Mullewa - Wreath Flower and other Wildflowers

We drove from Geraldton to Mullewa to see the remarkable Wreath Flowers which are only found in this area. We were fortunate they were in full bloom and stunned at how they survive in such arid conditions, beside the road in full sun with no shade.

They were scattered along a kilometer of roadside, some individual plants, and others in small groups as shown.



























The surrounding bush was alive with other wildflowers and we had a wonderful afternoon wandering around discovering different plants. I have included photos of some of the wildflowers we saw.






















This plant is named the "Mullewa Rose"

Kalbarri National Park - Wildflowers

Frogs and a lizard spotted in Kalbarri National Park
















Wildflowers were abundant in Kalbarri National Park, some of these photos were taken when we stopped beside the road, the others were taken on a self guided wildflower walk in the park

Kalbarri National Park Gorges

We walked to three lookouts in Kalbarri National Park each one was spectacular










David overlooking River Gorge



























Faye at Nature's Window which looks through to the river below















This photo was taken at Z bend lookout where the gorge narrows and weaves around in the shape of a Z

Hamlin Pool, Shark Bay World Heritage Area

Stromatolites are the earliest known form of life on earth. The stromatolites at Hamelin Pool are an example of the earth's evolutionary history.

The stromatolites are accessed by way of an educational boardwalk at Hamelin Bay.












The low tidal flow in Shark Bay has created hypersalination, a level of salt twice that of normal seawater. In these salty pools, stromatolites grow at a rate of less than 1mm per year.

A microorganism, cyanobacteria build up, trapping fine sediment particles from the warm water and binding it together with mucus.

This unusual life form grows to about 60cm tall and look like mushroom-shaped rocky domes.

The discovery of these living fossils was akin to finding a live dinosaur.














We stayed at Hamlin Homestead, one of the best camping areas we have encountered. There was a large kitchen, a wonderful dining area with heavy wooden tables and benches and a large patio BBQ area where happy hour was held every day at 5.00pm.


The shearer quarters, which are used as tourist accommodation out of season.








The kitchen, dining room and BBQ building










Looking toward the amenities block, the best we have ever seen

Cape Peron, Shark Bay World Heritage Area

David drove 50kms on this track which varied from the sunken tyre tracks to a number of sections where he had to negotiate kilometres of deep sand driving to reach Cape Peron in the Shark Bay World Heritage area. We had been told that it was a good place to see the protected Dugong a large grey mammal.












The cliffs of Cape Peron are red and rugged, contrasting with the snow-white beaches and brilliant azure and aqua blues of the Indian Ocean waters.



























Just as we were about to leave and head back to camp we were thrilled when a dugong was spotted in the sea and it swam to the shallow water below us. We had a great view as we watched it feeding and coming up for air for the next thirty minutes. It finally swam back out to sea and disappeared from sight. We also saw a couple of manta rays drifting along the coastline.