The third of March is World Wildlife Day and a protest was organised outside the office of the premier at Manly.
I travelled over with Wendy on the Manly Ferry and we joined a large group of conservationists outside the Premier’s office. We were all standing up for nature and expressing our disappointment at the many recent state government decisions that have a detrimental effect on trees and wildlife. Continue reading
It was a hot day, and better suited to some relaxing photography than something too active. In the morning, I cycled down to the Cooks River with my camera.
I went up to the Cup and Saucer Creek Wetlands and look about. Not too much happening. Close by, a White Faced Heron was sunning itself. Another heron, a Striated heron flew up the river. Both made interesting subjects. Continue reading
Digi Dave and myself headed to Swallows Rock Reserve at Grays Point and set off n our craft (Digi Dave in his sea kayak, and me in my packraft) up the Hacking River.
It was an easy paddle up to the weir at Audley. There we turned around and paddled the short way back to Reids Flat where we got out and had lunch. While we were having lunch we noticed a sea eagle on the far side of the river. It was doing some strange flying. Looking at the photos later on, it seems that the bird was collecting sticks, probably to make a nest. Continue reading
Claustral Canyon is a canyon I have visited a lot of times. It is one of my favourites and it is one that I have tried photographing many times over the years. The trouble is that on a normal trip through the canyon, it is not fair to hold up other party members too much in the time spent setting up tripods and pfaffing around with cameras.
So it was good that Albert was keen to come along on a photographic trip through the canyon.
I spent a nice day at the zoo, wandering around taking photos.
This time I started out at the Seal Show, which I had not been to for a number of years. It was very good.
Digi Dave was keen to head back to Royal National Park for a photo trip, and I suggested it might be worth a look at Bola Creek.
So we headed down the road from Waterfall and parked and then walk down Lady Carrington Drive to Bola Creek. We spent a fair bit of time around the picnic area looking for fungi – but very little was out. Continue reading
I have been playing around recently with Google Sites and seeing what the tools can do. As an exercise I have created a small website on the Waterfalls of the Blue Mountains. At this stage it mainly shows photos of the waterfalls. the waterfalls are the more accessible ones close to the railway line and mostly reached on daywalks and good tracks.
As well as seeing what Google Sites can do, the exercise has also encouraged me to go and photograph the waterfalls in good conditions. This usually means during periods of rain when the waterfalls have a reasonable flow and the light is soft for good waterfall photography.
For some of the waterfalls, particularly those of Woodford, the only photos I have are poor, and I will have to go out in better conditions. There are also a few more obscure waterfalls that I need to visit.
Bungleboori Creek is one of the great creeks of the Northern Blue Mountains. It flows through the heart of the Wollangambe Wilderness – part of Blue Mountains National Park.
It is a creek I have been visiting for many years. I think my first trip to Bungleboori Creek was in 1974. In those days the map we used was the Wallerawang 1:63,360 sheet – the classic one inch to the mile map. On that map, Bungleboori Creek was marked by name. It started near Cockatoo Hill and flowed east. Part way along, it was joined by its south branch. This was marked on that map as “Bungleboori Creek 9 mile branch”. Above the junction, bushwalkers, and later canyoners, always referred to the two branches of the creek as “Bungleboori Creek North Branch” and “Bungleboori Creek South Branch”. These are logical names as both branches are roughly the same size in terms of flow and the size of the gorges they have cut.
I went up the mountains and joined Wendy for a very nice day in Sassafras Gully. This was one of my regular visits to see how the fungi was going, but also on this visit we experienced a wide range of the delights of Nature.
We left Springwood and started walking down Fairy Dell and into Magdala Creek. Compared to a week before, there was not too much fungi out. Continue reading
Our bushcare group spent a busy morning weeding at Diamond Bay at Dover Heights. There is a small bushland remnant at the top of Rosa Gully – a popular climbing area. This is one of the few bushland remnants in that area.
In our group was Enmoore, Stu, Su Li, Martin, Steffy and myself. We were joined by some other rock climbers and also members of the local bush care group. We removed a lot of Morning Glory, Japanese Honeysuckle, Asparagus Fern and Turkey Rhubarb. There was also a lot of Lantana and lower down some Prickly Pear that we left alone this time. Continue reading
