Dryandra 2

There was never a dull moment, as something was planned for every hour, day and night - thanks to the tireless organisation of A. The DRB (Darling Range Branch of the Nats) had so many interesting members who gave little talks about their work, such as how to eradicate feral cats or which pesticides not to use. I was the only person not in the DRB, so I made a few new friends.

As soon as I arrived, the caretaker lady insisted on pointing out a tawney frogmouth’s nest with two babies in it. These birds have an enormously wide mouth and have really good camouflage to blend in with their surroundings:

Top: frogmouth on its nest with babies.
Bottom: the male in a nearby tree.

The closest walk to our cabin was to the arboretum, where clumps of various trees and shrubs had been planted and labelled.:

This was the most beautiful in full flower.
Eucalyptus rhodantha

Saturday morning’s walk was to the Old Mill Dam:

I chatted to Andrew, a 15 year old boy who knew everything about insects. He pointed out the remains of the larva from which a dragonfly would have emerged:

There were several information boards about Vincent Serventy, one of Western Australia’s most famous naturalists:

There was also this board about the elusive numbat, but I didn’t manage to see one over the entire weekend:

In the evening, everyone set off for Barna Mia. I was on my own. A load of wood arrived and the caretaker offered to get my fire going, as I pretended to be a helpless female who knew nothing about lighting fires! Last night’s cold was all forgotten, as I enjoyed my Osso Buco, reheated in the microwave, with a glass of red in front of the fire. Bliss!

Sunset view from my cabin.

Nothing like a log fire!