Week 24 Kalbarri to Mullewa

                    Week 24

bush pomegranate

           Kalbarri to Mullewa

Wow. What a week.

Sunday was moving day. We were awakened at 5am by a phone call to tell us Desiree, our daughter was in hospital, having the baby six weeks early. Consequently we spent an anxious day, moving, waiting for news. Meet Kyan Ross Hooker, our new grandson. Congratulations to Desiree and Thomas, thanks for the new family member. We can’t wait to get home to hold him, but of course we will have to – downfall of e- tickets.

Kyan Ross

The countryside we travel through is hilly and rolling, reminding us of the Atherton Tablelands at home. We stop for a look at Northhampton, a heritage village easy on the eye, but not exactly rocking on a Sunday.

Greenough River Caravan Park is our resting spot for the next few days. It is old, but reasonably priced and the facilities fair for the price.

thelymitra antenniflora

We found a dance studio for a Monday night dance. It was great to enjoy the dances and music we have missed so much over the last few months.

blue tinsel lily

The other normal thing we did here was a game of golf. All these months we have complained about sand greens, now we find the green ones are fast and uncompromising. Took a bit of adjustment, but fun.

calytrix cluster

Our time at Greenough, just south of Geraldton slipped by quickly. Haircuts, shopping for Argyle pinks and real shopping kept us busy. (Sorry all you romantics out there, the pinks are very, very small and very, very, very expensive. Not an option.

canola fields

The tourist drives around here are full of colour. The wind farm with 54 towers is surrounded by a countryside blazing with colour.

The downside for us are the cold nights, followed by cold days when the wind blows. We are over it, but I guess we will have to get used to it.

Friday found us moving once more to Mullewa, only about 100km from Geraldton. We cannot believe here how much warmer it is, basically because there is blue sky and no wind.

The caravan park is accessed through the local servo, but they keep selling sites, even when there are really none left. We solved the dilemma, piggybacking water and power. The facilities are great, worth the $17.50, less if you stay a week.

There is a flower show here that allows us to see what the wreath flowers are like, plus some local advice as to where to find them.

We also walked the town wildflower walk, enjoying the everlasting flowers on display. Nature’s painting.

Armed with advice and maps, we drove off the next day in search of wreath flowers and orchids.

schoenia filifolia

We stopped first at the Wilroy Reserve, a nature reserve. It was very pleasant tramping through bush to find nature’s gems, free to enjoy.

pink hakea

Just as our local advisor predicted , we found some mature examples of the wreath flower. They are always in disturbed soil, so often on the edge of dirt roads. Many plants are still five or six weeks from their best, but this has been the story of our trip. Still we are rewarded with another tick on the bucket list.

wreath leschenailtia

Canna was our next point of call. Here there is a local store, closed on the weekend, but there is a local mudmap to show us where to explore.

We are rewarded with more wreath flowers, but also some new varieties of orchids. Some, like the donkey orchid is new today.

rosy cheeked donkey orchid

Others like the cowslip is a familiar sight, but in abundance here.

The vanilla orchid or sun catcher was a delight.

lemon scented sun orchid

Spider orchids, once seen, delighted us at many turns.

For a change of colour the candy pinks reminded us to remember lunch, taken on an old concrete table near the store.

pin candy orchid

The dainty blue orchid was another find. We are looking forward to some more fun days of discovery.

We come back to Mullewa to visit their annual show, believing if the fireworks are at 7:30, that’s when the show will end. Silly us. By the time we got there , everything was being dismantled.

We did get a T-Bone and salad meal at a reasonable $15. Great steak, but a pity about those plastic knives and forks. It is the country.

blue fairy

So we found ourselves home by the fireworks time. We had been blessed with colour all day, and now for a quarter, the sky was ablaze with colour. It was a display that would have held its own in a major center. Well done Mullewa.

emu tree

Mullewa did do well, because the rain fell overnight. How’s that for good timing? The rain has fell most of the day, so a lazy Sunday it has been, keeping warm and out of the wet and wind. Brian has cabin fever so we are looking forward to some respite to start a new week.

Canna old camp

Still we are pinching ourselves about our new status in life- grandparents. It makes us feel old, but privileged. Guess we won’t actually be old until we act that way. We are already planning fun things to do with Kyan when he gets a bit bigger.

Bye for another week.

The numb nomads