Victoria Street on the way to to the park at Elizabeth Bay!
View of Elizabeth Bay from pedestrian slipway
Elizabeth Bay viewed from the little park below Elizabeth Bay House
Del-Rio 22-24 Billyard Avenue
27 Billyard Avenue
Art-deco building ‘Winston’
Victorian drinking fountain in the park at Elizabeth Bay
Weeragal–the original name here, for Australian mackerel
Bunya Pine and Jacaranda
Jacaranda blue
Old steps down to Elizabeth Bay
Art-deco building ‘Edgewater’
At the front verandah, Jasmine hedge in bloom with sweet fragrance
Blooming Hawthorn tree!
Tiny sun loving daisies that also thrive in Cornwall England
‘Doll’s daisy’ (Asteraceae boltonia) ?
French lavender
Hominy’s delectable egg custard tart
Jen’s artwork and the stained glass window
Waratah (Telopea speciosissima) The generic name Telopea is derived from the Greek 'telopos', meaning 'seen from afar', and refers to the great distance from which the crimson flowers are discernible. The specific name speciosissima is the superlative of the Latin adjective 'speciosus', meaning 'beautiful' or ‘handsome’
Dreamtime Legend of the Waratah: As told by Camoola, Head of the Burragorang people in 1802
There was once a beautiful young woman named Krubi who had made for herself a cloak of the red skin of the rock wallaby ornamented with the redder crests of the gang-gang cockatoo. Dressed in her scarlet cloak she would take up a post in the cleft of high a sandstone ridge. Here she would watch every evening for the return of the men and to catch a first glimpse of the young man she loved.
Her young man was only newly initiated into manhood and had not learnt the art of war. The slim figure in red silhouetted against the sky was the sight the young man looked for every evening as he returned home.
A neighbouring people had been seen recently in Burragorang land and it was decided that the Burragorang must make a stand and drive them out. A great corroboree was planned for and Krubi's young man was to be taught about war. Krubi's spirit sank with foreboding.
On the day of the battle Krubi stood alone, with her red cloak wrapped around her, on the sandstone cleft. From her station she could hear the cries of the battle and flashes of spears and throwing sticks in mid-flight. Occasional glimpses too of the men between the tall trees and tangled scrubs.
She waited anxiously for the return of her man and late in the afternoon she saw the scattered band of warriors returning. But nowhere could she see the slim dark figure of her beloved looking up at her.
Krubi stayed there on the ridge for seven days waiting. Her tears flowed and several flowers started to spring from the rivulets they formed, rippling down the ridge. Then Krubi left her place and walked down to the abandoned camp.
Here the ashes were cold and seven days old, so she returned to the sandstone ridge. She now felt such inconsolable grief that she willed herself to die, her body blending slowly into the weathered sandstone.
And rising from the spot came the first waratah. The stalk hard, straight, and without blemish, like the young man Krubi had pined for, the leaves serrated and pointed like his spear. And the beautiful flower itself is the most radiant red, like the red of Krubi's cloak & the scarlet of blood. The Burragorang named the flower waratah ('beautiful') and cherished it because of its beauty and its history.
This photo seems to embody the spirit of the Waratah Dreamtime Legend – taken in Ada Street, Katoomba NSW
Forget-me-nots as far as the eye can see!
Azaleas!
Hidden away, a blood red camellia bush
More azalea blooms
Wisteria
Rhododendron’s first bloom
Rainbow Bee-eaters! – so lucky to capture with our 10 x zoom lens (digital camera)
They live on flying insects with their favourite being bees, eating up to several hundred bees a day. They can sight insects up to 150 feet away. They will fly down and catch it with their bill and then knock it against their perch to quieten it down. They are immune to the sting of a bee however they still rub the bee’s stinger against the perch which removes it and while doing this they close their eyes to protect them from the squirt of poison.
Goanna (Lace Monitor) off the dirt road – one of a pair feeding on some small animal.
Coopernook National Park campsite
Epiphytes – Stag horn fern
Epiphytes – Birds nest fern
At Beech Lookout overlooking the Cunnawarra Range, Botumburra Range and beyond into the Macleay River valley. Immediately below the lookout are forest Ribbon Gums – some of the tallest in New South Wales reaching 79m in height and 3m in diameter! Also within this area of forest are Antarctic Beech Trees, relics of the ancient continent of Gondwana.
This unusual plant grew only on the face of the escarpment below Beech lookout
Spotted-tailed Quoll (National Parks photo) – neither tail nor scat did we see!
Asteraceae (Coronidium boormanii) ?
Snake crossing the dirt road on the way to Georges Junction.
Georges Junction campsite, where the Georges River meets the Macleay River. We came here five years ago to a mist shrouded valley and found ourselves taking part in the Australian Census!
Campspot above the river
Bottle Brush along the river banks
Leatherwood or Yellow box ? – deliciously scented anyway
Delicate Yellow Thornbill - one of Australia’s tiniest birds
Sundown and moon at Georges Junction
