We awake to a cold morning however the sun is shining so it will be a great last day of our 2020 Road Trip. First up we check out the spider orchid we found in the fading light yesterday.
Hamersley Inlet
Western wispy spider orchid
(Caladenia microchila)
Camper packed up and time to move on. We get as far as 4 Mile Beach campground before we stop and have a scout around. We only find a few Pterostylis orchids.
4 Mile Beach
Ravensthorpe snail orchid or Coastal snail orchid
(Pterostylis grossa or P. sp. “coastal snail”)
We head into Hopetoun for a bite to eat. Our next point of call is just north of the South Coast Hwy, and is a favourite of ours. We again find a few orchids for our troubles.
Mills Road
Zebra orchid
(Caladenia cairnsiana)
??? hybrid spider orchid
(Caladenia x sp.)
Small mantis orchid
(Caladenia attingens subsp. gracillima)
Cream spider orchid
(Caladenia horistes)
3 orchid species and a hybrid is not a bad haul, however we must keep moving towards home. First up though we stop at the Munglinup Roadhouse for a burger lunch. Driving in we discover some orchids on the roadside, so I jump out to get some photos and Deb heads down to order lunch.
Munglinup Townsite
Esperance white spider orchid
(Caladenia longicauda subsp. crassa)
Common bee orchid
(Diuris decrementa)
Lunch purchased, we move on to Munglinup Nature Reserve to eat and explore.
Zebra orchid
(Caladenia cairnsiana)
Cowslip orchid
(Caladenia flava subsp. flava)
Common bee orchid
(Diuris decrementa)
Esperance white spider orchid
(Caladenia longicauda subsp. crassa)
Jug orchid
(Pterostylis recurva)
Five species found, so happy we made to time to explore the area. We now move on to revisit a location we checked out on Day 1 of this road trip. Lets see if there is anything different now flowering.
Springdale Nature Reserve
??? hybrid spider orchid
(Caladenia x sp.)
Red beaks
(Pyrorchis nigricans)
?? donkey orchid
(Diuris sp.)
??? hybrid spider orchid
(Caladenia x sp.)
Reaching spider orchid
(Caladenia arrecta)
Blue beard
(Pheladenia deformis)
Common bee orchid
(Diuris decrementa)
Esperance white spider orchid
Caladenia longicauda subsp. crassa)
Pink bunny orchid
(Eriochilus scaber subsp. scaber)
Esperance king spider orchid
(Caladenia decora)
Since it is after 3 pm and we still have more than 100kms to home, we decide to leave our orchid exploration at this fruitful location. The hour long drive was a great time to look back on our awesome road trip that started back on the 8th August. The Wheatbelt Way was a great loop that opened up the amazing Western Australian countryside.
Over the 3 weeks on the road we discovered many new locations as well as re-visiting favourite spots. So many orchid species were located along with numerous hybrids which was a pleasant surprise.
WA Orchid Adventures 