7th January 2024 to 26th
We stayed at Banksia Tourist Park for another week, I had to go for a PET scan on the 12th, in prep for my doc’s visit, so it wasn’t until the 13th that we drove out of Banksia for the last time.
We drove southeast to Dwellingup, (About 110 km) and checked into the Dwellingup Chalet and Caravan Park.
It was worlds apart from Banksia TP as we found ourselves nestled deep in a forest filled with Karri and Jarrah trees.
And of course, where there are trees…there are birds.
It didn’t feel that hot, but it must have been. You may have noticed a lot of the birds above had their beaks open, in an attempt to cool off, I guess. We put water out for them, but they weren’t interested in it. Maybe they knew what was coming.
We stayed for ten nights, just chilling and enjoying the woodland vibe, though we did have a mach run back to Perth for my doctor’s appointment, (everything was great 😊) and that was our very last visit to Perth. We also had lunch at the Dwellingup pub, (not sure I’d recommend it) but we had a lovely time with Peter’s cousin, her hubby and their son.
We tried to book a train trip from Dwellingup, there are four available but at different times of the year. When we were there there was only one, at 2pm on a Wednesday, and by the time we checked it out, we’d be gone.
We did however, have a lovely day exploring the Lane Poole area. We had hoped to be able to drop the kayaks in, but the area is aptly named, Lane Poole. The river system has been blocked into a series of pool’s, making for a very short round kayak trip. There are longer stretches of water, but no easy way down. After exploring this very picturesque area, jumped into the main swimming hole to cool off. We didn’t get any photos of the swimming hole (didn’t want to get my camera wet…😜) but that’s the image you see in all the tourist media advertising Lane Poole.
From there we continued south, heading towards Albany, (we had the car booked in to have the windscreen replaced – finally) when I saw a sign for Lake Towerinning. I suggested we go there, and Peter agreed. (Smart boy).
We were only going to overnight, but we ended up staying for three nights. I am sure you can see why. A beautiful lake to kayak around.
It really was a lovely lake to kayak on, though when the wind picked up it was a bit hard going.
Peter circumnavigated the lake several times during our stay. I never got past Bird Cove. That’s what I called it anyway. About two kilometres up the lake was a left hand turn, into Bird Cove.
I’m sure you can see why I hung around there. There were hundreds of wading birds, ducks and swans, including my favourites, the Spoonbill, and I spent many a happy hour just drifting around with them.
There was also a lot of bird activity around the waters edge near our camp.
There was also a pair of Restless Fly-Catchers. Now these aren’t the best images I’ve ever taken, but they show what these little birds are capable of doing in the air.
I particularly enjoyed watching this family of Dusky Wood Swallows, as they went about their business of feeding their two chubby chicks.
And finally, the colourful ones. There were a lot of Australian Ring necks, and Western Rosellas in the area, and they made good use of the water.
It does feel good to be out on the road again, I will try to keep up to date with the blog posts, but…poor internet tends to slow me down a little. Still, I’ll get there in the end.
Sounds as though you have been having fun! Love the bird photos.
You know what you get better and better with your photos I luv the birds 🦅
I agree! 🦜🦅🦆🦉🐦⬛
How amazing are your bird photos!!! So lucky to not only see a great variety but capture them all beautifully!
I hope you and Peter are well! 🤗