Noongar Seasons at Government House – Welcome to Kambarang

Welcome to Kambarang the ‘season of birth’, also known as the ‘second spring’ on the six season Noongar calendar.

Kambarang is a transformational time of year. Our Government House Gardens are full of new arrivals, and you’ll see families of ducklings enjoying the lake and lawn, and hear young ‘Koolbardies’ or magpies nesting in our tall trees.

This Noongar season runs through the months of October and November and is a time when landscapes and bushlands around Perth and the south-west come alive in an explosion of wildflowers and colour.

Blankets of white and pink everlastings or Rhodanthe chlorocephala grow naturally across Noongar country. This native Australian daisy is not only a photographer’s dream but also a vital part of the ecological chain for native bees and beetles, and a food source for kangaroos or ‘yongas’.

The everlastings are a feature at Government House during Kambarang, framed by the native smokebush or Conosperum sp., a shrub that is traditionally used in bush medicine. The centre of distribution for the smokebush is south-west Western Australia with more than 50 species in the genus.

The white woolly flowers of the Conospermum ephedroides species that is in our installation at Government House are often said to resemble plumes of drifting smoke and are being used in tribute to the crucial role that ‘fire’ plays in the annual regeneration of our native plants and shrubs.

We hope you enjoy the Noongar season of Kambarang at Government House.

View all Articles