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| Metcalfes walking track, Forster and Taree - Credit: Debby McGerty/DPE |
6) Crowdy Bay National Park
Best time to visit: September to November.There’s no better picnic spot than one that’s surrounded by forest and flowers, and that’s exactly what you’ll come across at Kylies Hut in Crowdy Bay National Park – just an hour south of Port Macquarie. Settle down in a shady glen beside paperbarks and sheoaks, and after lunch wander the Metcalfes Walking Track. Not only will you likely spot a local koala or eastern grey kangaroo that call this area home, but you’ll stroll past a rainbow of wildflowers, attracting flocks of nectar-loving birds. Sadly, the Kylies Hut you’ll find is a rebuild; the rustic home of novelist and journalist Kylie Tennant in the late 1960s burned down in the 2019–2020 bushfires and only the foundations survived.
7) Blue Mountains National Park
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| Wildflowers at Wentworth Falls to Murphy's Glen via Ingar campground, Wentworth Falls - Credit: Stephen Alton/DPE |
With World Heritage-listed rainforests and some of the most famous views in the country, the Blue Mountains is known for its natural beauty. A hike in spring will also have you walking through a sea of colourful wildflowers. On the Lockleys Pylon walking track near Leura, past the eucalypt forests and sandstone cliffs, you’ll encounter lambertia shrubs that spike up with the red flower known as the ‘mountain devil’. If the conditions are right, you can also see pink flannel flowers. From Blackheath, the easy Fairfax Heritage walking track opens up to forests of peppermint and scribbly gums, and in early summer, vibrant red waratahs.
8) Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden
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| Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, St. Ives Credit: Ku-ring-gai Council |
St Ives’ Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden is part-natural bushland, part-garden. Visitors exploring the free, 124-hectare area can spot wildflowers in their natural habitat on bush trails or in the gardens closer to the visitor’s centre. Although August’s boronia and wax flower blooms make it the most spectacular month to visit, there is almost always something flowering. Visit in winter to see bottle brushes at their best, and in October to November to see the garden’s orchids and acacia. To check the bloom schedule, call two weeks before your visit and the garden staff can tell you where to find specific flowers. If you want to take the colour of the bush home, stop by the Wildflower Nursery, which sells locally occurring, flowering plants.
9) Muogamarra Nature Reserve
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| Spring wildflowers at Muogamarra Nature Reserve, Cowan - Credit: Elinor Sheargold/DCCEEW |
Muogamarra Nature Reserve is one of Sydney’s best-kept secrets, mostly because it’s only accessible for a short time each year. The reserve, just to the north of Cowan and sandwiched between the Hawkesbury River and Berowra Creek, is open for just six weeks, when the land is decorated with over 900 species of rare wildflowers. Journey through the bush spotting old-man banksias, native orchids, angophoras and pink boronias, with dreamy views of the river in between. If you’re lucky, you may spot an echidna or wedge-tail eagle or hear the intriguing sounds of a lyrebird. Ensure you book early, the reserve is only open to travellers on guided or self-guided tours and it can sell out quickly.
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