Nambung is about 200km north of Perth and an interesting place to stop and wander through. I recommend walking and not driving through, you see so much more and it’s a lot more peaceful.
Take an umbrella if you visit in the wet season though, there can be sudden weather changes and the only shelter from the rain is the discovery centre right back at the entrance.
There’s a lot of same same photos of this area. But some of the more interesting ones I’ve seen have been light painting and astrophotography shots. I’ll get there one night for the star shoot.
If you go up the Brand Hwy, then you would have seen these pure white sand dunes off to the right. They run almost right up to the highway and are hard to miss.
The shire has been kind enough to create an official parking area in front of them as many people stop each day and wander over the traffic into the dunes.
There’s dunes as far as you can see so it’s a crazy spot to take photos. Take some sunnies because not only is it bright, but the sand can whip up with the wind and blow into your eyes pretty easily.
There’s some nice flowers and a few native fruits around the dunes if you hunt around.
In this rainy September, I visited Mingenew and the Coalseam Conservation Park to see the wildflowers again. This is the second time I’ve been and it’s a mission to get there from Perth.
About 4.5 hrs north of Perth, the conservation park is a concentrated area of wildflowers that carpet the hills. We’ve been staying in Eneabba, but this time found a campsite in the park – Miners. We’ll be using that next time as it’s right in the park.
The flowers are worth a visit, once in your lifetime if you can make it – do the trek. It really is spectacularly stunning to see rolling hills of everlastings. Get planning!
This time I took the zoom and macro lenses and spent a bit of time trying to capture the amazing views and some footage of the flowers in the breeze. It would be a great night time shoot under the moonlight. This September has been wet and there are some shallow water crossings that are a bit of fun. Ruts can develop in the middle of the unpaved crossing so it pays to walk it first.
If you get a chance, head to Miners in the park and walk east upstream. It seems to be a little less popular with visitors and we found some flowers that weren’t in other locations. It also has a shallow stream flowing along the very visible iron and sand deposits in the embankments. Geologists do group tours there, that tells you something.
It’s worth a full day to just wander slowly and take it in. There’s a lot of people that rush to the lookout, snap away and then head home. But if you take your time, there’s so much to see. Peregrine falcons do hunt the cliffs and I’ve been hoping to see one, no luck yet. I did spot one of my faves though, the crested pigeon.
If you take the Mingenew exit, you pass by a crazy escarpment that looks like something out of South Dakota.
We went up to Eneabba and stayed in the Western Flora Caravan park for the night. The is the third or fourth time we’ve stayed there and it does the job.
It’s a cheap, no fuss park where prices are reasonable, the hot water isn’t on all night and the donga rooms are just big enough to fit two adults. It’s minimal and a great place to stop if you need a place to crash while on the road.
Eneabba is 280km or so north of Perth and for many phone service providers, it’s a signal blackspot unless you’re on Telstra, so download your map and directions before you enter the area.
It’s Yamatji country and the scrub is described as kwongan, sandy soil, species-rich temperate shrubland. It’s the beginning of the wildflower area up north and you can wander around the caravan park and see some nice ones.
The yongkas (kangaroos) love this area and the caravan park is handy for them with all of the tracks / roads cut through and around it. They’re wandering the park every morning it seems, along with the rabbits, native birds and lots of other animals. I’ve seen echidnas there sometimes.
This morning was a wet September / Djilba morning and the kangas were feeding on new leaves off the park shrubs. Faces were wet and joeys were peeping out of the pouches. They are pretty friendly and will let you get within a couple meters.
If you have a chance, head up there and stop over at Western Flora.
Last year I had the chance to test out the Rivian electric ute. It’s a beautiful thing.
Mevco have the license for national distribution (with McLaren) for commercial vehicles and indicated there were no clear plans to service the consumer market.
Rivian is keeping that card up their sleeve for later, as they have indicated many times they’ll be coming to Australia in the future.
I’ve always admired Rivian and their philosophy on creating a sustainable product that’ll shift this world from fossil fuel consumption. They have continued to iterate on consumer feedback and research to produce products to that not only out-perform the others but are a pleasure to drive.
When they eventually land in Australia for the consumer, I expect they’ll be around the $130k mark. I tested these demo vehicles that Mevco has setup for commercial trials around their local test track. They’re selling these to Mining companies preconfigured with a bunch of gear.
They’re stylish from all angles and the cabin is premium with a mix of fabric, leather and wood. It’s levels above a Tesla which feels more like a low level market sedan in comparison.
Later this year the quad-motor will be available in the US and will output power and torque up to 764kW and 1624Nm. They’re leaping ahead of the major manufacturers.
With a range of 600km and the ability to plug in 240v power tools, this is a portable power station for tradies. Once we solve the charging in the outback issue, it will be the end of the diesel cruisers.
They will need some adjustment for Aussie roads though, especially the corrugations. I drove the white vehicle around the basic track and it was a beast. The most impressive action was through the deep sand. Beach drivers in Australia will love these as they just have limitless power. I felt confident of being able to just rock and power out of pretty much any bog situation.
I loved the interior, UI of the screen and crazy amount of digital controls. The storage and ability to lift the suspension are also great. I’d still like to be able to swap out that front face plate though. With some decent tires, lift and some front protection, this would be a serious beast off road.
At the time, Mevco were testing some in the Pilbara so the results in the heat, dust and salt will be interesting to learn about.
If they were available I’d buy one. Have you driven one or are you an owner?
