Table of Contents
Mount Lesueur National Park
Boh Djinoong Quabba
Mount Lesueur National Park is one of the world bio diversity hotspots as a result of of its severely impoverished soil and the unforgivingly low rates of phosphorous. 900 flora species grow here – 10% of WA’s flora. These are the species that are known too – it is highly likely that others exist in the dense bush that no-one has yet found. It has seven species of Declared Rare Flora. In late Winter to Spring, it erupts into a rainbow of colour and you can see rare orchids and several varieties of kangaroo paw as well as many other beautiful plants.
Flora and Fauna
As well as the flowers, there are 52 species of reptiles (41 lizards and 11 snakes) – including legless lizards. I didn’t think they existed – When is a snake not a snake – when it is a legless lizard?! I’m glad we didn’t spot one. There are many birds here too, if you have eyesight sharp enough to spot them.
Tips for Future Travellers
The best time to come is really mid August to the end of September. Even this late in the season though, there is still plenty to see. Allow half a day to explore the park fully and enjoy the walking trails.
Wear covered shoes!
The park has an 8km loop trail and an 18km sealed loop drive. Look out for the signs when you drive a few kilometres north of Jurien Bay and turn into the Jurien East Road, then left into Cockleshell Gully Road and look for a right turn to the trails. Don’t follow your sat nav – it takes you to the end of the loop road instead of the beginning!
Foodie Firsts
Lunch at the Centre Break Beach Stay Boutique Hotel in Greenhead was a delight – the freshest of smashed avocados, tomatoes and feta cheese with mint and lemon juice on sour dough toast was just the job..
Sandy Cape/Jurien Bay
Sandy Cape was a lovely place to stop off on the coast for a walk. this is a safe swimming/snorkelling beach and you can sandbord here too, if you feel like it.
Jurien Bay runs sea lion tours and has a sky dive facility for the really adventurously minded. It also has a Lobster farm and a restaurant called the Lobster Shack which I am told by fellow travellers is great – although expensive. We didn’t have time to try it – yet another place where we cold have spent an extra day.
Learning the Lingo
Boh Djinoong Quabba – “Look way out from this high place and feel good about where you have been”. This is really is an unusual place and may not have been here if the Coal Mining Development planned in the 1990s had taken place – public pressure saved the park, fortunately,
Glad I Packed
A fly net.
