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.