Cape Arid is 123 km east of Esperance.

On the way to Cape Arid, we stopped at the small town of Condingup which was only established way way back in 1963!

Just out of Condingup, we found large numbers of orchids in a wetter area of the heath with several species. Bee orchid above.

Purple enamel orchids which had eluded us until today.

Lemon scented orchids

Cowslip orchid

The Yellow throated miner wondered what the fuss was about.

Ants’ nightmare – Drosera insectivorous plant mini forest.

Red leschenaultia

Roadside on Fisheries Road

Cape Arid National Park is a wildly beautiful and biodiverse area. Coastal sand heaths, mallee and low granite hills extend inland to woodlands dominated by saltbush and bluebush.

Creeping banksia (Banksia repens) at the eastern end of its range. It only grows on the south coast from Stirling Ranges to Cape Arid National Park.

Showy banksias

Thomas River cuts through some sand dunes and onto the beach at Yokinup Bay.

Yokinup Bay Beach

One good tern deserves another.

The sea was an amazing turquoise colour.

Tagon Coastal Trail features views over the wild coastline. The trail covers sections of granite around the headlands.

Brachycombe daisy on the headland walk.

View across Yokinup Bay from the Tagon Coastal Trail.

Views from a campground up on a hill.

We did another section of the long Tagon Coastal Trail from another park node. Dolphin Cove was named for the nearby headland that is shaped like a dolphin. The dolphins are carefree here – they serve no porpoise.

The kangaroos also enjoy the freedom of the bush and beach.

Coneflower closeup

Wedding bush with a well groomed small spider.

This plant flowers in the two colours on the same bush.

Carnaby’s cockatoos were active in the late afternoon

Slow drive out of the park in the failing light to avoid the wildlife.

One of the granite peaks that can be see from Fisheries Road back to Esperance. The water in the paddock is from the wild weather storms when we were in Albany.