GUMNUTS.....AND OTHER STUFF: West Australian Wildflower Trip - 3rd Day Hyden to Hopetoun 11th Sept. 2014

Our first stop today will be at Wave Rock, with our final destination being Hopetun.

Wave Rock was spectacular to see in real life, as it is in photos, even more so. Some climbed to the top for great views and others checked out the flora growing at the base of the rock. I somehow got the time to be back on the bus wrong and was 25 minutes late, not a good start. I apologized and with threats of something concerning 'ant's nest', I sheepishly took my seat and promised to myself that I wasn't going to be late again.

A gravel pit was our next stop and this, for me, was one of the highlights of the trip, this is what I was expecting. It was then onto Lake King for lunch. Lake(?), there is a lake but not where we were to have lunch, oh well it was, after all, only 90cm deep. Another gravel pit stop with all these new plants, it was like I died and had gone to heaven. We stopped at Ravensthorpe to stretch our legs by visiting the local Wildflower Show, I've never seen so many 'local' native plants species in one place before. Back on the bus for the last leg to the Hopetoun Motel for the next 2 nights. Most of us went to the Port Hotel for dinner.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Day 3, 11th Sept - Hyden to Hopetoun, 250km.

Looks like being a good day.

Early morning fog over the Hyden wheat fields.

Kangaroos bounding through the motel.

A Eucalyptus woodwardii, "Lemon Flowered Gum", opening in the sunlight.

Ethel studying the sculpture information.

The scuptures, which are all made out of scrap metal, depict local identies and scenes of life in Hyden.

Bicycle built for 2.

Sparky the echidna and other locals.

Maybe a replacement for the camper trailer?

Generating an interest.

The mechanic and friends.

I didn't think I would see Bowerbirds on this trip.

Hyden is wheat country.

The eucalypt on the right had a high canopy like rainforest trees, more can be seen behind it in the background.

The crowns were high, but only small. They made an interesting profile.

Bud and fruits of Eucalyptus torquata - Coral Gum, Coolgardie Gum.

The train comes to Hyden ..............

............ but that's as far as it goes, end of the line.

The salty soils are appreciated by these succulents growing beside the road.

Next stop, Wave Rock.

First Stop - Wave Rock.

We've been a long time getting to this landmark. Wave rock WA.

Water catching wall and storage area. Wave Rock WA.

Some rock formations on Wave Rock are real, others are not.

A very small-flowered mistletoe at the base of the rock.

Some of the orchids seen around Wave Rock.

More of the orchids seen at Wave Rock. On the left is Pterostylis recurva – Jug Orchid.

Angus and Bill.

View of the surrounding plains from the top of Wave Rock.

Kristen and Norma on the summit.

Acacia lasiocalyx - Wilyurwur.

Sundews and in flower.

Not Kristen and Norma again.

Not sure on this one, but guessing it's in the Myrtaceae family.

Rock Bearded Dragon (Pogona minor minor).

'Hippos Yawn'

View from inside the 'Yawn'.

Alyxia sp.

Rock-hugging plants.

Acacia sp.

Where's Bill?
I had the wrong time to get back to the bus and was 25 minutes late. I was not late again
after suggestion on the bus concerning 'ant's nest'.

Stackhousia sp.

A little bit of track-side colour.

Second Stop - A Magic Gravel Pit.

It may have been a combination of both the landscape and the plants, but this,
and the next 'gravel pit' stop, were for me 2 of the best spots on the trip.

This ant was enjoying a sweet lunch on this Grevillea excelsior - Orange Flame Grevillea.

Attentive students.

Not sure what this is.

One of the many native peas.

Paying attention.

There were still orchids in this landscape.

Casuarina fruits.

Angus shows us the Native Foxglove ( Pityrodia axillaris).

Pityrodia axillaris - Native Foxglove

Acacia sp. - Wattle

What I find fascinating is the differences in foliage to our eastern species, of the same families,
such as in this Conospermum brownii - Blue-eyed Smokebush.

I thought there was something familiar when I saw the flowers of this
Blue-eyed Smokebush (Conospermum brownii), cuff-links from my younger days.

Don getting a memento of the trip.

Looks like a Eremophila sp.

Where ants have lunch.

Cyanostegia angustifolia - Tinsel Flower. When I first saw this flower I thought it had a yellow beetle on it.

Circles. The eyes are Borya sp. - Pincushions.

I think it's a Hakea.

A nice specimen.

A pink form of this Hakea.

Twining Fringe-lily, Grevillea, Hop Bush, not sure.

Grevillea cagiana - Red Toothbrushes.

Hakea sp.

Verticordia sp.

Third Stop - Lunch at Lake King

With co-pilot Don, we head off to Lake King for lunch.

Lake King, not the biggest of places.

Martin knew all the spots to stop for break. I think the trees are Salmon Gums.

The ladies lunch table, with quandongs.

Lynn was able to make new friends.

Lunch stop flora, Acacia erinacea (Prickly Wattle, Hedgehog Wattle) another Acacia and a Quandong.

Lunch stop flora, Grevillea huegelii (Comb Spider-flower), not known white flower and one of the Pigfaces.

Fourth Stop - The second 'Magic Pit'.

The second 'gravel pit' stop, another favorite spot for the trip.

Just before the bus stopped I just caught a glimpse of what I thought were Kangaroo Paws.
When I took Angus back to see, they were in fact Grevillea eryngioides - Curly Grevillea,
a strange looking plant.