Riverton Bridge Bushwalk

The day didn't start well because of some confusion as to the exact meeting place. Everywhere was buzzing with people, as the Lo Quay Cafe is a really popular place for Sunday breakfast, as well as being the favourite spot for launching your kayak. I walked around till I found the others and we set off. Then - horror of horrors - I couldnt find my phone! I had to re-trace my steps till I realised I must have left it in the public toilets where I had parked my car. Amazingly it was still there. I'm getting forgetful in my old age. I knew I would never catch up with the group, so I settled for a shorter walk on my own as far as Wadjup Point.

Grasses planted by volunteers,
to prevent fertilisers draining into the river

Group relaxing after the walk

Sign of the times:
a wireless charging point.

Wellington Dam

We woke to a VERY cold morning: maybe less than 4 degrees. I was up at 6.30 am in order to pack up and be away in time for a visit to Wellington Dam, where we were to meet up with our local guide, Alison. The great attraction are the murals all along the dam wall: 

Works going on to construct a new bridge.
Previously, cars could drive across the top of the dam wall.
but it became too dangerous.

Group photo at the lookout

I realised that JL must have been involved in the design and construction of this dam, so when I got home from the trip I searched in his memoirs. There was not a lot, as he had written much more about his first big project at Mundaring.  He wrote:

  During the years 1948 to 1951, I worked on many small town water supplies, bringing water to some 30 towns, which had never had a water supply before. In some cases the level of hygiene would not have been acceptable now and there was no environmental process to be followed.... Although we had a few scares with algae blooms and goldfish dying, we had no epidemics and people just needed to be careful. 

Wellington, Harris Dams 

In those years, a lot of time was taken on the raising of Wellington Dam. The hydraulics had to be established as well as design of the wall, which closely followed the example at Mundaring. As well as water supply to the south-eastern wheat belt, Wellington was to be used to extend the irrigation system to the coast. There was a known problem with increasing salinity on the catchment so we tried to limit that by restricting clearing on the catchment. This was politically very unpopular but some success was achieved. The problem of supply of good water to the south-eastern wheatbelt was solved by putting a smaller dam on the Harris River, a virgin tributary from the highest rainfall part of the catchment north of the town of Collie.

When he talked of hygiene, I believe he was referring to the water supply.  Nowadays, our water has chlorine and other chemicals added. In fact, my water at Burswood contains so much chlorine that I always set a jug of water by the sink to allow the chlorine to disperse before I use it for drinking and cooking.

This plaque remembers the artist responsible for the murals on the dam wall:

Near to the dam lookout, in what appears to be just waste ground, there were lots of wildflowers coming into bloom:

More of the Wedding Bush creeper

There were also many interpretive boards, full of information - too much to take in! This snippet relates to the early days of the timber industry in these parts:

The group agenda at this point was onto the 3.5 km Sikh Trail, but I was feeling worn out after yesterday's walk. I decided to sit in the sun for a while before driving home at a leisurely pace.

Jack contributed this panorama shot

Blue Skies!

Sunday morning sunshine and blue skies! What a difference a day makes! The plan was to walk a section of the Bibbulmun Track, as far as the Harris Dam Hut and back, a total of about 8 kms.

Red sky at night on Saturday

Before we set off, Norm had picked a specimen of this lovely flower to be identified at some point:

Still awaiting identification

The start of this section of the Bibbulmun is a steep climb. The area was burnt a couple of years ago, when the Bibbulmun had to be closed for a time. I don't know what the walkers would have done. Now there is a lot of new re-growth, though signs of the blackened tree trunks remain:

Uphill from here

Follow the Bibbulmun signs!

Morning tea at the Harris Dam Hut

At this point we were joined by two "genuine" Bibbulmun hikers, both carrying large backpacks. We commiserated with them over yesterday's heavy rain.

Orchids: Blue Lady and Cowslip

On the way back, I was finding the pace a bit too fast for my aging legs, as did Haydee. We sat down on a log for a while and let the others race ahead for lunch back at the cars.

We passed these droppings, which had prompted some debate as to whether they were from a camel or a horse:

Driving back on the Harris Dam Road:

Later, we all enjoyed a buffet dinner at the Collie Ridge Hotel. I think everyone ate too much! I wish we had stayed at this hotel for the weekend - though it did cost twice as much as the caravan park!

Bee Sting Cake: my favourite!

I must track this down in Perth: it's irresistible!

Wet Weekend!

We chose the worst possible time to come to Collie. It looks like the rain has set in for the foreseeable fuure. The wi-fi in the Caravan Park is also useless, so I have again resorted to McDonalds where it is working a treat. This morning's bushwalk was a trail along the river bank. We managed 11,500 steps in total. I've not done that many in a long time. There were so many beautiful wildflowers, many of which we had never seen before and couldn't identify. Everybody was thoroughly soaked - not quite to the skin, but nearly! This afternoon is a guided walk around town, looking at all the murals which depict the history of Collie. I chickened out of this, as I didn't want to stand around in the rain and preferred to have a quick siesta.

Cooking corner in the cabin

Setting off in the rain

A selection of wildflower pics follow:

Following the river trail

Wattle everywhere

Tiny duckling chick, abandoned by its parents because it was sickly.

Pine tree with beautiful cones developing

Needs identification

Weir to control the flow of the river

Collie Weekend

The Bushwalkers are in Collie for the weekend. We are staying at the Caravan Park in small ensuite cabins. The park is huge and packed with caravans, campervans, tents - you name it. There is not a space untouched! The cabins have good and bad features. The heating works and so does the hot water (and it’s very cold outside). The TV has amazing reception with more channels than mine at home. The cooking facilities are not so great, with everything crowded into one corner, fighting for space near the double powerpoint. Designed by a man? I managed to cook spaghetti bolognaise last night after a struggle and enjoyed it with two glasses of red. Most of the group went into town to eat at the hotel whilst I watched a few favourite programmes on TV.

Bold Park and Beetroot

 Suddenly the cold weather is at an end and summer is here. That's how it works in Perth: no intermediate seasons. Autumn and Spring are virtually non-existent. C suggested a drive to Bold Park and an exploration of the walking tracks:

Rocky also thought this was a good idea, since there were lots of new smells to sniff at:

From our parking spot, there were views to be had on such a clear day:

The city framed by trees.

Rottnest Island in the distance.

Later that day, it was time for our regular Friday night dinner. I had received two massive beetroots in my Woolworths Click & Collect order, so I boiled one and baked the other for pickling. I'm trying to lose a bit of weight, so this was my plate of fish and salad with beetroot:

The trouble with beetroot is that it stains your insides! During the war, women used it instead of lipstick apparently.

Wildberry Wine and Wireless Hill

Tales from my weekend!

On Friday I was going up in the lift when my neighbour gave me a bottle of wine. He was carrying a case of 12 from his car. It was a bottle of Wildberry Chardonnay from Wilyabrup in Margaret River. This proved to be a rather special wine, a cut above my normal tipple of Aldi's casks! Years ago in Vienna, we were listening to the radio when someone said: Life is too short to drink cask wine. C straight away got up and poured a cask down the sink. That was OK when I was earning a big salary!

I enjoyed the Wilddberry with Spaghetti Marinara on Friday night and with Baked Trout and Pumpkin on Saturday. Delicious!

The weather forecast for the weekend was not good, with an extreme weather warning for Sunday morning. In fact, our regular bushwalk was cancelled.  However, there was a window of sunshine on Saturday morning so I made my way to Wireless Hill, the nearest wildflower sanctuary to Perth.

Entry to Wireless Hill Park

The prolific flower of the day was the Bunny Orchid.  I've never seen so many in one place:

But I was really in search of a red spider orchid, which C had seen the previous day on an outing with her disabled client. It took me a while to find the single clump of these, but it was worth the hunt:

Some other things I spotted:

I saw a few Catspaws, which are smaller and closer to the ground than the ubiquitous Kangaroo Paws: