Wildflower Wandering at Mt Emu

Day has broken clear and blue, a little chill on the sea breeze but great for walking. With the unseasonal deluge of late August we missed the wildflowers at the Marcus track in Noosa National Park. But maybe it's not too late for the Mt Emu track. Let's go see.

We take the entrance to the lower track and greet our beautiful country. It's a gorgeous morning, the light is gentle. We're going to head round the back of the mountain…well it's not really a mountain, more like a low rocky hill, and it's traditionally known as women's country.

Oh look here! In full bloom! I have no idea what it is but it's so pretty, a flush of tiny white blooms. And look there's a little dog rose! (Haaaa…big sigh, we're immersed already ).

The wallum wildflowers can be like little jewels in the chaotic mass of enmeshed growth. The hunt is on! 
This is wet land, water seeping from the hill above. We're walking around the base of the northern and western sides of the hill. It's hakea country, their fire blackened bare arms casting a sculptural backdrop to the tender and slender new spikes of grass trees. And everywhere the  new growth of the wallum glows in the morning light, shot through with small explosions of brilliant red bottlebrush.

Honeyeaters flit and warble. We hear a rainbow bee-eater trilling on the wing. Sprinkled through the grassy mesh the purple triangles of patersonia look like royalty. And see here…three pretty milkmaids all in a row.

A woody hakea pod opens its ochre heart to the warm morning sun. Across the track, the very photogenic banksia flower, singing with symmetry. We're in nature's garden.

It's always a pleasure to find the sweet pink four petals of boronia and there's quite a lot of it here.

It's fun to be able to name the flowers, though many are a mystery. There's a clump of philotheca, and tea tree, but then what are these others? There'll be a hunt through Stephanie Haslam's lovely reference book tonight (Noosa's Native Plants).

The track winds down to a rocky place where the small eucalypts grow. Their flowering time comes much later in the year. Water emerges from a slope of rock and seeps across the road. 

This spot always feels more intense. Above us, at the top of the hill, a rocky outcrop reaches into the blue.

Velvet green mosses take advantage of the seeping moisture on the rock face. Someone has left their mark on the rock as well. Maybe they know it's the age old symbol for Earth and all things in balance…or maybe it's a just a marker for bike riders.

We wander on. Out to our right the mass of vegetation has a soft gold tufted surface, and curling ferns in shady spots. I find a bloom of club rush right by the track.

We've come to a fork in the track. The swamp water drains out here. There's a track leading up to the top of the hill…looks wet and a bit of a climb. We're not into climbing are we? Nah. Maybe we turn around here. Oh, but what's this tiny little pink pea flower?  

The sun is well up now, and a cuppa sounds like a good idea. Back along the track we go. And just as we find our way to the end, there's a flash of yellow in the tree close by…the brilliant wing of the new holland honeyeater. Gorgeous!

To take this walk, go to the Noosa National Park entrance on Havana Rd East at Coolum High School (UBD Map 39 G2). There are two entrances…take the second. Follow the track to the right rather than going up the hill.