Wildflowers along the Midlands Road

My big holiday this year is a week in Geraldton spending time with family and enjoying the wildflowers.
I usually go up the Brand Hwy when I travel to Geraldton but decided to take the Midlands road which starts just north of Bindoon and continues up to Mingenew. This was a very familiar route when travelling between the farm and Perth but I haven’t driven it in a long time.

First stop was actually Bindoon as I was hoping to pick up some local asparagus. I do enjoy the thin asparagus spears we get in spring here. It’s one of the truly seasonal vegetables we have left.

Next stop was Moora and a walk through Candy’s bush reserve. Lots of flowering shrubs and spotted a couple of orchid and fringed lilies.

Every time we drove to and from Perth as a kid and young adult we went past the sign to Jingemia Cave but I’ve never been there. The reserve the cave is in was meant to be a good site for wildflowers. The drive in from the road was lovely with lots of different bushes and trees in flower. The dirt road was a bit wet in places but still I was still able to navigate it in my little Yaris.
The cave was more of a hole in the ground. Being on my own and not the most agile I didn’t consider trying to explore the area around the cave.
It’s a nice detour in wildflower season and I recommend doing it at least once.

It was suggested that the Coorow community farm was a good place to see wildflowers. I think it’s a work in progress as I found myself driving around the edge of a paddock. One side was in crop, the other rbushland. While driving the most prominent flower I can see was Patterson’s Curse. I stopped and walked though the bushland up to a lookout. Most of the ground is covered in wild oats but there were areas of yellow and white pom poms. It wasn’t a very high lookout so the view wasn’t extensive. I’d be interested to see how this area develops.

Carnamah was always regarded as the half way point. We could often get Dad to buy us an icecream as we’d stop to use the toilet and Dad’s rule was if you use the facilities then you have to buy something. A custom I continue to practice.
The big tourist attraction these days is the world’s largest tractor. It’s huge! An orange Chamberlain that dominates the landscape.

By then it was starting to get cold and rain. I decided to go though to Mingenew and decide then whether to continue on towards Mullewa or head to Geraldton. Once in Mingenew I decided to take a look at the lookout - another sign I’d been past so many times but never followed - and then head onto Geraldton.Read more