This was a pleasant walk from St Ives to Roseville Bridge mainly along a good track on the banks of Middle Harbour Creek in Garigal National Park.
I met up with Bob on the bus. I joined the bus (197) at Gordon Station. This bus service goes to Frenchs Forest via Mona Vale Road. We got off at the corner of Kitcheners Road. The end of that road offers convenient access to the bush. Continue reading
Another pleasant walk down part of the Two Valleys Track along part of Wolli Creek. This time I caught a bus to Earlwood, and started walking up from Bardwell Park for a bit, then back down, and along the track to Turrella Reserve.
Nankeen Night Heron
No fungi of note was out, so I spent my time photographing mainly the birds and flying foxes. The highlight was seeing three Nankeen Nigh Herons perched above a pool near the Flying Fox camp. I have not seen this species in the area before. Continue reading
After my Centennial Park wander, I headed to Circular Quay. It had been a smoky day in Sydney due to a series of hazard reduction burns on the hinterland. Often these condition can lead to an interesting sunset. I had checked with my ephemeris app and it looked like the sun would set near the Opera House when viewed from Mrs Macquaries Chair.
I walked from the Quay around the Opera House, on my way noting that a seal was sleeping on the steps where boats access the Opera House – Continue reading
After a nasty bout of flu, I was keen to get outdoors. As I was still recovering, I wanted to do something easy, and thought a wander around some of the ponds of Centennial Park would be nice. It was.
I spent a very relaxing and enjoyable day walking though the park taking photos. Here is some of what I saw – Continue reading
This looks like being my last trip to Sassafras Gully to look for fungi for the season. I found very little out on this trip. There had been two small falls of rain a week or two before my visit, but the gully appeared very dry.
Perhaps Porpolomopsis calyptriformis
I did however find one species that I had been searching for since I spotted one of them last season. It is an interesting pink waxcap. It appears very much like Porpolomopsis lewelliniae – with a waxy appearance and a splitting cap, however that one is lilac. There is also Porpolomopsis mavis, but that is white. On this visit, I found two of the pink waxcap species growing in exactly the same spot I had found one growing last year. Both of the ones I found this visit were in very poor condition – quite old and broken caps. Last year, I had tried to work out what this could be. A new species perhaps? Or perhaps Humidicutis rosella – which appears on a New Zealand Fungi site. It is pink, but after corresponding with a NZ Fungi enthusiast I don’t think that id is likely. Now, after seeing more specimens, I was wondering if it could be Porpolomopsis calyptriformis? Continue reading
I spent an enjoyable weekend in the mountains with a large group of friends camping at Asgard Swamp at Mt Victoria. It was a birthday camp for one of the participants, but we all celebrated being out in the bush at such a nice place.
Pinnacle at Liversidge Hill – Grose Valley
Digi Dave and myself headed up to Leura on the Friday afternoon and went to the Sublime Point Lookout to photograph the sunset. Unfortunately it was very cold and windy, and also quite overcast – so there was no sunset to photograph. We camped that night at Perrys Lookdown at Blackheath. The morning light was nothing special at dawn, and the cold wind persisted. Continue reading
After a little bit of recent rain (only 7 mm) earlier in the week, I thought it may be worth a look for fungi along Wolli Creek. I was not that hopeful however, and also took a telephoto lens as well as a macro lens.
The fungi was poor, but there was still a lot to see and photograph. Rain was forecast, so I only spent a few hours out, mainly between Bardwell Park and Turrella. Continue reading
Bob and myself decided to have a look at the shale ledge between The Three Brothers at Medlow Bath and Blacks Ladders on the Radiata Plateau. The only information we had about this walk was firstly a note marked on one of the maps in Jim Smith’s book – “How To See The Blue Mountains”. It was near the Three Brothers and had an arrow pointing east and said – “shale ledge to Radiata Plateau”. The second bit of information was something I had seen online about another bushwalker traversing the half way ledge from Medlow Bath to near Back Creek.
So, we set out from Bellevue Crescent at Medlow Bath and then along the firetrail to The Three Brothers and the Flying Fox. We turned off on The Three Brothers Track, and were soon there. Before finding our ledge, we walked out to a nice lookout nearby. This did provide us with a view of part of our ledge. From what we could see, it looked like a continuous ledge at least until close to Blacks Ladders. Continue reading
Brian Everingham invited me to join him on his walk for the National Parks Association of NSW along the Kiama Coastal Walk from Minnamurra to Kiama. I had done this walk last year and a few weeks earlier had redone the southern section of it from Gerringong to Kiama. Its a nice walk – well worth repeating.
The party – Brian, Faye, Val, Suzanne, Peter and myself travelled by train down to Minnamurra. Rain was forecast, and when we got off the train, the ground was wet, so it had been raining. Hopefully any more rain would hold off for a while. Continue reading
My friend Wendy was going to attend the Blue Mountains Conservations Society’s rally to Keep Radiata Plateau Wild at Cahills Lookout at Katoomba on Sunday afternoon. I suggested a short walk on the Plateau would be a good idea before the rally.
At present, most of the Plateau is privately owned and fortunately the present owners allow walkers and climbers access. However this may change in the future, particularly if the Plateau is sold or if it is developed. Continue reading
