Manea Park
Bunbury
Directions - Located ten minutes from the centre of Bunbury, Manea Park is sandwiched between the Bunbury Hospital and Bunbury Airport in College Grove. From Robertson Road, take the Somerville Road turn-off and drive all the way to the first roundabout. There is a small parking area next to the roundabout but be mindful not to block the access gates into the park. Take the middle gate and continue along until you find the information board that marks the start of the loop section.
The Hike - Manea Park is a place many hundreds of thousands of people would have driven past the entry for and not even known it was there. I am happy to admit that I was one of those people for quite a while, with this walk only coming on my radar thanks to my increased interest in wildflowers and orchids over the past couple of years. Given this park is located a short drive from my parents and sisters place in Funbury, it's odd that it took me so long to get out here.
In 2024 I decided to right that wrong, with not one but several trips over the course of the year, mostly coinciding with the numerous maintenance trips I was making to the Kingdom of Py. It was a fun routine every month or two, heading down on a Friday afternoon, taking in either the Island Point Reserve walk, or pop in at Manea Park to check out the wildflowers. This post is a combination of all of those trips but I'll mainly talk about a couple of visits, one on a cold and blustery afternoon in August, and a more pleasant visit where I took my mother for a walk here in September to show her all the wildflowers and orchids. The photos are from all throughout the year, so don't expect all the wildflowers shown here to be in bloom at the same time. My first visit was a late afternoon reconnaissance mission in June to check out what the place was like, and if it was worth coming back to write-up as a hike (spoilers but it was). On that short perusal I found a White Bunny Orchid along the edge of the track, which was actually one of the other paths you can explore that isn't the main loop I have mapped out.
This short excursion from the edge of one of the suburbs sandwiched between Bussell Highway and Bunbury Airport produced some fantastic remnant bushland, and it was much better than I had imagined. Excited to return when there were more species in bloom, the next opportunity came during an August visit, where I had planned to take my sister out on a training hike to the Kingdom. Deciding to photograph Manea Park in full this time, I ventured down on the Friday before and took the time to enjoy the experience. The forecast was for rain today but after dodging it at Island Point Reserve, I drove straight through a level three wiper cold front, before the skies cleared up and produced some beautiful sunshine as I entered Funbury. The car park is nothing of note, just a small patch of crushed limestone on the edge of a roundabout. Park near the gates but please don't block them, as they are needed for emergency access. There are three entry points to the park from here but to reach the loop walk, take the middle gate, speaking the Elvish word for friend to gain access.
Heading straight into the remnant bushland, you almost immediately forget about the road and suburbia, entering a closed in world of shrubbery and taller trees. The wide path guides you towards the start of the loop, where you will find the information shelter that tells you about the area. With the sun still shining through, and the chilly winter air carrying that lovely damp smell you get in the forest, I decided to walk in a clockwise direction. From the very start there was plenty to see, with Common Hovea, Common Brown Peas, Running Postman and a Silky Blue Orchid, a staple of the early season orchids. August is one of my favourite months of the year in Western Australia, with the forests of the South West starting to come alive after the winter rains, and that magical crossover period where you get a bounty of fungi and wildflowers. This first part of the loop that heads south east along the limestone path is one of the best spots for wildflowers and orchids, and I was walking very slowly through here to scan both sides of the path.
Be sure you stick to the path, as the orchids can easily be trampled and destroyed, as they only pop up for maybe 2-3 weeks of the year, so you don't know where they are the rest of the time. The view looking down the path at times has the green tunnel effect that I really enjoy in the Karri Forests further south of here, with the plants leaning into the path and providing a fun scene. It does eventually open up as you go along, with views looking either side into the open woodland that surprised me with how good it looked considering the surrounding land uses. Reaching the first turn in the triangle trail configuration, you arrive at a low lying area with lovely forest on one side, and thick Paperbarks on the other. The seasonally inundated section reminded me a lot of the Kingdom, so when I spotted some Hibbertia stellaris in early flower, that was the confirmation (they grow profusely in the swampy areas of the Kingdom). As I swept around the inundated area, there were more floral finds, with a Holly-Leaved Banksia, Donkey Orchids and a Banded Greenhood.