antenna visible:

Below is the Common Donkey Orchid, another one that we saw on the last walk in the area.  If you flick between this image and that of what I believe to be the Beautiful Donkey Orchid you should see the differences I pointed out, i.e. the mauve-tinged labellum (which is also slightly differently shaped).  We came across a couple more repeat finds including stacks of Cowslip Orchids and one Purple Enamel, which made Lisa happy. 

It was a bumper find of orchids on this walk, but there was still one more that we found.  I could immediately tell this was a little different, and due to the stripes on the side of the fringe I was thinking it may be a zebra/spider cross.  But it is in fact a Leaping Spider Orchid, and I can be sure of this not only due to the petal and sepal configurations and distinct wide and plainly coloured sepals, but also the densely packed black calli on the apex of the labellum.  The bit that looks like caviar:

We had seen all of these amazing flowers and other fauna in the first three kilometres of the walk.  By now Lisa was getting peckish so we found a spot where the path got close to the river and found a boulder to perch on for a snack.  While my trick photography makes it look like we had the place to ourselves, that was not the case.  There were a number of others out walking on the trail, and at this spot a bunch of people who had parked on the other side of the river were picnicking:

That was the busiest spot that we came across, so I was pleased to leave it and carry on with the walk.  From here the track got more rocky with more outcrops and a few steeper inclines and declines, but nothing too serious.  We seemed to go a bit faster on this stretch and it wasn’t too long before we could see Wellington Dam.  The trail ends at the café, which we were not interested in going too.  So rather than hoick up the final hill just to turn back we carried on until we got close to the base of the dam before starting the return trip:

As we spun round and checked out the trail in reverse we could see the plume of smoke lifting from where they had decided to undertake a controlled burn.  This changed the afternoon light and we could on occasion smell the smoke.  Part way back we came across a couple of ladies who had taken a different walk trail from the café, and almost without warning walked into where the controlled burns were being undertaken.  It seems that not only was the timing probably not all that sensible, but the warning signs were not adequately put out:

We didn’t hang about anywhere near as much going back, no snack breaks and only stopping if we saw something really worthwhile.  Before we knew it we were on the homerun with another 10km wander under our belt and a heap more orchids found.  I do wonder how many orchids were out there that we didn’t spot.  I guess that is all the more reason to come back for another looksee, but maybe when they have finished with their controlled burns and opened up Kurliiny Tjenangitj Trail:

Today Lisa was feeling much better but we didn’t head up to the forests, instead the poodles got a well-deserved beach walk.  During term time they get walked practically every day, but this holiday their walks have been less frequent.  So they were hankering to get down for a run.  Walking down towards the beach the water looked strange, huge glassy patches could be seen in-between the more expected slightly rippled surfaces:

We decided to wander southwest, due to the crowds that were milling about in the other direction.  That way the poodles could stay off the lead without us worrying about who they might start to worry.  I’ll be honest and say that beach walking, along the flat and mostly featureless coast that is on our doorstep, is not all that exciting.  Lisa loves the sound of the ocean and just seeing the water but I like vistas, plants and animals in case you hadn’t noticed:

We were however lucky to come across a pair of White Bellied Sea Eagles, they were far off but we spied them in time to stop the poodles haring after them.  Watching them take off was pretty cool, it was just a shame that they headed away from us otherwise I would have included that image.  Lisa used to, and maybe still does, stress a little that they might see the poodles as a tasty treat and carry them away:

After a while I started wandering closer the dunes, looking at the plants and hoping to spot a reptile.  But there was no such luck, I even ducked inland a short way to check out the above freshwater lagoon.  Closer to the water’s edge it was probably tiger snake heaven, and being bare foot I decided to keep a safe distance.  Somehow Lisa managed to convince the poodles to stay with her on the beach as I went on my little detour:

After approximately three to four kilometres we stopped to give the poodles a drink before turning round to head back.  There are no rocky headlands on this coastline and the dunes behind the beach are open to the full fury of the wilder storms.  Monitoring has shown that they are slowly being eroded away, at a greater rate in some parts than others, and the long term threat from sea level rise is pretty real here.  For now however we will continue to enjoy what we have got:

The only other birds we spotted were Cormorants.  We saw them flying over the ocean, bobbing about on the water, and the above three were drying out their wings on the beach after diving down for a feed.  Some species of Cormorants have been recorded as diving up to 45m, using both their feet and wings to propel them down to those murky depths.  Here the water is no deeper than 6m for a long way out, making it ideal for me when I go snorkelling:

On our return there were still lots (for our beach) of people.  They had not come down for the usual swim, body board or fish, instead they came to check out the whale carcass.  It was spotted early yesterday morning, and has since then been slowly drifting to shore.  A number of large sharks have been seen gorging on the blubber, from which the oil that was being released was what was giving the water that glassy look I mentioned before:

Back home we could hear more regular vehicle traffic than normal, with an occasional plane and helicopter also made an appearance.  So after two to three hours I snuck over the dunes to have a look to see what was going on.  The carcass was rolling back and forth on the shoreline.  People were getting up close to have a picture taken, as the shark spotter helicopter flew up and down the coast.  One good thing that has come out of this is that the sharks have had a good feed, which will keep them content for a while, and I’ve heard they have also been able to tag a few of them:

The theory was for Lisa and I to head up to Wellington National Park for a wander, overnight camp and then hit a second walk tomorrow.  But plans change.  It was not that we were put off by the fact that it had bucketed down the night before, the forecast from this morning onwards looked great.  It was due to Lisa being hit by a migraine, and despite being laid out all day yesterday it was sadly still persisting today.  She was however determined to get out, so dosed herself up with painkillers as we hit a coastal path:

As can be seen above evidence of the rain the night before was about, and for the first half of the walk the sky above couldn’t seem to make its mind up.  That said the cloud cover, when it did pass over, provided some welcome relief from the rays of the sun.  We had headed out to the Meelup Regional Park, a place I have been to heaps to climb at Castle Rock.  But today the intention was to wander along the coastal path starting from Dunsborough and seeing how far north we would go:

The path is a well-trodden and mostly level path, perfect for Lisa today.  On the first stretch to Castle Rock we were passed by many runners and families with children keen to scamper ahead.  We however took our time and checked out the plants, colour was splattered all around with some familiar and some new ones to find.  This area is the only place where it is possible to find the Cape Spider Orchid, and there are only six known populations and their location is a well-kept secret.  Needless to say we were not lucky enough to find any of them:

As we walked along I kept a keen eye out, but didn’t see any orchids.  I did however spot a big round rear end of an animal with brown fur and a slim short tail, which makes me pretty sure that it was a Quenda, or Bandicoot.  Normally a nocturnal animal I was a little surprised but am convinced that is what I saw.  We also came across something a little slower.  This Red Headed Cockchafer beetle was laboriously hobbling along the path, I have previously come across their larvae when walking out from Bobs Hollow and it is considered a native pest:

Shortly afterwards we came across the first orchid, one that many would possibly walk past like Lisa would have.  This is a Mignonette Orchid, also called an Onion Orchid.  It has a single onion like leaf and a single stem, being nearly all green I believe it is the common variety and as such can have up to 100 flowers. Each of them only being about 5mm in length.  The flowers do not portray the distinctive orchid sepal and petal configuration.  On these flowers these parts are much smaller and the main distinguishing feature of the tiny flowers is the labellum that sticks out like a tongue and has a frilly end:

We passed Castle Rock and as we approached the next headland I suggested a little detour out to Copper Rocks.  Not to climb, but just because it is such a lovely spot.  Here Lisa had a snack and lay down to chill for a bit while I explored the nooks and crannies.  The best find being this King Skink basking in the almost sunlight on the beautifully coloured granite that gives the boulders here their name.  Just as we were about to move on Aaron and some from the Forest Adventure crew rocked up intending to have a boulder, so we had a quick chat and left them to it:

The next headland we passed was Sail Rock, and along the way we spotted a Purple Enamel, Cow Slip and Pink Fairy orchid.  Only one population of each, and the Cowslip was a variety that didn’t show the familiar patterning, just being a plain yellow flower.  The next find was a single Forrest Mantis Orchid, the green upright fringes and deep red pointy labellum giving it away.  Not forgetting the two upright sepals at the front that mimic a praying mantis:

There were lots of other types of flowers in abundance, but we didn’t find any more orchids.  The next landmark was the centre piece of the regional park, Meelup Beach.  This is where most of the tourists end up, and it was pretty busy, so we didn’t hang about and carried on passing the headland of Gannet Rock.  Shortly afterwards you come to Point Picquet, which we decided was far enough.  By this time the sky was mostly clear and the bays separated by each of the headlands we had passed was the sort of turquoise colour that you had to see to believe.  The images simply don’t do it justice:

On the way back we decided on another slight detour.  This time taking the Meelup lookout path, which wove it’s way uphill.  Near the start of this path I spied a stink bug, the intricate patterning of the shell was stunning and had what looked to be a couple of false eyes.  Maybe to trick would be predators as to where the head was, and allowing it to run the other way.  With Howsie’s assistance it has been identified as a Nymph of Gum Tree Shield Bug. Not quite an adult yet (adults have wings, nymphs are wingless), and is likely a later instar nymph (3rd or 4th) by counting the segment of its antennae. The nymphs go through 5 instar stages before they become adults:

The path took us high enough to get a great vista of the bays.  As we made our way uphill and along the crest we came across quite a lot of Purple Enamel Orchids, but no others.  Some may recall these are Lisa’s favourite orchid and I feel that they were rewarding her for managing to get out and about today.  After soaking in the views we followed the path back down which eventually took us back to the masses at Meelup Beach, which we passed through quickly once again leaving the crowds behind us:

For most of the walk we had the company of birds hiding in the undergrowth, this included the New Holland Honeyeater that seemed to be ever present and not as shy as the others.  We passed Copper Rocks just as Aaron and the boys were just packing up, so I said a quick hello as we moved on.  We didn’t stop as much on the final leg of the walk, as we were getting hungry and the stuffed jalapenos at Occy’s were calling us.  Hopefully Lisa will be feeling up to getting out for another wander tomorrow:

All fired up after a couple of great walks and good number of orchids under my belt, I decided to test what the home turf had on offer.  So jumping over the back wall of our garden I trudged through the small reserve to see what I could find.  There were lots of Pink Fairy Orchids about but no other ones.  We live on a sand dune and so the next day I thought I’d try out the lower lying local Tuart Forest National Park and see what that had on offer:

We drive past and through the National Park to get in and out of Peppermint Grove Beach, and it is the largest remaining pure forest of tuarts.  While it is a very special place it is overrun with Arum Lilies and pasture grasses, just like the little reserve behind our house.  It is possible to find small pockets where the wildflowers managed to survive, and these areas spring to life with colour:

I’ve worked in river restoration for many years and a key aspect is the rehabilitation of the banks with appropriate flora.  The biggest struggle is managing the weeds, which grow at such a rapid rate.  We have spent close to 200 years perfecting the landscape for agriculture, and with these successful grasses and clover abound, it is incredibly difficult to reverse the process to give the native plants a chance:

Undeterred by the battle of the lower storey, which is mostly won by the invasive weeds, I wandered under the tall tuart trees checking out what I could find.  I’m sure these two flowers are related, both with stripy and spiny receptacles and five similar shaped petals.  The flowers are less than one centimetre across so had to get down on my knees and get in pretty close to get the images.  I only found the one on the right in one location, whereas there were more places with the left hand variant:

With so many weeds over here it is hard to know what is and isn’t a weed.  Quite often the more leafy plants with larger flowers are weeds, such as this Long Tubed Painted Lady.  Originating from South Africa and introduced as a garden plant, it is now viewed as being high on the priority list for removal due to its ability to spread quickly.  Something pretty evident in this National Park:

Now it may seem that I was having a fine old time of it in the tuart forest, but… there was one pest here that really was very aggravating.  The mozzies.  It seemed like there were none about but as soon as you stopped moving they would close in.  Wasting no time in landing on any exposed skin, ready to stick their proboscis in to suck out some blood.  They even dive bombed a few images such as this one of a Purple Tassel Flower:

The purpose of this walk was once again to see if there were any orchids, and indeed there were.  Lots and lots of Pink Fairy and Cowslip Orchids.  Having seen a fair few already I didn’t stop to observe them due to the clear and present danger of being attacked by clouds of mozzies.  I did however have to take this image, as there were bucketful’s of Cowslips more than I have ever seen in one spot:

Lisa was wise and didn’t join me on the two backyard walks.  She did however tag along today for a wander up to Cape Naturalist.  There were two very good reason for why she was keen to head here.  Firstly she has some new walking shoes that needed a test run to see how they treated both her fused toe and the other arthritic one.  The second reason was to get a chance to spot some whales:

Sure enough they were out there, quite some way off but we could make them out with the naked eye and with a 200mm zoom could just about take an image that was worth including here.  The Naturalist Charter whale watching tour was out on the water and finding plenty of flipper and tail action and the occasional breach.  Maybe one day Lisa and I will jump on board to get a bit closer:

Being school holidays and a weekend the carpark was packed, but we managed to avoid most of the crowds and even lucked the lookout to ourselves for a period.  Unlike my last few wanders there were no mozzies here to annoy us, but on the flip side there were also no orchids to be found.  Some flowers were out but I’ll spare you any more close up images in this post:

From the lookout there is a large rock outcrop that is far enough out to always be surrounded by the ocean.  This rock is home to a seal colony, and with seals about you tend to also have a good chance of finding larger sharks.  It’s not surprising to therefore hear that sharks sightings, near misses and attacks in this area are not uncommon.  This doesn’t seem to stop people taking to the water for a surf in relatively close proximity to this area, and they say I’m crazy climbing rocks:

I got all excited when I could see a sea lion swim towards the rocks, clamber up and waddle along.  You can make it out on the left-hand side of the image below.  The image, like that of the whale, is not great but I had to include it.  Both Lisa and I were very surprised when we got home to see how many fur seals, which we had not noticed while out there, were lounging on the rocks.  We are home now and it our time to lounge about: