Gumboot wade

Plots Fire Trail was my last to investigate –  a definite wade rather than a walk. It was the wettest yet, but here the banksias were perhaps the most magnificent and plentiful.

I have learnt that there are hundreds of different banksias, especially in Western Australia, often extremely restricted in their choice of habitat.

I hazard a guess that the millions of shrubs here are Heath Banksias, ericifolia, feathery-leaved, bright red-tipped, overwhelmingly prolific in the gift of their beauty.

Today for the first time I saw two samples of a different Banksia species, serrata, I think. This whole plain is regenerating after fires so perhaps this species does not take so well to fire.

The last generation stands much taller, as bare dead trunks, but the regrowth at their feet is vigorous.

And colourful, bright and cheery with many warm tones, above the black mud and stagnant water I am slogging through.

I can hear lots of frogs but of course I see none. The watery trail is, however, full of what I think are frogspawn, small islands of eggs that look like bubbles.

The young paperbarks keep catching my eye, with velvety new leaves masquerading as soft pink flowers.

My next walk I hope will not be such a wade, but I have learnt a lot about these swampy areas from the fire trails that I hope will not be needed for a long time, as so much energy has gone into the spectacular regrowth.