Thursday, Sep 13, 2018 at 00:52
Kerry is spot on. I've been around the wheatbelt and Goldfields of W.A. for more than 50 years, and this season is the most spectacular wildflower season I have seen in probably 25 years.
We have just done a run from
Perth to
Pindar and back over 3 days, and I'm blown away - not only by the
wildflowers, but by the stunning crops as
well.
We went
Perth-
Moora, then 20kms North of
Moora to Coomberdale - turned left and took Coomberdale West Rd. We were stopped at Agaton Rd, by a "Closed Road" sign on Coomberdale West. The road West of here is still closed due to flooding.
So we turned right and took Agaton Rd, North to the Watheroo Rd (passing Watheroo National Park on our left) - then turned left on Watheroo Rd., and went through to the Brand Hwy and
Badgingarra.
The Watheroo Rd is a veritable highway, with stunning landscape scenery - and some Rose Mallee in flower on the left, about halfway to
Badgingarra.
We then headed North up Brand Hwy to the Coorow-
Green Head Rd, then turned right, and headed East on the Coorow-
Green Head Rd.
There's good displays of
wildflowers along the several
reserves along this stretch of road.
When we came onto the Midlands Rd again, South of Coorow, we turned left, and headed North through Coorow, until we approached Carnamah.
We turned left again, onto Chappell Rd, just before Carnamah - which took us onto the Carnamah-
Eneabba Rd, which we followed to
Eneabba.
The crops and flowers are also very impressive through this stretch.
After reaching
Eneabba, we headed to
Dongara, where we stayed the night (and enjoyed some superb local fish).
Early next morning, with showers threatening, we took off for
Mingenew and
Coalseam Conservation Park - with the compulsory climb of
Mingenew Hill, of course!
With the
Hill climb behind us, we took off for Coalseam - where we were blown away by the wildflower display, and the greenness of the Park.
Showers overtook us after lunch, as we left the Park for
Mullewa - but they soon passed, and it wasn't long before we were back to just partly cloudy, but pleasant conditions.
We stopped for a bite in
Mullewa, and then headed off to
Pindar, to find the Wreath flowers.
It wasn't hard to find them - just follow the throngs of cars, caravans and motorhomes!
Leaving the wreath flowers and
Pindar behind, we took the
Tardun-
Pindar Rd., South from
Pindar, aiming for
Morawa.
We stopped at
Tardun and
Canna, before pulling into
Morawa around 5.30PM - where we had a motel unit booked.
The
Morawa pub does good food, and we retired full of some tasty steak, salad and chips!
Early next morning we headed off to Perenjori, stopping multiple times to
check out various patches of superb flower displays, before stopping at
Bowgada Reserve to feast our eyes on massive displays of
wildflowers, again.
Once through Perenjori, we stopped at Caron
Dam, where there's a small display of
Spider orchids and Candy orchids. They're on the
dam embankment.
Onwards to
Wubin, which we zipped through, in favour of a lunch stop at
Dalwallinu.
The Dally pub does good grub, too! - I had the Green Curry Chicken, daily special, served up by a tiny little Filipino
cook - and it was delicious!
We hit the road again for
Perth after lunch, and once again enjoyed the wildflower displays, as we started to endure increasing amounts of traffic, and particularly many road trains, and serious numbers of wide loads!
The section of Gt Northern Hwy from South of
Dalwallinu, through
Pithara and
Miling, to Walebing, is undergoing a massive upgrade and huge re-alignment, that is all part of the W.A. Govts "
Perth to
Darwin Hwy", major upgrade.
There are quite a number of roadworks along this stretch and it was probably the slowest section of the whole trip.
Regardless, we made it back to the Big Smoke by 5:30PM Tuesday night - and I can say this was the best 3 day trip I've spent, in a long while!
I would recommend to everyone - drop what you are doing, and do this Northern W.A. wheatbelt trip, as soon as you can!
The September/Spring heat hasn't started yet, and you will not get to see
wildflowers like this again, for probably another 20 years!!
By early October, the wildflower season will have peaked and the flowers will be wilting and have lost colour - so go NOW, while they are just fantastic!!
Cheers, Ron.
Candy Orchids - Caron Dam
Brilliant Orange Wildflower - variety unknown to me
AnswerID:
621176
Follow Up By: Member Kerry W (WA) - Thursday, Sep 13, 2018 at 10:24
Thursday, Sep 13, 2018 at 10:24
Worth mentioning - Perenjori has a Quarry where there are prolific wreath flowers developing, info centre have the directions.
FollowupID:
893702
Follow Up By: Ron N - Thursday, Sep 13, 2018 at 10:48
Thursday, Sep 13, 2018 at 10:48
Word of the Wreath flowers is spreading internationally. Just North of Perenjori, we were stopped, examining and photographing
wildflowers - when some Chinese tourists in a hired Corolla pulled up, and jumped out, and wanted to know where the wreath flowers were!
Their grasp of English was extremely basic, I was having trouble getting them to understand me - but their faces lit up when I mentioned "Pindar", and "Wreath flowers"! They recognised those two important English words! LOL
Cheers, Ron.
FollowupID:
893704
Follow Up By: ChrisVal7 - Thursday, Sep 13, 2018 at 19:28
Thursday, Sep 13, 2018 at 19:28
A friend directed me to your post Ron, and we are headed up that way right now. I figure from your comments that we have a good week or two before they start to wilt?
FollowupID:
893714
Follow Up By: Ron N - Thursday, Sep 13, 2018 at 21:43
Thursday, Sep 13, 2018 at 21:43
Chris & Val - Yes, early October is when the heat starts to come in, in the Northern W.A. wheatbelt.
Check the forecasts for the various W.A. country towns and watch the weather patterns for big high pressure systems developing over the Bight, with troughs forming down the central W.A. coast.
When this pattern starts to develop, we're into Summer proper, and the heat levels start to soar, with Easterly and North-Easterly winds.
At that point, the
wildflowers start to wilt pretty rapidly. Any regular daily temperatures over 30 degrees sees the wild flowers start to take the knock.
The beauty of W.A. being such a large area is, when the
wildflowers in the Northern areas are starting to wilt, the
wildflowers in the Southern areas of the State are still in full bloom.
Farmonline Weather - synoptic chartsBOM - 7 day forecasts for W.A. towns
Don't forget the W.A. school holidays start on the 21st of September and run to the 8th Oct.
That means the wildflower areas will be bursting with whole families in campers, caravans and mobile homes - and even families just in the family sedans.
Thus, all camping areas and accommodation in W.A. country areas will be in high demand during this period.
We found that the traffic levels were quite light all through the Northern wheatbelt early this week, but it won't last.
The main highways, the Brand and the Gt Northern and Gt Eastern Hwys, are always busy.
Cheers, Ron.
FollowupID:
893724
Follow Up By: ChrisVal7 - Friday, Sep 14, 2018 at 09:07
Friday, Sep 14, 2018 at 09:07
Thank you so much for this detailed and valuable information. That is all extremely useful to know.
FollowupID:
893730