Well after travelling the Anne Beadell Highway from Laverton to Coober Pedy then returning to WA via the Nullarbor Plain, we part ways with Richard, Noel and Sandy at Cocklebiddy. They are heading straight back home, whilst Deb and I wish to take our time before arriving home. We book into the motel for the night as it is blowing it’s arse off.
14/9/2023 ….. We wake up to a much better day and head west, exploring along the way. We check out Murra El Elevyn Cave, Caiguna Blowhole and drive the iconic 90-mile Straight section of the highway. We grab lunch at Balladonia Roadhouse before heading south down Balladonia Road.
Balladonia Road is unsealed and is quite rough in patches, so we take it easy as we lookout for possible orchid hunting stops.
We pull into a spot signed as GALGALANGANYA : Aboriginal Cultural Heritage (ACH) Register Place 1634. This area is listed as Artefacts / Scatter; Camp; Water Source.
It is here that we find some spent Little laughing leek orchids (Prasophyllum gracile), which indicates we have returned after some 20 days to our beloved orchids. Luckily after a thorough search we come across one orchid that is still in flower.
Heading further south we cross from the Shire of Dundas into our home shire, the Shire of Esperance. A little further on we pull over to make a cuppa before continuing on to another area of granite, called Coragina Rock.
Another thorough search is made with more Little laughing leek orchids being found. Then Debbie finds a solitary Granite sun orchid (Thelymitra petrophila) growing in the twigs of a bush. This orchid has 3 barely opened flowers which fits with the recorded flowering months of September and October.
Finding the Sun orchid was exciting; but we must move onward so we can reach our planned destination for the night, Deralinya Homestead, before dark.
We veer into Parmango Road, a shire-maintained road as Balladonia Road now becomes a 4WD track.
Upon arrival at the homestead, we follow the signs to the campground down behind the dam. Here we set up and get a campfire going, before I head off on a small exploration of the surrounding scrub. The only sign of orchids were the many small sun orchids in bud.
So only 2 species found in flower today but let us enjoy our last night under the stars and we will see what tomorrow brings.
