Day 79 Mullewa & Pindar

WARNING There are many, many pictures of flowers.

Today we went hunting for wildflowers. We drove through the Chapman Valley stopping at Nanson, Nabawa, Yuna & Tenindewa before arriving in Mullewa. The region is rich in wildflower species because it straddles both geological and climactic transition zones. This produces great diversity across varying soil types and rainfall/temperature zones.

The Mullewa Bushland Trail a 2.4km loop started at the Mullewa Scenic Lookout and it had magnificent everlastings, covering the landscape making the area feel magical. Because of the good winter rains, the wildflowers are absolutely sensational.





































We stopped for lunch in Mullewa and had a look around the village at the historical buildings. Mullewa is famous for its unique heritage architecture, largely designed and built in the 1920s and 1930s by the renowned architect-priest Monsignor John Hawes. The town holds the highest concentration of Hawes' distinctive Spanish Mission and Romanesque-influenced religious structures in Western Australia's Central West.

Mullewa Masonic Lodge: A rare, intact Victorian Georgian-style random stone building erected in 1926 with its original furniture and fittings largely preserved.

St Andrews Anglican Church & its Rectory both built in the 1890s. The Rectory was regarded as Mullewa's finest home for many years. The church is constructed from local stone and built in the Gothic style.

The historic Mullewa Town Hall is a landmark Art Deco building. Built in 1935, it served as the local government chambers for 60 years and remains a vibrant community hub, famously hosting the annual wildflower exhibition during the Outback Bloom festival.

Our Lady of Mt Carmel Church - This Romanesque style church is regarded as the 'Jewel in the Crown' of Monsignor John Hawes’s church designs. The building dates to 1923 and was consecrated in 1927, built mainly by Hawes, some paid labourers and local parishioners. The structure is local stone from Mullewa and concrete blocks used for the quoins and mouldings.











We then drove to Pindar in search of the wreath Leschenaultia or, as the locals call it, the wreath flowers. Exquisite rings laid neatly over the gravelled surface of the roadside, each made up of dozens of flowers with frilled petals of red, white and pink. The wreath flowers were contained to an area about 200m long on both side of the road. The wreath flowers are only 5cm tall at most but up to 50cm in diameter. Mostly they lay as individual rings but every now and then they interlocked to form a pretty chain against the ochre sand. They are not endangered but are unique to small areas of the West Australian wheatbelt and Geraldton sandplains.









We then drove on through Tandun, Canna, Morawa, Mingenew, Walkaway and back to Geraldton, A big drive but so worth the effort I truly can't believe how many flowers we saw or just how beautiful they were when on mass covering the hillsides etc.