What I See with Peter Fiorenza: Going blooming mad over wildflowers in our own backyard

Spending a day in the wildflowers is the latest “to do” trend here in our Mid West.

If the myriad of social media posts is anything to go by, getting out into our hinterland and witnessing the blaze of natural floral colour is certainly taking our region by storm.

So I recently decided to head off with some family members on a wildflower adventure.

What could we achieve in a day? We thought maybe head to Mullewa, with a Tenindewa stop-off, before heading south to investigate the fascinating Coalseam Conservation Park near Mingenew.

Plans seemed almost thwarted with a shower of rain in Geraldton that morning but we crossed our fingers and I guess it worked, because the day was indeed a success.

To be quite honest, there are all sorts of wildflower varieties lining the roadside from here to Mullewa and everywhere in between.

But once you venture into the loop at Tenindewa, the benchmark is set. You could say the loop at Tenindewa was a case of Aladdin’s Cave meets Disneyland.

The canopy of pink, yellow and white everlastings create a magic carpet that carries you away and leaves you simply breathless. Couple this with the endearing historical story of the Tenindewa school, and your wildflower journey starts to take on some significance.

Before heading down to Coalseam, a quick drive into the little town of Mullewa was next. Wow!

From the moment we went through the railway crossing, it was apparent this was no normal day in the sleepy farming community.

The place was well and truly awake with what seemed like hundreds of people wandering the little streets, caravans of every size and shape and pictures and photographs of iconic wildflowers everywhere.

It turns out we had hit Mullewa on the opening day of Outback Bloom, a local festival celebrating wildflowers, right in the heart of wildflower country.

Impressed by what we saw in Mullewa, we eventually headed towards Mingenew and the Coalseam Conservation Park. You always hear stories of people neglecting to venture to places in their own backyard, despite others from elsewhere singing their praises.

Well, I and those with me had never been to Coalseam and didn’t really know what to expect. Was all the hype worth it?

After venturing through roads bordered by endless farmland and crops, a little road sign introduced us to something that blew my mind.

As the youngsters say ‘get around it’ — wildflower season is here.

It comprises of mountains of rocky sediment that is home to ancient fossils, geological rarities and remnants of a coal mine from the 1800s.

But the star of the show is the abundance of wildflowers that greet you at every turn of every track from the top of the escarpment to the creek at the base.

As the youngsters say “get around it” — wildflower season is here.