Time Off

November 16 and 17

We ended up having almost 2 "holiday" days --both to give our heads & bodies a rest, and to see & do things in places we wouldn't normally go (i.e., elsewhere besides the WF park and the land across the highway from it!). So we took a drive out to the coast! Yes, to the Indian Ocean that is directly West of us (c. 45-60 min drive, depending on what road or hilly "path" you choose). I've seen some tourism marketing that refers to this area as the "turquoise coast". We hit the coast and started out at Greenhead Beach, a tiny coastal town with a series of bays. We started at the one called Dynamite Bay, which has lovely dune trails to lookout points, and a small, turquoise bay carved out of ancient coral reefs, with beautiful white sand. No-one anywhere near the water, or the beach or the barbie for that matter, but David and I waded at the water's edge. It is not surprising much of the soutwestern coast is also referred to as the coral coast. Large, old pieces of reef were strewn like like large boulders along the edge of the bay. These had small tidal pools in their nooks and crannies. Each one had a different collection of marine organisms. It was glorious.

As we headed north, we did stop and check out some of the other nearby bays, then got onto the coastal road that goes right thru the bush (most of which was nature reserve), with occasional glimpses of the ocean beyond a cliff. We arrived at the Dongara - Port Denison area JUST as the stores were closing down. Everything closes down at 5-6 here. We went straight over to the beach that Allen and Lorraine had suggested as the best in the area--which you can even drive out on. It was SO beautiful. Not a bay this time, as there was definitely surf, but still turquoise colored water, and loads of rotting seaweed on the beach. We were informed that in a few weeks time the seaweed season would be over, and summer should really start. We explored some of the extensive walking paths along the estuary shared by Dongara & Port Denison. Really well set up and maintained, with great view points and even boardwalks (on which David looked and found ode exuviae-- I couldn't believe it!).

Great dinner at a nice restaurant on the coast, then back to WF on the main highway, which didn't take long at all!

On Saturday we were invited (!) to join a walk with some members of the Western Australia Orchid Association, led by Allen of Western Flora. Spent a good part of the day out at a wide variety of landscape sites, with quite a variety of beautiful and fascinating plants and bugs. We really got to see some flying duck orchids!!!!! (and even almost ran some over) Yep, we got to see a population of c. 10 individuals of the largest flying duck, in flower!!!! That evening we all had a wonderful evening BBQ, hosted by Lorraine & Allen...meat on the barbie!

Nothing like a beautiful mid-November evening for a pleasant barbeque. What is the temperature in New England tonight?