Hunting for Bunny Orchids

 We found Bunny Orchids in Torndirrup National Park. My friend and I went for a short drive from my place and soon spotted one of these little beauties. We walked along the side of the road and found there were many of these beautiful orchids to see and photograph. To get close enough to get a photo of these rather small flowers you need to get down very low, at times lying on the ground!

Eriochilus dilatatus - Bunny Orchid

When you hunt for orchids there are always other treasures to find and today was no exception, these beautiful wildflowers grow in the coastal heath which has an abundance of life and invites you to search out and find some of it's wonderful and interesting plants; there's been very little rain on the South Coast the last few months so the bush is very dry, but I will continue to search for the treasures of this beautiful region and pray for rain.

Lobelia sp

Gompholobium capitatum  - Yellow Pea 

Banksia ilicifolia - Holly-leaved Banksia

 photos were taken with an Olympus TG5 on Microscope setting

A place to be

The joy of  life is in helping others, a simple smile or a kind word can make someones day! You can choose to be grumpy or get over it, you only need to listen and look around you to find someone whose life is far more challenging than yours. I like to laugh, and often do so at myself, life is for living and to be lived well you need to laugh at yourself and not take everything personally, shrug off the doomsdayers and see the good in things; you may find its contagious.

There are many ways we can enjoy life.  I choose to enjoy myself doing simple things. We are all different, not right or wrong, but different and therefore we enjoy doing life our way; for me today it was sitting on the beanbag in my loungeroom chilling out, yesterday it was a lovely walk at the local Wind Farm with a couple of cameras, and before that walking on the beach near my home, and tomorrow it will be orchid hunting in Torndirrup National Park with a friend.

I choose to be in a place where I have peace and contentment, and as I wander with a camera or my phone,  I choose to find something beautiful to capture and maybe share with others, or something to make my heart happy and put a smile on my face.

Photos taken with my Olympus TG5

Walking at Goode Beach

This beach is always different but always beautiful. This morning as I walked in the shallow waters on the edge of the Southern Ocean I could see the ships coming and going in King George Sound.

The blue-green water is so clean and crisp, and yet I know there are tiny microbes that have been broken down by the movement of the ocean and come from the hand of man.  A bit scary when I can't see them but know they're affecting the ecology of this beautiful Ocean and getting into the very essence of everything in this far away place of serene beauty.

As I walk in the shallows and get wet up to my thighs I feel invigorated and strengthened in my hips and knees by the movement of the water as it rolls onto the shore.  I walk in bare feet and feel the sand between my toes. I might be an old girl but I love it!

The colours of the water when you look in different directions is amazing and even a few minutes as clouds move makes a difference. These were taken around 10am with the sun quite high in the sky and very bright; one looking east the other south. 

Taken with my Olympus TG5

Bush Tracks to the Water

The sandy tracks in the bush near my home meander through Peppermint Trees and go down to the edge of the  Princess Royal Harbour. There are several tracks and each one leads into another, when I first starting walking them several years ago I wondered if I would get lost, but of course, I always found my way back home. Every season is different in the bush, and summer when it's dry the sand is soft and dusty and my sneakers get sand in them and the backs of my legs get dirty from scuffing up the sand along the dusty tracks.

At low tide, you can walk around the edge of the Harbour, where the sand is quite sticky and damp from the shallow water that moves in and out with the tide. Sometimes my sneakers sink and get quite muddy when I walk close to the edge, but I don't mind as I like to see how close to the edge of the water I can walk without sinking!!

My journey

Since early 2012 I have lived on Princess Royal Harbour in Albany and often walk near the water and in the bush that surrounds me, it was during a casual walk back in 2013 that I was shown the native orchids growing along the side of the bush tracks near my home, this started a journey of discovery that continues today and has seen me on my hands and knees getting the best possible shot of these amazingly beautiful and unusual flowers. Searching out the different orchids and wildflowers takes me to some fabulous places, and last spring I traveled as far north as Kalbarri and photographed the orchids and wildflowers from the Great-Southern to the Mid-West, I was not disappointed and took over 2000 photos in 10 days.