Autumn in Mt Lofty Botanic Park

Today was such a lovely autumn day with a cool breeze and a sky so blue with the occasional cloud drifting by.
We decided a look at the changing colours in the Adelaide hills would be a good idea. Packed a couple of sandwiches  and a tetra pack of orange juice (so much easier than thermos of coffee) along with our cameras. The drive to Meadows is always a delight, no matter what season we are in. The tall gums line the road and the light is quite soft giving the impression of a green oasis.

Driving through the hills we were surprised at how few trees had actually changed colour.
When we arrived at Mt Lofty park we were amazed at the number of cars already there. Of course I had forgotten that the school holidays had started last Friday and the place was over run with hyper active children. We found the new steps down to the lake and a picnic table on the edge where we sat to have our lunch.
The children had discovered that they could walk in the mud on the edge of the lake as the water

had receded quite a lot. The boys of the party found it more fun to throw stones and acorns into the lake. The girls had great fun getting the black mud all over their hands and clothes and later when I went to the toilet block, they were trying to wash the mud out of their shoes and socks in the hand basins. Mothers seemed to be very philosophical about it telling the girls the socks were beyond salvation and they may as well dump them in the bin....
no need for frugality there it seemed....

Taking photos was quite a challenge too, as no sooner had I found a lovely framed shot, some child would race into view or jump on the sculpture to have a play. Finally I did get the sculpture which now has a path going past it. Last time we were here it was a slippery slope.
I do love little paths that disappear into unknown lands and the little pagoda like structure seemed a lovely place for sitting and reflecting....children raced past, such undirected energy.....what joy to be alive

Aerial display

 At the bottom of this page is what I wanted to start the blog with, describing what I was watching this morning out of our kitchen window. I then was going to insert the photos I took of the Magpies, which seem to be a bit of a security patrol in this garden. However the computer seems to have its own idea of what it wants to permit.... I didn't want to start all over again.... anyway, the Magpies were also inspecting what a mob of Galahs , which had suddenly descended on the new rose bed and were busily eating whatever they found so attractive back in March. It seemed strange to have

a small group of Galahs , pink and grey ones....or was that grey and pink.....when we had been battling with hundreds upon hundreds of their cousins the Corellas for seemingly weeks.
I am rather fond of the Galah, they are such clowns and when the first autumn rains come they dangle upside down on the nearest wire, spreading their wings to have a good wash under their armpits, you can almost hear them sigh in relief to feel clean again.

 The Magpies though, such officious birds, do like to keep an eye on things and make sure  that all goes to plan and no bird steps out of line....
The Gallahs took the hint and have not been back since , which is a pity as we do enjoy seeing them cavorting around in their lovely colours.

 I have actually knit-woven another origami sleeveless top. It takes quite a bit of thinking it out and then swatching to get a good combination of colours and yarns.The knit-weaving doesn't take so long but the sewing up takes forever as I like to sew it up by hand so as to get the squares to match the way they need to. On the right you see the two lenghts sewn together so as to construct the garment.
So below you see the heap it appears in while I am pinning it together

 It can be quite a challenge to put it all together
correctly as it is easy to sew the wrong edges together and then you have a devil of a job to sort it out again, so I always have a paper copy next to me to refer to.

 On the right are the two nearly finished sleeveless garments
the one on the left is a jacket I still have to do the neckline for
while the right one is just about finished but needs a button on its neckline to  make it complete. This one is also more a tunic as it is designed for a tall person and so half an extra square was added on to give it its length.

A close up of the yarns and weaving used gives some idea of the interesting textures that can result from yarn combinations.

This morning there were at least a dozen Wattle birds giving an aerial display. They were flying up, up in the air most likely having a shower and refreshing their feathers in the very gentle rain which was falling ever so widely spaced on the earth. As I was watching the exuberant display of their flying , a Magpie strutted onto the stage telling them it was not their patch to play on, it was his. They dive bombed him instead. He stood his ground and inspected what they had actually been picking up off the earth. Just then another Magpie appeared and then a third as well. The flying ballet did not exit but carried on and after a while they all disappeared and the space was empty of birds again......

Dead Things

 We seem to have a plethora of dead things lying about at the moment.
I found  a lot of white feathers in the front paddock when we got back from
Marion Bay. The corellas had been in droves around here while we were away and they stripped a lot of gum leaves and twigs so the track in, was littered with all the damage they cause. I don't know if a fox managed to sneak up on one as I also found a fox scat on the track. Though it was not a big one and of course they are always full of grape seeds at this time of the year.

While we were having our Sunday sherry on the front verandah today we found this dead crested pigeon under one of the chairs. It had killed itself by flying into the window as they often do, leaving an imprint of their feathers on the glass.
The dead fish was one I had transferred from the pond to a large outside bowl ready to give to a friend who is restocking her pond. I had transferred one before and wondered when I went to catch it to give to my friend , where it had disappeared to. The two little fish that are already there seem to stay. So this one I found the next day right next to the bowl and it had obviously thought out of the bowl was better than in.... little did it know because of course the ants made a feast of it and I found the skeleton today.

The little dead mice were caught  in the kitchen traps, they look cute of course until you are inundated with them and they gnaw on anything
remotely like food. Plus they leave their little black calling cards on the benches and stove tops in my kitchen.
Sometimes the mice have been so small they are still inside the trap and you have to drown them which I will confess I hate doing as I have to cover them with a flower pot to keep them under and a stone on top of the pot as well.

Brian has been very busy getting all the winter wood into the little shed. I thought he did a  very artistic job, worthy of some photos.
Today was also the anniversary of my son Greg's death in an accident on his motorbike. It was Easter Sunday the 6th April thirty four years ago.
So it was interesting that today, the 6th also fell on Sunday..... and where has the time gone? so much water under the bridge.......

Formbe Bay is not in the Park

Formbe Bay is about half way between Marion Bay and Corny Point. The main road is bitumen now and only the tracks off the main road to the various bays and beaches are dirt. We saw quite a few sleepy lizards crossing the road and some didn't make it. This one was sauntering along when I stopped to take its picture. It was in no hurry but when I hopped back into the car and started it up it suddenly realized "danger" and scuttled away at a great pace.

I love Formbe Bay. The headland there is called The Little Lizard and when you look you can see the shape of a lizard's head and body.
It is very popular with surfers and we could see some of them in the distance.
Someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to mark the broad path leading along the top of the cliff. They have lined it with limestone rocks all along and it has a really pleasing effect as there are little plants as well growing here and there 

surviving in these harsh ,sandy soil conditions and coping with salt laden winds as well.
In amongst the green vegetation were some Templetonia shrubs which have a lovely rounded habit. Not a great number of plants were flowering but it would be wonderful to see this place in the spring.

Beside the path some one had planted a type of reed and put little rocks all around probably as
a protection against people walking on them without seeing what was there.
This had been done all along the path and not only that but in places had actually created little
rock gardens.

These type of spurge plants on the left, amazed me as they were upright and cheerfully flowering away, they looked like a little army on the move in this dry and sandy soil. How do they survive this? Luckily there did not seem to be any rabbits
so perhaps little plants have been given a chance again and  are coming back.
I noticed the authorities are also laying baits for foxes and hopefully that will be a success and protect any small wildlife that may be coming back also.

We stood and watched a few surfers patiently waiting for a reasonable wave to come along and have a go at surfing it to the end. As we stood there watching I had been hopeful of seeing a Leviathan but of course it is too early in the year for them, they won't be here till June /July by which time they will also be on our coastline in the south.
.

Of Pelicans and Jetties

The jetty at Marion bay is quite a long one and very good to walk on early in the morning. Not many fishermen on the jetty then so I assume the fishing isn't worth bothering with at that time. Usually there are plenty of squid to be seen caught by people and I found it astounding that when I asked at the Tavern if the Salt and Pepper squid was local, they told me it wasn't. I have had enough poor Salt and Pepper squid dishes in various supposedly good restaurants and pubs, that it has put me right off , so unless it is fresh local squid I won't order it.

On this early morning walk I saw this enormous Pelican, and they are a big bird, land on the light fitting near the Community center. It seemed impossible for such an ungainly bird to settle on this tiny light fitting. So I took quite a few photos while it sat there imperiously surveying its territory. There didn't seem to be any other Pelicans about. I did see a group of teal duck in the sea just over the edge of the path in the background.

We went back to the Innes Park and walked some different paths. The Althorpe Island  display board is quite informative and I find them interesting and it directs my thoughts on the people who were shipwrecked on this rough and beautiful coast .Quite a few people were drowned of course as the seas are not just rough but the currents are strong too.
Remember to click on the photos to get a closer look and you will be able to read what it tells you.

I took this photo of Brian busily photographing the coast from the Light house. The path leading up to the Light house has glittering mica chips in it but it is difficult to get that in a photo.
We just delighted in taking as many photos as we wanted because we come from an era of film photographs where you had to send the film away and wait for a week or more to get them developed and back only to discover they were very poor, out of focus or blurred. Not so with our digital cameras from which you can download onto the laptop

which I had with me and then delete the ones that are not up to standard. Brian is still in the economic mode and doesn't take quite as many photos as I do. Must admit I get a bit carried away and find all sorts of things interesting and worth photographing as a reminder later of where we have been. The Park people have done a lot of creative ways of getting the public to stay mostly on the boardwalks or steps to prevent erosion. These steps on the left go down to the wreck of the "Ethel".

Our last port of call, so to speak, was Pondalowie Bay which has little islands and headlands.
Below the edge of the cliff is a safe harbour and people live there and fish as well. It also has reefs and surfing beach. It has a West Cape Lighthouse there as well. Yesterday we got as far as Browns Beach which is renowned for its salmon fishing but it was fairly flat when we stood looking at it from above. There was no one there but a man came out of the campsite to see if fish had arrived. He had to wait a bit longer....

A Retreat at Marion Bay on Yorke Peninsula....

We arrived at Marion Bay Sunday week ago on a windy and at times rainy day. We traveled from Willunga through the suburbs and on to the amazing new Northern road system which made us realize how neglected our Southern area has been. Of course they are busy constructing the double side of the Southern Express way now, which should have been done from day one. It will probably take at least another twelve months to complete.... The Pt Wakefield road is very busy but you can sit on 110 k/ph and that part of the trip is quite fast.

 It was before getting to Ardrossan that we ran in to quite heavy rain. We arrived at Marion Bay at about 4.30pm.The cottage we were to rent had been left unlocked with the key inside...how refreshing to find a community which is still civilized and where you can leave a door unlocked with out dire consequences.
We had booked a place for dinner at the Tavern which happened to be just across the road, how good was that. Our table was by the big window overlooking the wide bay with its' fantastic cloud formations.

The next morning after a leisurely breakfast ( when are our breakfasts not leisurely in these days of retirement?) we trotted off to go to Innes National Park. We had been given a free pass to the Park included in the rental of the cottage so we were able to drive straight in.
The top photo shows the scene as you come over the hill into the first stage of the Park. The cloud formations on that day were just wonderful and the sun would illuminate cliffs and really show them up.

The view of Cape Spencer and the Chinaman
Island were lovely in the early morning sun.
You can drive to a car park near Cape Spencer lighthouse and then walk the rest of the way to the site where it stands and see just why they needed some way of warning ships about all the reefs and little islands which were so hazardous and caused quite a number of ship wrecks.
In the year 1878 the "Young St George" was  wrecked on Allthorpe Island and after that five or seven more.

We drove on to the next stop where you can view the last remnants of the wreck of the "Ethel".
Brian remembers this wreck from his time of going to Browns beach with his uncles to go and fish there. He thought the survivors were rescued by a ship called "The Rat" but later this turns out to be "The Ferret".... well, both rather repulsive with sharp teeth, an understandable association I'd say...... Unfortunately some one set fire to the wreck years ago and now all you can see are rusty ribs of steel sticking out of the sand.

They did manage to salvage the anchor so it is displayed at the top of the cliff and we didn't have to climb all the way down, those cliffs are very,very steep.....
All this clambering about works up an appetite so by the time we got back to the cottage we were ready for an aperitive and dinner at the Tavern, no cooking by me at all, at all....
The TV didn't work though Brian followed the instructions to the letter, nor did it respond to my feeble efforts, so we were without news or weather for days on end till unfortunately Brian got hold of some smart young person who said the instructions were all wrong and put it to rights sadly.......We slept well till the first tractor roared past to launch its boat before sparrow fart....

Black and White Birds

 Our very tall Sugar gum hosts many a bird.
Of late we have had visitations of the Corellas in their hundreds, in fact we estimate them in close to a thousand in the paddock. They screech and carry on like so many white, lost harridans and cause a great deal of damage to our local trees.
They are not native to this area belonging to the Northern parts of our country where the goanas would have kept them in check. Our human intervention by cultivating the landscape and growing grain has encouraged the unprecedented breeding of these birds.

 The other birds which suddenly appeared in the tree were a big number of ravens. We had seen them in the paddock north of us on a patch of ground which they were intent on cleaning off . What they had found there we were unsure  of but assumed they were cleaning up the crickets which have been very vocal at night these last nights. We used to call the Ravens, Crows but Crows live in the North of Australia and we seem to have the little Raven here though they could also be the Australian Raven. Apparently the little Raven "Corvus mellori" is nomadic and the Australian Raven"Corvus coronoides" is sedentary......there is only 20mm difference

in size... no doubt there is a small Raven complex there somewhere?
Suddenly too, there are the Candelabra lillies  flowering in all their elegant glory, how wonderful the rain proves to be, the paintbrush lilies have popped up as well. They will produce huge big green leaves after the flowers go. I just find it awe inspiring to see all that beautiful life emerge from the dry and dead vegetation on the ground.

 I wondered if this Galah was a pet as it sat quite quietly on the ground and then sat on a limb of the gumtree looking suitably coy.
 It would not come down but it was on its own and didn't seem to worry about being spoken to.
Meanwhile there were hundreds if not a thousand Corellas in the paddock north of us in exactly the same place the Ravens had occupied a few days before. What did they find to eat there??

Something will have to be done about these bird populations, but who will bite the bullet over this? Don't forget to click on the photos to see more detail.