A couple of sea lions were relaxing on the river banks while the humans wandered amongst the stalls of Moruya Country Market on Saturday morning.
moruya
Month: September 2022
tathra
The south coast of New South Wales, and its hinterland, are spectacular. Beaches, rivers, lakes, mountains and forests, many undeveloped. We see beauty everywhere we look.
merimbula
We’ve made it to the coast, after some dirt-roading through Burra, a visit to Snowy Hydro Discovery Center in Cooma, and a bit of a cruise around Bega. There are lots of motels in Merimbula, but we thought it fun to test our memories and find the one we’d stayed in seven years ago. Back then, there was Tagetes lemmonii growing outside the rooms, which reminded us of home.
It’s good to be back by the ocean; we’ll be wending our way up the coast to Sydney over the next several days.
moving on
It’s been a lovely week with the Canberra crew, but now it’s time for more friends and family!
rhipidura albiscapa
Australia is famed for its colourful birds, but the little monochrome ones can be just as fascinating. Grey Fantails live across most of Australia. Hyperactive, agile and graceful, they perform rapid aerial acrobatics, constantly splaying out their tail feathers into a fan. They feed on flying insects which they chase out from the edge of shrubs and bushes and snap up mid-air. Cute!
leaf galls
While waiting for our friends to arrive, I sketched the pretty galls on the gum tree by the gate.
acacias
I did a bit of an audit on the acacias on my sister’s bush block. I counted five different species, four of which I am pretty confident on the ID. The fifth remains unidentified.
There are almost 1000 species of acacia in Australia!
tidbinbilla
The Sanctuary at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve is a large wetlands ecosystem surrounded by bushland that has been protected by a predator-proof fence for around 40 years, creating a refuge for a range of native animals.
We enjoyed seeing the similar-but-different small marsupials, Long-Nosed Potoroos and Southern Brown Bandicoots, free-ranging in the bush. Both have rat-like faces but move in unique ways.
canberra vibes
sublime
We made it Downunder! We took a long detour on the drive from Sydney to Queanbeyan and spent the day in the Blue Mountains, where the scenery is indeed sublime.
We ate a delicious meal at the Yellow Deli in Katoomba, and pegged it as a place to recommend and return to. But some reading on the religious group that owns the chain of restaurants has diminished our enthusiasm. A pity — because the food was really good!
hashiworks 