Jarrahdale

When I went to see the documentary Cry of the Forests, one of the speakers suggested a drive to Jarrahdale, park by the cemetery and walk down towards the stream and the start of the Kitty’s Gorge trail. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day so this is what I did. Most of the giant jarrah trees are now gone though a few remain toppled over in recent gales. The regrowth trees are competing with each other for light and space:

This is an artist’s impression of the leaves (from the book Bushwalks in the Southwest):

The most prolific wildflowers on display were the Fringe Lilies, which were everywhere:



There were also plenty of Blue Lady Orchids:

These are some of the smaller flowers I saw:



It was getting too hot for hiking (24 degrees), so I retraced my steps back to the car for a picnic in the shade. A giant bull ant followed me and crept up onto the dashboard of the car. I was nervous that he might bite me and cause an accident as I drove back home. I don’t know what happened to him.

Lesmurdie Falls

Practically next door to Whistlepipe Gully is Lesmurdie Brook, which is said to have the best waterfall in the Perth Hills. I wanted to see it yesterday, but I was unsure whether to approach from the top (ie the Falls Rd car park) or the bottom (ie the Palm Terrace car park). My friend V said go to the top; but she didn’t warn me of the million steps down and back up again! There was plenty of water rushing down the falls, so it was worth the trip, even though I was worn out afterwards.

The interpretive boards were useful, explaining about the Darling Scarp. I took the green route:

This is what the steps were like:

Top of the falls from the first lookout

This bank has been colonised by Watsonia
(a South African weed)

Nothing else can compete once it's established

View of Perth in the distance

Bottom of the falls

The best view is from much nearer the water, but I didn't feel like scrambling over the rocks to get there! I watched two girls in front of me do just that. Coming back, they overtook me and I heard them chatting. They were nurses enjoying their day off. Good for them!

Whistlepipe Gully

Whistlepipe Gully is popular at this time of year because of the prolific wildflowers and the amount of water running down the creek. Most of all it appeals to dog owners as pets are allowed here, unlike all the nearby National Park hiking trails. Of course, dog owners are always up early: no lying in bed with a hound in the house! We arrived at 8.30 and found cars everywhere. We had to park on the roadside and narrowly avoided slipping into a ditch. Large 4WD’s had caused the edge of the road to break up. This is a map of the trail, seen here in pale blue:

Rocky was eager to get going:

The trail was narrow, steep and rocky in parts. The hound didn’t mind, but I was glad of my boots and walking poles:

Whistlepipe Gully gets its name because a strong easterly wind will whistle down. It was quite windy at the start, but we didn’t hear the whistle. The creek was running with lots of places for thirsty dogs to get a drink:

The view back to Perth was one of the best I’ve seen, because the tall CBD buildings were right in the middle:



Lots of wildflowers as expected:

Hakea nitida

Purple enamel orchid?

Fringe lilies

Stylidium brunonianum?

Verticordia monadelpha: these were stunning!

More on Whistlepipe Gully here

Cry of the Forests

The McGowan Government recently announced that logging of old growth forests in WA would end in 2024. This decision may be partly attributed to the documentary film Cry of the Forests which I went to see this week. It was sad to see these magnificent trees come crashing down as bulldozers moved in. Little creatures shivered with fright and lost their habitat.

Clip from the trailer on YouTube

Film synopsis:

WA’s south-west forests are part of one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet and are recognised for their ability to capture and store carbon.
They are vital to slowing run-away climate change, yet, instead of preserving them, we are cutting them down at an alarming rate for charcoal, firewood and wood chips.
Forests play a crucial role in the water cycle, but the streams that once bubbled through these ecological communities are drying up and the critical habitat they provide for endangered species is shrinking.
Cry of the Forests takes viewers to the heart of the forests to see first-hand the beauty of these towering ecosystems and the life they support.
We meet the activists armed with GoPro’s and dressed in camouflage gear who have risked their lives to bear witness and capture the devastation occurring in our forests. We will also meet traditional custodians, tourist operators & farmers on the frontline of the battle to protect our forests.

There is a lot more to the story, though. For a start, logging will only be prohibited in areas of forest where no trees have been logged, (even 100 years ago and their stumps are left) or are diseased. The "thinnings" from logging are being sold as environmentally friendly firewood (better than coal, for example) in the form of pellets for wood-fired stoves and exported to countries such as Japan.

In addition to this, there remains the threat of bauxite mining. The huge jarrah trees near Jarrahdale, an hour’s drive from Perth, grow best over bauxite deposits. The bauxite seems to act as a sponge to retain the water that these trees require. The American companyAlcoa has already mined areas near Jarradale and have plans for expansion. If this goes ahead, these forests  will never recover. Alcoa has attempted to regenerate land after mining has finished, but the trees planted are weak and spindly. Old growth jarrah has taken 100 years to mature.

A historic feature and an indicator of the large growth potential for jarrah 

Australia is one of the world’s largest bauxite producers. It is mined using open cast mining, whereby the topsoil and “overburden” is removed by bulldozers and scrapers. The topsoil is then stored and later used for regeneration. Bauxite is the main component in aluminium manufacturing. There must be a better way.

Join the campaign: https://saveourjarrah.org/about-jfp/

Blue Kangaroo Paw?

An article in a freebie local paper this week reported on a serendipitous plant breeding discovery at Kings Park: a blue kangaroo paw. We went in search of it yesterday…

The volunteer guide in the Information Centre directed us to the Waxes and Kangaroo Paw Garden. In a small area, there were kangaroo paws of many colours: bright red, yellow, pink, black - but no blue ones!

So-called black kangaroo paws... 

...with a lot of pale green on them.

The guide told me to look for the tallest of the plants, which had not quite opened. I did this, but these were clearly not blue ones:

...pink ones

...red ones

Red ones with waxes behind.

In the end, we gave up and drove to Fremantle for F and C. 

The fishing boats were very blue!

When I got home, I googled till I found this article.

The volunteer guide had given me misinformation.  I'll have to try again later!