Spring is in the air here but plenty of Aussie Sconquestors are taking to the skies and busily checking out conditions in Canada & the USA. Preliminary reports indicate an intrepid voyage where jet lag from the Sydney to Dallas (and beyond) flight is compounded by a strange new world where donuts are served for breakfast, cars and meals are huge and the scones are called biscuits and taste salty! Look forward to including some adventures from our Aussie Roving Reporters.
Scones or biscuits?
Still a beautiful day at Booderee National Park.
Still love those signs. Just when you thought it was safe, I still had plenty of ‘room for improvement’ and lots more plants to see. Have another go at the plant quiz and see if your improving too, answers are at the end of the blog. Still didn’t manage to get any bird photos but there were plenty around and a couple of the plants are a little challenging, image wise. From Telegraph Creek we walked down towards the splendour of Green Patch and just sat awhile and enjoyed the peace and tranquility.
Drove down to Murrays Beach Carpark where we nearly had the beach to ourselves. I was really looking forward to those lavender and lemon scones! Absolutely, no sense of time by now but there was still plenty of daylight left so we were able to have our scones on Governors Head and simply enjoy the view across to Bowen Island, the powerful waves crashing into the cliff and the birds that I didn’t get a photo of !
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and just a few more for good luck.
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Still plenty of room for improvement so check your answers and mine at the ANPSA Photo Gallery and plant index, if you like. Here’s Booderee Walks and a map.
Answers
1. Banksia 2. Rice Flower or Pimelea 3. Tea Tree or Leptospermum 4! Dog Rose or Bauera 5! Pink Wax Flower or Eriostemon 6. Daisy Bush or Olearia 7. Native Rosemary or Westringia 8. Flannel flower or Actinotus 9. Eriostemon again! 10. Bottlebrush or Callistemon
Such a beautiful day at Booderee National Park. Still here after my last post, but now it’s back to nature and an attempt to revive some dormant brain cells. Fortunately, I’m not alone. A sconquest eco-friend is also enjoying the sunshine and helping to jog my memory about Australian plants and birds. See how you fare identifying the plants with the numbers. I’ll put the answers at the end. Bet there’s an iphone app that does it in a split second or maybe google goggles would help. But that would be cheating, wouldn’t it? Here’s the Booderee podcasts which look helpful, info on the walks and a map.
Love those signs. Look how they stay still and don’t move around or fly away from you. Signs are so patient, they never complain. It’s always great fun finding signs and other places where you can balance the camera and get a ‘hit & run’ shot with the self timer button. Now where’s that macro button gone? Thank goodness, I forgot the SLR or we’d be here all day!
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If you looked for an iphone or ipod app for the plants, there really isn’t one that’s recommended. On the other hand, although I didn’t have bird photos, there was a popular but pricey app, a Field Guide for Identifying Australian Birds by Michael Morcombe, which even had bird calls. There’s plenty more pictures at the ANPSA Photo Gallery and a plant index. Well done if you noticed the signs with the different distances, the longer kms takes you to Green Patch, my next post!
Answers. 1. Boronia 2. Boronia 3. Mountain Devil or Lambertia 4. Patersonia 5. Glory Peas or Gompholobium 6. Wedding bush or Ricinocarpos 7. Fan Flower or Scaevola 8. Bossiaea 9. 10 & 11. Grass Tree or Xanthorrhoea 10. & 11. Rice Flower or Pimelea
Booderee National Park is at Jervis Bay, on the New South Wales’ South Coast between Nowra and Ulladulla. Here’s a map of Jervis Bay and one of Booderee. With many walking trails, camping areas, a marine park and the Booderee Botanic Gardens it’s well worth a visit anytime. During June and early July it’s the whale watching season as the Humpback and Southern Right Whales make their way up the coast.
Best to be prepared as Booderee is a SCONE FREE ZONE, unless you BYO – bring your own! Visited the Main Deck cafe in Huskisson under the Huskisson Gallery in Owen St. Good choice, excellent pre-walk coffee and homemade lemon & lavender scones with some to try now & some to take away. My sconquest eco-friend was not a scone person but she may yet be converted. Bee sting cakes are her favourite and I’m told that Corryong in Victoria, is the best place for bee stings in Australia. Here’s a recipe if you want to try. Requested a recipe from taste.com but haven’t had a reply yet so here’s a recipe to try from their forum. The old Husky pub is currently closed as its being renovated into a 4 star hotel and convention centre with hopes of Huskisson becoming the ‘Jewel of the Shoalhaven’.
All fired up now for a stop at Telegraph Creek where there were loads of flowers along the path. Rather a brain stretching exercise to remember some of their names (see next post!). From here we walked across to Green Patch which is such a beautiful beach and always great for photos and loads of family fun. Drove down to Murrays Beach Carpark and walked up to Governors Head where we had spectacular views of the crashing waves on the rocks below and across to Bowen Island. It took little imagine, as we sat in the sun sharing our scones, to imagine the whales cruising by or the sailing ships in 1770 that missed Jervis Bay and found Botany Bay instead. Simply Brilliant!
Missed the Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens Wild About Waratahs festival which ran from the 24th September to 9 October, 2011. Instead of scones, we were hunting around the bush near Hyams Beach for Waratahs. In the wild they are quite delightful when you happen upon them singly, in pairs or groups. We only found a few but they were worth the walk, although the occasional strong winds meant keeping our wits about us.
Waratah’s are a protected native plant which can’t be picked or removed so we only took photos. Waratah’s used to be found by the thousands in the Blue Mountains but now you need to be lucky or know where to look. In early October, National Parks held a guided Wild Waratah Walk from Pierce’s Pass on the Bells Line of Road, and Gadara Wildfowers Farm Open Day had a thousand waratahs, including a white waratah and visitors could buy cut blooms. Hawkesbury Tourism had these and other waratah events on their October Calendar. Perhaps, next year!
Here’s some photos we took around Blackheath a few years ago. Don’t the waratah’s match the Crimson Rosella well. Discovered Birds in Backyards, a good site for identifying birds, sydney region plant lists and a bird finder to help us novices. Time I refreshed my brain about native plants and birds!
Stopped by Crace to check out what’s happening as Canberra is quite an innovative place. Here’s a map. It’s a new suburb and is not just about building Sustainable houses with an Energy Efficiency Rating of 5 or 6 but about the whole suburb’s overall design including tranport, trees, open spaces and water management. In the past, the vast majority of housing in Australia has simply been a waste of space with little or no thought given to orientation and sustainable design. Before, we didn’t know any better but now we still want to be warm in winter and cool in summer wherever we are. Here’s a brochure about Crace’s Sustainability. The challenge then is whether to renovate or build without breaking the bank. Crace Display Village has nine Houses from six different builders so there’s plenty to give you food for thought.
Pleasantly surprised by the houses on display as I’d rather expected them to be ugly for some reason, maybe because the Terraces look a little ‘challenging’. On the whole the houses were contemporary, light and airy but still rather huge with the tendency to 4 bedrooms or so but it’s all open to negotiation and custom design. A Northern Orientation was vital to the design and successful functioning of the houses so gave them that light open feel and most had some kind of courtyard. The yards were very small but common green spaces are an essential part of the overall design and a common feature elsewhere in Canberra.
Nearby is the fantastic new Gungalin Library combined with a Senior High School for Years 10, 11 & 12 at Gungahlin College and the Canberra Institute of Tafe Learning Centre all right next to the Gungahlin shopping centre. Hopefully, everything is on your doorstep and there’s little reason to venture to the city unless you work there.
At the moment there’s even a Housing Affordability Fund offering about $15,000 rebate for eligible (?) houses at Crace which should help towards the cost of being GreenSmart. Even found an article about the relationship of Energy Efficiency Rating and House Price in the ACT. Why can’t we do this in Sydney, at an affordable price and still be close to public transport? Are we asking too much?
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Time for Afternoon Tea The National Library is in a commanding position on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra. While spending a few days researching here you learn the feel of the place. With a brand new reception area positively … Continue reading
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The Art of Tea and Scones. Last weekend in Canberra, the Lodge and Government House had their Open Day organised by the Australiana Fund which acquires artistic and historical works for the Prime Minister and Governor General’s residences. On … Continue reading
Last weekend was a terrific time to visit Floriade, Canberra’s annual flower festival. Popular as always, with fine and cloudy weather which was great for flowers, photos and visitors alike.
Once again, there were plenty of stalls selling food, craft and garden items as well as workshops, demonstrations, music and entertainment or the 35 metre Ferris Wheel if you really wanted a bird’s eye view.
After walking around the gardens and the lake we headed for Fyshwick and Ona coffee. Considered the syphon or the cold drip coffee but went for a cappuccino which was excellent. A scrumptious burger replaced all those calories burnt at Floriade before heading off again. There’s always plenty to see and do in Canberra.
The Yarra River is the lifeblood of Melbourne. Rivers recharge us bring vitality to a city or town. Stayed at the Crown Promenade which has an excellent swimming pool with views along the river to the city. A short walk brings you to the Sandridge (Immigrants) bridge with its moving sculptures or the hustle and bustle of Southbank or Flinders St Station, the cosmopolitan heart of Melbourne. Here’s a map.
At night, there’s such a hive of activity along the river bank leading to the Arts Centre. We enjoyed our dinner at Southbank and Tom Winton’s Rising Water at the Playhouse, which was interesting with great sets but needed a bit of a lift in places. Strolling back, we enjoyed the stars amid the crystal, clear night sky.
Sconquest. 