COLOURFULWORLD

Saturday 1 October 2016

Bremer Bay - Fitzgerald River National Park

The house we were staying in, in Bremer Bay was in a quiet cul de sac, and as we were leaving home on Monday morning, the neighbour's chickens were in the front garden. 
I presume they must have been the ones that "gave us" the fresh eggs we had eaten for breakfast the previous morning

Fresh eggs and chickens

My husband got some old bread and started feeding them, but once they were full they crossed the road and back into their garden they went!
    
Feeding the neighbour's chickens

The National Park and wildflowers

So, after feeding the chickens we once again headed to the beaches to try and spot whales.
Some locals then told us that there was a pod of them at Point Ann, within the Fitzgerald River National Park, 65km east of Bremer Bay, which is a famous whale nursery.

I had also wanted to see the wildflowers, so we drove to the National Park and were lucky that all roads were opened. Apparently when it rains a lot some of the roads get closed. There is a $12 entry fee, money that you deposit into a trust box.

The different wildflowers were spectacular! 
My favourites were the white ones that look like fluffy cotton (first photo, top right) and the Hakea Victoria or Royal Hakea, which is native to that area of Australia (second photo, top left) and can grow up to 3mt tall.




Royal Hakea (top left)



Point Ann and the beaches

Point Ann was also an amazing spot with various lookouts over the beautiful turquoise water.  Again the beaches were wonderful!
Some people that were leaving said they had seen whales and pointed to the direction were they had seen them. We looked and could see the dark shapes under the water but they didn't surface and again it was too windy to stand there and wait.





 Quaalup Homestead

We hadn't eaten lunch at all, so on the way back to Bremer Bay we stopped at Quaalup Homestead, a big farm with an old house built in 1858, chalets and camping area and where they supposedly served coffee and German cake. We arrived there to be told by the owner that she hadn't had time to bake a cake and had no time to serve coffee either as they had many guests staying there...
What a disappointment, to drive off-road for about 10km each way and be told that!
Anyway, we were given permission to use the bathroom and to see the Homestead with some of the original furniture and farming implements scattered around the building.
And then off we went to Bremer Bay, starving and ready for dinner!

The homestead on the bottom right, some ruins at top left and old farming implements

Bremer Bay (bottom right), Quaalup homestead (in pink) and Point Ann (further up on coast)










Car tyre pots
And to conclude my post is a photo of flower pots made of car tyres, that were quite common in Bremer Bay gardens.  I certainly like the one with the bright red flowers.


Hope you are having a wonderful weekend wherever you are. In Perth it's been a cold and windy Saturday. Our power was off for a couple of  hours this afternoon due to  storms.
On the news yesterday it was said that this first month of Spring has been the coldest in the last 45 years. Last year this time the temperature was probably about 10C higher!


15 comments:

  1. I just love the concept of the trust box!
    We´ve seen it many times throughout Australia, leaves a warm, good feeling.
    Sad Quaalup Homestead was such a disappointment (what might German cake be anyways?)

    Looks like you had a great time :-)

    That vaccum cleaner, oh, my!

    Love the Car tyre pots!

    Wee. Crazy weather, way too long too warm here (not for me, it could stay warm forever, certainly!)...

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    1. The owners of Quaalup are German,from Hamburg. They advertise as "German cake", wish I could have tried it. Loved that vacuum cleaner and the tricycle.

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  2. I wonder if it could be the "bienenstich", it's a typical German cake. I used to love it, haven't had it since leaving Germany.

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  3. What a fun post, Sami. You certainly put in a full day, starting with feeding the chickens. Too bad about the farm. I was amazed that you had to ASK and be given permission to use the restrooms. That seems odd somehow to me. So glad they accommodated you in that respect. And all that old farm equipment was worth the trip, at least in my eyes.

    Those were gorgeous wildflowers. I've never seen any of these before, so they were all new and unique to me. Sadly, we don't have trust boxes in the states. At least none in the places I've lived. That says something for you and less so for us.

    Thanks for sharing these gorgeous photos with us. Too bad your weather is so cold this year.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth. Well, since it was a private house and we weren't staying for coffee (as they weren't serving any), even though they had outdoor toilets I thought it was polite to ask.
      We do get a lot of trust boxes, in country roads a lot of farmers sell their produce on the side of the road and you take what you want and leave the money. I really think it's a fabulous concept and I hope everyone is honest. A lot of those wildflowers were new to me too, I can't remember seeing them in Perth's botanic gardens wildflower show.

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  4. Forgot to mention how much I like those tire cups. That is clever!

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  5. Fiquei in love pelas flores. Tão diferentes!Gostei muito da última do lado direito, em vermelho.
    Bom domingo!
    Espero que o tempo melhore, Ontem, à noite, tivemos trovoada e chuva por aqui também.

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    1. Ola Sara, as flores vermelhas sao Eucalyptus youngiana- ha em vermelho, amarelo e rosa.

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  6. Another nice day trip. I was sorry to hear about the German cake miss, that would have been nice. Loved the painted tires imitating giant tea cups with flowers! Very creative!

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    1. Thanks Sara. We were salivating for some cake too...
      They are cute the tyre flower vases. I have never seen them around Perth.

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  7. What a super trip you had Sami, it's no wonder WA is known as the wildflower state! Fab idea to use old tires for flower containers, I guess you would pick them up at the recycling yard. Another cool day today, must admit I'm quite enjoying it 😊

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    1. Thanks Grace, truly a wildflower state! I'm actually over this rain and cold, I just want proper Spring weather...

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  8. Dearest Sami,
    Those car tire pots are a great idea, especially the one made into a cup with handle attached. Those red pelargoniums look stunning in it!
    What a great location you both went to.
    Especially the wild flowers look so exotic and beautiful.
    Yes, our cats also become like magnets when we return home from any trip. Guess they fear that we leave them again. Barty the eldest kind of took over the bed... He was attached to me literally. Now he's back on the bottom pillow, the European square, and sleeps as a halo above my head. More convenient to me as their body heat is higher than ours... But they sure show love and affection!
    Happy October and enjoy your spring season.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Thanks Mariette. The pelargoniums looked great in that pot!
      The wildflowers are really special.

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