Being the first week of the month Cee’s Mid Week Challenge is about exploring macro or close up photography. I like to think of it as getting up close and personal time. When deciding on what to photograph I was memorized by the large bushes I saw in the gardens as I was leaving the hospital. To my surprise, I walk along this path every day but hadn’t noticed these beautiful shrubs before. So I explored their beauty closely and to my delight saw that the bushes were in various stages of flowering. They truely were a sight to behold.
Not knowing what the plants were I asked around and was told that they are Mini Red Flowering Gums. ( Corymbia Ficifolia) They are grafted eucalyptus trees, native to Australia that grow easily and are hardy. Bees and nectar eating birds love to feed on them.
Do you have a favourite? Mine is the last one that also shows the bees gathering the pollen.
Thanks to Cee for hosting this challenge it is great inspiration.
Today on my walk around the suburb my attention was drawn to an usual sight. A Banksia plant was displaying several stages of the Banksia cycle all at once. There are over a 170 species of Banksias ranging in size and shape, with all but one of them native to Australia. They were first discovered by and consequently named after Sir Joseph Banks when Captain Cook discovered Australia in 1770. They are a truly an Australian original.
The photo below shows the flower in bloom. This flower was one of the last for the season.
This photograph shows the cone after the flowers have dropped off. It is here that the seeds are stored in pods until opening up. For many Banksia species this is triggered by heat – bushfires or drying out.
I love the contradiction in this photo as it shows a new cone with pods developing as well as a dried out empty cone.
In Australia the dried out cone has inspired many craft and woodwork creations. However, in many ways their greatest claim to fame is being the inspiration for May Gibbs’s Big Bad Banksia Men in her Snugglepot and Cuddlepie books. The Banksia men were the villians. They were always out to create trouble. Owing to the commonness of the species, dried cone can be found everywhere so growing up every child could relate to them. I’m sure my family wasn’t the only one to create their own Banksia boys adventures.
One of my favourite things to do in Australia is to go on a bush walk. I love communing with nature and getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Everytime I go bushwalking I am reminded of my childhood and weekends with my family. We would spend hours exploring different areas with dad pointing out and explaining even the smallest detail. Gnarly trees were always special and we would often stop and study them. I found them fascinating. The knots and growths of the old trees often looked like the tree had a face and was trying to tell us something. It is interesting how a group of people can look at the same gnarly tree and see completely different things.
The following gnarly tree photos were taken whilst on a long bush walk at Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. The walk was one of many in Morton National Park and didn’t disappoint.
Do you recognise the animal in the photo? For most of you I guess the answer is no because it has been extinct for 85 years. It’s a photo of Benjamin the last Tasmanian Tiger (Tasmanian thylacine). The photo was taken at Hobart’s Beaumaris in 1933 by Australian zoologist David Fleay. Originally in black and white the footage was colourised and released by the National Film and Sound Archive on National Threatened Species Day.
National Threatened Species Day is on 7th September each year as a tribute to Benjamin the last Tasmanian Tiger. It was the day he died back in 1933 and the species was declared extinct. I am so grateful to be able to see Benjamin in his true colours 85 years after his death.
The photos above were taken last Sunday on my walk. The news had said that the southern swells and Spring high tides earlier in the week had caused major erosion of my local Merewether beach not seen in our area since a major storm in 1974. The 1974 storm was locally known as the Sygna storm after the Norwegian bulk carrier of the same name that ran aground on Stockton beach at the time. I was fascinated to see what everyone was talking about. Wow! I wasn’t expecting what I saw. It didn’t even occur to me that there were rocks under the sand. All the media reports about the erosion stated that history had proved that the sand would return by summer. The swells and the tides would put it all back again. No intervention needed.
While I had no evidence to go by I just trusted mother nature and didn’t think any more about it. Today on our lockdown walk as we had nothing else to do we thought we’d go back to Merewether and see what was happening. We were gob smacked. Merewether beach was back and beautiful. The photos below were taken this morning. They are from similar spots and of the same stretch of beach that was stripped bare last Sunday. We were also surprised to note that there seemed to be even more sand on the beach than before. It was also clean and yellow. Merewether beach had been Spring cleaned at no cost.
Today as we are still in lock down in New South Wales, I thought we’d share a takeaway coffee at a secret spot I only discovered last year. Newcastle’s Fairy Garden to my surprise is over 50 years old. I can’t believe I never heard of it as a kid even if then it was a private place.
Merv Moyle created the wonderland across the road from his house in the 1970’s for his children. Over the years he kept adding his new ideas to it until his death in his 90’s.
Imagine how special his children and grand children must felt to have their own fairy garden, complete with a fairy queen, animal friends, fairies and toadstools, not to mention the beautiful flowers and rainforest. As a child, I thought we were lucky as our dad had made us a cubby house. I am glad that it is now open for anyone to wander through and connect with your inner child at this magical place.
I hope you enjoyed our coffee and visit today. Thanks to Natalie The Explorer for hosting Weekend Coffee Share
It was a beautiful winter’s day out. We enjoyed watching the surfers and smelling the fresh sea air. It was also great to see the ocean looking so clear and clean. Here’s some photos we took to remember our walk.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about my latest favourite pastime. Buying second hand books. I love the thrill of the chase. They are everywhere and sometimes I am amazed at how new the books I find are. I have several authors I look for and based on them I have found many new authors. Most I am able to pick up for a couple of dollars however on our latest holiday, I was lucky and found many exciting titles for only $1.00. Needless to say, I had fun.
If we were having coffee I would ask if you have been doing a jigsaw puzzle during lockdown. I have. My latest puzzle is of the people skating on the frozen Rideau Canal in Ottawa. Its a beautiful puzzle that reminds me I need to go back to Ottawa in winter to complete this bucket list activity. Back in January 2015, when my husband and I were in Canada winter was late and the canal opened to skaters the day we arrived back in Australia.
If we were having coffee I tell you that today is both my 59th birthday and National Rum day. Ironically, my husband baked me a fancy birthday cake from scratch yesterday, while I was at work. His choice a chocolate rum cake. Imagine his surprise to discover this morning the rum day connection. Rum is also my favourite spirit.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I love wattle. It is the floral emblem of Australia. I am also blessed that it begins to flower in August. It is a bright yellow and pops up everywhere. Wattle never fails to bring a smile to my face.
If we were having coffee I would ask you what has been happening in your world?
In January 2014, our family planted this frangipani tree to remember our cat, Yoda who had died days before. Last Thursday when I arrived to visit my daughter at our Sydney property, I noticed it had bloomed for the first time. I was so excited. I rushed over and took a quick photo to show my husband on my return home. However, when I got home I was so busy with Christmas I forgot but fortunately my daughter was also so excited when she noticed the beautiful flowers that she shared her photo with us. One thing we all agreed on is that our frangipani’s beauty was special and a great choice for Yoda’s garden.
What household chore do you absolutely hate doing? Â
Basically anything that relates to cleaning. I am good with the cooking and even washing the dishes but scrubbing, wiping and dusting don’t do it for me. The only advantage of working full time was that I had a cleaner however working part time I can’t justify it.
At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?Â
We are currently on holiday in Western Australia. Being on the other side of the country there are many new things to explore and learn about. Watching the sunset over the ocean this evening was different as living on the east coast we usually see the sunrise over the ocean.
How many times have you moved in the last ten years?
Over the last 10 years we have moved 4 times. Our latest move back to Newcastle last year I am hoping will be my last. We are currently considering our first ever renovations to make our forever house how we want it to be before we retire in the next few years. It’s a mixture of excitement and apprehension.
What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Â
Last Saturday night I was lucky enough to see Paul McCartney in concert. It was my husband’s birthday and he is a huge fan, so I went to enjoy the night with him. Prior to the concert I was not a fan but I must say it changed my world. The creativity and personal connectedness was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Not bad for a 75 year old.
