Long Reef

I met up with the North Sydney photo club at Long Reef at the crack of dawn. It was a very still morning with nice reflections. I ended up getting very wet for the photo of the pelican - you can't say I don't suffer for my art!
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Weekend at Capertee Valley

We spent a relaxing weekend at the Capertee Valley, situated three hours from Sydney at the far end of the beautiful Blue Mountains. My explicit reason for visiting was the scenery and some time away with Ally. Of course, the fact that Capertee enjoys some of the best bird life in New South Whales may have also have been an influencing factor.

The weather was not on our side unfortuntely and the grey skies were not particularly condusive for stunning landscape shots, but the valley was very scenic nevertheless as you can see from the shots below..



Who would have thought a thistle could make a nice photo...
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Lots of flowers were out, being the tail end of spring...
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We stayed in a cosy cabin on a farm on Longridge Farm. We were thinking of camping; given the weather, it was good we didn't. Not that living in a cabin protected us from all the elements. Look at who shared our bathroom. Rather freaky he was!
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A Satin bowerbird had built his bower just a few metres from our cabin. These amazing birds build ornate "boudoirs" out of all sorts of odds and sodds that catch their fancy. This particular bowerbird had a penchant for blue clothes pegs.
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Once happy with his masterpiece, the bowerbird calls out stridently in the hope that a lady will come and check out his " shag pad" and be so impressed that she will stay for the night. When she arrives, he dances like crazy to woo her. Not too different from modern dating in the human world.
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The bowerbird is extremely particular about his bower and when Ally put a pink petal amongst his things (while he was away), he returned and immediately removed the offending item. It evidently did not meet his very exacting colour scheme!!
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And here he is - the peg loving, romantic Satin Bowerbird. In the sunshine, he has a blue sheen (same shade as the pegs he steals), but the sun didn't make an appearance. By the way, if you want to see an amazingly impressive bower, check it out here (prepare to be blown away!)
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Apart from the fascinating Bowerbird, the undoubted birding highlight for me was the beautiful finches in the valley. They birds are like tiny jewels; absolutely beautiful.
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Diamond Firefinch (new species)
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Double-barred finch
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Zebra Finch (Male and female) - new species
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And lots of other birds too...
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Yellow robin

White-plumed honeyeater (new species)
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Splendid fairywren (beautiful!)
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White-browed babbler

New Holland Honeyeater
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White-eyed duck (new species)
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To be identified   
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Nankeen kestrel
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Eastern Rosella (new species)
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To be identified
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Australian Pelican
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We spent most of our time walking and exploring the valley from the little town of Glen Davis. This was a thriving town of over 2500 until 1952 when its oil plant suddenly closed down due to lack of government support. The town almost became a ghost town overnight and all the houses and cars were abandoned.

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The town is now occupied by a few famers but it is tiny and quiet and strewn with old rusting cars and old caved in houses. A very strange place - and a bit sad. But good too, that it has been reclaimed to a large extent by nature.




An old, abandoned house...
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New birds

• Eastern Rosella
• Zebra Finch
• Diamond Finch
• White-eyed Duck
• White-plumed Honeyeater

Houseboating in Hawkesbury River

We just spent an idyllic 3 days houseboating with Doug and Claudia, Linda and Dan. Amazing food, beautiful scenery and lots of time to chill out. It was a great get away.

Swimming off the boat. The water was suprisingly warm. There were some jellyfish to avoid but all part of the fun.

As with all Dough and Claudia outings, the food was splendid and we did little but eat. Each couple was responsible for a day. Ally excelled with her Yoghurt and Cumin Lamb and prawns wrapped in pancetta ham on the barbie. Went down like a house on fire.

What would a boat trip be without a leap from the boat.

On our final night, we had a Bond night were we dressed up in "costumes" and played poker. Guess who cleaned up? Yes, Ally!! She's quite the poker player and spent the evening accumulating everyone's chips.


Ally and me in our Bond outfits. Can you see my bow tie?



And here is the whole group. We had an enormous boat, equipped for ten people, so were spoiled with lots of space.



Relaxing on the beaches along the river.

We all did a fair amount of fishing. But only Dan caught any fish - 7 of the blighters!! What we were all doing wrong is anyone's guess.

These crabs only have one claw each. Who needs two hands when one will do.

All her fish catching made Dan very popular with the local pelican.

Beautiful it was.

Doug trying hard.

Beautiful sunsets.

Ally's new T-shirt - a present from the Fletchers.

And my boogey board - a Xmas present from Ally. Perfect colour and message for Bondi Beach!

Driving the boat was a lot of fun. Had to be particularly careful aiming through the bridges.

A very cheeky jump in the lake by Dan. Needless to say, she was a lot of fun...

Driving from Melbourne to Sydney...

...in our beautiful new car. Well not quite new, a Toyota Corolla 2001 with 70,000 kms on the clock. But we are very proud of her. The beginnings of a beautiful friendship...


First stop was the famous Healesville Animal Sanctuary just out of Melbourne. We saw dingos and koalas and all kind of cute Aussie critters.




The highlight though was the bird show which was similar to the one we saw on Grouse Mountain with Keira, except with Australian birds. This owl was particularly beautiful and loved flighing so close over the heads of the audience that it left our hair up on end. The kestrel was an amazing catcher of food thrown into the air.



Then we visited Badger Weir, a tract of pristine forest.


We ovrnighted with Anne and David. Anne is Mike's sister's husband's sister if that makes sense. What a wonderful couple. They made us feel so welcome. David has a classic MG car which was great to explore.


Next day, we visited Philips Island, famous for its Fairy Penguins - the smallest penguin in the world.


The Silver Gulls posed nicely for the camera...



...as did Ally. Ah, cute! The coastline here was very impressive. So nice to be in a country again with big waves after the tranquil coastline of the UK.


Then we drove through a region famous for its enormous worms - the largest in the world. We read about them in Bill Bryson's book "Down Under" but didn't see any live ones. A local museum that we visited had some old photos showing their extraordinary length.



We saw this beautiful white kookabara. The all white form is quite rare apparently.


Thought provoking. Many parts of Australia are experiencing severe droughts at the moment and water is becoming a precious resource.


Came accross some beautiful pelicans on a river estuary and stopped to photograph them. The Australian Pelican offically has the longest bill in the world. Certainly is impressive.




Beautiful red and white cliffs in Ben Boyd National Park. The beaches went on for ever and the sand was pristine white.


This little cottage in the tiny town of Tilba up in the hills hosted a wonderful collection of Australian nature photographs. Inspiring.


We stopped for a night at Kiana - famous for its blowhole that can send surf 60 metres into the air on a stormy day. We didn't see it blow quite so high but impressive nevertheless, especially with its booming sound effects.



We saw these amazing parrots in the Royal National Park coming into Sidney. Very accomodating they were for portrait shots. They are very loving and spend hours nibbling and nuzzling their partners.