We encountered quite a few scribbly gums along the way.
These insects certainly have been busy ‘drawing’ during the year.
Tag Archives: walk
Winter Beach Visits – Part 3
Umina Beach on a calm winter’s day was the perfect place to be.
Riversleigh Cook’s Tour – Part 1
After our visit to ‘D’ site, we drove back a mile along the main road before entering a gate into what looked to me like a wilderness. Then setting the four wheel drive into gear, we bashed through plains of grass seven feet tall, ducked in and out of dry creek beds, and swerved around termite nests. It might have only been a fifteen minute ride, but to a four wheel drive novice passenger like me, it seemed like an endless, bumpy drive into nowhere. It was only later that I found out that there was science in the madness – we had followed a well-known track, which due to a bumper wet season was grossly overgrown. Aside from the natural impediments, there were also man-made impediments. Some of the gates that we drove through were so complex to open that it seemed like you needed a degree to do so successfully. I quickly realised that the Gulf country was rougher than I thought.
Eventually, we stopped at a limestone ridge called the Bite-Centennial Gallery. This site produced the first big finds after ‘D’ site.
Mike, our guide for the day, was one of the key palaeontologists behind the Riversleigh finds. He has returned here at least once a year for the last 36 years. You’d say that he was fountain of knowledge about the area, but he was also an amusing story teller.
At Bite-Centennial Gallery, he began by recounting the disturbing story behind the name (involving a drunken, biting cattleman, a distressed geologist, and a decapitated yabby), before we walked up the ridge, which for me was when the fun started.
I have never been a rock wallaby. I like being in the outdoors, but I’m more comfortable with gentle strolls along established paths than bush bashing across the wilderness. And worse still, an ankle injury six months before had made me more hesitant on my feet than usual. You can guess that my first hour at the Gallery was not terribly fun. Grasses constantly pricked my short legs, their seeds covered my trousers and top, and the razor-sharp limestone cut my hands when I touched them. This certainly was not what I was expecting.
I learned my lesson quickly though. The next day, I wore gaiters to the field, and my shins certainly thanked me for it.
Winter at Oatley Park – Part 6
We’ll end the series with a little more flora. Perfect banksias.
And imperfect ones.
And a sign that spring will soon arrive.
Winter at Oatley Park – Part 5
There were no fisher-people on the jetty.
In fact, there was hardly a soul in the whole bay that afternoon. Just the two of us and our dog.
Winter at Oatley Park – Part 4
Interesting things were growing in the rocky, sandy soil.
There were plenty of wattle about. This variety seemed to thrive in full shade.
And so were these white heath flowers, which I hadn’t really noticed before.
But interestingly, there were these mosses that lived in the crevices of the sandstone.
Winter at Oatley Park – Part 3
Winter in Sydney, ironically to those in colder climates, is a season for flowers. These delicate purple grevilleas, native to the area, are blooming.
And so are these heath bells, that only grow in sandy soil, mainly in full shade.
I tried unsuccessfully to grow these at home, but they thrive here in their native environment.
Winter at Oatley Park – Part 2
The water and the trees were calm that afternoon. Only the animals were active. Apart from the noisy parrots, we also saw a rock wallaby hop away.
Winter at Oatley Park – Part 1
It has been awhile since we visited Oatley Park. Our last visit was made in autumn. This time we return in the depths of winter. Of course, this is a Sydney winter, so there will be lots of points of interest along the way.
Let’s start!
The Nakasendo – The End of the Line
It wasn’t too long before I entered Magome. By this stage I was photo’ed out so shamefully I haven’t got a good shot of the town. However, I managed to take a shot of this just to show how far I’d walked that morning.
Thanks for journeying with me once more!
Static and Silence 