We are stardust (billion year old carbon)

So said Joni Mitchell in her classic 1970 song 'Woodstock' ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRjQCvfcXn0 ) and of course she was right. Here's a 2014 interview with a somewhat older Joni Mitchell, in case you're a fan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HajWhhXkfYQ

Joni was taken ill a few weeks ago and the reporting suggested she was about to leave us. Thankfully she came good again.

But this wasn't supposed to be a post about Joni Mitchell. It was supposed to be about a current astronomical phenomenon I've been following: the nova ('new star') in Sagittarius. Here's my picture, as of early morning on 14 April. There's a star there that wasn't visible before, and it's been fluctuating noticeably in brightness for a few weeks now. Sure, it's not all that bright, but there was nothing at all to see there before!

Novas are thought to be massive nuclear ignitions of material pulled out of red giants by their white dwarf companion stars. The star consequently becomes tens of thousands of times brighter for a while. It'll probably fizzle out again soon. It's actually supernovas, which are vastly brighter still, which blow themselves to bits and spread their stardust around. Only extremely massive stars become supernovas, and there's only one in our galaxy every few hundred years. (I remember seeing the 1987 one in a neighbouring galaxy though.) All matter, other than hydrogen, is made in stars, and it's mainly through supernovas that all this stuff gets spread around. So 93% of the matter inside us is stardust from supernovas, as I understand it. More on this at: http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/lectures/supernovae.htm

Stormy weather and a demolition derby

Sydney had sunshine and blue skies today, following several days of very stormy weather.

A perfect day really for Narrabeen's family fun day demolition derby! The heavy rain had washed away the foundations of a house on a hill, and it was teetering on the edge of collapse, endangering other houses nearby.







There had been lots of media attention, and with a promised pubic demolition today, we decided it was the perfect destination for a little outing.

There were dozens of police and firies. There were camera crews from all the TV stations, seeking out the locals from within the crowd for interviews, there were media helicopters hovering overhead, and one sightseeing seaplane even diverted from its usual route for a better view.

Unfortunately we had to leave before the magic moment. They were attaching a heavy cable to it at the time, and warning people with babies and dogs about the loud noise that was to come. After we got home we were able to witness the big moment over and over on all the TV stations anyway.

A nice little day out somehow!

Nurragingy

It's 15 years or so since I last visited the Nurragingy Reserve. At that time it was probably in its infancy as a local attraction, and my memories were of a patch of scrubby bush with a few picnic tables and an uninviting bush track or two. Plus a couple of blacksmith's huts, I remember.

Since then it was in the news because of a prominent 2010 murder case - a young child was murdered and her body was dumped here. Not something to enhance one's image of a beauty spot.

Well it's actually come on quite a lot, as we discovered the other day. It's now very inviting indeed, with lots of appealing facilities. The blacksmith's huts are still there, and there are now lots of lawns, picnic areas, specialist gardens, a good value for money kiosk, playgrounds, cycle paths and water features.

We didn't have time to do justice to the place. Just enough time to have a quick lunch and a brief sojourn into the Chinese Garden, but we plan to return soon to explore it all a bit further.

Nurragingy Reserve is in Doonside in Western Sydney, and is managed by Blacktown City Council.

Flying Carpet!

I know, this blog is supposed to be about exploring Sydney. As in the relatively unknown suburbs and odd little pockets and attractions in and around the city. And I will get back there, honestly. But I keep getting distracted by terrific bushwalking experiences, spectacular discoveries, plus the odd overseas journey.

This week's distraction was the amazing Flying Carpet, a fabulous, and to some, slightly terrifying, rocky outcrop in the Gardens of Stone National Park. It juts out of the cliff line above the Carne Creek valley, part of it is only a metre or so wide, and there are cliffs stretching hundreds of metres above and below you!

And it does indeed seem a bit like you're flying on a magic rocky carpet above the valley.

Six of us headed out very early in the morning, and drove out to a secret parking spot where the adventure begins. Such is the quality of this amazing wilderness experience that I'd like to do my bit to keep it relatively unknown, so I'm not going to divulge the exact location!

We consulted our various maps, track notes, and GPS devices (no two of which ever agree on much!) Then off through the bush, down an easy pass through the cliff line, and hugging the cliff bottom, we progressed along ledges, and past photogenic caves, canyons, and slots.

We came across an interesting little snake that none of us could immediately identify. Looked a bit like one of the (non venomous) pythons, but smaller and with somewhat unfamiliar patterns. It turned out to be a Broad-headed snake, Hoplocephalus bungaroides. According to one Sydney University site I consulted, it's Australia's most endangered snake, and there's some suggestion that venomous snakes such as this one evolve to mimic non-venomous ones, so they can surprise unsuspecting prey! (And I'd been unsuspecting at the time, confidently taking my photos until it ran away.)


Rounding one of the protrusions out of the cliff above, we looked up and identified our prime destination. Then it was a steep scramble up, aided by climbing tapes affixed first by two of our more assured freeform climbers, and onto the platform itself.

There's a slightly tricky bit as you walk out onto the thing, and some of the party members weren't too proud to accept a bit of help here. Some were fine with it all though, and one fellow couldn't resist hamming it up slightly for the camera, as evidenced below!

 (Some photos courtesy Saf Barbour)