We’ve always wanted to visit Western Australia and to escape winter we decided to spend 2 months there. We left home on January 13 and arrived in Perth by way of New York, Beijing, and Singapore on January 16. To get over jet lag and to acclimatize to the warmer climate we spent our first five nights in Treetops Cottage nestled in gardens in the town of Kalamunda.
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| Treetops Cottage |
Our prime reason for visiting Western Australia was to search for the state's rare and endangered wildlife. An unexpected surprise awaited us at Treetops. A family of Western Brown Bandicoots, locally called Quenda, were living in the garden and had become quite accustomed to human visitors. Normally nocturnal and very secretive, Bandi, as we came to refer to mom (or maybe it was dad) and her offspring, Coot, would scoot around the garden paths during the day giving us great views.
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| Bandi (L) and Coot (R) |
Our hosts, Nancy and Mick, had a bird feeder hanging from the balcony. It attracted not your everyday variety of birds but colorful parrots like these beautiful Galahs! Not everyone likes Galahs as they are very common and tend to raid farmers' fields, but I can’t think of too many gaudy pink birds that come to a bird feeder.
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| Galah |
In the evening Laughing Kookaburras could be heard gathering in the nearby Eucalyptus trees preparing to roost for the night. Laughing Kookaburras are not native to Western Australia and were brought here by those missing their raucous laughter. As a child, I remember singing an Australian nursery rhyme written in 1932 by Marion Sinclair. I still remember the lyrics in the first verse:
“Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!”
They have taken up residence in Western Australia and unfortunately hunt native reptiles and small mammals.
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| Laughing Kookaburra |
The next morning we set off early to visit nearby John Forrest National Park. Established in 1898 it is the oldest National Park in Western Australia and the second oldest in Australia. Along one of the park roads, we saw our first Western Grey Kangaroos. We later discovered that they are very common around the park’s tavern.
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| Western Grey Kangaroos |
The following day we returned to John Forrest National Park to hike its longest trail, the Eagle View Trail, which passed through varied vegetation types, including heath, open wandoo woodlands and mixed forest of jarrah and marri, all species of eucalyptus.
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| Marc on the Eagle View Trail |
We met a local woman on horseback and who told us about a wildlife sanctuary near Chidlow that we should visit. When we returned to Treetops Cottage, I went online and found the sanctuary the woman was talking about. It’s called Karakamia and was only 36 minutes away! I also found out from their website that they do spotlight tours on Friday and Saturday nights. I contacted them and was able to join tonight's tour! We met our guide Mark, and he gave us an introduction to the reserve, named for the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (Karak), one of the three species of black cockatoo that inhabit the property. It was established in 1991 by Martin Copley, an Australian philanthropist who became rich in the UK by selling extended warranties on electronics. He put his money to good use by purchasing land and creating sanctuaries. Sadly he passed away at the age of 74 but has left quite a legacy. To learn more about the reserve and how you can help go to:
To protect Australia’s small to medium mammals, sanctuaries have to be fenced to keep introduced predators, mainly feral cats and Red Foxes out and native animals in. The fences needed to be buried to prevent animals from burrowing under and high enough to keep predators from jumping over. Bait treated with 1080 poison is widely used, but it’s controversial. It kills non-native species, but native species are immune. Four main species have been reintroduced to the site: Tammar Wallaby, Quenda, Woylie and Common Brushtail Possum. As dusk descended, the Quendas began to emerge and then the Woylies! I had never heard of a Woylie before. These critically endangered marsupials used to inhabit a much broader range, but predation by Red Foxes and feral cats have taken a huge toll. The population has been reduced from 225,000 to only 12,000 to 18,000 in the past 15 years! They are nocturnal and forage primarily for underground fungi (truffles), but also feed on tubers, bulbs, and seeds. To be so close to such a rare animal was thrilling but at the same time sobering. Thanks to organizations like AWC, this species has a chance at survival.
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| Woylie |
On Sunday, January 20, we met up with our friend Sue. We had first met Sue in 2014 on a trip to Wrangel Island off Russia’s Chukotka Coast. It was great seeing Sue again and she graciously offered to be our tour guide for the day. It was very hot so we headed to Cottesloe Beach, the most famous beach near Perth.
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| Cottesloe Beach |
After we toured the nearby port city of Fremantle which recently underwent a revitalization project. It’s now a lively tourist destination with museums, universities, shops, and cafes. Fremantle is also renowned for its well-preserved historic buildings and streetscapes. We ended our tour at Kings Park overlooking the Swan River and the city of Perth. The park was officially opened on August 10, 1895, and protects 900 acres of native bushland.
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| View of Perth from Kings Park |
Our 2-month trip to Western Australia was off to a great start. We had already seen five species of native mammals, hiked in the bushland and met up with our friend Sue. Stay tuned for more adventures Down Under!
We hope all is well with everyone.
Peggy and Marc
Our route map:
Our route map:
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