Word: parkes
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...kidding? Look at me. I'm in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel. I have a view of Central Park. I'm living my dream. It would never have occurred to me that I would be able to have this lifestyle. I get up every morning at 5 a.m. I get my cup of coffee, I go into my office, and I go back into the world of Plum. I leave the real world and move into my make-believe world. It just doesn't get any better than that...
...Kalbarri National Park, cut by the gorges of the Murchison River, borders the North West Coastal Highway. It contains more than 800 wildflower species, but they're not screaming out to the motorist flashing by at the 110-km/h limit. "We tell people, Stop the car, get out, walk into the bush and you'll be amazed at what you find," says Rae Edwards, owner of the Kalbarri Wildflower Centre. A big part of her job is teaching people how to look. "If you see a bird or bee on a bush, it's a clue there are flowers...
...Inside the park, things are smaller, often concealed. "It's impossible to get landscapes from them," Edwards says. As if in confirmation, an elderly couple walk by, the man clutching a camera with lenses that would intimidate a sports photographer, his wife holding pen and note-book. "It grows on you," Edwards says, nodding toward the determined visitors. "To addiction stage. Find a flower you don't know and you won't go to bed until you've identified...
...There are many threatened species in the park, and the drought isn't helping. The ground is poor in nutrients-"Dead soil, bottomless sand, really," says Edwards, "but great for natives"-and with barely 25 mm of rain so far (against last year's 125), the threat intensifies. Edwards points to a pink Verticordia. One book says it's common over a fairly wide range, but "it only grows here, despite what the guide says." The featherflower is tiny, fragile, exquisite. Not many people have seen one. It's easy to understand how the addiction might start...
...With his graying hair, trim moustache and park-ranger look, Boyle is a soothing presence. The one-time carpenter and technical college teacher has been at Yiyili for nine years. Although many first-year graduates have passed this way on an adventure, several experienced teachers have made long-term commitments to the school of 60 students. The word is that Boyle's longevity, persistence and calm temperament-together with the leadership of board chairman Norman Cox-explain much of the school's success. Boyle, who witnessed a long, slow decline, senses that things may have turned around for indigenous people...