“Dunes, sacred grounds for native peoples since our origins
are imperative barriers protecting the land against the
onslaught of sand and salt sea air.”

These ecosystems offer distinct and pristine primary, secondary and tertiary dunes together with a classical distribution of plant colonisers, barrier zones and wandering dune breakthroughs.

This makes our beach zone and it’s landward vegetation ideal for both a quantitative and qualitative study of dune succession as well as species biodiversity.

The expansive beach tidal exposure here makes for some fascinating and significant studies in fauna and epifauna, flotsam and jetsam that students can here realistically engage in and further corroborate through informative 3D specimen charts and stereo microscope TV projection links back at our museum.

Subtended by the Rocky shore a sheltered enclave has enabled a unique relic of coastal rainforest to survive. Here the interaction between two ecosystems is classically depicted.

How much do we owe our existence as terrestrial beings to the sand binder spinifex and its entourage of succulents, Coastal wattle and dune trees we cannot or perhaps don’t bother to imagine. It is in this savage primal environment that ironically some of the most beautiful flowers bloom such as the purple Pig face and the strikingly yellow climbing guinea flower.

On the tidal fringe of the sand you will get the chance to meet and acknowledge the strange and fascinating creatures of the flotsam.

Next - Coastal relic forest