G'day,
Last weekend I ran away from home. Mum, Annie, and I went to the coast. Bateman's Bay is the closest place to here, about 5 hrs drive. We stayed just north of the town at South Durras, it was beautiful. These birdies are the gregarious little rainbow lorikeets that abound all along the coast. They know how to get a few tidbits from the humans and are not shy in doing so. These little guys come right up and eat out of your hand even though they are wild birds.

I think this is some type of orchid. It was growing in Murramarang national park. Probably 2cm across in size.

This is at the beach south of the bay. Name starts with a T, um um! Anyway, one of the prettiest spots and my favorite, very protected with gentle waves and shallow water. Great for little kids and wimps like me. You can just see an egret standing in the water fishing. I didn't know they went in salt water.
Some rocks on the southern end of the beach. I have looked at these rocks each time I have gone here and marveled over the colours and patterns in them. I am trying to work out how I can get a glaze to do this.
These rocks, same place. They have been lifted up and turned on their sides, aren't they great! These quartz type rocks were lining the walls and ceiling of a sea cave in the cliff and were also in great swirly patterns. I reckon glaze on glaze in stripes, on a thrown plate with a wide rim?

This was outside our cabin in sth Durras, in the tree are a pair of King Parrots. They aren't as common as the other parrots but are bigger and very pretty. The cabin was in Lakesea Park which is an eco tourism place set between the lake and the ocean. The males have a bright red breast and green back, the females have more green on their breast and less red.
This is a crow. Notice he has blue eyes and no white bits. He cleaned up after the rainbow parrots. The other birds don't like these guys and chase them away even though they are bigger.
This cheeky brush tail possum shared our B.B.Q. and once the lights were turned out got quite game, even nibbling my toes. He went mad over my blue berries and date scones. There was 2 of them and they were fighting for food or territory.
This is a flower from an Illawarra Flame Tree.
Pelicans. Lake Durras is supposed to have the cleanest water on the coast. When the sun wasn't reflecting off the water you could see through it to the bottom and see fish swimming around.
Banksia Flower. There are lots of different types of banksia this is wild one not interfeared with by nursery men who like to play around with them.They are close cousins of Proteas from africa. The banksia not the nursery men.
Durras beach, big and wild and look at the sand, a minimum of footprints.
Big cuttlefish bones we found to take home for our cockies. There were heaps of these, too many for me to collect. The biggest one I got was 15 inches long.
What a handsome fellow. Another rainbow lorikeet.
This is a Currawong. Also known around here as a mountain magpie.
Here are 2 magpies. Their name shortened to Maggies. These are very interesting birds. Their white and black markings differ for individual familys and areas. They are quite territorial and when they sing and warble it is beautiful but it is to scare you out of their territory. They can become quite tame if you give them food and water and won't dive bomb you when they are nesting. When they do dive bomb you they scare the hell out of you and can become very dangerous. They are known to recognize different people and single them out to bomb. They go for your head and eyes if you enter their territory. I carry a stick and hold it higher than my head if I know they are nesting because they hit the stick before they hit you. Some people carry umbrellas or wear their sunglasses on the back of their heads as they swoop from behind and won't do it if they think you are watching them. I have also heard that people wear ice cream buckets with eyes drawn on the top of their heads. A lot of them are shot in breeding season which is sad because they are only trying to protect their babies and they only dive bomb for a few weeks of the year. They have been known to scare people causing them to fall off push bikes and last year an old man died from a wound to the eye that became infected after one of them attacked him. As they are omnivores they are very successful at adapting to urban areas. They do lots of fun things though. They do a dance with their claws scratching the ground that mimics rain, so worms come to the surface and they can grab them and eat them. You can see them doing this in open grassy lawn areas. They are also good scavengers and can be kept as pets and taught to sing and talk. During summer Pete puts water out for them in the afternoons and they sit near by and watch and wait for him.
Spring is here. The almond trees across the road from my house are in flower.
Closer pic of the almond flowers.
These plants are called Burrawangs. They are cycads and grow all through the bush along the south coast. These ones were about half way down the clyde mountain.
More Burrawangs. This picture was taken in Murramarang national park. The bush here is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. "Natures Garden" that no human gardener could ever copy, try as they might. I read that they are very slow growing and if you see one that is 2 meters tall it is probably a hundred years old. I was surprised to find that the trees in some of this area showed no fire marks on them. I drove my little car down a bush track and found this spot to go for a walk in the bush. When we got near the beach it was a nudist beach. No wonder it was tucked away in the bush so nicely. Ha Ha. It was almost deserted. It was a quick visit.
I couldn't resist doing this. Especially for my blog.
Bye Love Linda.