Very red

 

Maybe it's the time of year, or the recent rain after not much, but there are some fabulously red Sydney Red Gums (Angophora costata) around at the moment.

It's raining and the angophora's shining!

We've finally had a good dose of rain after a lot of very dry months in Sydney. We'll need a few more such events over the spring and summer, if we're to avoid a dreadful bushfire season, but it's a nice start.

The angophora tree out the front looks like it's loving it!

Angophora costata

Angophora costata is a common woodland and forest tree of Eastern Australia, and is known by a variety of names including smooth-barked apple, rose gum, rose apple and Sydney red gum. It grows primarily on sandstone soils, usually on headlands, plateaus or other elevated areas. More at Wikipedia

Ode to the fire trail

In this case one of the fire trails of the Berowra Valley National Park, near Arthurs Circle in Mt Colah.

In the pecking order of bushwalking routes, the humble fire trail has a somewhat lowly status. But at this time of year especially, it can offer a very pleasant and rewarding experience.

Attractive wildflowers, happy songbirds, scribbly gums, beautiful Sydney red gums, and quite dramatic vistas across the Berowra Valley.

 

I'm sure the trails around there have existed for a long time, but I only just discovered them, courtesy of the new map that just got printed. The National Park was only gazetted a couple of years ago, hence the map. Incidentally, they don't sell maps at many of the outdoor/bushwalking type shops anymore. Everyone relies on their GPS or their phone apps. I had to go to the specialist map shop in Parramatta.