As our next planned stopping point was Jurien Bay we made our way cross country from Western Flora Caravan Park at Arrowsmith towards the coast. Initially we were on Highway 1 before turning onto the Coolimba-Eneabba Rd that took us across towards the coast where we joined onto Indian Ocean Drive (State Route 60). Along Coolimba-Eneabba Rd we stopped a couple of times to closely look at roadside vegetation. The first stop allowed to closely look at two types of Banksia (our favourite Aussie native plant).  The first was Banksia menziesii. It is only found in a 650km strip of land near the coast from the Murchison River, which enters the sea at Kalbarri, down to the town of Pinjarra, further south of Perth. We were really pleased to see some growing on the road verge.

The second was an even harder to find Banksia, the Banksia hookeriana, which only grows in the Eneabba area and has an equally stunning flower.

We continued on for about twenty more minutes before stopping again. This time we had spotted some plants of Dryandra sessilis var. sessilis, (now Banksia sessilis.)It was pleasing to see flowers in various growth stages. It was even more pleasing to see we weren’t the only ones enjoying the flowers.

We continued our drive, sadly part of it through rain showers. This meant when we arrived at Jurien Bay we were dodging rain as we quickly set up the caravan. No point in setting up the awning we decided. After lunch we stayed in the caravan until the rain stopped and the sun peeked through the clouds. We headed off along the beach for a short walk.This photo shows the town’s old and new piers.As we returned to the caravan park we noticed a lovely plant collection/garden bed along their fence. Amongst the many plants we found some more Banksias in flower and a few other native plants too. This startling Banksia ashbyi really stood out.

This one is a yellow form of Banksia praemorsa.

I think this one is also a Banksia praemorsa, but a rarer pink/yellow form. If it’s not someone may read this and be able to identify it for me.

We also admired two Grevilleas in the same garden area. Haven’t been able to put a name to this one.We weren’t the only ones attracted to this one either. I think this one is a Grevillea exposita.Back at the caravan we did some reading in preparation for the following day when we planned to visit the Pinnacles rock formations at Nambung National Park and also nearby Lesueur National Park, a very small park but with some unique flora.