Todays Hike Part One.....

Today's hike, part one began at Stinton Cascades located in Karragullen about a 45 minute drive from the cottage. 

I hadn't heard of this place until about a month ago and have been keen to come and explore. The towering trees are marri trees which are different to the jarrah trees that grow where I live. The vegetation very different also to that of the Chidlow area.

Although I heard a lot of birds in the bush I actually only saw one! And given what a striking creature he was I was thrilled to have seen him, and him alone. He is a scarlet robin, who seemed to like to pose for the camera. The scarlet robins are pretty common however they seem to keep out of the way of humans. They live around the my area but I have only seen a couple in all the years I have lived at the cottage.  Of course I took time to admire this little chap as he very graciously turned to give me a good look at him. So tiny, yet vibrantly stunning.

Not really knowing what to expect I set off down the very steep path on what turned out to be a circular walk. If I hadn't of planned on investigating a second spot today I would have done two laps, one in each direction, as I have learnt recently I can pass something of interest one way, only to have it all but leap out at me retracing my steps.

The water cascading over the massive boulders is obviously where the name comes from.  Another ancient place barely disturbed. Hundreds of frogs croaking, and as I neared the water their mating songs were quite loud. I tried several times to spot one, but they were camouflaged very well indeed.

The water gave the place a serene quality. I was saddened though to see that people had been down here in four wheel drive vehicles, given it is a nature reserve I was left disappointed at how some people just can't see how precious places like this are. 

There wasn't many flowers blooming, I did see some new native plants though. I have said before how diverse the Western Australian bushland is, there is always something I haven't seen before. And of course there was an abundance of fungi, much to my delight......