Mon 14 Oct 2013 - Heritage Town and Wildflowers (Dongara then Western Flora Park)

Just when we were feeling safe, thinking we had left all the dangerous creatures behind us in the North, suddenly we were confronted with a new threat!

It was a really beautiful morning, fresh, sunny and still. We headed off through picturesque scenery of grain fields being harvested and grassy fields full of cows and fat sheep. 

We discovered a lovely old town called Dongara / Pt Denison, with many beautiful heritage buildings. It's another crayfishing town that now does well from tourism too. There was some surf, but nobody else out was out who knew the reef, so Rodger decided not to risk it and consoled himself with a homemade sausage roll (4th best).

Soon after we left, the scenery changed again to bushy heathland, just perfect for our next destination, The "Western Flora", a nature based Caravan Park. 

It's owned by a botanist called Alan Tinkler, who gives a guided wild flower walk every afternoon at 4.30 pm. 

His whole property is given over to flowers and endangered species. From the moment we drove in the gate we were reaching for the camera! The whole set up is very laid back and lovely. The buildings are made of homemade mud bricks and there was a well-equipped camp kitchen and a great homemade wood BBQ.

It was only lunchtime when we got there so after lunch, I did a load of washing and Rodger scrubbed all our shoes, which were thick with sticky dust, and found a few things we'd lost, buried deep in the van. The flies are terrible, but we have our good natural repellent, that we got in Alice Springs.  As we had the time and good facilities Rodger, decided to shed three month’s worth of bushy beard growth.

now he'd better do the mo as well!

uh oh - shorn sheep!

 We enjoyed the wildflower walk very much. Alan has spent 25 years helping his land (160 acres, 100 of which had been cultivated) to return to its natural state, including a wetland that he replaced. There were kangaroos, Bob tailed Skinks, many birds roaming about and flowers everywhere. 

endangered species

if you are caught with this flower its a $3,000 fine!

Alan explained all the different methods of pollination and how each plant was specially adapted and he collected flowers along the way that he showed us under the microscope at the end.

Alan had also assisted David Attenborough in the making of one of his episodes of  "The Private Life of Plants" on Alan's property.

We used up the last of our wood having a BBQ and camp fire, as it will be our last before Perth. Later, we found out this was a good move as everybody else was bothered by mossies and sand flies, but we didn't see any as the smoke kept them away.