More red

 

It's a good year for the Illawarra flame tree. They traditionally dazzle with their bright red flowers at the same time as the jacarandas do their purple thing. Often they've been planted side by side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Castle Hill's historic Heritage Park they've planted a whole lot of them. I was half hoping for a dazzling show today, but it looks like they'll need a few more years yet. Watch this space.

The Lilian Fraser Garden

This one's a lockdown recreational space with a difference. It's the Lilian Fraser Garden in Pennant Hills. 

Ms Fraser's family ran a poultry farm in the area about 100 years ago. She herself was an agricultural scientist. When the farm was sold off  for housing blocks, she kept the house and garden, but in later life donated the place to Hornsby Council. You can wander in any time. More here: Hornsby Council brochure

Back to Castle Hill Heritage Park

 

Looking better and better, and ably delivering its history lessons too. Of early agriculture and the early colonial settlement. Of the 1804 convict rebellion (also known as the second battle of Vinegar Hill - the first one, in Ireland, was what caused the Irish rebels to be sent here in the first place). And then the lessons of the lunatic asylum that was later put here.

More here from my 2020 lockdown explorations: 2020 post

Still the best: newly renovated Australian Museum

It's proud to be Australia's oldest museum, and Sydney's Australian Museum claims to be Australia's best museum too. It was closed for a while for modernising renovations, and they seem to have worked out well. I did a repeat exploration recently.

There are hundreds of excellent specialist museums out there. But if you want a good old fashioned all-rounder, you probably won't beat this one.

Among the 100 Treasures collection is this historical Maitland Bar gold nugget.

 

 

There's an exceptional introduction to traditional indigenous culture and the nations, languages, and clan groups of the Sydney region.

 

There are also 100 People Who Shaped Australia

Lots of heroes

 

 

And a few villains too!

 

 

Giant prehistoric wombats and things

A perhaps definitive collection of Australian wildlife

 

 

I wish they'd keep their dinosaurs under better control

 

 

 

 This one had to be brought down violently!

Bound for South Australia - 6: Wilpena Pound & St Mary Peak

It's one of the classic walks: the St Mary Peak circuit at Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges. I had an attempt at it over 40 years ago, but we ran out of time and/or inclination when the track became a bit steep and precipitous in the approach to the Peak.

No false moves this time though. Here are my walking companions as we set out from the Wilpena resort, ready for our 9 hour, 21km day walk.

The pound itself is a large saucer-shaped area, several kilometres across, with a surrounding rim of mountains. Origin stories include giant serpents and meteorite strike. I think the mainstream one involves geological deformations and differential erosion rates.

In the 19th century it was used briefly as a grazing property, initially supporting many thousands of sheep and cattle. A few years later they were almost all dead, following the inevitable drought.

 

 

 

 

 

Approaching St Mary Peak

 

 

 

 

 

Exploring the top

 

 

 

Looking to the north, and to some of those serpentine mountain chains winding through the Flinders Ranges landscape

 

Back at the Wilpena resort, every evening there's a bit of a welcome talk and story telling session from a local traditional owner.

Bound for South Australia - 3: Wilcannia

I had a lunch stop in Wilcannia. It's on the Barrier Highway between Cobar and Broken Hill, and it's often mentioned in the context of poverty, disadvantage, and social problems.

From Wikipedia:  From the 2016 Census, Wilcannia had a population of 549 with 407 (74.4%) people being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, mostly from the Barkindji nation.^[11] Wilcannia has 223 private dwellings.^[1] The town was listed as one of the most socially disadvantaged areas of New South Wales according to the 2015 Dropping Off The Edge report.^[12]

 

It's on the Darling River, and used to be a major inland port. These days there's often no water, because of climate change induced droughts, and massive theft by upstream irrigators. Some did arrive earlier this year though, and the river isn't quite dry at the moment.

Lions Head & Kedumba Valley circuit

 

It's one of my favourite walks - the big Lions Head/Kedumba Valley circuit from Kings Tableland in the Blue Mountains near Wentworth Falls. I did it for the fourth(?) time the other day.  It was a great day out.

 

 

 

 

We'll be heading down to the old Kedumba Valley Homestead, in the cleared light green patch in the centre of this picture.

 

 

 

Walking along the ridge is quite easy these days, following the dreadful bushfires of nearly a year ago. But you do get very black from the charcoal everywhere.

Must be time to head on down now, via the very steep and slippery Lions Head Pass.

 

It's very steep and very slippery in fact, and there were thrills and spills and harsh words said. It was great when we were down though.

 

 

 

Lunch beside the Kedumba River was almost shared with a slightly-too-friendly lace monitor.

There's been work done recently in restoring the old homestead The Maxwell family lived here in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and walked up and down the precipitous 'Goat Track' to check their mail at Wentworth Falls.

The Goat Track might have been effectively lost to us during the fires. I'll have to check that one day soon. I doubt that the ragged old ropes that you depended on to haul yourself up it would have survived the flames, and any subsequent erosion may well have sealed its fate for good. Watch this space.

On this occasion, we used the old, winding fire trail to achieve our exit from the valley. It's quite a slog.

All pictures courtesy of Paul Monaghan & Liam Heery

More Little Blue Gum

 

 

 

I found my way back to Lindfield's Little Blue Gum Creek yesterday, but via the front entrance this time. It turns out it has a car park, a boardwalk, and MICROBATS!

It's officially the Sir Philip Game Reserve. It's named after a former NSW Governor, whose wife Lady Game is probably better known, due to the road named after her.

The microbats had a special high-density housing facility built for them.

 

 

 

 

Upstream and off-track, it's even better.