Jacaranda

November means a few favourite things. The shops are suddenly full of mangoes at bargain prices. A few years ago, we were in Kununurra and they were literally dropping off the trees. There was no-one to pick them and the local Coles Supermarket was having to bring them in from elsewhere.

 

All the Jacaranda trees are in flower: a beautiful blue/purple. When I was a lot younger, I read about all the Jacaranda trees in Marrakech and resolved to go there when I grew up. I think there was a Somerset Maugham story entitled Jacaranda but I can’t find it now.

Also in flower are Star Jasmine plants, used as ground cover at Burswood. They give off a lovely scent as you walk around.

Today is Melbourne Cup (“the race that stops a nation”). I’m not into racing or dressing up in fascinators, so I’m just staying at home.

The Elusive Numbat

The caretaker of Dryandra told me that it was a really bad idea for us all to shine a torch into the hollow log to see the numbat. At this time of year, in the breeding season, there could have been babies inside. The mother might have then considered the hiding place unsafe and moved them elsewhere, which itself was quite a dangerous thing to do.

This is what we were hoping to see. They are an endangered species, active during the day, so they rely on their stripey back to act as camouflage. Numbats have long, slender sticky tongues (approx 10-11 cm long) that they use to flick into narrow cavities to collect termites.

Later that day, we spotted another one scampering around in the bush. I managed to film a short video which is on my Instagram.

Official report on the weekend
 

More on Dryandra

The back verandah was an ideal place to have dinner, watching the sun setting, as the kangaroos entertained us in front.

Unfortunately, the magpies in the area joined us in an attempt to steal our food. At one point, 5 of them were threatening to do just that. Someone had left a yellow frisbee on the table, a handy defensive weapon for us!

View from the verandah.

Next morning, we were off in good time with Kevin in the lead. First, we learned a lot about mallet trees. In the early days, the bark was used in the tanning industry, so the trees were extremely valuable:

Mallet bark.

We were also intrigued by the lichen on some of the other trees:

It’s now quite dry in the area, but the lichen survive with dew on the trees.

Next, a few wildflowers were spotted:

Fringe lily and two tiny bee orchids.

Cowslip orchids.

Trigger plants.

Kevin spotted a numbat running along in the bush, about 50 m away. Great excitement all round! It rushed into its hiding place in a hollow log. Kevin shone a torch inside the log and a few people managed to see it: not easy, as you had to lie down to look in. I only managed to see two little white eyes, which seemed to be trembling with fear, perhaps:

After that we stopped for another photo opportunity in an area covered in everlastings:

Close-up of everlastings, or paper daisies.

A group of fringe lilies.

A very unusual white fringe lily.

We had lunch on top of Contine Hill, where a local ranger, Peter Lacy, came to give us a talk about the history of Dryandra. My phone was threatening to run out of charge at this point, so I daren’t take many more photos:

I need to get hold of Kevin’s book!

Someone worked out that Kevin is 88 years old and he is full of energy. I am 9 years younger than him and was flagging before the day was out. Like my phone, I was running out of charge. In the end, I decided not to go on the evening excursion to Barna Mia to see the nocturnal animals in their sheltered enclosure. Annette and I had a quiet evening in front of the log fire instead.

Mandy and Bob (with whom we were sharing Wallaby Cabin) did go and reported back. Mandy does lovely crochet:

The blanket consists of rows of double crochet, with a treble into the row below, every 10 stitches.

Someone had carved one of the Barna Mia creatures on a door stop. 

For more about Dryandra, see:

https://dryandravillage.org.au/.

Two Days in Dryandra

There is a lot to see in and around the village. With Kevin in charge, no minute of the day will be left unaccounted for. This is the schedule he wrote for us:

Kevin Coate, who’s agreed to be our main leader, has sent the following info:

DBCA at Narrogin have arranged for the WANC to be given an exclusive tour over Barna Mia on the 10^th of October.  I have indicated to them we to expect at least 14 members.  There will be no problem should there be more.  I have forwarded to the WANC office their confirmation of this event with times etc.

On the 9^th after checking into the Lions Village and setting up at the camp ground, all meet at Old Mill Dam near the settlement (time to be notified) for orientation and drive to Lol Gray picnic area.  Here we will walk the 3.5km Lol Gray Loop through Kwongan Heath (wildflowers are looking good).

Evening spotlighting will be either from Old Mill Dam or around Congelin Dam.   If camping, I recommend Gnarla Mia as mosquitos at Congelin camp site are very prevalent even during the day.  Gnarla Mia has an interesting walk and numbats, echidna and woylie are being recorded around the camp ground.  Caretakers there are Debbie and Andy.  There are 37 caravan sites and eight tent sites.  NO camp fires are allowed.

On the morning of the 10^th the plan for the club is to do the 23km drive along the Darwinia Drive starting from the Old Mill Dam.   If people are willing to share vehicles there is more chance of seeing animals ( I have room for 3 and will have a large icebox box to put eats in).  There are a number of interpretive stops with plenty of interest for everyone.  A side track toward the end of this drive with good bird life and a good chance of spotting numbats is an optional extra but the vehicle will need a high clearance – as in four-wheel-drive.  A picnic lunch needs to be taken and we will have this at Contine Hill picnic area – a fantastic venue with panoramic views out over forest and farmland (A thermos of hot water for tea or coffee would be useful). Two walks are available here.  It has been arranged for Peter Lacy from DBCA to arrive here and he will provide us a run down on what is happening in Dryandra and answer any questions.  A lovely clean stainless steel gas barbeque is also available for anyone wishing to barbeque a few sausages or chops.  I have been assured it will be charged up with gas.  After leaving Contine Hill the plan is to go to the Congelin camp ground and do the 1.6km circular walk (birds and botany).  Evening – 6.30 Barna Mia.

Take a breath. Can we really do all that?

One of the cabins with its own rainwater tank.

Kevin demonstrates a Powder Bark Wandoo.


Red Leschenaultia.

Poison Bush.

Kevin made sure we didn’t miss any wildflowers which were prolific.

The stony track, with lots of loose gravel, was a bit of a challenge. I had left my stick in the car back at the village, in my rush to accept a lift in a 4WD.

Says it all!

Beautiful Verticordias.

Smoke Bush blowing in the wind.

Most of the Nats in the group were familiar with the proper botanical names, but I can only cope with the common names!

To be continued…..

Dryandra

I’m on a short visit to Dryandra with the Nats Club. It’s about 2.5 hours drive Southwest of Perth. It’s a woodland village far from anywhere else and I was worried about finding my way here as I’m really bad at navigating. I was here  two years ago and Google Maps took me down a gravel road. I was going too fast and braked suddenly and found myself skidding off the road and damaging the underneath of my car.  This was not good. The insurance company decided my car was a write off. I didn’t think it was but what could I do? Anyway this time,  I got here safely. I think we have four cabins reserved for us. They are surrounded by kangaroos: as I have my early morning cup of tea, I’m just watching two of them pretending to fight, just outside amazing .

We are lucky to have Kevin Coate leading the expedition. Yesterday afternoon he led us up and down and roundabout on a 3.5 km trail, (hard going underfoot) but we saw many,  many wildflowers which we would have missed without him. 

There is hardly any signal here . I’m standing in the middle of the kangaroo field trying to post this. Photos later!

Spring

The weather is so changeable at the moment. One day it’s above 30 degrees and the next it’s down to 17. This morning it’s pouring with rain. Our swimming pool heating has just been turned on, so I managed a swim on Monday and Tuesday. The herb garden is looking good. I’ve planted rocket and spring onions and a new neighbour has put in lots of basil. A few people go overboard and think it’s a vegetable garden. Someone planted water melon seeds, which will creep everywhere and look untidy.

Crown does beautiful decorations, appropriate for each season:

Over in Como, the bottle brush is dropping its “blood on the ground”, joined with the wisteria:

Both have climbed too high and will have to be lopped. A neighbour has complained.

The three baby moorhens in our pond at Burswood have been reduced to two. I keep checking on their progress:

Dalwallinu to New Norcia

In quirky accommodation, you meet some interesting people at meal times. Yesterday, I spoke to a woman who works for the Department of Agriculture and drives around the most remote parts of the State. Her job is to interview farmers about the size of their flock and the expected size of the grain harvest. This happens every year to help the Department in its forward planning.

At breakfast this morning, I chatted with a man who was absolutely covered in tattoos. There was literally no space left on his body for any more! He was born in the UK in Stratford on Avon and one of his most prized tattoos is of Shakespeare. When he migrated to Australia, he was shocked that hardly anyone recognised him:

He told me that this one on the top of his head was really painful when the needles went in! His job is in Pest Control and he goes around spraying for all kinds of pests. He actually lives in Como, not far from C. We might call him in for our rat problem: they eat all our figs, stripping the tree bare before we can get any.

Driving home this morning, I made a stop in New Norcia, Australia’s only monastic town. It was founded in 1846 as a Benedictine community. Once it was a thriving religious establishment, but now there are only 6 monks left. They make money from renting out accommodation of various kinds, including camping sites. I spent some time in the Museum and took these photos:

His travelling trunk: he made frequent trips back to Europe to raise funds for his venture.

Here he is sitting on the trunk in his cell.