Kalbarri Nationalpark to Perth

From the Kalbarri Nationalpark we drove in search of more Wildfloers a bit Inland. Usually around this time of the year, Wildflowers should be plentiful from Mullewa to the south. Due to the limited rainfall, we were told that it would be difficult to find wildflowers, although we were given the information that there should still be some Wildflowers around Mingenew. So we decided to start our search there. The weather started to be pretty bad. Once arriving in Mingenew, it started to rain quiet impressively. The next morning the weather improved and we visited Coalseam Conservation Park. Which still had a pretty beautiful collection of mainly yellow Everlastings on Display.

From there we drove to Mullewa and Morawa in search of the Wreath Flower. A very special Wildflower that grows in a round patch. Usually with a center of green leaves and stems and around the center yellow to red flowers. It actually already grows as a flower arrangement. We were told that they were very rare this year as well. never the less we found a patch of them just along the road 18km out of Perenjori towards Carnamah. Along some gravelroads we then headed towards Cervantes for a visit of the Nambung Nationalpark.

The main feature of the Nambung Nationalpark is the Pinnacles desert. The Pinnacles were formed in the old days by the rain washing lime out of crushed shells. This lime then seeped along with the rain water to lower layers of sand. Some more centuries down the road, acidic water from seeping through soil and humus, reacted with the lime sediments and formed a protective calcrete layer on below sand layers. Through thousands of years this layer was in parts cracked and moved away. At the same time the sand dunes on top of these layers were moved away and remaining were the sandstone formations which were protected by the calcrete. They feature the most diverse forms today and provide a fascinating ever changing landscape with the moving clouds and the different angles of sun light. An absolutely amazing landscape.

From Cervantes we then drove along a 4WD track following the coastline through some beautiful white sand dune country passing Nambung Nationalpark, Wannagarren Nationalpark and Nilgen Nature Reserve through to Lancelin. Along the way we drove through the two tin shack towns of Grey Shack and Wedge Island. Wedge Island at the same time is the name of a wedge shaped island just in front of the settlement. On which we found a number of nesting seagulls as well as a pair of Ausprey's. Just before reaching Lancelin we were driving through and along some stunning and huge white sand dunes. The last 130 km's to Perth then led through mostly suburban areas. In Perth our trusted Landcruiser was due for some well earned and deserved Service, as well as for a new set of tyres.