First Week Of February...Mid Summer

Another fine sunset happening...We don't get a lot of twighlight here but we do get some great sunsets.........I'm enjoying the cool of the evening sat here on the decking....









We picked another 2kg of Blackberries today - anyone got a good Blackberry Nip recipe? Especially a Whiskey one ??







Just watered the tomatoes and the rest of tubs on the front yard....And then dealt to the mildew thats started to show on the cucumber plants. ..We ate the first of the sweetcorn tonight..despite the fact they could have gone another week to ripen more they were pretty damned edible....First time we've ever grown them so - success!







The Pumpkin plants are bolting across neighbours lawn!...Neighbour hasn't hacked it back but I will. All that work I'm doing and they reward me with doing that!! ..







The Toms are flowering wildly and much tickling going on to ensure as many set as possible ...Some healthy looking trusses already there.......Summers still with us...The thought of lunch on the balcony with a glass of wine very tempting .......

Bits and Bobs and the Garden

----Pepsi Dog Fast asleep with tounge hanging out









Pepsi and George Cat sharing the Bean bag....Not I had to sacrifice my winter Poo bear Blankie !!





I'm sat out side watching the last of the sunset...A wind change is bringing in a much welcome cool breeze.... Up to now we've had a cloudless hot sunny day. Much work has been done weeding and tending to tomatoes.. The large green fruit holding much promise for a couple of weeks time.... The lights are switching on across the valleys below us ....Jill has poured a cold wine ...Life is relaxed today ....



Dinner straight from the garden





















Did you get to watch the film Grow Your Own?? It's an English film set on an Garden allotment..Anyway one dude was growing a Sharks Fin Melon or Spagetti Melon ...We'e now got one fruiting !! :O) It's all very exciting as it's visibly growing day by day...it's now the size of a small football...I'd better find a good recipe for it now :O)









That said we’ve also had some ‘composted’ seeds grow in various places …. Can’t say for sure what they are but may well let them grow on …Be they pumpkin or marrow etc …. Tomato seeds have also sprouted and from great depths for a tomato seed. We have had clumps of tomato seedlings dotted about the borders….Whilst preferring some sense of order in my borders, I’ve still left one from each clump to grow on. It’s a sad indictment on our gardening skills that these rogue plants are like weeds, growing healthier and stronger than the seedlings we’ve cared for and mollycoddled these past few months protecting them from cold and wind and rain…. Next year I will throw half the seeds direct into the outside soil and let them get on with it.

 

We are also growing a bed of onions and leeks. Last year was a pretty poor effort with the onions not growing to any size. Well maybe pickling onion sort of size … We still ate them thrown into stews etc …. Same for the leeks that really didn’t grow much bigger than when I had dropped them into their holes ….. This year they are looking much better… and I’m hoping for a good crop from both …. If the weather improves.

 

Having the extra borders has meant we can grow more of a particular vegetable at the same time …. And so carrots have been planted  in succession in 3 different borders …The first panting was well used and mostly eaten raw as first McD, then McDs daughter S, then my Son B all enjoyed pulling them out of the ground and with a quick wash munching away at them raw…… I might have had a few as well I suppose :O) I particularly like the purple variety ..We grow a whole mix from whites to reds to oranges to purples ….. We grate them for a multi-cloured addition to salads. With our purple lettuce and spring onions and feta and a honey mustard dressing...yum....Yesterday we pan fried scallops with diced elephant garlic (home grown), a little butter and some ginger...Yum...Lunch was good yesterday 

What we laughingly call a (Veggie) garden (4)

We’ve planted a few Fruit Trees around the garden … I’m ashamed to say two are still in their pots but will plant out this weekend. So we now have Cherry, Apple (Monty’s surprise – said to be the most health beneficial in the world…a kiwi ‘roadside’ discovery), Quince, and Plum… No fruit this year obviously but it’s good to have them. Of course we also have a few other things such as two Fejoa trees in wine barrels. They actually have 2 or 3 flowers on them after 2 years of nothing…. A Pomegranate bush – that flowers occasionally but doesn’t fruit …but is an attractive, viscously thorny bush all the same … A Fig tree also in a wine barrel .. .but doesn’t fruit or grow much really and whose days are indeed numbered…I want fresh figs…         

 

We also have fruit bushes that won’t provide a harvest till next year ….Goose Berry and Black Current bushes line the wall under the kitchen window. Unfortunately the winds knocked them about a bit and a lot of new growth was damaged … but they seem happy enough ….Cape Gooseberry bushes continue to sulk where planted …. And Chilean Guava have just flowered …   

 

But the most vigorous growing and most fruit laden is the BlackBerry bushes that line the fence of the yard all self sown and twice my height … It will be a bumper crop this year if the sun come out and the birds and wasps leave them alone …………. The bees were happy as working the flowers for weeks … What would we do without them ……..    

 

However the blackberry really has to go …. Just not until we’ve picked enough for the pies and jams and booze we want to make from them ……

I picked two large, deep red strawberries this morning … They’ve suffered in general this season and while we get a handful now and then, they’ve not been the bounty we enjoyed last year ….. I might look out for another variety to replace some of them with in later months ……Something more suited to our climates maybe if there is such a thing  ……



Last years picture .......







I bought some wild ‘woodland’ strawberries and planted them in the tub under the fig tree that never fruits … in contrast they have never stopped producing . As kids we raided the wild strawberries where Dad worked. I would be told off from time to time by Dad as the owner liked them as well. I’ve always remembered the flavour of them. Now I have my own strawberry patch and visit it regularly, munching a handful at a time. This time legally ……       

What we laughingly call a (Veggie) garden (3))

And the Bragging Rights on naming the Red Campion flower in my previous post goes to OULIN ....:O)   Thanks for that :O)  

A number of our potatoes suffered a lot in this humid weather and despite efforts to save them, the leaves developed tell-tale brown spots then started to die back …. The affected tubs with affected potatoes in them were harvested. A moderate number of new potatoes were bagged and the plants disposed of to stop any spread. Some potato types were more susceptible to the disease than others.  The mixed varieties of jersey benne and Nadine potatoes in the raised border showed this well with the JBs ravaged with the blight but the nadines still green and healthy. The Maori purple potatoes we also have in tubs etc have been ok.  The JB plants have been cut back to just above ground level and the tuber will be left in the ground for a while hopefully without any fungus attack into the tubers themselves. 

Maori potatoes in a babies crib we got from a recycle shop at the tip ..... my babies are growing well and I'm looking forward to seeing a good harvest of round purple spuds soon .....    







Potatoes in a half barrel... we since moved them to another spot away from a bed of tomatoes to the right ...... these are still growing well are are just flowering



Our Broad Beans have been exceptional. This is both the transplanted ones and the direct sow plants … the heirloom red seeded broad beans are a favourite. I love them cooked with the Egyptian onions we grow, a clove of garlic and a little butter …. We cook them up into curries and stews etc – just the best …. They are still growing strong and we are picking a big basketful of pods each week ..But have stopped flowering of course and have been knocked about by the winds we’ve experienced. So by the end of January they will be pulled out and the bed prepared for the next crops. ..Something for winter ….   Though come Feb/March I could plant some more Broad beans again …

 

broad beans Growing tall to the top right of the picture.. these have since been pulled up due to them getting plagued with orange rust .... The border is now being prepared with home made compost in readiness for the next crops to be planted ... 

What we laughingly call our Garden (2)

I do have the Square Foot Gardening book. While there are some things I do differently In the main it's a great way of growing vegetables in a smaller sized area ....Some things we grow up trellises , however the problem in our garden is wind ... We are on the side of a hill and anything that gets above a certain height is then subject to (cold this year) winds of varying speeds ....So cucumbers - yes will probably give them a go on the trellising ...Pumkins - no.. they would just get twisted and suffer stem split ....  



 

We are also growing a bed of onions and leeks. Last year was a pretty poor effort with the onions not growing to any size. Well maybe pickling onion sort of size … We still ate them thrown into stews etc …. Same for the leeks that really didn’t grow much bigger than when I had dropped them into their holes ….. This year they are looking much better… and I’m hoping for a good crop from both …. .

Onions to the front....Leeks to the back



Despite my efforts to grow a range of different Chinese cabbage types through the spring, they all went to flower at the same time and instead of ending up on my dinner plate are now at the bottom of the compost bin … I was so hacked off with it I threatened to give up on the whole thing and let the gorse take over ….. We didn’t of course and the beds are now full again with various plants but mainly tomatoes ……I tried another crop of pak choi a few weeks back but they did the same thing …..Will try again maybe now we are past the longest day. They seem to grow better as the days are shortening …

 

I've been so busy I barely noticed the Foxgloves flower ... Now they are near the end and are throwing seeds to the winds .... I had though I would stop them this year and buy some other colours rather than just the pinks ... 



The ‘Bright Lights’ Chard and silver beet kept us going all through the winter and spring until finally, smothered by the broad beans it went ‘triffid’ on us and bolted for the heavens …. It just goes well with everything … on it’s own or with Mash potato, chopped into curries and stews, or as part of a salad…. We’ve planted more …It’s just so nutritious too….. We will plant kale as well this year    

 

I cannot think of the name of this plant .. We have white and these pinky reds come up each year ...They seed as freely as the fox gloves .... bragging rights to whoever tells me what they are :O) 





Having the extra borders has meant we can grow more of a particular vegetable at the same time …. And so carrots have been planted  in succession in 3 different borders …The first panting was well used and mostly eaten raw as first McD, then McDs daughter S, then my Son B all enjoyed pulling them out of the ground and with a quick wash munching away at them raw…… I might have had a few as well I suppose :O) I particularly like the purple variety ..We grow a whole mix from whites to reds to oranges to purples …..

 

Carrots, Beetroot, and elephant garlic

What we laughingly call a (Veggie) garden (1)

This is a shot from a walk we did over the weekend .. .Along the south coast of the North island ... Would have been great if it wasn't for the gale force wind carrying grit off the beach ... Like being shot with a machine gun .... Painful .... Hair full of stones after it

It’s been a busy time recently. I’m Now back into the work routine, and I’m certainly missing the freedom and outdoor life of the 4 months I was not working.





 

 

 

The vegetable garden and garden as a whole has not had a good time of it through spring and now into summer weatherwise. This past two weeks we’ve had maybe 3 days of good weather. The rest of the time we’ve had fluctuations from just cloudy to cold southerly winds and rain to warm northerlies (Gale force at times) and high humidity and cloud so low we were almost touching it…..

 





 

The new beds have been fully utilised. We are now growing a small patch of sweetcorn which seem to be growing very well, along with what was sposed to be dwarf ‘bush beans’ but have decided otherwise and are now growing skywards over tree branches I put there not realigning how high they would get… It’s one of the hazards of buying heirloom seeds from collectors. You can never be 100% you receive what you order… but that’s part of the fun of it ……I guess…Courgette plants, after a slow pained start are now having to have their leaves trimmed back as they have established them selves and rooted in…and taking over… They are now flowering daily but with few male flowers which is annoying…. I’m growing one golden courgette.. There is a recipe doing the rounds where you can make sweet ‘lemon Curd’ with them. So I thought we’d try it ……. As usual we’ve planted too many courgette plants so will be giving away or composting the harvest in another months time …. By rights we could sow more seed and have them fruiting well into the autumn ….I’m convinced we will have a late summer and warmer, settled autumn ….But I think we will have had our fill by then so wont bother…..    

 

 



 

That said we’ve had some ‘composted’ seeds grow in various places …. Can’t say for sure what they are but may well let them grow on …Be they pumpkin or marrow etc …. Tomato seeds have also sprouted and from great depths for a tomato seed. We have clumps of tomato seedling dotted about the borders ……….Whilst preferring some sense of order in my borders, I’ve still left one from each clump to grow on. It’s a sad indictment on our gardening skills that these rogue plants are like weeds growing healthier and stronger than the seedlings we’ve cared for and mollycoddled these past few months protecting them from cold and wind and rain…. Next year I will throw half the seeds direct into the outside soil and let them get on with it.

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures - You Tell Us

Picture(s) a day - Rush Hour East Cape New Zealand

Rush Hour on the East Cape .... 9am ish





















This was for sale .... If I just thought I could make a living from it .......

You Can't Beat a nice SeaSide Shot

Not when the sun comes out anyway 


























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Picture(s) a day - around Gisborne

Just cause I like it ......





It was very green in the hills and farmland 





























A lot of rain all the way to Gisborne 









The forestry industry should me made to clean this up .... Interesting to fossick around in though ....The locals were to the left of the picture collecting firewood by the car loads 

Picture(s) a day - The long drive to Gisborne

The bridge in the last entry was for a train line between Napier and Gisborne ....

Picture(s) a day - More Napier - Gisborne

McD told me I should mention that the previous pictures and these below were taken from the car as we travelled around .... hence the quality isn't as good ........

Picture(s) a day - More Napier NZ buildings

Picture(s) a day - More buildings

It's been a good weekend. Today especially was a warm sunny day ... We spent the morning driving around ...We visited the Wellington tip where they have a shop of 'recyclables' and bought a wicker basket, a plastic bin and a window frame ...All for the garden ...Either planting more potatoes or yams and the window frame to put over areas where we've sown seeds ...Maybe later in the year I'll convert it to a cold frame for winter vegies ... 



Some notes on the slow loss of the houses on the Napier waterfront ...This is the usual decline due to property developers moving in .... They replace these types of structures with the concrete squares they call modern housing ... 



Napier still has some of it's art deco type buildings ... 

Picture(s) a day - 1st November Already

We ate the first lot of baby beetroot fron the garden this evening ....Boootiful :O) going against the moon gardening we planted more beetroot, carrot, green beans, silverbeet, okra ........ potatoes have finally started to grow well....too late for xmas though i reckon....

 Market Gardens at Napier NZ.. 









Disappearing Housing on Napiers waterfront.

More on the Ozz Holiday - Leaving Queensland

The day after visiting the tablelands was our last day at the Silky Oaks resort and also our last day in Queensland.



The plan was to head towards Cairns and spend the day around there before going to the airport and catching our flight to Sydney.



We had our breakfast as usual at the resort in the open air restaurant and in typical fashion the sun emerged for us    



The Silky Oaks restaurant







The swimming hole where fish and turtle reside







The swimming pool at the lodge







Well fed and bags packed we loaded up the car and set off... Just outside of the lodge along the road through the rainforest we saw a kookaburra on a telegraph post... We stopped (of course) to try and get a last chance shot. We pulled over to the side of the road and McD jumped out camera in hand ....I stayed in the car. . Having taken a few shots McD decided she needed a bigger lens and walked back to the open car door ... AS she went past the back of the car I saw in the rear view mirror a sudden look of horror on her face and then she was gone momentarily as she shot into the air ..... Then down she came landing  shouting "Snake !!!! " ....



McD had managed to literally step over  a large brown snake to get the pictures she wanted ... then returning saw the snake as it moved amongst the grass and bushes..... 



"Well get a picture !" I said 



And She Did !!!  - can you see it beating a hasty retreat .... Nothing takes McD on :O)  



Curtesy of McDinzie







Of course we joked and laughed about it ...But it was a real reminder that we are closer to nature than we often think ....... A reminder that this could have been a serious event ....I was glad we were not too far from assistance ....Also glad that the snake looks to be a python (We don't know for  sure)..And probably sunning itself first thing in the morning ...... Who knows .... Pythons in Ozz can get up to around 6 metres by the way ...... 



And on we went ... Next stop was to drive towards cairns and turn off into the Great Divide to a small township called kuranda...Here was a crafts market and a Butterfly sanctuary. We spent quite a while at the butterfly place ...Eventually giving up on getting the 'perfect shot' and heading off to grab a pie and a drink at the market...It was getting hot .......













































McDs new hat accessory 







































We tired easily ...The heat of the day hit us hard (mid 30s) and so we drove back down into Cairns itself to have a look around .... 





Looking down on the plains around Cairns

































Well not really a lot to look at .. .We asked at the tourist information but they had no real suggestions for a few hours sightseeing... We hit the mall for some supplies and coffee... Then we drove along the beach esplanade...Well the beach was a river estuary !! Hundreds of sun seekers lay side to side on a grass strip between the road and the sands .... I was quite surprised by this as advertising always seemed to show the white sand beaches and palms ... Nope ..... We continued our drive around ... The espanade was ok ... not special .. .the rest of the town was just that - a sprawling town....  



So having drove through their botanical gardens stopping for a drink, we gave up and headed for the airport .... Next stop Sydney - our last in Ozz

 

Odd Sods and Degrees of Separation

Today's Photo's: Too cold for taking pictures .. .shots from the Botanic Gardens in Wellington NZ ... We visited them a few weeks back but I never posted anything .... I don't think anyway ....







Weather: The weather is pretty horrible and has been since yesterday. Effin cold southerly winds, rain, hail, and snow again in the high country ... Not looking to good for the rest of the week either which is tragic for me as this was the last week I can work on the garden before starting my new job at the bank ... Damned frustrating ....







Degrees of Separation: Fellow ODer and blogger GypsySpirit started an interesting discussion on degrees of separation between people around the world. KiwiChatter also gave a great example of the connects we have with each other through other friends. The idea that it is only 6 degrees of separation between someone in one part of the work to someone else in another is well known ....Within NZ (and I think with some pride) we believe that there are only two degrees of separation .... It's a cool idea as it does make all kiwis part of a relative close 'extended family' ....







I have a general example of the degrees of separation in the world. I'm on a site called 'Linkedin'. It's a professional network. "LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals."







I maintain contact with people I've work with since joining and have 107 immediate contacts ...People who know me directly ....







2 degrees away from me are 6,300 people ... I know someone who knows one or more of them.



3 degrees away from me and there are 595,700 people. I know someone who knows someone who knows one or more of these people ....



And that's with just 107 contacts .... There must be a huge number more I would have worked with over the years .... And that is only work contacts. Add friends, family, aquaintancies, fellow bloggers and its easy to understand the 6 degrees of separation .....







New Job: While concerned about the new role I have taken on, We can only be thankful that I will soon be back in gainful employment again. While the role isn't as senior as I'm used to, There has been little else opened up on the job market ...Had this not come by there would have been every likelihood of my not getting a role for some many month ahead. That would have sapped our resources far too much. It was also becoming apparent in interviews that being out of work too long was a negative against you .... So really it all worked out well and with good timing... I will have had a 3 months 3 weeks break. and much needed it was too .... I'm generally feeling better, healthier, have a bit of a suntan rather than that 'PC monitor radiation grey' IT workers are prone to have. And while I've a number of concerns about the new role I'm quite keen and full of ideas as to what can be done.......







Of course winning lotto and becoming a bread baking hippy would be better :O) But I still fully expect that to happen over the course of time :O)







Oh - did I say ? - the role is with an Australasian bank as an "ITIL Delivery Manager' ... What the Sam is that I hear you ask ...... well to quote from the job description - the role is "Responsible for establishing the ITIL Service Management capability within (bank) New Zealand and providing governance over the services that fall within the scope of IT Service Management."



But what that really means I'll let you know in the coming months ....









The gardening: Damn this weather ...Anyway, we are now filling up one of the new raised borders ...Pea straw and well rotted home made compost with plenty of horse manure, and a rich 'veggie garden' soil sold by living earth. All of it 'walked' up the hill and steps by bag and bucket....







Another two borders are close to finishing as I've pick axed out the rock/clay and laid flat sections into the hillside. I've another small border to put in and discussion as to adding yet another in the corner that will be a rhubarb patch .... love rhubarb :O)







3-months of working on this and other parts of the garden .... To look at the place you would not believe I'd been working so hard on the section ..... .







We've now got various seedling in pots and trays. some are getting too leggy and need to be potted on very soon ... its a lot of work and a little worrying as McD and I are going away next week for another break .....









I HATE BLACKBIRDS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Little sods have raked over my seedlings of lettuce, carrots, and the like ... ruined them ......... I will have to plant again now. And then !!! I spent a while mounding up potatoes (its a pain in raised borders ) anyway - no sooner had I left to get more soil that the blackbirds there scratching feverishly levelling the soil again in search of worms....... They are far too tame of course ...







So now I have netting MWHAHAHAHAH ....MWHAHAHAHAHA :O) Though an air rifle was first in my mind - hell bent on a bloody revenge ........







Another Holiday: Does it sound that bad !! We decided we should have another short holiday before I start work ... It will probably be the last break for a while as I will have to build up my annual leave again ....







So we are going to pack the car and head north and east and visit Gisborne and the east cape - which is on the east cost of the north island. Hopefully the weather will improve. Snowing along the way there at present with people in cars having to be rescued...... Hopefully we will get to see the sunrise in Gisborne... The first city in the world to welcome the sunrise of a new day. Hopefully we will see lots of kiwi-ana and take lots of pictures to bore you all with over the next month or so :O)







The big event!! Of course this break also lets me go away and sulk... I have less than one week to go and then it is the end of my 40s ....Where did that decade go !!! Man, I thought the end of my 30s was bad !! So come Sunday and I will have actually made it to 50 years .... Been very touch and go along the way ... Still have yet to grow up and learn how to look after myself (McD Will vouch for that ....:O) But there you go ..... perhaps I should do a short write-up on this ....from zero to half-century in 10 minutes :O)

Australia Holiday - Atherton Tablelands Part 3

Welcome swallow, swallowducks, whip bird, whipbird

Curtain (Strangler?) Fig in the Queensland rainforest ...













































Click here and here to hear the Whip-bird described in the last entry ...What we didn't know was the other sound - the Choo Choo Choo Choo - that accompanied the feewww-whip was a female whipbird responding to the male song !! If you are a bird nut like us then there is a whole page of soundbites highlighting the regional differences in song of these birds ..... here



After the Stop off for the fig tree we headed to Lake Barrine for lunch. The lake is set in the forest. The tea house is an old 1920s style house. Very nice and with a beautiful and tranquil setting .. The small cafe was proudly displaying their Multi-award winnings for Scones ..>







Taken from that great site - http://www.lakebarrine.com.au/ A must see for great information and better pictures :O)



Well you have to try them don't you :O) We had a very nice salad and barramundi fish and then their award winning Devonshire Teas. they lived up to their accolades :O) We ate on the balcony of the charming 80+ year old teahouse while taking in the scenic & serene lake views.





































In fact I was so taken with the scenery I forgot to take a snap of the house itself !! Doh ...





Taken from that great site - http://rainforest-australia.com/ - A must see for great information and better pictures :O)







Taken from that great site http://rainforest-australia.com/A must see for great information and better pictures :O)



AS we sat and looked out we watched the Welcome Swallows around the only boat on the water.











I didn't realise what bulging eyes they have !! All the better to see flies with I suppose :O)

















We even got to see a cormorant - Pretty comkon throughout Ozz and New Zealand ... Initially though it might be a Grebe ...Then put my specs on :O\











The boat took people at a slow pace around the 4.5km lake edge... They took you to see a python snake as well as a resident turtle... We had settled down with our devenshire teas so took a pass on sailing ....



However as the boat set off we watched as a number of ducks, all in line, flew one by one out of the water to grab a piece of bread from the boat owners hand .... Each duck awaiting it's turn to fly and feed ....Now are Mallard Ducks everywhere in the world !!!!











As one duck descends the next is already in the air and approaching ... And no Air traffic Control !!! :O)



















Just like the planes landing at Wellington Airport !! :O)











We took a walk to see the two giant Karri trees in the forest nearby and then walked through the gardens for the car... And then we heard it !! "feeeeewwwwwww-Whip" !!! The bird was right beside us in the garden undergrowth ... Incredibly busy and seemingly in a bad mood he never stopped moving and shouting and all the time right on the ground beside us ...... Well I tried and tried and tried to get a decent shot of him .... he even came so close to me he touched by boot as I stood rock still !!! but these were as good as it got .. Of course McD has a better shot ...I'm sure she has or will share it on her blog ..













dammit - close....









I suspect this is a juvenile













The problem also was that in looking down like that It doesn't show it has a white throat !!! nor its crest !!! :o\



Visit here for a proper picture .......Whip Bird



And that was that ...A day almost gone already and a long trip back home

Australia Holiday - Atherton Tablelands Part 2

Atherton was interesting ... We had been given a long list of attractions to see by the tourist information office there, but decided it would be too long a trip for us ...Tiredness setting in I think after many days of travelling.

I could have spent hours just photgraphing Fungi 









Well at least I know I'm not in New Zealand with place names like that :O) 





We stopped of at the Yungaburra township .. A pretty little old world village really ...

































The small local church provided some interest ...especially the large flowered hibiscus beside it .... 





































































Make sure you catchup on McDinzie's new entry and far better pictures :O) Also 'boob coolers' and the Hotel we would have loved to have bought !!  And if we win lotto this weekend just might :O)  Would you come and stay ???  :O) 

Ozzie Holiday - The Atherton Tablelands

We decided to take a day trip to Queensland's Tablelands. Inland Queensland that took us into a very rural setting . But not all rural farmland as it boasts its own 'lake district' and a wealth of rainforest and wildlife.


To take a quote from another website
"You can enjoy barramundi and fresh water fishing, cruise and swim the lakes, historic steam train rides and birdwatching.
World heritage rainforests... mountains... rivers... lakes in extinct volcanos and magnificent waterfalls. All this is around an hour from the coast and about as far from where the outback starts.
That's just part of this benign and fertile plateau reaching up to 1000 metres above sea level. Primitive ferns hang from and around giant Kauri pines as they've done for hundreds of years. There's strangler figs with roots hanging more than 15 metres to the ground."

Taken from that great site

www.holidaynq.com.au/atherton.html

You could spend a whole holiday in this area which extends as far south as Innisfail and as far north as Port Douglas. We had a single day. Apart from the lakes there are walks and treks around lakes and to waterfalls and into the rainforest. Arts and crafts shops and galleries abound. Small farm type industries with wonderful names such as the "Humpy Nut World", Mt Uncle Distillery, and the "Mungalli Creek Bio-dynamic dairy (cheese tastings and tea house). Too much to cover in a day,. Especially when the bird and animal life was so different again . We decided not to do a mad drive through the area and try and see everything ... So we headed for the main township of the area, Atherton, check out the Tourist Information there (the Queensland Tourist Information shops are the best we've ever encountered... Friendly, informative, and very keen to help you get the most out of your journey).

And so up with the larks (or kookaburras :o) we headed south and over the mountain range known as the great dividing range. As we zig-zagged along with the winding road we were able to see out and across the plains of both sides to the range ... Again the weather wasn't good for the scenic shots ....

On the Tablelands the rainforest left us and a rural farming and more scrub bush land emerged. The land around Atherton is used to grow a variety of crops, including Sugar cane, Peanuts, mangoes, maize, potatoes, avocados and macadamia nuts. All this with dairy and beef cattle being farmed in the area.

Along the way we also saw a large number of termite mounds. I'd not seen them in so many numbers or so large. I might add that we were well abused by a passing truck driver when taking these pictures ....Mile after mile of roads straight as an arrow and he's upset at us parked on the roadside.... But I got the pictures :O)


















Of course you always encounter roadworks somewhere along the roads travelled







The construction going on revealing how red the soil is in parts of Australia









Here still were some sugar cane fields as well as the Banana plantations ... Each bunch of fruits wrapped inside a plastic bag .... I suspect to keep insects and Bird life off them .... Must be highly labour intensive to do









Various roadside stalls provided interest along the way ..









While the drive was long there was plenty to look at and if we'd had the time we could have stopped numerous times ...However the schedule was tight in that we wanted to be back at the Retreat by dark and so Atherton was to be the 1st real stop ... Atherton is a growing township likely to loose (or have lost ) a lot of its charm as it does so ... However there is still a good deal of the older Ozzie buildings of various styles in place ...










This wonderful building turned out to be the courthouse.







I had read about the "crystal Caves" shop in Atherton ... We stopped off to have a look. Crystals from around the world as well as locally were on display and/or for sale... What did catch our eye was a pile of unopened Geodes from South America ...geodes are basically round rocks that have various crystals inside of their hollow centres. You can read more on them here ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geode

We decided to buy one and have it cracked open. We would be the first people ever to see the formation inside.







The shop has a large geode "stone cracker" in full view inside the shop. Having decided on a suitable sized piece of rock we were invited to do the 'cracking' of the rock ourselves ... As soon as we started to prepare a number of spectators formed around us









Safety specs were put onto McD who was to hold the two halves. what effectively was a large chain was wrapped around the rock and I was given the task of pulling on the lever until the rock broke .... With the warning to stop as soon as it does break .....









I pulled slowly downwards .. a couple of small cracks as the chain bit..I stopped immediately.... A louder 'crack' as I pulled harder down. I stopped immediately ....And then a real "CRACK" as the rock split neatly into two and into McDs waiting hands .....

We were given a talk on what was inside the two halves and then they were wrapped and given to us to bring home ....

Something to keep forever... A fond reminder of one of our travels together.

"When one of us dies we should bury one half with us " I suggested. "A connection between us even through death"....

Well - I'll leave McD to tell you about what that started !!! .......




Stay tuned for part 2 (and maybe 3) for tales of giant strangler fig trees, formation flying ducks and whip birds .... :O)

A year in My garden September (3)A year in My garden September (3)

 

 

I just realised the clocks go forward tonight... So now it's after 2am and I've started this ......Better not ramble on too much then :O) 



I've had Job interviews last week  !!!! ....

 

 

 

So here's the rub ...Within the same 1/2 hr I was offered a job and turned down for another job ....Turned down for being too senior and too experienced for the role..they Thought I wouldn't enjoy the operational focus of the role (??)

 

So I've a certain company who have offered me something - The role isn't as 'chunky' or as senior as I'm used too... but looks an interesting role and probably has good potential (seeing the state they are currently in)....Not only same company but same department as where McD works !! (expected that to go against my being hired...) The money really isn't great which bothers me ........The job market here even in IT isn't boyant..I have another possible opportunity coming up but no guarentees of getting it...Then the possibility of nothing else Or something else more suitable ...who knows when though ...... what to do - what to do ...

 

 

 

Work on  the raised borders continues albeit slowly. Spring is a time when every day you witness the miracle of life....Seeds little more than dust are bursting out with new life. And sprouting at an incredibly rapid rate....I've Planted far too many seeds of some …whoops … Interesting how other seeds  take that much longer to sprout…. But one thing you have to have in this gardening game is patience …

 

 

I’ve also potatoes and Maori purple potatoes and yams to plant out – maybe … I’m starting to run out of space – even for dustbins etc … we’ll see… Meanwhile we have harvested some of the broccolini we planted over winter which was very nice. We also have a couple of squares of bright-lights beet and some squares of kale that provide a regular and abundant supply of green vegetables …

 

 



Don't mention the fence - it's on the list "o) 

 

We never plant things at the right time – always something that gets in the way …Broad beans that we bought from the garden centre have grown, but not grown particularly tall and judging by the seed sown ones next to them are probably quite spindly as well …. But they are flowering profusely  …. We bought some lavender bushes in pots and flowering. We’ve put those around the broad beans in the hope to bring in the bees … The early flowers haven’t set …. True to form the bumble bees are working the lavender but I’ve not seen them on the broad bean flowers yet ….

 

 

 

I’ve also had to start on the flower borders …Too overgrown and full of weed and grass (above picture)… I’ve pruned the silver ferns as well that are at the end of the border …as well as the small almost bracken like ferns that are in front of them… they are already shooting up new fronds and looking good …..



Much to McDs horror I cut down some 'scrub' bush at the back edge of the border. It’s changed the look completely as you can now see down into the forest that surrounds the garden.

 

 



The 'after' picture but see how there is now a pleasing depth to what is a very narrow border - comments please :O) do you agree or is the 1st picture preferable?? 

 I think she is happy with the result though. 

















From the edge of the garden there is a 6-12 foot drop down onto the lower hillside. Our patch of the forest continues then down to a small trickle of a stream. The whole area is a mix of the giant and very prehistoric looking Black Tree Fern and our native beech trees … It’s nice to be able to see into the forest and indeed further across to the next hill that starts up from the stream ……..





These fronds are huge ...So impressive



One year that will be my project – to renew the paths through there and extend them properly down to the stream …If we stay here … Some debate on that

The Ozz Holiday - Daintree & Cape tribulation Pt 3

We continued to drive and stop along the road at cape tribulation ...



It was annoying that our days were so cloudy when we were by the beaches. The pictures do not show how special they are ...Here the rain forest came right down to the sandy shore. It was windy but a warm wind and fairly light this time ....    









































We had walked a long path through the forest to get to the beach. As we walked back over a strangely coloured stream we noticed there were fish swimming around in it ...



  







And around every corner a new plant to wonder at ... 







We drove as far as we could ...A store and turning area marked the end ... Though we did drive a little further the road ended and a gravel track started .... 



It was time to meander back home ... Our last stop before the car ferry back was to take in the views from a scenic spot 











































We noticed some movement in a tree beside us as we took these pictures ... It was a small parrot ...In fact it turned out to be the smallest parrot in Australia - the Double eyed Fig-Parrot..... And true to form she was munchinmg away on the fig fruits as we watched and tried very hard to photograph her 









































A bit of a messy eater isn't she :O) 







None of the pictures came out too well ....Typical ... This one caught the ghost of a noisy myhna ..











Oh well - It was fun trying :O) I wonder if McD did any better ?? 

The Ozz Holiday - Daintree & Cape tribulation Pt 2

After the river ride we were ready for lunch and so headed back to a restaurant we had seen towards the Daintree township.... As we went in the Owner was giving a 'show and tell' of the local plants and foods of the area to a party of coach tourists ... they didn't seem to interested ....Either full or hungry they looked like they had already had enough for the day ...



We were thankfully lead out of the restaurant and into the garden . Our table overlooking a small pond obscured by the native trees in and around it ...Then the garden plants around us .... It was a long wait for the food .... But we amused ourselves listening to an overly opinionated woman a table or two away from us .... He child was nearly university age but still breast feeding .... Just seemed a little strange to us .....



Anyway there we sat with backs thankfully towards them ... A native Ulysees Butterfly Fluttered quickly about in the distance ... A dot in the camera eye piece even with a 500mm lens attached ....



"You would need to buy a separate seat for that thing on the plane" Quipped the restaurant owner... Could have almost happened a few days back I thought ....



But then a faster blue shot past us ... a King fisher ..Perched on a branch over the water keeping a watchful eye on any possible food surfacing ... Still too far away really - but while still waiting for our barramundi fish lunches to arrive I happily passed the time trying to get an in focus shot .... no tripod of course - they were in the car .. So with elbow on the table this was the best I could get ........















































While the garden wasn't overly attractive in terms of layout (the surrounding forest made up for it) there were a few plants of interest as well

Lunch done we headed off to the car ferry to take us across the river to cape tribulation.... No way I was allowed out of the car due to the crocodile stories we heard ...Jill very firm

on that one .....



Once off the ferry we drove at a relaxed pace (speed restrictions ) meandering through the rain forrest. It's very dense but very exotic made up of unknown numbers of species of tree, bush , vine etc .... I was already wishing we had more time to explore ...Never enough time ....



We stopped off about half way before the road ended at a marked walking track ...A wooden raised pathway took us through the forest and over mud flats and the mangroves ....almost every other step there was something to look at ...

This I think, is a strangler fig ...Its host long dead leaving a lattice of the figs branches that would have been wrapped around its host's trunk ......There is some conjecture as to whether the fig does indeed strangle the tree to death this way or simply outlasts its host ....





















These mud crabs were everywhere ..But bolted to the safety of a hole at the first sign of danger ...

















No Crocs to be seen ..We were happy to be on the raised pathway just in case ...











A huge fern around the trunk of a tree... Very impressive to see it ... This picture really hasn't done it justice











I would need tomes of information books on the area to be able to name all of the plants and insects and so on that we saw .....











Yet another 'wish it had come out right' pictures ... Mcd beside a huge palm frond ... Some of these had the most vicious thorns ....and a few vicious ants between the thorns as well .......