The day before’s trip to Ferndene had been a warm up trip for our visit to Philosophers Falls near Waratah. The fungi was amazing – both in variety and abundance.
There was so much fungi to see that we didn’t even make the waterfall this visit. Here is a range of what we spotted. I will start with the waxcaps – Continue reading
I was staying at my Sister and Brother in Law’s house at West Ulverstone in Tasmania, and I was fortunate that my sister was keen to spend a few days with me looking for fungi in some of the nearby rainforests. The first place we visited was Ferndene Reserve at the base of the Dial Range near Penguin.
Mycena lazulina
We found good range of fungi out. Here is some of what we spotted – Continue reading
I have been to this national park on Tasmania’s north coast a few times, but Roger had not seen it, so it looked like a great place to visit before Roger had to head back to the mainland.
As well as being a beautiful environment is it a good place to see wildlife – in particular – wallabies, kangaroos and birds. Continue reading
Bushwalking in the alpine areas of Tasmania is always very special. The weather can be challenging, so can the scrub and terrain, but the wild beauty is amazing. It is a privilege to return to some of the wild places in Tasmania and spend some time there.
On this walk, largely planned by Roger, we started from the Walls of Jerusalem and then walked off track along the Chinamans Plains. Then we planned to drop down to Lake Meston and walk out via Lake Adelaide. That is more or less how the walk turned out, except we left the Chinamans Plains a little early due to an ongoing bad weather forecast.
Along the Chinamans Plains and at Lake Meston we were fortunate to observe the “Fagus”, the native deciduous beech (Nothofagus gunnii) changing from green to orange. This is something exceptional to experience. Continue reading
We had got off the boat from Melbourne and done some shopping and then visited my Sister and her husbands place at West Ulverstone. After leaving the bilk of our gear, we headed to the Tasmanian Arboretum to spend the rest of the day.
If you are visiting the Devonport region, its a great place to spend a few hours. The collection of trees are amazing, its a fantastic place to look for Platypus in the wild and it also has a pleasant atmosphere of peace and serenity. Continue reading
It was time to visit Tasmania again. Like my visit at this time last year, I was heading down with an old friend Roger for a bushwalk on the Central Plateau. Roger was driving down to Melbourne and then catching the boat (Sprit of Tasmania) to Devonport. I travelled down with him. I stayed in Tasmania a bit longer than Roger, spending time with my sister and brother in law and then flew home.
Eastern Rosella
On the drive down, Roger, broke the journey by staying overnight at his property at Boorowa. In the morning, we did not need to leave too early, so we had time to wander around the property. I was able to photograph a few birds – Continue reading
I spent an hour or so in the afternoon along the Hawthorne Canal photographing some of the resident birds. I was on the lookout for the Sacred Kingfisher and the Brown Goshawk. The Goshawk was probably in a nearby tree, judging by all the other birds flying over and trying to dislodge something from the tree. I was poised ready with my camera in case it shot out, but it must have headed off in the opposite direction, away from me, as the cacophony of alarm calls headed that way.
The Sacred Kingfisher was easier. I spotted it as soon as I arrived at the footbridge near Hawthorne Light Rail Station. It was perched in a Casuarina watching the water. Continue reading
It had been a while since I had visited the Lane Cove Valley, so I caught a train to Thornleigh and then set off for the Oval and the Great North Walk track.
I was surprised however to find sign saying the track there was closed due to landslide danger. I had come a long way, so I decided to ignore the sign – as there were a lot of fresh footprints on the track. At the bottom of Lorna Pass, there was another sign – so the closed section was not very long. Continue reading
I spent a full day at the Northern Beaches photographing birds. I caught a B-line bus to Warriewood then walked down to the nearby wetlands and Irrawong Reserve. Then had lunch, walked down Muddy Creek to Pittwater Road, caught a bus to Long Reef and spent the afternoon there.
Warriewood Wetlands was reasonably quiet. Here are some birds – Continue reading
Wendy had organised a camping weekend on Kings Tableland. A lot of the Blue Mountains – council reserves and the National Park were party closed due to geological instabilities after the very wet period (and a double fatality following a cliff collapse at Wentworth Falls). One area that had just been re-opened was Kings Tableland. On the trip were Wendy, Rui and myself, and we were later joined by Steph.
We first visited McMahons Lookout. On the track from the carpark to the lookout, we spotted some nice fungi out – Continue reading
