Mt Barker Banksia Farm – 23 October

Mt Barker Banksia Farm – 23 October
The weather bureau was correct. We woke to a rainy day. However, we made the decision to visit Porongurup National Park and then Mt Barker. It is claimed that Porongurup is the World’s oldest mountain range. It seem to be a series of huge granite rocks with the highest point at 670m. The range is 12 km long. We were looking forward to a walk. We stopped at Castle Rock & Balancing Rock and started the walk but only got a few hundred metres before the first heavy shower arrived. We were not equipped for a wet hike so retreated to the car.
Drove to Mt Barker and the Banksia Farm. We were the only ones there. The owner, Kevin, gave us a talk about the Banksia that was really informative. We then walked the garden – Jan with camera and Jo with the umbrella and a notebook and pencil to record the names of the banksia. We had a couple of showers but managed to see most of the garden. He has 78 species of Banksia and many Dryandras, Grevilleas and Hakeas. There were New Holland Honey Eaters everywhere – what a feast they were having!!!!
Kevin also gave us a map of the local area and the places where wildflowers esp. orchids were to be found. When we left the Farm, the black clouds were rolling in but we managed to do the wildflowers though we are just a tad late for some of the orchids as they had flowered and died. Got back into the car before the rain started. We are just a tad late for some of the orchids as they had flowered and died. Poured all the way back to Albany.