Super snails

Back in England we always kept a jar of salt handy to kill the slugs and snails that attacked our vegie patch. In Hamelin Bay they obviously breed snails a little more hardy and salt resistant though. These little fellas sat happily salt encrusted, munching on the juicy stems of a dune plant, just beyond the sand.

Yet more pretty wild flowers

At the end of a long day a fire always relaxes the mind

Second last night in Hamelin Bay. The firepit awaits..

Naomi's beach erection

Under a hot sun, it is necessary to keep one's Esky cool. Being sans beach umbrella is the Mother of Invention. Naomi therefore constructed a fantastic sunshade using available materials. What a little champion she is - a real keeper.

Gee, at this rate we'll have photos of all 12,000 wildflower species soon...

Sunset over Hamelin Bay island.

Unfortunately the cold bottle of beer I had taken down to the beach to enjoy whilst watching the sun go down fell over in the sand and emptied before I could rescue any of it.

My disappointment was intense.

Enough said...

Lilies

Western Australia is a large, dry state. 1,021,478 square miles, you can drop the United Kingdom into it four times, and then fill out the margins with Ireland one and a bit times times. Or you could put Texas AND Alaska into WA and have room for lots of Russians to stand scowling around the edges staring at Dubya and Sarah Palins. The vast majority of the state is semi-arid or arid desert, with almost no precipitation falling in many areas. Australia's largest state is however also home to 12,000 of the world's wildflower species.

The South West corner is a micro-climate of lushness, albeit a micro-climate the size of several European countries. The 'bottom, left-hand' corner is a well respected wine growing region, as well as being home to hundreds of cattle stations, fruit and vegetable farms and a thriving tourism industry.

Tall stands of Karri Gum are the signature tree of the Cape Naturaliste National Park. Karri gums are the tallest of the Australian Eucalypts, and were prized by the early European settlers for their strong, straight timbers. Hamelin Bay beach is marked today by the remains of a timber pier that once extended 547 metres out, providing a berthing and loading point during the 1800's for the ships taking on bellyfuls of Karri timber.

In the open flats extending beyond the Karri forests are extensive, flat clearings - cattle feed where only kangaroos once grazed amongst the original forests. Here and there lush, shaded wetland areas predominate. At this time of year in the shade of the gums water lilies stand tall, their roots standing in well watered and rich soil, with the white lily cupping the yellow stamen. The lowing cattle in the distance are collectively unimpressed, though the burbling, croaking, coughing frogs are numerous in their appreciative vocalization.

We passed this lily-grove yesterday. It was worth getting up early to capture it in early morning sunlight.

Wildflowers - Hamelin Bay

WA is home to the majority of the world's wildflowers. Some 12,000 species of wild flowers are to be found across the expanse of the state, with 8,000 of them found in the South Western corner, and nowhere else. Anywhere. And that's no Black Swan!

Along the 20 meters or so of sandy path from the carpark down to Hamelin Bay beach half a dozen or so examples are clustered amongst the hardy ocean side succulents. Only 7994 to go....

The view from the front deck - Hamelin Bay escape

Typical, everyone else is still asleep and I am up (6.30am). Time to make a mug of caffeine and go and see what the beach looks like. This is the view greeting me as I walk out onto the front deck of the little house we're staying in.

And what can I hear.

Nothing.

Then a whoop of a currawong.

Nothing.

Lovely.

PS. That firepit is going to get a work out before the stay here is out.