Nine vehicles met at the servo then set off half an hour later. Another vehicle joined us at Ledge Point where we had lunch. It was a slow drive behind a couple of sluggishly moving caravans to Leeman. Caroline met us then directed us to our camping spot in a scrubby area. She had her pet goat Hector with her. We had a fun night sitting under the stars, spotting 23 Starlink satellites following each other across the sky. (They travel about 20/25 miles apart and they travel around the earth every 90 minutes. There are between 15 to 56 satellites in a train when launched. They last 5 years). Another 10 satellites were spotted as well. Caroline joined us for a while.
On Saturday morning at was apparent that we were in amongst a bee hive area. Paul parked on an ants nest, plus there were ticks and march flies as well. It was a tough start to Deepak and Zahra’s camping life!! Tim took us to Logue Nature Reserve where he showed us a waterhole and a gnamma hole. Both had water in them. He pointed out some Zamia’s that were a few hundred years old, some can grow for 1,000’s of years. Next was a waterhole that brumbies frequent. Gerry stayed there for a rest which was fortunate as he saw the brumbies return. We walked to a waterhole tasting some bush tucker along the way. At the waterhole Tim’s dog Dex plopped himself down in the mud for a cool off. As we meandered back through the bush several people were scratched by the shrubbery and were feeling the heat. Evie got stung by a bee at the brumby waterhole.
Back at camp the bees were a bit crazy and several people were stung, so we shifted camp into Leeman to the sports oval overflow camp spot which was great (no bees!). Had a few drops of rain. Tim and Caroline gave us a presentation of bush tucker. We all loved the drink, biscuits, roasted nuts and a slice. It was very informative, Tim is very knowledgeable and was generous in sharing to those who asked questions of him.
Later we had a double rainbow and lovely sunset with spots of rain. There were fiercely gusting winds overnight then we awoke to 100’s of birds chirping. On the Sunday morning some people went to the Stockyard Gully cave and some went to Greenhead and some went out with Tim to an island to swim with the seals. This was done in two shifts. Those who swam with the seals absolutely loved it, they were so playful and came right up close plus the ocean floor had a variety of colourful growth on it. Roland and Evie left to go home.
Later in the afternoon Tim and Caroline led us to Lake Logue where we stopped a couple of times so Tim could explain the scenery. The plant diversity in the area makes it one of the worlds richest hot spots for species that can survive in poor quality soil. There were some ancient looking limestone rocks that almost mimic the Pinnacles. There was a dingy in a tree showing the flood level from 1999.
We drove around the lake then stopped at Lake Indoon for a look. It had some water in it and a flowering Zamia (a type of Cycad). Lastly he showed us his industrial block where he grows some of his bush tucker. That night Tim and Caroline came to camp to say goodbye and give us some Sandalwood nuts to grow. They were such a lovely couple, very generous with their time, energy and knowledge.
Everyone set off home at their own pace. Thank you to Markus and Andrea for organizing the weekend. It was a lot of fun and
very informative.