In the footsteps of change

I made a lunchtime visit to the State Library of NSW a few months ago, and was wonderfully surprised to find an exhibition about Charles Darwin, in particular, the time he spent in Australia while voyaging on the Beagle. It describes a visit he made to Wentworth Falls in 1836 while on the way to Bathurst. He wrote:

An immense gulf is suddenly & without any preparation seen through the trees… The class of view was quite novel & extremely magnificent.

High praise indeed from a man who had travelled extensively and was about to write a book that would change the world.

Having been to Wentworth Falls back in the autumn and seen the sign to the walk, I wanted to explore it for myself. It surprisingly starts off in the midst of civilisation – by the tennis court near the Great Western Highway.

Charles Darwin Walk

I suppose there would have been no tennis courts back in 1836, nor would there have been any pine forests that the track passed through near the start, but it was quite lovely to have Jamieson Creek flowing alongside as it passes under overhangs and down little waterfalls.

Overhang Charles Darwin Walk

It was also lovely to see the banksias and wattle out in force. Of course, there were plenty of birds taking advantage of the nectar. This one’s a lovely rosella.

Rosella in wattle

The Precipice

Our last stop before heading into civilisation, was Kings Canyon, where we did the Rim Walk on a cold, foggy morning. There were lots of interesting rock formations though, albeit on a smaller scale, and lots of glorious red sandstone.

Canyon Rim Walk

Actually, much of it looks to me like a mini version of the Bungle Bungles in Western Australia, except this one is much more accessible.

Canyon Rim Walk

Winter Cooking – Part 7

This is becoming quite a series… Which isn’t over just yet despite the warmer temperatures in Sydney this past week.

I baked this Orange and almond slice for a weekend lunch with some friends. I actually stuffed it up (hadn’t figured out how to cream butter and sugar correctly when it’s freezing in the kitchen), but thankfully the recipe is very forgiving since it tasted gorgeous when drenched in orange syrup and served with a huge dollop of cream.

Orange and almond slice

Left Out

Not a lot of people know that there’s a third much forgotten monolith after Uluru and Kata Tjuta – Mount Conner. Our tour guide nicknamed it Fooluru since tourists often mistaken it for the other rock – at least from a distance.

Funnily enough, the local Aboriginals tend to give this rock a bit of a miss, too. It’s a place of bad vibes, apparently. It’s also on private land so there’s nary a tourist facility in sight aside from a roadside lookout.

Mt Conner

Adventures on life's merry-go-round