Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
Chamelaucium – the genus known as waxflowers – has fourteen generally-recognised species.
They are members of the Myrtle family.
Some – most especially Geraldton wax, Chamelaucium uncinatum – are highly prized, globally, by florists and gardeners.
However, as is true of so many highly distinctive flowering plants, the natural range for all members of this genus is entirely confined to parts of southwestern Western Australia.
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The relevant “fairies” are Caladenia Latiffolia – an Australian orchid species, commonly known as “pink fairy orchids”, or simply “pink fairies”.
I took the photo near the western side of Lake Claremont at 3.46 pm on 19 September.
The floral diversity in southwest WA is phenomenal, globally.
Many of the region’s beautiful, often wondrous-strange flowering plants are endemic – in the wild, they occur nowhere else on earth.
Not a few are endemic to just a tiny portion of WA; for a few species, their entire “home range” is a single hill in The Stirling Range.
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Cygnus atratus – the black swan – is widespread over much of Australia, but is most especially associated with Western Australia.
From 1854 through to Federation in 1901 it appeared on every West Australian postage stamp.
It is still the local “heraldic beast”: prominent on WA’s flag and Coat of Arms.
This species is not endangered, and enjoys protected status in all Australian states and territories.
Black swans are mostly monogamous and both parents are very attentive to their offspring.
Breeding usually occurs in winter.
Spring is generally the best/easiest season to observe parents and cygnets on “open” water.
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Cape Freycinet not being an actual cape does not make it a “lesser” place.
This post’s photos look like they must have been taken at two rather different locations and/or on quite different days.
I took them within three minutes of each other, and my two vantage points were only a few paces apart.
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The photo shows one of our favourite coastal locations in the Margaret River region, as it was at 4. 42 pm on 21 August 2025.
Cape Freycinet is wonderfully wild, and presents a different “face” on each and every occasion.
It is also easily reached; the whole drive is 2WD- friendly and takes a deal less than one hour, mostly south along Caves Road, from Margaret River – or north along Caves Road, from Augusta.
Only the final few kilometres are unsealed.
Either way, one turns off Caves Road into the well-maintained Conto Road, adjacent to Lake Cave.
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This post includes both musical and “word power” bonuses.
The afternoon of 21 August 2025 was not “stormy” in the Margaret River region, but local waters were turbulent.
In 1876 this was also true, as November transitioned to December…and the SS Georgette developed an irreparable leak
Over the ensuing hours a lifeboat was smashed, several people drowned, and several others were successfully transferred to the captain’s gig (ship’s boat/tender) which then managed to reach another Margaret River beach.
Meanwhile, the other fifty or so passengers and crew were heading south, on a sinking ship.
Its captain then attempted to strand the Georgette on Calgardup Bay’s Redgate Beach.
Here, a “miraculous”/“heroic” rescue was undertaken by two equally courageous local people.
The white one’s heroism was hailed, worldwide.
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If one is based in or near to Pemberton for some days, but not staying in or near to Margaret River – or vice versa – one ought take advantage of the fact that each is within easy day-tripping distance of the other.
On 21 August 2025 we drove over to enjoy lunch at a favourite Margaret River winery, and then visit a couple of favourite, still-wild coastal places.
Redgate Beach is less than 15 ks southwest of the Margaret River township, via sealed roads.
That afternoon’s waves were neither particularly large, by local standards, nor surfer-friendly.
However, the sea was very lively, as was the conspicuously-fresh air…and Redgate looked typically-splendid.
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What a difference five minutes can make!
By 4.55pm on 18 August 2025 the skies above Warren National Park had become overcast, whilst the Warren River’s surface remained “glassy”.
The gentler light improved a camera’s ability to capture the subtle beauty of the forest’s understorey – as viewed directly, and as reflected by the river.
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30 minutes on from the taking of the previous chapter’s photos, we were just a little further upstream.
The sun was low in the sky, which was still mostly-blue – or had again become so.
Briefly, no wind was blowing.
This particular stretch of the Warren River was now almost-entirely unruffled.
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In Warren National Park on the afternoon of 18 September 2025 the weather was highly dynamic.
Whatever was your favourite kind of winter weather – windy or calm, raining or dry, sunny or overcast – you could reasonably expect at least one fleeting dose of it within the space of a single hour.
This post shows the Warren River, the forest through which it flows and the sky above, as they appeared at 4.20 and 4.21 pm.
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