Spring has Sprung for Fathers Day

Friday night had us once again sharing time with friends from Pinjarra High School. The annual fund raiser for the chaplaincy was lots of fun. They held a trivia night at the local church in Pinjarra. So Mike & I headed out with Richard and Phillipa for dinner at the hotel in Pinnie and then spent a mentally stimulating evening where we managed to beat out the other teams from the school. However we still failed to score high enough to place in the top 3! But the real highlight of the evening was the many treats brought for sharing - we had a very fattening evening of chips, candies - including the best licorice I have ever tasted, nuts, chocolates, wings, trifle and more. We hardly had to eat for the rest of the weekend!
With September 1st, we are now officially experiencing Spring in WA. Anyone who has done research on Western Australia is probably aware that the area is renowned for its wildflowers. I'll leave it the wildflower website to give you all the details, but we'll try to include some visual display here thanks to Michael. We will likely make a trip into the country to experience them in the wild, but to start with we decided to check out the full variety at King's Park.

The Red and Green Kangaroo's Paw is the official flower emblem of Western Australia, so naturally I need to include them. Also at right above is the Black Kangaroo's Paw. It is a bit rarer and less 'flash' but still delicate and unique.

One of the most spectacular displays of mass colour comes from the everlastings. These are the ones I want to see in their natural state! They are a carpet of colour in a range of shades from whites, pinks and mauves and also yellows. The bees are everywhere and seem to be quite content in their garden of Eden!

And not only the bees enjoy the wildflower season, but the birds are also thrilled with the new selection of treats. The Red Wattle Bird (at right) is very aggressive in claiming it's territory and can be quite vocal in keeping other birds away. This however is one of my favourite birds for another reason. We have a few around the house in Mandurah since Theresa has several bushes that attract them. But these birds also like the occasional insect to eat. They routinely make the rounds of the house snatching up all the insects in the corners - primarily spiders. They are amazing to watch as they hover deep in the corners to snatch their prey. The best pest control going!

There were many more native WA wildflowers, but also in bloom at this time are the South African flowers. Since we won't see them in the wild, we've included them here also. The wattle bird above is resting on an Aloe Vera plant. One of the most familiar is the Bird of Paradise. It is impressive to see the large displays which grow year round here. This flower at left is also from South Africa, and unfortunately I cannot remember the name - any one who knows please comment!

And once again, although we have now been to King's Park several times, we found a new trail to follow and this is one of the path side plants in the bush we encountered. I believe this one is one of the many orchids which are found native here, although I am not positive.

Sunday brought Father's Day (finally!), and the weather this weekend was much nicer. Kyle and Mike were able to visit the local field to kick around the footie, and we were able to take a nice stroll along the beach. And even though he had Father's Day last weekend, we tried to make the day relaxing for Mike and didn't make him do anything too strenuous.