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Category: Western Australia

Flying start (#1 in “Lake Monger, 01.01.22” series)

 

 

Pelican Yoga begins 2022 with a series of single-image posts.

All photos feature waterbirds, and they all were taken at “our” local lake on the first late afternoon and early evening of 2022.

At the moment fish are proliferating (as are algae), so pelican numbers at Lake Monger are much higher than usual.

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East Mount Barren: vistas

 

 

One of Australia’s finest half day walks is the ascent & descent of East Mount Barren.

The path is not treacherous, it is very unlikely to be crowded, and – in mild weather, at least –  it is eminently feasible for healthy septuagenarians, provided their knees have not “packed it in”.

The flora at your feet is incredible, most especially in Spring. (See earlier post)

The wider landscape is also magnificent, and no matter how many times you walk up & down this modest “mountain”, it will always deliver something new/different.

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East Mount Barren: flora

Pictured above and below: Hakea victoria, known as Royal Hakea.

Arguably, it has the most spectacularly variegated leaves of any plant on earth; the individuals in this post are by no means unusually splendid examples.

Fitzgerald River National Park is its stronghold, and all naturally occurring Royal Hakeas are within easy driving distance of “the Fitz”.

Most photos in this post were taken on a morning ascent of East Mount Barren on 21 September 2021.

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Springtime on East Mount Barren: teaser

The featured image has not been photoshopped; it is not a composite of monochrome and full colour.

Such juxtapositions of the “drab/dark/subdued/almost monochrome” with the “brilliantlly/exquisitely/flamboyantly colourful” are commonplace in southwestern Australia.

Here, some of the world’s poorest soils are in fact the key to an astonishing, highly diverse array of endemic flora.

In global terms, the relevant “mountain” is in fact a relatively modest hill, rising 311 metres above the nearby ocean.

However, if you love wildflowers, this hill has few peers, anywhere…

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West Beach, Fitzgerald River NP: addendum

This post enables you to see how West Beach sits within the expansive landscape/seascape of Fitzgerald River National Park’s eastern section.

(the western section is quite different, and equally splendid, but “the Fitz” is huge…so even the view from atop the Hopetoun end’s best vantage point will only give you a view over the park’s eastern section)

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