Sunday, 22 August
While the road distance we'd pencilled in for Sunday wasn't that far, the day's ramblings would, according to theory, have taken us through the heart of the W.A. wildflower country, and there were likely to be a number of diversions, extrapolations and other opportunities to look at and photograph the feral flora. That's feral in a nice sense, folks.
Our experiences over the preceding couple of days might have discouraged anyone who was less than a dedicated follower of flora, and we didn't quite fit into that category ourselves (well, I definitely didn't, and Madam is sitting on the cusp between dabbling dilettante and dedicated follower) but we had the time and the inclination to take our time looking.
Whether we had the energy to pursue the interest to the full remained to be seen.
The other consideration was that we needed to reach out evening destination by around five so we could pick up the key to the chalet at the Council-operated caravan park from the local roadhouse. I wasn't exactly sure where that deadline had come from, or whether it actually existed, but the prospect of being locked out of the accommodation in close to freezing conditions in a small town in the West Australian hinterland didn't appeal at all.
Still, the first stop on the itinerary was obvious. It was the first day of the Wildflower Festival at Mullewa in the heart of the wildflower country, and conveniently about half way between Geraldton and Morawa. Not that we were necessarily going straight to Mullewa without passing Go or taking 200 pictures of wildflowers, you understand. From the time we were on the road it was a case of cruise below the speed limit, keep your eyes peeled and stop where necessary.