Majestic Heights

For 2024 I thought I would set my sights on Toodyay for the long weekend, as I really wanted to see the Winter Spider Orchid, one of the first spider orchids to flower in WA. I knew there were some near Toodyay, so figured I'd check out a few trails and see if I got lucky. The Shire of Toodyay website has a good amount of basic info on the walks in the area, so I made up a rough plan for the day, with Majestic Heights the first trail on the cards. Unfortunately the starting point map on the website points you to start off Sandplains Road at Mavis Jeffreys Nature Reserve, which is a little way south of where you're actually meant to be. I wandered around here for about 10 minutes, following a track that ran in roughly the same direction as the mud map, before realising this was not the jedi I was looking for. It was a fun little meander, and I saw plenty of birds, but eventually I was at the right location, near the Passive Walkers Only sign.

Parking near the lonely picnic table, I referred to the TrailsWA map, and that seem to indicate that the trail cut through the Wandoo, instead of following the old vehicle track, like the rest of the walk does. It wasn't hard to pick a path through the golden trunks, and eventually I had reached the wide road you follow all the way up the hill. Thankful to have a cold morning for a change, you could see the effect of the hot summer already, with lots of dead plants around. While I have seen this before in other reserves east of Perth, I've not seen it on this scale. Even the plants lining the creeks beds were brown, and I hope the seed bank is large enough to replace what has been lost. Writing this after a wet winter, I have a little more hope but time will tell. The trail itself is nothing fancy, just an old vehicle track winding gently up the hill, but the quality of thick boi Wandoo trees makes for pleasant walking. 

It wouldn't be a walk in the Wandoo without spotting a noisy Pink and Grey Galah, and this day would be no different. With no wildflowers expected, I am starting to find new ways of enjoying trails, and recently birding has been a real highlight. Armed with a new 18-300mm lens, this allows me to get better quality photos of the birds I see, although it has slowed me down a fair bit as I stop frequently to wait for them to land on an ideal spot. After crossing a little creek, the scenery started to get much better, with bigger Wandoo trees lining the road, and some welcome mist starting to roll through. Reaching the crossing of Stirlingia Drive, you come across another Passive Recreation Only sign. Clearly an older sign, I do love the wording of Passive Recreation, although I assume 4x4s and dirt bikes will just ignore it like they ignore the modern signs.

On the other side of Stirlingia Drive was my favourite section, with the road winding through some of the best woodland, then followed by a rise up to the best views along the entire trail. An exposed section of granite provides a break in the tree line, and that means views over the distant farmland and hills. Although the mist had well and truly rolled in, I could still see the shapes of the hills in the distance. Looking ahead, the sun breaking through the mist was a fun sight, and certainly livened up what might have been a bit of a ho-hum hike. Reaching the top of the hill, you turn right along another vehicle track, following the markers as you then make a little u-turn to reach the base of the NBN tower that marks the end of the trail. There are meant to be views from here but a combination of vegetation in the way and mist meant that I didn't see much. The only thing to do now was to double back and walk down the hill to my car, where I got some clearer views now the mist had burnt off slightly.