Day 179 Kulin (Buckleys Breakaway), WA

We have been wishing for warmer weather for what seems like months and finally it is with us.  Such a glorious day with a daytime temperature of 26 degrees from a low of 10 degrees this morning.  It was the perfect weather to go to Buckleys Breakaway and also to hunt down some wildflowers.

By eight o'clock we were in the car and heading out along "Tin Horse Highway" so named for the tin horses that are on both sides of the highway for a distance of around 10 kms.  They are really clever sculptures and I'm not sure if it was one individual person who came up with the designs or whether it was a community collaboration.  In any case the visitors to the area love them and many people stop to take photographs (us included!).  I liked the bucking horse the best.........

The "Tin Horse" trail ends at the turnoff to the Kulin Racecourse and as I mentioned yesterday the races are on here this coming weekend.  We were quite surprised at the "Sold Out" signs regarding the races but we were told the committee had to cap numbers because of catering logistics.  The racetrack is quite a distance from the town centre so I do understand their reasoning and it is apparently a very popular country race meeting with many people travelling the 250 odd kilometres from Perth to attend.  

As we were driving along the road towards Buckleys Breakaway we wondered what the township was that we could see in the distance.  Turns out that was the caravans/campers parked at the Racecourse!  There were literally hundreds of RV's.

 It was a very pleasant drive to Buckleys Breakaway that is an easy 70km from Kulin and is on the way to Wave Rock.  It was very easy to find the turn-off and there is  a terrific interpretive information board showing how erosion has cut through the orange laterite and formed white cliffs and gullies from the underlying clay.  It is a short easy walk into Buckleys Breakaway and covers a much area than I anticipated.  We spent around an hour wandering around and under the cliffs.  Wave Rock it is not, but it certainly has its own spectacular beauty.

Back in the car and we were on the hunt for wildflowers!  I had noticed a particularly beautiful blue flower on the drive to Buckleys so we were on the look out for it. It wasn't until I stepped out of the car to photograph this lovely flower that I noticed around half a dozen other spectacular wildflowers in the same area.  It is times like this that I really wish we were travelling with someone who could name them all.  I just have to be satisfied with photographing them....

The other thing we wanted to tackle today was the Macrocarpa Walk Trail that is just outside the town of Kulin.  It is a one kilometre circuit where you get to see the lovely flower of the Macrocarpa Eucalyptus when it is the right time of the year.  Fortunately we found one that was flowering just near the end of our walk and there are heaps of buds on the trees so it will be a spectacular show in a couple of weeks time.

We were home just after midday and I had already half prepared todays lunch of Korean Beef Lettuce Cups.  Gee they were delicious and healthy for the win....

Tomorrow we a booked into Mount Barker Caravan Park on advice from our friend Jane.  Our television died yesterday and as Mount Barker is only 30 odd kilometres from Albany we will drive there to pick up a new television.  This will be our third television in as many years.  It annoys me that 12v televisions are cheap and nasty and just do not last.  We are very careful with our television and take it off the frame when we are travelling and lay it on the bed so that it can't be damaged.  The good news.  Everyone of the televisions has fallen within the warranty period so they have simply been replaced!