We saw a bit of wildlife up on the Tops – a rock wallaby, colourful finches (and heard many more birds), but the only ones we managed to capture were these:
A skink basking in sunlight.
And the shell of a cicada, still lodged to the tree.
The Tops – Flora and Moss
Some more pretty sub-alpine daisies – this time in a fetching shade of pink.
And an interesting monochrome moss on the gums. In fact, there were lots interesting mosses around, which I’ll post about soon.
The Tops – Bark Details
Rough (and voluptuous) bark.
Very stringy bark on a young tree.
The Tops – Sunrise – Part 3
A beautiful, blue sky was revealed when the mist lifted. Even a simple scribble bark looked ethereal.
The Tops – Sunrise – Part 2
It was a cool but humid morning, so the air was understandably misty.
The Tops – Sunrise – Part 1
Early morning up at the Tops was even more majestic than sunset. The light seemed to illuminate the gums – the whole effect was magical.
The Tops – Gums
We camped that night at Manning River camp ground, in the Barrington State Forest. The light through the sub-alpine gum trees at sunset was enchanting.
The Tops – Flora
We made our way up to the Barrington Tops via a pot-holed gravel road. It was surprisingly cool up there after the humidity of the plains below, and from first glance it was obvious that we were in a sub-alpine area – not dissimilar to Thredbo. Well, we were 1,200m above sea-level.
There were little white flowers.
And the new growth on the bushes were vibrant to say the least.
Big Sky Country – Cattle
And here are the fore-said Hereford cattle, lingering by the gate.
There really was some awesome sky (and country) that afternoon at Rawdon Vale.
Big Sky Country – Hills
I loved the undulating (currently green) hills of Rawdon Vale. The valley is an established Hereford cattle property since 1845, and even has a few National Trust buildings on site (a 19th Century red brick mansion being one of them). For me, the landscape reminded me more of the hills and plains of Wyoming, a la Legends of the Fall.
Static and Silence 