The Queen of Sheba

With a trip title of the Queen of Sheba, it had to be a good trip. And it was. I wonder how many people rejected the trip on the basis that the Stirlings in early September would be wet, cold and miserable?? Well it was warm ,sunny and fantastic. We saw a total of 31 species of orchids, including the Queen of Sheba, that elusive orchid we’ve been searching for for years.

We had a fantastic orchid tour with Ayleen from the Stirling Range Retreat on the first morning and that made us extremely enthusiastic. We had to keep dragging Ute away from her Zebra orchids. We climbed Mt Trio that afternoon to admire the Stirlings from above. The next day we did a lowland walk (after a very late start having been diverted by orchids en route) where Ann spotted the scarlet banksia in flower.

Then it was time to climb a significant peak, so Talyuberlup was our choice. It started off as a steep walk and finished as a challenging scramble, but what views from the top. Craggy and spectacular. And energetic enough to reward ourselves with a trip to the Lily Windmill for the most delicious Dutch coffee and cake.

By this stage the group seemed hooked on bagging peaks, so we couldn’t leave without doing the highest- Bluff Knoll. Although a longer climb, it is a good path all the way to the top.

That last afternoon, when we had the first rain of the trip, Peter and I took a wander down a nearby track, and there we we were rewarded with the butterfly spider orchid.

On our last night the much needed rain tipped down, but we were cosy in our heated cabins with copious amounts of food and wine. Even the loss of power wasn’t able to deter our usual evening feast.