The next day we headed back to the coast to the town of Urunga, just a few k’s away from Mylestom. But before we start exploring, how about a little floral interlude. We found this bottlebrush right by the estuary. It must be a real salt-loving variety.
I received an orchid plant for my birthday in late March and there were still flowers two months later. They were certainly very photogenic blooms.
I did see a bit of autumn colour on the Central Coast, courtesy of a short drive up to the hinterland village of Somersby. There were a few trees turning by the roadside that warranted a few shots.
It has been a strange autumn and even though it’s still warm enough to wear shorts and t-shirt during the middle of the day, I dearly want to be able to break out the winter coats soon. I’ll just have to look at more of these photos and dream on.
Somersby was also a prime spot for Gymea lilies. Unfortunately, it seemed to be the end of the flowering season, but I found one that still had its bloom. At four or so metres tall, they’re truly spectacular flowers.
There were also plenty of non-native flowers in bloom. These violets brought plenty of colour to our front steps.
And our rose bushes were in good knick.
Out the back in the shady portion of the garden, the bromeliads made their mark.
We spent much of Easter-Anzac weeks on the Central Coast. Our garden was looking great, with lots of autumn flowers in bloom.
The grevilleas were fabulous.
And it was flowering time for the banksias too.
The native birds were loving the bottle brushes.
But it was the King Protea that took centre stage.
The flowers might have been nice and bright the day before…
But they took on a translucent, saturated quality when dripping with rainwater.
We walked up a long stretch of coastal scrub, until we could see the landscape all the way down to the high hills above Burning Palms.
Tea tree bushes seemed to dominate here, but there was plenty of summer flowers about to break up the scene, whether they be in the trees…
Or closer to the ground.
After spending some time in Europe, I think we’re very lucky here in Eastern Australia to have something flowering all year round.
Now that I’ve finished posting about our travels abroad, I can concentrate on catching up on our activities here in the last 6 months. Last August we spent a weekend in the Blue Mountains to celebrate our wedding anniversary. One thing we did was take a walk along the Charles Darwin Walk.
It had been some years since I walked this track, and I was glad to see the pre-spring wildflowers out.
It was always a treat to see the waterfalls.
And of course, the grand view from Wentworth Falls at the end.
We took a day trip from central Helsinki to the island fortress of Suomenlinna.
On the island, there were signs that spring had sprung. The trees were surely budding.
And on the ground was a carpet of bluebells.
There were even some Arctic geese grazing. The sight of Arctic geese reminded us that we were getting close to the frozen north.
Hubby and colleague P are studying gems in Thrace, the northern-most state in Greece. It is south of the border with Bulgaria and east of the border with Turkey, so ethnically, it’s a very different place to Athens and the islands. We arrived in time to see Spring come to the mountains. The blossoms were in bloom, the new leaves unfurl, the grass turn green, and the weather beginning to warm up just a touch.
Living in a (seemingly) evergreen place, it was nice to see the seasons change.
Static and Silence 