An Outing to West Head, or, Looking For a Cool Breeze.

Somewhere to go that would be cooler than home.

The Hawksbury River looking towards Broken Bay.

Sea-plane landing on the Hawksbury River.

Walking down to West Head Lookout with Barrenjoey Headland and Palm Beach in the distance.

Barrenjoey Headland.

2 ways of getting around.

Broken Bay

Broken Bay and Palm Beach.

Kite surfing at Palm Beach.

Overlooking Pittwater from West Head.

Sea-plane Landing in Pittwater.

Lion Island with Umina Beach and Brisbane Waters in the background.

Aboriginal engraving site in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.

Aboriginal engravings.

'Pecked petroglyphs' as the engraving are know, were made by striking the rock surface with a pointed stone or a strong shell. Small pits or holes were made and usually overlapped to form a groove. Using water as a lubricant, rough grooves were smoothed out to form an outline.

 The pecked designs took a variety of forms - concentric circles, lines, the outlines of animals, people, fish, birds, weapons, reptiles, animal tracks and mythical beings.

Aboriginal engravings.

Aboriginal engravings.

Aboriginal engravings.

Spiney-tailed Golden Ants in Dwarf Apple blossom.

Akuna Bay Cruising Club.

Out of the water, boat storage.

If I only had a spare 5 or 6 million dollars, this could be mine.

Something to tow behind the bigger one.

Akuna Bay Cruising Club.

Wherever I went these 'beams'  would radiated from my head.

Taree and Rabbadise.

A sad trip away to the mid-north coast town of Taree to attend the funeral of Lynn's uncle, Norm Place.

Norm Place  1929 - 2013.

 We were only in Taree for 2 nights, 15th - 16th Dec. Before leaving we took the opportunity to visit a friend who had just moved to a property outside of Wingham. 

Manning River Taree.
Looking at what is left of the  remnant rainforest that once dominated the area, now confined to the small
Coocumbac Island Nature Reserve.

Martin Bridge, Taree.

Black Prince Cicada.
 The black prince was valued at "three cherrynoses, four floury bakers,
five yellow mondays or a thousand green grocers" by Australian journalist
 Peter FitzSimons in his childhood  (Wikipedia).

Black Prince Cicada  -  Taree NSW

Manning River from the Apex Park Lookout.

Manning River from the Apex Park Lookout. This farmland was once covered in rainforest.

Wingham Brush Nature Reserve boardwalk.

  

Rainforest  giant. 

Buttress roots of a rainforest giant. 

Land Mullet Skink, Wingham Brush Nature Reserve.

Land Mullet (skink) and Brush Turkey.

Grey-headed Flying Fox colony in Wingham Brush Nature Reserve.

Grey-headed Flying Fox (fruit bat) colony in Wingham Brush Nature Reserve.

Grey-headed Flying Fox, mother and young.

Grey-headed Flying Fox (fruit bat) colony in Wingham Brush Nature Reserve.

Grey-headed Flying Fox.

Brush Turkey testing temperature and condition of nest mound.

Brush Turkey chicks, Wingham Brush.

Welcome to 'Rabbadise'. The view from the road near David's place.

The loo-with-a-view. Who needs walls!

David's Rabbadise  (paradise).

Black and Grey True Bee Fly  -  Meomyia sericans.
Probably laying eggs, at David's place.

Nice to see Brush Box growing in the wild.

Grass Trees slightly singed after the August fires.

A nice green spot along Dingo Tops Road.

A portable saw mill in the area.

One way bridge.
 Aboriginal people called this waterway 'Ghongol'.

Three Nights in Mudgee Town.

It was a sad reason to visit on this occasion. We were attending the funeral of Muriel Jones, born in England and with no blood relatives living in Australia.
We were here for 3 nights, from Thursday 31st Oct to Sunday 3rd Nov.

 We went through some of the areas where only 6 days before were razed by fires. As well as the funeral there were walks in the Common, Flora Friday commitments, feeding the wildlife and a little sight-seeing.

Other blogs that relate to this trip can be seen at:
Mudgee Meanders.
Rust, Relics & Ruins.
Flora Friday in Oz.

( Foot Note, entered 20/11/2013:  It has just been announced that the fires, that were still burning when these photos were taken, have now been officially extinguished. The fires had been burning for 3 weeks.)

Click on photos to enlarge



Muriel Jones  1923 - 2013.

Bikers slowing our progress along Bell's Line Of Road.

Where the recent fires (last week) had been.

One of the many 'thank you' banners and signs along Bell's Line.

A lot of the road-side was like this.

A cheery sight at Dangaroo after the blackened bush.

Water Iris at Dangaroo.

They had nearly all gone by Sunday.

The log 'Lodge'.

A lot of D.I.Y. has been done here.

Receiving 'how to feed the roo's'  instructions.

Tawny Frogmouth and chicks in afternoon light.

      

  An early Friday walk in the Common was rewarded with some close wildlife experiences. 



A European Hare.

 These were first introduced to Australia in 1859 when 5 animals arrived to be released and then hunted by shooters.

Red Fox.

Red fox were introduced to Australia around 1833 for the purpose of the

traditional English sport of fox hunting. It is now estimated that there are more

 than 7.2 million red fox's in Australia where it has been classified as one of the

 most damaging invasive species in Australia.

Red-necked Wallaby........one of the goodies.

Not much in flower but the Lichens were interesting.

An interesting lichen.

Some of the wildlife at the Lodge. 

Some of the wildlife at the Lodge.
A thirsty Shingleback Lizard (also called Stumpy-tailed Lizard and Bobtail Lizard)
has a drink at one of the many 'drinking stations' around the house.

Common Bronzewing Pigeon.

Peron's Tree Frog. Was hiding under a saucepan.

Eastern Grey Kangaroos coming in for their afternoon meal.

Eastern Grey Kangaroos coming in for their afternoon meal. A joey's feet can be seen hanging out of mother's pouch.

A walk around town to photograph some Mudgee gardens.

 

Imaginative roof decorations.

Someone's loss.

A Musk Lorikeet enjoying the nectar laden flowers of a bottlebrush shrub.





An oasis in Lawson Park.

Long-Necked Tortoise enjoying a bit of sun.

Dusky Moorhen searching the water-lilies for food for their young.

Cycles enjoying a rest in the shade while their riders enjoy a coffee.

Did a little sight seeing in the afternoon.

Enjoying the breeze and the view overlooking Gulgong.

Gulgong.

I thought this train might be for the workers at the local coal mines.

Gulgong

Gulgong

Gulgong

Gulgong

Their own private Put Put Golf in the front yard.

Railway station.

Nobody selling tickets.

Free speech and imagination in action along Windeyer Road.

ENTRY BY APPOINTMENT ONLY.
"Bugger the dog ...... beware of the Owner!!

'Lone Pine'...... a lot of great times were had at, and good memories come back from, this place.

Lone Pine.



They breed funny looking horses out here.

A Jacky Lizard checks us out from one of its favourite spots as we approach Dangaroo.



A last chance to get some 'feathered' shots before we leave for home..
Brown-headed Honeyeaters, Red-browed Finch, Double-barred Finch and Superb Fairy (Blue) Wren.

Trees on a hill.

Lue Railway Station.

Lue shopping centre.

Disused  rail bridge at Rylstone.

Capertee rail station has seen better days.

Capertee rail station has seen better days.

Burnt bush looking west from Monkey Creek Café.

Where the fire had been, from Du Faurs Rocks Lookout Mount Wilson.

Du Faurs Rocks Lookout

How it was in good times. Chinamans Hat (rock) can be seen in background. 

After the fire, looking over Chinaman's Hat.

Smoke still coming from small fires/smouldering trees.

Cover all gone.

Little patches survived, pink lilies still in flower.

Hakea sp. has released its seed hopefully to grow and replace its parents.

Hakea sp. has released its seed hopefully to grow and replace its parents.

Hakea sp. has released its seed hopefully to grow and replace its parents.
And the bush will live on.