Friends of the Porongurup Range

14/06/2026

🌿 The Friends of the Porongurup Range invite you to join us for a special Porongurup Centenary Evening celebrating 100 years of the Porongurup National Park.

📅 Friday 21 August 2026
📍 Karribank
1983 Porongurup Road, Porongurup WA 6324

🕢 Presentation commences at 7:30 pm and concludes at 9:00 pm.

Join us for an evening with Professor Kingsley Faulkner AM as he presents a fascinating insight into the region’s history and developments from the early 19th century to the present day.

Pioneers of Porongurup Presentation

• Original Aboriginal inhabitants.
• 1826–1926 Early European exploration and settlement.
• 1926 Inauguration of the Porongurup National Park, and the century that followed.

☕ Complimentary tea and coffee will be served after the presentation.

🎟️ The presentation is free, however places are limited and registrations are required.

Register here:
https://events.humanitix.com/pioneers-of-porongurup

———

🍽️ Dinner at Karribank – Make an Evening of It

For those wishing to make an evening of it, Karribank Restaurant will be open from 5:00 pm.

Restaurant bookings must be made directly with Karribank on 0408 882 200 no later than Friday 7 August 2026.

Please advise when booking that you are attending the Friends’ presentation, Pioneers of Porongurup.

———

✨ We hope you can join us for this special centenary event! 🌿

📷 Historic photo of Bolganup c. 1915 – Bolganup Homestead & Guesthouse.
Photo credit: Plantagenet Historical Society PP87-226.

📷 Photo of Professor Kingsley Faulkner AM speaking at his last presentation in April.

10/06/2026

🌿 Thank you to everyone who joined us for Social Sunday at Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve!

We were treated to a beautiful warm winter’s day, great company and a wonderful spread of food to share. It was lovely to spend time together, catch up with familiar faces and welcome new ones. ☀️

08/06/2026

What a great day at Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve! 🌿

It was a pleasure to welcome the Joey Scouts, Cubs and Scouts to the reserve and share a little of what makes this place so special. Thank you for your enthusiasm and curiosity. We loved having you visit! 😊

04/06/2026

🌿 Social Sunday – 7 June 2026 🌿

🕛 12 noon
🥗 Bring a plate to share

📍 Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve
326 Knight Road, Porongurup

For Social Sunday enquiries, contact Susie on 0428 854 110.

⸻

From member Bo Janmaat…

“I am taking portrait photos of Porongurup locals for my Porongurup National Park Centenary project.

If you would like to be part of this project and have your portrait taken, I will have my ‘bush studio’ set up at Twin Creeks Sunday 7 June at noon.

Please come along and we’ll take it from there.

If you can’t make it, please let me know and we’ll arrange something.”

Bo – 0408 640 199

20/05/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the invertebrate survey at Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve on Friday 🌿🐞

It was a beautiful morning in the bush, with a mix of sunshine and rain — classic Porongurup weather 🌦

We had such a great time sifting through leaf litter, using bug nets, and discovering the incredible tiny creatures living all around us. We had great success spreading the leaf litter out on the tables and carefully looking through it for all kinds of fascinating insects, spiders, and other invertebrates.

One of the best parts is looking through the magnifying glasses and seeing all the amazing details, patterns, and vibrant colours of the bugs we find.

A special thank you to Bo for running these wonderful surveys and sharing so much knowledge with us. We also loved the sieves Bo made for the survey — they worked brilliantly and made searching through everything even more fun and interesting.

Thank you as well to our youngest helper Lola, who did an amazing job helping collect bugs throughout the morning 🐞

We finished the morning with tea, biscuits, good conversation, and lots of new things learned along the way. Thanks again everyone for coming along and making it such a lovely day in nature 🌿

13/05/2026

🌿 Reminder — Coming up this Friday! 🐞

🌿 Join Us in the Bush!
📍 Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve, Porongurup
🗓 Fri 15 May 2026 | ⏰ 10am start at Twin Creeks Silver Shed

Hands-on invertebrate survey — leaf litter sifting & bug netting to discover local critters.

📩 RSVP: [email protected] | 0408 640 199

Hosted by Bo Janmaat | iNaturalist: lebobo

06/05/2026

🌿 Join Us in the Bush! 🐞

📍 Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve
326 Knight Rd, Porongurup

🗓 Friday 15 May 2026
⏰ From 10am

Come along for a hands-on invertebrate survey at several locations within Twin Creeks!

We’ll be:
🍂 Sifting through leaf litter with sieves
🪲 Using bug nets to gently tap bushes and discover hidden insects

It’s always exciting to uncover and closely observe the amazing critters that call this place home.

📌 Meet at the Twin Creeks Silver Shed at 10am, and we’ll head out from there.

🌦 What to bring:

* Closed shoes & bush-ready clothing
* Water & sun protection
* Be ready for “four seasons in an hour”!

⚡ Bonus: There’s a scheduled Western Power outage that day—no better excuse to unplug and get out into nature.

📩 Keen to join?
Email: [email protected]
Text: 0408 640 199

Hosted by Bo Janmaat
iNaturalist: lebobo

05/05/2026

What a fantastic planting workshop with Kevin Collins and Peter Luscombe — two true botanical legends 🌱✨
Held at Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve with the Friends of the Porongurup Range on Sunday the 3rd, it was a day full of learning, hands-on action, and community spirit.

There are so many photos to share, but here’s a little context to bring them to life 👇

We kicked things off with Peter tackling the massive pre-planting prep — removing topsoil to get the site ready for new growth. A big job, but essential groundwork for successful planting.

Next, with kids right at the heart of the action (and plenty of adults learning alongside them), Kevin guided us through propagating Grevillea fasciculosa, Grevillea pulchella, Grevillea trifida, and Grevillea diversifolia ssp. subtersericata — all from cuttings! 🌿
Just wait until you see how many we managed to propagate!

Then it was time to head outside for the planting session 🌾
We learned how to plant a variety of natives including Banksia attenuata, Banksia repens, Banksia dryandroides, Dryandra armata, and several Hakea species like cucullata, oldfieldii, ceratophylla, lehmanniana, and trifurcata.
Some photos even show earlier plantings now thriving — a beautiful reminder of what these efforts grow into over time.

After all that hard work, we gathered at the Silver Shed for a classic sausage sizzle lunch 🌭 with all the extras — the perfect way to refuel and connect.

It was a day full of learning, laughter, and community. The kids had an absolute blast — whether getting their hands dirty or running around enjoying the space. We were also lucky to welcome some new faces (even traveling from Little Grove and beyond!), and we hope to see you all again soon.

Thank you to Kevin and Kathy Collins from the Banksia Farm, and Peter Luscombe, for all the hard work preparing for this. As a free event and an encouragement to learn and get outdoors, we love putting on these events and appreciate everyone who comes out to lend a hand and learn some fascinating facts about our beautiful native plants.

About the presenters:
Kevin Collins, known locally as the “Banksia Man,” is prominent in the field of botany, particularly as an inspiration for his extensive work with banksias; Kevin has cultivated all 79 species.
Kevin is recognized for his appreciation, promotion and conservation of Western Australia’s native flora and his contributions to botanical knowledge as a consultant and mentor.

Peter Luscombe is recognized for his knowledge of endemic plant species within the Southwest botanic region.
Peter is also an expert in native seed collection and dedicated to restoring bushland to bring life back to cleared landscapes through significant revegetation projects.

03/05/2026

30/04/2026

🌿 Social Sunday – Sunday 3 May 2026 🌿

Join us for our regular Social Sunday gathering at 12 noon at Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve.

Beforehand, from 9:30am to 12 noon, we’ll be hosting a community Planting Workshop with botanic legends Kevin Collins and Peter Luscombe. While children are especially encouraged, this is open to everyone and all extra helping hands are very welcome.

🥗 Bring a plate to share for lunch
📍 Twin Creeks Conservation Reserve
326 Knight Road, Porongurup

Members, non-members, families and friends are all warmly welcome.

📞 Queries: Susie – 0428 854 110