Down in the woods today.... in the Western Australian bush

We took a drive up to the bush today inland from Harvey about an hour or so from home. I love walking in the bush as long as it is not too hot, which it wasn't today with winter starting to take its grip on Western Australia's south west.

This area is predominantly jarrah forest. There were no wildflowers out yet, I will have to wait for spring for that, but did I care? No not one bit. There is always something to photograph. And anyways just being in the bush, walking, absorbing the quietness, and then sitting with our cup of soup and bread for lunch, was just perfect for me. 

There are greens

 The Prickly Hakea - Hakea amplexicaulis - which flowers August to October. I love the way the prickly wavy leaves wrap themselves around the stem. The flowers sit on top of these leaves. 

This was taken last year - not quite open

The Leucopogon verticillatus, or Tassel flower, is the tallest epacrid in Western Australia. Its striking form and similarity to bamboo made it the first Western Australia export to Japan, where it is used in flower arrangement. The small flowers form tassels of pink or red. This is an understory plant which grows in heavy soils in Karri, Jarrah, Tingle and similar forests in the south-west.  Wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucopogon_verticillatus

There are browns on the forest floor, and in dying leaves - which are still beautiful

There is bark. I love the textures of bark. The one the left and right are burnt bark. Some of this bush land was devastated by the horrific bushfires which raged through Western Australia's south west in January 2015. I showed you some pictures in my blog post - Bushwalking at Hoffmans Mill
It is good to see the forest is slowly regenerating.  

In that particular blog post I showed you images of the bushfire devastated bushland and the historic Long Gully Bridge which was destroyed in those bushfires. The bridge had been an important river crossing for the Bibbulmun Track over the Murray River.  Sad to say the bridge has not yet been replaced and there is now a 30 kilometre diversion in place on the track. Please make sure if you intend walking on the Bibbulmun Track that you contact them or check their website for up-to-date information, track closures and diversion etc.  
 Here is their link - Bibbulmun Track and a link which shows images of the historic bridge and ways to donate - Bridge the Gap
 

My favourite "Snotty Gobble" top left hand corner below - which I shared with you last year - Enjoying the Australian bush - and at the top right hand corner I think is the Couch Honeypot - Dryandra lindleyana. I saw it flowering for the first time last year, and was fairly sure of its identity. It is a low ground plant. Below that are fresh and dried versions of fern.

And a photo of the Couch Honeypot which I took in late September last year. 

There are also other treasures to discover hiding in the undergrowth. The sun kissing the orange-red of a fallen leaf.

Raindrops

And how about playing around with some blur just for the fun of it. I hope this image doesn't make your head spin!

And the best thing? Being out in the fresh air away from the stresses of life, indulging my passion for photography, and it's free!

 Lastly..... today I was reading in The West Australian weekend newspaper about the creator of Canva, Western Australian Perth girl Melanie Perkins, in 2012. They now have over  100 team members from 12 countries in 3 offices, and have created over 100 million designs and have over 10 million users. So I thought I should have a look at Canva. At the moment I am using Picmonkey for my collages (it is super easy to use), but it looks like Canva have lots of cool features. Obviously it takes a little to find your way around (I can't figure out how to just get a basic 6 opening template yet.....), but here is a small start.  I'm not sure I like the way they just changed the colours of the leaves without me asking them to. What do you think?
I was wondering what program do you use for your collages?

Do you enjoy bushwalking? Perhaps you'd like to tell us about your favourite bushwalking track in the comments. 
In the meantime, thank you so much for dropping by. I hope you have enjoyed this little walk in the Western Australian bush in late autumn with me. I appreciate each and everyone of you who take the time to stop by, look, and comment. I will try in return to visit your blogs.  Have a wonderful week. 

I just found this site you might find of interest -
Wildflower Society of Western Australia

You might also enjoy -
Enjoying the Australian bush
Bushwalking at Hoffmans Mill, Harvey
It's time to be out on the Bibbulmun Track again 


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