I’m on a mission this weekend: wildflowers! Any type, any colour, but orchids are high on the list. My secondary goal is to see a Numbat. I am not confident, but I’ll be keeping an eye out.
So, Friday after work we headed off, arriving at the campsite just on 7pm and had a fire going on site 15 by 7.15, gin in hand.
In the morning our great choice of site was clear. We were backed up to a lovely Marri tree, home to Mr red breasted robin and his wife, who were regularly visited by red capped parrots, western spine bills and others. We also had some Cowslip orchids in our “backyard” as well as masses of flowering shrubs! Yahoo! Mission accomplished without leaving “home”.
After a lazy breaky we crossed the road at the back of our place and joined the loop trail around the site, spotting a big echidna, cowslip orchids, some Donkey orchids and heaps of tall, skinny trees, standing and fallen. No numbats though.
After lunch around our eternal fire (baked potatoes we popped in before going for our walk) we took a drive to the arboretum, the old mill dam, Drynadra Lions Village and East Contine. I can’t describe how excited I was to spot some jug orchids, some snail orchids and some green hoods. Woohoo. I think I’m getting the hang of this. So nice to come home to our fire for dinner and gin.
Sunday and another day of flower hunting success today. A trip to Congelin Siding revealed spider orchids and some of the biggest mozzies I have ever seen! We also took a drive along some tracks adjoining the fields of canola, finding more spider orchids! The weather was cool and damp but so many flowers brightened the day. After lunch we headed back across the road in our quest to see a numbat. Although we didn’t achieve this part of the mission we did see the cutest yellow breasted birds and 2 kangaroos, spent time hanging out with an amazing little echidna with a big attitude, and gave way to a big lizard crossing the road.
All this within a couple of hours from home, meant we left about 4.30 and still made it home for 7 despite a stop or two. We will be back soon, with the primary mission to see that elusive numbat and the secondary objective of seeing a Stone Curlew. Watch this space …
The Solo Avocado 