23 September - Wildflowers - Geraldton to Mullewa to Morawa

The rain and wind squalls stopped around 6 o'clock this morning allowing us to get an early start out of Geraldton to Mullewa to see if we could find the "wreath flowers". 

After checking in at the Information Centre we went to see the Rev John Hawes' church and museum.  Hawes was born in 1876 in England and trained as an architect.  He studied at the Lincoln Theological College following his conversion to High Anglicanism and ordained in 1903.  After his ordination he went to work in the London slums. He then worked as a missionary in the Bahamas where he rebuilt a number of churches which had been destroyed by a hurricane.  Two years later, he became a Catholic and was baptized in New York in 1911.  

Hawes studied in Rome and was ordained a Catholic priest and followed an invitation to come to Australia and arrived in Geraldton with plans for a new Cathedral already in his possession.  In 1916 he became the parish priest of Mullewa and he built the church that still stands today.  Hawes designed and built many beautiful churches and chapels thoughout the west.  
Convent of the Sacred Heart, Northampton.

Saint Mary in Ara Coeli
The beautiful inside view, St Mary Ara Coeli Catholic Church.
We followed the Hawes Trail through Mullewa and found the beautiful St Mary of Mount Carmel Church and his Priesthouse which is now the Hawes Museum - donation entry.

St Mary of Mt Carmel.

Hawes Museum

"The Priesthouse" - now the Hawes Museum.

Hawes sailed to the Bahamas in 1939 where, apart from building and designing many churches, he lived as a hermit.  Hawes died in 1956 aged 80.

Pindar is the area in the west to see the wreath flowers. We were astonished that they were in such a short section of the highway - and only in the rough sides of the graded highway in a section off the graded highway - approx 200 metres in length!   

The "uncommon" wreath flower.

The short stretch of Pindar road that produces the wreath flowers.

Fields of glorious wildflowers.
We then travelled through the wheat belt; the country towns are small with mining and industry long gone. Several "renovator's delights" are to be found as are cars long past renovating!


To celebrate life and landscape in the wildflower country a beautiful art project has been established to tell an intriguing array of stories from aboriginal "wars" to possums fighting for their lives from feral cats and foxes. Stretching across a distance of nearly 400 km from Dalwallinu in the south to Geraldton in the north and passing through Perenjori, Morowa and Mullewa, the sites highlight a diverse and fascinating range of themes and issues.

"Wildflower Country"
Aboriginal "war"





Tenindewa - one of the many isolated towns along The Wildflower Way.

The steel sculpture at Gutha Hall.


The second Preliminary Final between Richmond and Greater Western Sydney was on the radio - we needed to get to a telly!  So we pressed on towards Morowa to find a pub. And even though we've got a fridge full of fish - it's cold!  So we figured that fish and chips and a few beers at the pub for dinner would help to keep the publican in business. And we got to see the second half of the 2nd Prelim Final.








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