A gallery of wildflowers for Friendly Friday, a three weekly challenge. This week it was Amanda’s turn over at Something to Ponder About.
Some of you may have seen these photos before as dear hubby and I have been on a couple of trips about two hours North of Perth. Wildflowers in this region start blooming from July.
The famous Wreath flower. These are truly amazing flowers and look like they’ve been handmade and left in the dirt. Their real name is Lechenaultia and flower from August in Western Australia.
This is a map of the one of the routes. There aren’t that many places to stay so booking accommodation is essential well ahead of time as it’s a very popular trip.
I don’t walk often enough but now Spring is here it’s about time I got out a bit more! Trouble is I don’t like walking alone so I’ve started to take Rufus again. My dear hubby takes both dogs every day for two hours, so Rufus had a little treat this morning.
Perth skyline
There are still wildflowers in abundance along the path and I also found a raspberry bush, I was tempted to pick a few, maybe I’ll go back! All the footy teams were out for their Saturday matches.
To stop him licking his paws!
Sadly I had to leave Zac as the two of them together can’t behave
We decided to get away again for a couple of days to go up North to see the wildflowers, or what was left of them! Our destination was Dalwallinu which is just over three hours from Perth. Anthony wanted to take a less than direct route so we travelled up the coast to Cervantes where we picked up the Indian Ocean Road. This road is dotted with huge white sand dunes along the way, and you can see glimpses of the miles and miles of the West Australian coast. Taking this route did put some extra miles on the clock but we were in no hurry.
We stopped for a bite to eat and stretch our legs at Nilgen Lookout.
looking out over the Indian Ocean
Banksia flower
Banksia flower
We stopped once more in Badgingarra for me to take photos of the endless green wheat and bright yellow rape fields.
Badgingarra Nature Reserve
Endless wheat fields everywhere you look, with grain bins edging the fields
Arriving at the Dalwallinu Wheat Motel around 5 pm, we checked in and then went for a walk into “town”. This takes around ten minutes from start to finish. It only consists of one main street for shops with houses around the back of the main street. There is a bakery, cafe and tavern. We had a quick drink in the tavern and headed back to the motel for dinner. The motel has a fairly large restaurant and the menu boasts Asian and Australian food. Not too bad for a small wheatbelt town.
There were many couples like us out for an evening stroll and then back to the motel for dinner.
Dalwallinu
Nearly every country town in WA has old and rusting farm machinery on display, at least it’s put to good use!
Having a pre-dinner drink at the local.
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The next morning we ate breakfast in our room and then had a walk to the bakery to pick up our lunch. The bakery was doing a roaring trade as everyone else had the same idea!
Our first stop of the day was Xantippe! I was super excited as I thought great, my X place for my A to Z travels. Disappointment soon set in, there’s nothing in Xantippe except a large concrete water tank which we missed anyway and by the time we had travelled so far down a dirt track we gave up. Not such a great start.
There are maps of the wildflower trails which take you around a loop, but I also wanted to get off the beaten track to look at some other “attractions” that were listed. From Xantippe we drove back over to Wubin and then up to Perenjori.
An old rusty Holden
The Old Covent, established in 1923. In 1933 it became a Catholic girls boarding school. It was never a covent!
Some of the many wonderful flowers along the way
Alpacas, goats and more wheat bins
Our next stop was Buntine Rocks. There is a large granite rock here that gives amazing views from the top. I surprised myself and managed to climb to the top!
Along the drive the railway line cuts back and forth between the road, we only saw one train. There are no level crossings, you just have to look both ways before you cross!
Just checking!
Okay, all clear
Some of the places on the map don’t have anything there at all except a few rusty farm machines, like Maya. It was once a thriving community with an estimated population of 140 in the late 1930s to 1940s. It had a post office, a store and a school plus a cricket and football team and tennis courts. But times change and people move on.
We finally reached Perenjori late afternoon and I asked my dear hubby if he was getting tired of all the driving, but he said no it was good to let the car stretch its legs.
We then headed up to a placed called Camel Soak. This was a man made watering hole for the men and their camels to have a drink in the 1900’s whilst building the rabbit proof fence
The road leading here is full of pot holes and ridges in the dry earth, then once you park the car it’s a bit of a walk and climb, but we both thought it was worth seeing.
Backtracking then to Perenjori to see the famous wreath flowers that are a national treasure of WA.
These flowers are also way off the beaten track and even when you park the car, you do have to hunt for them.
Our last stop of the day before heading back to Dalwallinu
Da Nang, a coastal city in Central Vietnam is a place we’ve visited a few times as it’s relatively easy to fly to from Perth. Also the airport is very near the coast, which means you can be on the beach by lunchtime! The coastline stretches for 30 kilometres and has many resorts lining the road. Our first stay here was in a hotel not on the beach but across a very busy road and it seemed that we had chosen a spot very popular with the locals. When we went over for our first swim there was hardly an empty spot in the sea!
The view from our hotel window
Da Nang is halfway between Ho Chi Minh City in the South and Hanoi in the North. It’s a good place to spend a few days before heading off to either Hue a few hours North or Hoi An in the South. In fact most hotels in Da Nang offer a shuttle service to Hoi An.
We caught a taxi to the Novotel in the city and took some photos overlooking this busy city, in contrast to the stunning peaceful coastline.
Da Nang is definitely a place I will be visiting again.
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Dalwallinu, Western Australia
We visited Dalwallinu on a wildflower road trip in September a few years back. It is located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, around 250 km from Perth. Dalwallinu is the first town on the wildflower tour. Every year the wildflowers start appearing anytime from June in the North and sweeping south to finish in November. We stayed one night in Dalwallinu and another in Moriwa. The flowers are incredible and appear all over the roadside and grow in the harshest of conditions.
Perth to Dalwallinu
Enjoying happy hour in the delightful surrounds of our accommodation with smoke billowing from a bonfire in an upturned oil barrel!
We had to keep stopping along our drive because there were so many beautiful views.
A pig look alike tree
A carpet of purple flowers
The circular flowers are known as Christmas wreaths and seem to flourish in these sandy conditions.
If you ever visit Australia during these months this is certainly a tour worth doing, but be sure to book accommodation early as there are very few motels or hotels along the way and they get booked up very quickly.
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Denmark, Western Australia
Finishing with another place in Western Australia, this time way down south. Denmark is over 400 km from Perth, too far for a day trip but great for a weekend or mid week break. We have travelled to Denmark a few times in the time we have lived in Australia. There are wonderful wineries to visit and it’s a good place to visit Walpole where the Valley of the Tree Tops walk is located.
It was named Denmark after a naval surgeon, Alexander Denmark in 1829. Before this it was called Leeuwin’s Land after the Dutch East Indiaman, Leeuwin. This was back in 1622. Any sailing ship in the 1600’s was called a Dutch East Indiaman.
There are so many rental properties in Denmark it’s hard to know what to choose. We booked a cute little house in the middle of the forest.
As you can see by the photos we went in the middle of winter, but we had a cosy fire in the house we rented.
Some of the birds that came to the balcony every morning waiting to be fed.
Some from our morning walk. Hubby contemplating another 25 years with me 😆 And that’s not our house, just a ramshackle shed in the middle of the woods.
