Wanneroo Hash visits Loaring Place B&B

 A group from the Wanneroo Hash House Harriers visited on the weekend. We took them for some walks, tastings and lunches in the region.

 We visited the Ellensbrook Homestead that fortunately was saved by firefighters during the November 2011 fire that devestated Margaret River. The house was built in 1857 and has been restored (http://www.margaretrivervista.com/ellensbrookhomestead.html). 

This is the walk to the Meekadarabie Falls. The fire has killed many trees but they many suckering from the bases and will re-grow. The boardwalk around the falls was burnt but is being rebuilt and will re-open shortly.

Margaret River has lots of walks laid out for visitors. There are thee walks from the Carters Road car park and this walk is called The Pines. It goes through along the Rails to Trails path for a while then through a majestic old pine plantation with magnificent pine trees but also lots of really tall karri and marri.

 

Margaret River in Flow

The river called the Margaret River is flowing beautifully. It is only a 20 minute walk from Loaring Place B&B. Bella loves water and immediately jumps in for a taste and a splash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smiths Beach and Canal Rocks

Visited Smiths Beach. Bella loved running through the sand and splashing in the creek. There were about 30 surfers in the water.
On the way we did some tastings at Credaro cellar door. It was Virgin Block but now run by the Credaro family who are largely grape growers in the region. Their wines are very young but pleasant. The building is very good and has a magnificent outlook.
 

Then had lunch at Lamonts at the Smiths Beach Resort. Actually we didn't feel like a large meal so sat in the patio of the deli also run by Lamonts. Pam had a really yummy toasted sandwich with goats milk cheese and spinach. I had a great steak pie.
 

Visited Canal Rocks. This is spectacular coastal scenery and great watching the waves crash onto the rocks

Sunset at the mouth of the Margaret River

Sunset at the mouth of the Margaret River is always a spectacle.

Two Leek Orchids. The Slender Leek Orchid and an unknown yellow Leek Orchid.  In a patch that was burnt last year.

First Caledinia orchids for 2011

First cowslip orchid for the year. Quite a lot are now suddenly popping up.

First spider orchid seen this year. This was on the Leavesley's block that was burnt last summer.

To the global climate warming sceptics out there!

I think you would agree that following three examples indicate that in the SW of Western Australia, temperatures have been rising.  The long term linear trend is a bit misleading in that it suggests that temperatures have been rising for a long time.  That is incorrect.  If you look at them all you will see that the major increase occurred from 1970.

Now that trend might not alarm you, but you will have to admit that the trend needs to go down rapidly to get back to pre-1970 levels. 

As a sceptic are you going to say that the trend does not exist.  Maybe the measurements that the BOM have in their data bases have all been doctored in one great conspiracy. 

Are you going to say that in 30 years time maybe it will come back to pre-1970 levels.  We don’t know of course. If it does, we can at least say that for the next 20 years things are going to be about the same before we get to cooler and wetter conditions in the SW.

Now there is apparently some fairly basic atmospheric physics that can calculate the greenhouse effect that the increase in CO2 levels produces, and, I am told that these calculations suggest that the temperature increases in the SW are in the correct order of magnitude.  There are also some fairly basic calculations that can attribute a major proportion of the recorded CO2 increase to the increased usage of carbon being burnt by anthropomorphs.

OK, it might be some weird coincidence that the temperature trends from Leeuwin, Naturaliste and Katanning are in parallel with the CO2 trend from Moana Loa.

Some sceptics appear to suggest that this increase is a natural, geological phenomenon and nothing to be alarmed about and that the climate will revert back to an interglacial going into a glacial period sometime in the next few thousand years.  Sceptics refer to the European warm and cold patches in the medieval period and the Little Ice Age, as evidence of natural climate variability.  The cause(s) of this variability is not fully understood, with theories of changes in the earth’s magnetism and changes in solar activity among the postulates.  As we do not yet know the causes of those events, we cannot as yet find those causes in the present global warming.  That these events caused global warming (as opposed to local events over a global scale that averaged out) is also open to debate.

It would thus be very good if the sceptics could come up with a cause for the trends as shown in the graphs. If there is no relationship between anthropomorphic activity and global warming, then we should see a disjunct soon.  CO2 is predicted to continue to rise with the increased burning of carbon by India and China not the least.  But temperatures should start to fall soon, if it is a short term cycle.

I’ve got charts for the rainfall of these areas, and there is a one to one correspondence in the temperature trends and the rainfall trends. 

Finally, the SW of WA is just a small part of the globe.  What a funny coincidence that everywhere else that you look, there are similar trends.  Where increased temperatures increase humidity, then of course there will be an increase in rainfall, or as in parts of Antarctica, increased snow fall.  Where increased temperatures increase aridity, as in the SW, then this is what we see here.

So I look forward to some solid geological data from the sceptics that proves that this is a short term, natural trend that will quickly revert back to pre-1970 levels in the next 10-20 years.  Good luck!

Kangaroos on the lawn

A kangaroo family dropped by this morning for a feed and a drink. Their joey was in the bushes to the right and was too shy to come out. The big male had quite a long drink. They would really like to get to the grape vines but I have bird wire all around them now so they are protected. We have 4 bird baths around the house that are used all the time by the fly catchers and honey eaters that are in the forest.

Summer Cicadas have come out

You know it is summer when cicadas start ticking.

Wildlife

The Margaret River region is renowned for beautiful landscapes featuring unique flora. Loaring Place has a variety of beautiful flowers in the peaceful bush surrounding the Bed and Breakfast - nature on your doorstep.