Wongan Wildflower Walk

Directions - Located right on the edge of Wongan Hills, from the main road running through town, take Quinlan Street east and follow this all the way to the small gravel car park found just after Wilding Street on your right. There is a small area to park in front of the Wongan Wildflower Walk sign you see in the first picture below.

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The Hike - Extremely pleased with myself after finding a Clown Orchid on the Christmas Rock Walk, I was ready to move onto my next Wongan Hills trail. With plenty of options available, I had decided to check out one more trail close to the centre of town before heading out to Mount Matilda for the final hurrah of the day. Located a couple of minutes from the Christmas Rock Walk, it wasn't long before I was at the start of the Wongan Wildflower Walk trying to find the trail head.

Eventually finding a small area to park where I wouldn't block access to the neighbouring industrial properties or driveways (right in front of the wooden sign for the walk), I decided to enjoy my packed lunch while I waited for a windy shower to pass. The shower eventually passed but the winds remained, bad news for me as photographing wildflowers becomes much more difficult. Hopping out of the car, the sun was out again as I started my watch, ready to find out what this trail was all about. Having looked at the map beforehand, it looked to be mostly on vehicle tracks, and the start of the walk confirmed this. This was perfectly fine with me, as a name like Wongan Wildflower Walk suggests that the main feature will be wildflowers on a walk in Wongan Hills. It didn't take long to spot my first lot of colourful flora, as there was plenty in bloom right near the entry sign. While the walk is relatively flat, you are elevated above the surrounding landscape, providing some nice views looking to the east.

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Walking along the northern border of the walk, I was excited about the possibilities of what I was going to see given what I'd already experienced on my two morning walks. The colours on the edge of the track continued to be amazing as I came to the first turn that is marked by some wonderfully rustic signs that just say "WWW". This immediately reminded me of simpler times in the late 90s/early 00s when a little thing called the world wide web was making an impression on the world. Older readers will remember when radio or TV ads would say the entire website address out loud, including the double you, double you, double you part. I found this quite comforting, and despite the vehicle track walking, I was warming to this trail quite quickly. Being a loop trail, it was going to be a lot of work scanning both sides of the wide track, so I would stay close to one side and occasionally look to the other. This might mean I missed something along the way, it was the best I could do without spending two hours out here.

With so much to see out here, my strategy was working out well as I spotted my first Diplolaena species, one of my favourite in WA because of how photogenic they are. Continuing to follow the WWW signs, there was a bounty of different colours, shapes and sizes, highlighting the biodiversity of this region at this time of year. Being careful not to dismiss anything as a flower I'd already seen, there are numerous species in WA that look similar but have very subtle differences. The wind had died down a little, and with thick vegetation providing somewhat of a wind break, photographing all the different species was a bit easier. Some species were harder to find, being down low on the edge of the trail, while others were lighting up the view with vibrant blooms that were hard to miss. Seeing a lot more than I had at either Gathercole or Christmas Rock, it's amazing the difference a short distance can make but I have a feeling this is due to the change in soil types, and perhaps less disturbance over the years.

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While the wildflower varieties were plentiful, I still hadn't seen an orchid. While it would have been nice, I had already been spoiled by orchid varieties today already, with more to come. The different wildflowers more than made up for it, and this walk was reminding me a lot of the trails around Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve down in the Porongurups. By that I mean the trail is just linking up different vehicle tracks, with the wildflower display being the main drawcard. Continuing to loop around, it wasn't all looking at wildflowers, as occasionally there would be a nice view in the distance, with green fields and blue skies. The trail kept on giving the further I walked, and it seemed that I was finding a new species in every little nook and cranny I was searching in. Not wanting the experience to end, I was pleased to see the last little section taking a turn off the wide vehicle track and onto a piece of single trail that might lead me to orchids. In the end it didn't but I was more than happy with what I'd seen, with plenty of new species for me ready to be loaded into iNaturalist at a later date.