The nice people of Greenwell Point and East Nowra
As we settled down last evening we were a tad concerned about the level of ambient noise in the houses of Greenwell Point. I think this was an outcome of it being rather warm so people were either relaxing outdoors or having all windows open so they might as well have been outdoors. We thought there might have been a particular issue with a group up the street featuring several females who seemed to be trying out for roles on the laugh track of a Benny Hill Show! However everything went quite by about 9pm - quite acceptable - and we had a good nights sleep.
On arising the dulcet tones of a Spotted Dove filled the air.
The area did seem to have a fair supply of rats with wings including - as well as the above - Common Myna, Starling and House Sparrow.
In terms of calls, of a non-rodent nature, the most raucous was (as might be expected) Pacific Koel of which there seemed to be several around giving both 'koel' and 'wirra wirra' calls.
There was evidence of successful fishing being done the previous day. This skeleton was about 1m long: there is an interesting array of very large mounted fish in the bistro at the pub.
Compared to the previous day the area was deserted. No doubt some of this was due to the locals being at work or school, but I realised that being only a few hours South of Sydney people could stay at their weekenders until 6pm and still be back in Sydney by 9pm.
The Illawarra Flametrees (Brachychiton acerifolius) were beginning to come into flower. In another month the area will be very red. Quite possibly all the foregoing is true. Thanks to the alertness of my friend Alison I have now become aware that this image is of a Coral Tree (Erythrina x sykesii), which is thought to be a hybrid developed in New Zealand. I have wrongly called them Flames Trees for at least 30 years!
While walking yesterday a pair of Masked Lapwings got rather agitated. We looked out for, but didn't find eggs. Today this little chap was with a parent.
Art is where you find it. This fibreglass dolphin was in the back of a ute.
The church was founded in 1890 and apart from looking nice was interesting in that it was a Union Church with a Presbyterian service 1 Sunday a month, Uniting 1 Sunday and the rest Anglican.
Some Great Cormorants just can't take the hint!
At the Jetty were a bunch of people in uniform tee-shirts etc marked up with "Fishcare Volunteers". Frances had a chat and it emerged that they took people from aged care facilities (or schoolkids) out fishing. On this day they had two busloads of old folk coming down.
As it was getting hot we packed up and headed for the hills. This was made easier by the guy from the next camper helping tug the camper on to the tow bar.
At least this time there was a sign to Braidwood! Just outside town we were hoping to buy some King Proteas from a stall we had noticed on the way down. The stall wasn't there so I went up to the house. The lady in charge said she wasn't going to cut any more until Thursday, but had some (by her standard) wilted ones which she was going to throw away so she gave them to me. By our standards they are still beautiful.
Once past HMAS Albatross - without entertaining helicopters this time - we started to come across flowers in the heath. The following images are some from a random roadside stop (to get the Isopogon) and at the junction with Touga Road a few kms further up the road.
The first few are members of the Fabaceae. (A small controversy arose on Oallen Ford Road where a very red prostate member of the family was seen but we didn't stop to photograph it as we should get it on Willow Glen Rd. Of course there was none there!)
We have decided this is Calytrix tetragona. It was very pretty in close up and ...
.. in swathes at Touga Rd.
Isopogon anenthifolius
We were excited to find a Drosera with orange flowers. From Googling and Plantnet I have decided that it is most likely D. glanduligera.
Drosera peltata
Grevillea baueri asperula.
Boronia algida
Finally we found an orchid: Petalochilus fuscatus.
We decided to come back along Willow Glen Road to see what the Pomaderris looked like. It was quite good although the heavy traffic from the 4WD campout had covered much of it with dust.Here is a close-up ..
.. and a wider shot.
No more excitements and we got back to a surprisingly cool house.
As a result of the trip we decided we liked Greenwell Point (apart from the people in DJs Fish and Chip shop) and that it was equally feasible for a coast-fix as around Batemans Bay etc. Plus the drive is better in terms of scenery.
On arising the dulcet tones of a Spotted Dove filled the air.
In terms of calls, of a non-rodent nature, the most raucous was (as might be expected) Pacific Koel of which there seemed to be several around giving both 'koel' and 'wirra wirra' calls.
There was evidence of successful fishing being done the previous day. This skeleton was about 1m long: there is an interesting array of very large mounted fish in the bistro at the pub.
As it was getting hot we packed up and headed for the hills. This was made easier by the guy from the next camper helping tug the camper on to the tow bar.
At least this time there was a sign to Braidwood! Just outside town we were hoping to buy some King Proteas from a stall we had noticed on the way down. The stall wasn't there so I went up to the house. The lady in charge said she wasn't going to cut any more until Thursday, but had some (by her standard) wilted ones which she was going to throw away so she gave them to me. By our standards they are still beautiful.
The first few are members of the Fabaceae. (A small controversy arose on Oallen Ford Road where a very red prostate member of the family was seen but we didn't stop to photograph it as we should get it on Willow Glen Rd. Of course there was none there!)
As a result of the trip we decided we liked Greenwell Point (apart from the people in DJs Fish and Chip shop) and that it was equally feasible for a coast-fix as around Batemans Bay etc. Plus the drive is better in terms of scenery.
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