From lockdowns, restrictions, not being well, rain, and only being able to go to church if we wore a mask, John and I decided to get out of town, and head to the country.
Since it wasn’t really planned, and because of the rain, we decided to take a route we would usually take in August, to see if any flowers or orchids were out early. With the weather being what it has been, people seem to be finding some orchids and flowers earlier than usual. We wondered what Udamung and Rica Erickson had to offer in July instead of August.
One thing was clear, the countryside was already lush and green from the wet weather.
We actually took a different way from Bindoon (we had to stop at the Bakehaus) to Udamung. So these rocky hills aren’t what we usually see.
In our travels, we do see a lot of cows and sheep.
But seeing this bull scratching himself at the post was good for a giggle.
I am not going to lie, I dream of building a house on such a property one day.
Maybe the property would come with orchids and wildflowers of its own. 🙂
Almost feels like parts of West Virginia when we go to the country, but only in springlike conditions, as in summer, this is all brown.
This is truly my happy place in Australia…the road, the hills, the birds, the flowers, music playing, with John by my side.
Well, you can’t tell, but these little lambs were happy and frolicking but they get afraid when we get too close to them and it all comes to a stop.
I think a few older ones tried to stare us down.
I think to myself, how many steps could I put on my Fitbit with a property like this?
We made it to our first stop and some wildflowers were out.
And some orchids. These are green hoods that we usually see all finished by the time we normally get there in August, so it was nice to see them in bloom and happy looking.
Guessing they were banded green hoods.
Some lovely pink wildflowers that we couldn’t help think would look great in our garden, perhaps we’d have to look for some in an upcoming plant sale.
The droseras, commonly known as sundews, were wet and sparkly in the sun. Drosera is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces.
No idea what this teeny white flower is, but I couldn’t help but admire it.
Back on the road, I couldn’t help but get a photo of this tree. Australia’s gum trees are so different. Later I gave myself the challenge to paint it.
Clouds are also a part of my happy place.
A rusty gate reflecting a rusty sign in a puddle. Pure country living.
We were seeing farms with the beginnings of wheat and canola crops.
Again, some backlit frisky lambs, until they saw us and all went running where they felt safe.
More Western Australia scenery.
Sunday driver, yeah. And why not? The colors were so vivid and the day was perfect. With no masks, we could breathe in all that country air.
Not sure what is so appealing about a hillside covered with rocks, I think it must come from my English ancestry.
Out of all our outings, I don’t think we’ve ever seen a fox. This one was larger than I expected they were!
After it got a distance away from us, it stopped to let me get a photo. Foxes are one of Australia’s most serious pest animals. They are predators of livestock and native animals and carry various endemic diseases such as hydatids and mange. Foxes are believed to be the primary cause of the decline of numerous Australian small mammal species.
The clouds were getting thicker as we drove towards home. We knew our day of sunshine without rain was due to end in the evening.
But the clouds were enough to give us a lovely sunset.
And as we got quite close to home, it even looked ominous.
