Serendipity Canyon

Well I dusted off my wetsuit, found my whistle and once again set off into the wilderness with Stephen. Most of the canyons these days Stephen does with people much fitter than me. This weekend he made an exception to take me on Serendipity Canyon and show me a new exit out of the Wollangambe.

On the way down to the start Stephen showed me where the exit track met the main track. I seriously contemplated waiting there for him but it would have put a serious dampener on the day. So off we trekked down the side of Mt Wilson to the start of the canyon. The day was overcast so all the greens of the canyon stood out well as we clambered, abseiled, climbed and swam our way down the creek and waterfalls. The obligatory yabby was found and I even went first down the two last abseils. It was great to be out in such a beautiful part of the mountains.

Once we reached the Wollangambe Stephen has fun jumping off the cliffs into the river. Then we watched the water dragons descend on us to see if they could share our lunch. The trek out was ok, I just kept plodding along. About 500 metres from the car we came across a group of 6 guys in their 20’s navigating with their smart phones. With limited gear and eskies they planned on doing Wollangambe 1 & 2 and camping out overnight. Torrential rain was forecast from tonight and the next two days, so I hope they made it out.

What’s this?

Look at what Rosco found today (with a little bit of help from Stephen). It’s a Bandy Bandy snake. Only about 60cm long these little snakes are nocturnal and like to stay hidden away under rocks, so its not common to find one. They are suppose to feed on blind snakes, maybe we will find one of them next.

2013 starts with a bang

New Years Eve, its hot, hot, hot and we have a party to go to. So I don my Christmas dress and Stephen gets respectable and we head to Jackson’s Landing on the edge of Sydney Harbour. We arrive at Amanda and Stephen’s perfect city apartment for the party.

With great harbour views we watch the passing  yachts, cruisers and dinghy’s loaded with people heading to their vantage points.  Even a flotilla of black jet skis passes, we later learn they where part of the firework display.

The time passes quickly and before we know it the 9pm fireworks go off. Colour, bangs, ohs and ahs everywhere. We get a view of the harbour and Darling Harbour. We can also see police cars with flashing lights zooming up and down Pyrmont Bridge for a bit of fun.

After stuffing ourselves with dessert we then list every Australian movie an immigrant needs to see to understand Australia and watch a bit of Meatloaf in the 1975 version of Rocky Horror Picture Show. A bizarre and entertaining movie.

As midnight approaches we leave the apartment with most of the other nearby residents and walk the few minutes to Giba Park. Along with families, Irish backpackers and the rest of the apartment dwellers we setup position at 11:59pm. 

On cue the fireworks light up the harbour from one end to the other and are a dazzling spectacle of colour, noise and excitement. Being part of the crowd makes it even better. One of the Irish girls in front of us gets a call from her Dad in Ireland, he timed that well. She is so excited to share her Sydney experience with her Dad.

The fireworks are over and the crowd surges back to the apartments grinning from ear to ear and feeling positive about 2013.

Thanks to Stephen and Amanda for a great night out.

Fire

It’s a hot day with a blustery southerly blowing and the last thing you want to smell is smoke. Around 3:30pm we get our first whiff of smoke. Shortly after we hear sirens from the approaching fire trucks and sure enough out of our Eastern window we see plumes of thick black smoke rising into the sky.

A short while later a scene reminiscent of the early morning raid in Apocalypse Now is re-enacted,  with helicopters flying in from all directions heading for the fire.

The last helicopter to arrive is the Sky Crane, by far the most effective water bomber out of all the helicopters at the fire. 

Two for the price of one

Sugar Glider

Squirrel Glider

Sydney has had some extreme weather lately, it was snowing on Friday and today it is 34 degrees.  After dinner we decided to take advantage of the heat and see if there is any night time activity in the nearby bush.

We started at a well known spot for owlets, nothing. Did a big circle of the bush around the ovals, nothing. Rosco is enjoying the night time sniff and wee but that’s about it for fun.

We decide on one final search and go down one of Stephen’s mountain bike tracks. As usual Stephen is out in front and Rosco and I are bringing up the rear guard. In some scraggily casurina’s Stephen spots a bit of movement. Yeah. He cautiously approaches and discovers a Sugar Glider descending down a tree. A snap and a flash and the glider is recorded for posterity. Moving on down the track and then back again we discover another glider enjoying the sap from the tree. This time it is a Squirrel Glider with a gorgeous yellow edged belly.  

Both are a joy to watch, a successful night out. Next time we will try and find the nest.

A trip to the zoo

One of my favourite trips is to go to the zoo. We have been to lots of zoo’s but nothing beats going on the ferry and seeing all the animals surrounded by Sydney Harbour.

There is always something new at Taronga, this time it was the Tasmanian Devil enclosure. 

Night time exploring

Tonight we braved the cold and went out in search of a Masked Owl. We knew the spot where we had identified the owl before, at the end of Lysaght Road, Wedderburn near the old archery fields.

Alas there where no owls tonight, instead we heard some noises on the ground keeping pace ahead of us off the side of the fire trail. We followed along for about 100 metres and then we lost it. After a little while Stephen spotted three glowing eyes with his torch. What is it? On closer inspection it was a Koala and its joey in the crook of a tree. We think it had made its escape upwards from us. 

Update: This is the southern most recorded breeding koala (Campbelltown records).