I completed a nice walk on the south side of the mountains between Lawson and Hazelbrook.
After the mandatory stop at Lawson Bakery, I walked down to the track to Adelina Falls. The falls were rather low – so not too many waterfall shots this visit. There is a very moist patch of rainforest below Adelina Falls and this provides good conditions for fungi. On this trip – there were a few nice things out. Continue reading
Digi Dave and myself headed down to Bola Creek for an afternoon of fungi hunting. Compared to our previous visit there was much less out. No logs covered with fungi this time.
We headed down Lady Carrington Drive and then on the track that goes upstream along Bola Creek. We crossed the creek on the first crossing and then continued along the track through the beautiful rainforest. Continue reading
The Overland Track must be one of the most well known bush walks in Australia. It passes through a wide range of beautiful scenery – past alpine peaks, through open wind swept and bleak moors, through ancient forests.
Even with repeated trips, it is still a very fine walk. I think this may have been my ninth time on the track (previously – four summer trips, one winter trip, two April trips and a May trip, two of these have been from south to north). So this was my third April trip. Why walk in April? A quieter track? No! Now you have to book online to do the Overland Track, and it is best to do this well in advance. I booked not long after my summer Tasmanian Walk, and found that during April, the track was almost filled booked. I was lucky to find a single spot in the week before Easter. It seems that this period is as busy as any time on the track. For a quieter track – then you need to do it in the non booking period (June – August), although perhaps May would be a bit quieter.
Wolli Creek is very easy for me to get to – so I thought another visit may be worthwhile to check out how the fungi was going. This time I walked down the valley from Bexley North Station to Turrella Station – a very convenient way to see the place.
An unusual stinkhorn
Most, or all of the fungi from my last visit had gone – but a new lot was out. At the start I noticed a lot of puffballs, like the ones I had seen earlier in the week at Lane Cove. And plenty of the usual white mushrooms. There were a lot of very tiny red Mycena fungi out, and nearby were many patches of coral fungi – either white with sharp points or a larger brown-purple species. Continue reading
Lane Cove Bushland Park is a remnant of bushland along a tributary of Gore Creek. It is supposed to be a good place to see fungi, and being a wet day – I thought it would be a good place to visit.
It is easy to get to – being about a 15 minute walk from St Leonards Station. Not long after I arrived at the top end of the park, it started raining. I sheltered and waited for the rain to pass. I did after half and hour or so. While it was raining, I did wander around a bit – and did locate some interesting fungi nearby.
With unfinished business from the day before – my photographic activities curtailed by rain, it was good to return while the fungi was still in good condition. Digi Dave came along too.
We walked the 700m down Lady Carrington Drive to Bola Creek picnic area. A lot of other people where out and about looking at the fungi too. It turned out they were from the Sydney Fungal Studies Group – on one of their activities. Some of their members were collecting others were photographing. They gave us a few pointers about the local fungi and pointed out some that we had not spotted.
The highest concentration of fungi were close to the picnic area -a nice patch of moist rainforest. Continue reading
I went down to Lady Carrington Drive in Royal National Park to see what fungi was out. After visiting Bola Creek last week, I thought nearby Lady Carrington Drive could be as good. It is partly rainforest and has some nice shady gullies coming in. I started from Audley (cycling down from Sutherland)
A nice morning was forecast – so I though it may be worthwhile heading down to Bronte Beach to photograph the sunrise.
It was a nice morning – a clear sunny day, but not the sort of sunrise that produces memorable photographs. I pottered around with my camera and tripod, but I don’t think I captured any great images. But it was a nice morning to be out early. Continue reading
I had never been to Balls Head – a nice patch of remnant bushland on the north side of Sydney Harbour. It is easy to get to – being about ten minutes walk from Waverton Station. And it is easy to get to for dawn at this time of the year – just before daylight saving ends. The sun rises about 7:07 am.
I followed the road from the station to the headland and went to the far point. There I followed a track down to a small grassy area, and there were some old stone steps that you could climb down to get to the water. Continue reading
Yesterday I spent a few hours wandering along the Twin Valley Track that goes along Wolli Creek. I was looking out for fungi.
This is very close to home for me. The local fungi society runs trips along Wolli Creek looking for fungi and last year they found at least 60 species. Autumn is regarded as the best time to see fungi out. Also – so far this Autumn has been very good for fungi – with the rain and high humidity. I have found a lot out in places like the rainforest gullies of the Blue Mountains and Royal National Park.
My gallery of fungi that I have seen in Wolli Creek is on this page. I would be grateful for any help or corrections to my amateur attempts at identification. I intend to add to this gallery from time to time. Continue reading
