Tozers Bush Camp, Bremer Bay

Tozers Bush Camp is a wonderful little patch of bush, surrounded by farmland, on the road to Bremer Bay. We were drawn to visit the place because of their now-famous orchid tours including the highly sought-after Queen of Sheba, Thelymitra speciosa, which we saw. But the place is so much more than a couple of admittedly spectacular orchids. We were so taken by the place that I've dedicated a whole blog post to highlight some of the wonderful flowers that we saw when were there in late August this year.

Some sort of flame pea, Chorizema sp. Early morning and everything was covered in dewy droplets.

There is a small stand of scarlet Banksia, Banksia coccinea, in one corner of the property.

The striking shape of Lambertia inermis flowers.

Tozers Bush Camp is a small patch of bush, privately owned by Robert Tozer. I'm not sure exactly how big it is, but is a rectangle perhaps roughly 2.5km by 1km in size, or thereabouts. There are numerous unpowered camping sites radiating out from a wonderful communal camp kitchen. They have all the essentials like toilets, showers, power in the camp kitchen, a TV, stoves for cooking. During the spring wildflower season they have daily tours run by a resident botanist for those interested in orchids and wildflowers. The tours start at 10 am in a mini bus and go for as long as people want (longer if there are photographers on board...guilty!). Of course, you can also just strike off on one of the many trails around the property and find your own treasures. 

We loved these guys, the little Prostrate Banksias, or Banksia gardneri. The flowers grow out of the ground, how weird!

Little blue thing, I'm sorry I've forgotten your name...[UPDATE: Chamaescilla sp.]

One of the most fascinating plants in my opinion were the corky honey myrtle, or Melaleuca suberosa. They are so weird, I loved them! They are a small shrub, not much taller than half a metre, but with a profusion of bright pink flowers...coming straight out of the corky, woody branches! They do have leaves, but they are towards the tips of the branches.

From a distance it looks like they have bright pink arms, and up close its fascinating to see how the buds burst from within the wood. Apparently the species is common in heathy habitats in the Albany to Esperance areas of Western Australia. Certainly, there were lots of them in full flower at Tozers Bush Camp when we were there.

The pink 'arms' of Melaleuca suberosa, the corky honey myrtle.

Detail: Melaleuca suberosa flowers bursting through the corky bark of the branches.

Of course, they have lots of orchids as well. On the day that we did the orchid tour we saw a full 22 species of orchid, including the Queen of Sheba. It was almost an orchid overload...almost. I've included a select few that we saw, minus the Queen of Sheba which is the subject of a previous post.

In summary, if you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Bremer Bay, Fitzgerald River National Park, or even Albany, you must take a short detour and visit this wonderful place...

This King Spider orchid, Caladenia pectinata, has a had a visitor for the night. Both the orchid and the bee are still covered in morning dew and the bee is only just beginning to wake up from deep sleep...

Such delicate colours and patterns! The southern curly locks orchid (Thelymitra uliginosa) is named after the curly shape of the leaf at the base of the stem.

Hammer orchids are one of those cool, characteristically Western Australian orchid groups. The labellum is shaped like a female wasp and is delicately hinged, so that when the male grabs the labellum and tries to fly off with it, he is catapulted on to the column holding the pollinia, thus receiving a pollen package to transport to the next orchid. (The Warty Hammer orchid, Drakaea livida).