Blackwood river trip

[Stropp]

WEll had a great trip along the blackwood river last weekend, weather was a bit dreary but when we pulled up to camp the rain cleared overnight until about 0830 Sunday morning then it was a drizzly day again but we were shown some great camp spots which I will be using again. 49070 49071 49072 49073 49074

[clawrence]

Haven't seen a dam overflowing like that in years. Which dam is it?

[93patrol]

Wellington dam. South of Perth near Collie

[MEGOMONSTER]

That Wellington Dam shots a beauty. Man made marvel.

[Clunk]

looks great Stropp, popped into Gnomesville again I see

[Stropp]

Yes we had a bit of a convoluted trip to Bridgetown but it was great and to send Wellington dam overflowing was awesome and it will be rarer sight in the future with the lower rainfall, as it is it's been a long time since it has overflowed. The rapids in the photo were roaring and the noise kept waking me as it was quiet except for the water noise.

[Cuppa]

Thanks for the pics, brought back some memories. We spent 10 days camped on the Blackwood at Alexandras Bridge. Your last pic is how I recall the river. Used the camp spot as a base to explore from. Very pleasant. Didn’t catch any fish despite trying (normal!) Lots of local tracks to explore on our bikes, & went to the Nannup Music Festival just up the road to see Michelle Shocked. Where are the gnomes? Wife would’ve loved them.

EDIT: Why is it whenever I attach a pic I get both the pic & a thumbnail of the pic? I’m sure that never used to happen. Is very irritating.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=49115&stc=1

[93patrol]

The gnome are in ferguson valley out near welly dam.

The nearest town is actually Dardanup and there is well over 10000 gnomes there now from all over the world. If your ever over this way again cuppa I would be more than happy to take you and your mrs up there for a look

[Cuppa]

I was impressed when I read 1000 gnomes, then I realised you wrote 10000 gnomes!

Thanks, have no idea when we’ll be over that way again but it is on the ‘to do list’. In particular we’d like to get over to SW WA again for wildflower season. Prior to going over there I always thought the whole wildflower thing was a bit ‘namby pamby’ more suited to old farts who like to drive around going “Oooh” & “Ahhh” from behind their vehicle windows, rather than getting their zimmer frames out & leaving the vehicle. Once there ourselves, we realised that the term ‘wildflowers’ really undersells what is actually there & even though we were not there in ‘wildflower season’ we were blown away with what we found. I had no idea that the South West is one of the world’s top biodiversity ‘hotspots’ & even though we had little idea of what we were looking at just the huge variety of flora was breathtaking & truly good to know that such places still exist. I reckon those bright yellow ‘Christmas trees’ we saw everywhere were my favourites, making for some phenomenal landscapes when mixed with huge boulders & shorelines. Guess we’ll have to bring a gnome with us when we come. :)

[happygu]

Love the gnomes ..... at first I thought it was a whole heap of rubbish, and thought that is pretty ordinary, and then I opened the picture up ..... much better

[Stropp]

yes that pic only shows a few gnomes, they are everywhere there, when i first went they were a few hundred but they have multiplied exponentially and now cover a lot of ground and are starting to make their way into the farmers paddock.