Beaufort Inlet

We arrived at Millers Point in the afternoon warmth, as small black coots swam low in the water and left a wake of tiny sparkling suns.

Coots feeding

Millers Point juts out into the Beaufort Inlet on the Pallinup River and the campsites are scattered among straight trunked eucalypts and twisty paperbarks.

From our spot we could see and hear the distant ocean which pounded on the bar to the south east and look around to the north west where the broad expanse of water disappeared behind hazy blue hills.

Looking inland

It is quite obviously a haven for fisher folk. The other campers took off early in the morning and returned in their dinghies late in the afternoon, leaving the point deserted apart from us and a couple from the eastern states.

The quiet thrum of generators that preserved their catch was the only human made sound to be heard during the day. Late in the afternoon the pelicans flew in waiting for the scraps from the returning fisher folk. The pelicans gave an occasional grunt; perhaps a 'hurry up and feed us' or a 'it's all mine not yours'. I don't know.

In amongst the rocks I found piles of silvery discs, the relics of successful fishing ventures.

The sandy beaches were covered in webbed footprints.

An old sign whose original intent has long since been lost

We walked to the lookout through a beautiful glade of eucalypts with trunks of ochres and greys.

 In the thick mulch below grew autumn flowering bunny orchids.

And on the fallen branches grew these lovely lichens.

The view from the top past flowering Hakea laurina towards the bar and ocean.

According to South Coast Rivercare the Pallinup River rises in The Yilgarn Plateau south of Katanning with some salt lakes draining into the catchment in wet years. All the river is saline to some degree. The salinity has increased since clearing in the catchment region especially since the 1950's. Melaleuca cuticularis (saltwater paperbark) and Eucalyptus occidentalis (yate), are found growing here as both do well in saline conditions.

Pink rain at Pallinup

We've just returned from a short trip to Esperance. On the way we camped at Miller's Point at Pallinup.

In the evening we were treated to the amazing spectacle of diaphanous curtains of pink rain.

Blossom and rain?

As kids we were told by Dad that a heavy blossoming from the eucalypts in summer would be followed by heavy rains in winter. This summer the blossoming has been exceptional. I don't know if there is truth behind the saying but it will be interesting to see if we have a wet winter. The theory goes that the trees know there is to be a wet winter. Therefore they produce lots of flowers so they can set plenty of seeds ready for the forthcoming good growing season thanks to the all the rain. When I asked Dad who told him about this he said it was the local Noongars who lived in Perth and had family connections to the south west.

The jarrah trees were loaded with blossom in November. Thinking back to my childhood, in the days before our rainfall dropped off so dramatically in the 1970's, there were good flowering years but  I can't remember seeing trees quite so snowy white. For quite some years now the jarrah blossom has been sporadic and unexceptional. I thought the trees were too stressed to flower well - so many years of below average rainfall and hot hot summers - but somehow they managed to put on an amazing show this season.

Jarrah blossom - Eucalyptus marginata

Jarrah 

It seemed every jarrah tree was covered in creamy stamens including the ones you didn't know about. The nearby bush sprouted giant jarrah trees that I never realised were growing there - in the previous eight years that we have lived here they had never flowered.

 From a distance the trees glowed in the sunlight, like giant random candles.

Marri trees in bloom glowing in sunlight

Following that, in February the marri put on an amazing show, especially up towards Perth. Again the trees were dripping with blossom and nectar and the air was heavy with the rich sweet scent of it. 

There is nothing quite like it.

 Down here the blossoming was not so heavy in February but the marri is in the throws of a second heavier flowering now. Even some of the red flowering gums are having another crack at it.

Marri blossom - Eucalyptus calophylla
or Corymbia calophylla

Marri 

So I am waiting to see what winter brings. According to the old local knowledge it should be a beauty.

 Time will tell.