KONDALILLA FALLS CALLS...

An outing to Kondalilla Falls with family on Friday was enjoyable, if a little tiring and in the end very damp. We didn't see the main Falls as the track to the bottom is temporarily closed due to a rock fall.

These first two photos are the first of the smaller falls you come to as you follow the track. We've had a bit of rain so they're flowing well.

Some of the pretty flowers we saw along the way.

This dragonfly was so vibrant I had to take its photo.

Quite a few trees were down, whether due to inclement weather or purposefully cut I don't know.

Up, up, up to the clouds.

Moss and lichen cover most rocks.

Gorgeous views of the Obi Valley from the lookout.

Not as much fungus around as I'd thought there'd be.

This pool was entertaining several swimmers, including a topless female when we came back around.

Below the pool I believe this leads to the main falls we couldn't see, apparently 80m high. Of course, if one goes down, one has come back up!

Some handy railings along the sometimes narrow paths.

This little eastern waterdragon blocked our way up wanting his photo taken. I heard birds but didn't see any. Too high up.

It was a cloudy morning and the heavens opened just as we were about to head up to the carpark so had to wait undercover for a few minutes. We arrived at the Kondalilla Restaurant above the carpark quite bedraggled but staff were very helpful, bringing towels and insisting we were fine to dine.  Highly recommended and we'll return for more delicious, well-priced meals.

This leech almost ruined my day! It must have dropped down the back of my vest during the walk and had been feeding on me while we walked. I didn't feel it at all, even after I wondered why I had blood on the hand. We found it still on my vest which I'd taken off when we sat down. 

TAKING IN BIT OF TASMANIA...

It's been three months since I posted anything, not that many people read my blog, but I guess if I could continue burbling on about "stuff", it might be cathartic for me, if nothing else.  

Recently, I was offered the opportunity to house sit for some very generous friends in Hobart while they were away on a cruise, with use of their vehicle as well, which was too good an offer to turn down so I asked Pam if she'd like to come too. Here are some highlights of our short visit...

On arrival (1.30pm by the time we settled in) we decided to drive up Mt Wellington for the view. I have to confess though, that this photo was taken on the last morning of visit, I didn't think to take one that afternoon.

 Most of the week the mountain was shrouded in clouds...

That afternoon the clouds made the view a bit murky and by the time we got up to the top (after stopping to take photos) we couldn't see any view at all.

I'd have happily stayed there all afternoon looking at the wildflowers, most of which I can't name except for the Tasmanian waratah and the pretty pink ground orchid which is called caladenia gracilis or musky finger-orchid.

Next day we took a drive up to the Bridestowe Lavender Farm, north of Launceston. It's a three hour trip from Hobart so we left early.  This time around I was pleased to see the lavender was out. Last time, I was there in March and it had all been harvested in January. 

Mind you, I don't think it was quite ripe or ready, whatever one says in regards to flowers as the colour wasn't as, well, purple as I'd expected... 

[detour: the next day we headed off on a tour of Bruny Island and on the way there, the bus driver stopped at Margate for the very purple lavender that's grown there. Quite a difference in the colour for some reason.]

On the way back from Launceston, we went looking for cherries as per the road signage but got a bit lost so we detoured to the historical village of Ross where the local two-L llamas were very curious about us...

The Ross bridge is very picturesque and very old...

... as was this beautiful little church.

More on our wanderings around Tassie later...

A WALK IN THE SUNSHINE...

We had quite a bit of rain last night but today the sky was blue and cloudless. I decided I'd take a walk in the Maroochy Botanic Gardens to see what I could see. It's a great spot for a picnic with many seating areas. The 82 hectare site is broken down into different areas like wetlands, sculpture gardens, moss garden with marked walks. Lots of flowers and greenery of course there. Lots of people too. Note to self, next time go much earlier and during the week if you want peace and quiet.

 Away from the screaming kids, shrieking girls and loud cricketers & golfers (next door to the gardens) I did manage a couple of snaps of birds.  In the gloom of the rainforest area they haven't turned out as well as I'd like. The first is a turtle dove of some sort which looks very different to the ones I see around home [edit Oct 2020: Older and wiser me knows it's a bar-shouldered dove and a white-browed scrub wren]. Top right is a tiny wee little bird which was leaping around in the undergrowth and generally being uncooperative (no idea what it is).  A small yellow wren or similar flitted around tantalisingly close sometimes but managed to avoid my lens. At least the  wicker whipbird sculpture sat still for me. 

Of course, there are lots and lots of sculptures scattered throughout. There's also a python which can give you a fright the first time you set eyes on it. You'll have to go see them all for yourself.

 On the left is Phaius tancarvilleae a large swamp orchid which is almost ready to flower. They are quite beautiful and well worth the trek out there to see them (in my opinion anyway). Top right is the Rusty Kurrajong and a pretty little ground cover which is probably a weed.  :) 

I think the top white flower is a geraldton wax but I could be wrong. Same shape but different colour. The bees didn't care. On the right is hardenbergia which is out everywhere in the bush at the moment.  Below are violets, on the right is the native violet which doesn't have a fragrance and I thought the one on the left was some exotic, endangered plant but apparently I was looking at the wrong label.  That's one thing I was disappointed in;  lots of plants not labelled.

WILD ABOUT TASMANIAN FLOWERS...

 Most of the wildflowers that caught my attention were on the west coast of Tasmania, either on islands off Strahan or seen on the way there.  I'm sure I bought a wildflower book but can't for the life of me find the thing so, unfortunately, most are nameless.  

This first flower is similar to a dandelion I guess but is really a ball of tiny flowers, like lantana but not growing like that. Very sweet and found with the daisies below.

 The golden everlasting daisies were growing in clumps along the Lyell Highway to Strahan and were welcome colour in, otherwise, stark countryside and dead trees. The area looked like it had never recovered from bush fires and, I guess, that may be what happened.

These nameless beauties were also found on the road to Strahan but also in other places. Very eye catching indeed.

Just before arriving in Strahan there was a lookout to the coast and we stopped to have... a look out.

and found this very attractive clump of grass.  I know, what sort of person loves grass?  Silly old cow, I am. I have previously admitted to an obsession.

 Alongside the grass, though, was this beauty (also unnamed).

And this colourful shrub is apparently, common heath.  There was a board about local flora but not one of those above was on it.

I did find a name for this one, which is the fruit of the leptecophylla juniperina and I read, now, that it is edible!  Next time, I'll try it.

 We took a trip up the Franklin River and one of our ports of call was Sarah Island which had been a penal settlement and completely devoid of trees while being used as such.  Now, only a few ruins remain and it is overgrown with local flora, no doubt thanks to prevailing winds and birds. Nature takes over.

Buttercups and blue berries, for example.

 Or these white daisy type flowers and something that could well be a weed, but is very attractive.

 This stylish pink flower is the stylidium graminifolium or grass trigger plant.

 Now, I think this is a native fuchsia or cirrea but I could be very wrong.  Pretty little thing though.

LOUSY CANADIAN...

This photo of a pretty Canadian wildflower, called either Alpine Lousewort
or Bracted Lousewort, was taken on our travels in that country in 2006. You can find out more here (although it's a Colarado site). Apparently the common name was derived from the early settlers thinking that livestock would get lice from eating the plant.

CANADIAN ONION SANDWICH

Here, I've sandwiched a Nodding Onion between 2 pretty examples of Cinquefoil, Shrubby on the left and (I think) Mountain Meadow on the right. Cinquefoil is also called barren strawberry, poor wee thing, how rude. Pam and I had great fun searching out all the beautiful wildflowers when we were there and were often last on the bus having lost track of time.

COMMON CANADIANS

Both these wildflowers are listed as common, so the uncommon variety must be beautiful indeed. I imagine the botanist who named them looking down his nose and saying "you are soooo common". Common Harebell on the left and Common Yarrow on the right.

CANADIAN UFO's

This is the first in a series from Canada. My sister and I had a wonderful holiday there in 2006 and I became enamoured of all the wonderful wildflowers everywhere. They made up for the lack of animal photos. All we saw was a herd of wild goats and one bear behind as it scampered away into the woods (probably preferable to it scampering towards us out of the woods). I can't name any of these even though I bought a book called Wildflowers of the Canadian Rockies. The first one looks like an exotic orchid. I have another set of flowers that I have identified I'll trot out later. Pam's been nagging me to put these on, so enjoy!